The Mischief Maker [open]

[CORWIN HARPER LANCASTER]

Corwin H. Lancaster perched on the edge of the counter in the preeminent joke shop in Hogsmeade, fingers tapping out a mindless rhythm on the glass. Zonko's was, in fact, the only joke shop in Hogsmeade, but according to Corwin it was still the best. A wise person quickly learned that Cor acted on a logic all his own; a logic that didn't always square with everyone else's logic. He was, as he liked to phrase it, "eccentric". Others preferred to call him "mad", "absolutely mental", and "crazy as a cat", among other things. To them, Corwin has always had but one response: prank them.

So it was that Cor, manning his shop alone, found himself to be utterly, painfully bored. Usually his boredom resulted in him finding someone to get a rise out of. Unfortunately for him his employees had all mysteriously taken the day off and he was starting to think he'd been had. He sighed and laced his fingers together before stretching his arms up and unkinking every vertebra in his spine. "Much better," he murmured and slid off the counter. He was just going to have to get them back somehow.

A slow, conniving grin spread across his face as he looked around the shop the proverbial gears turning in his head. What to do, oh what to do... Corwin wrestled his expression into something a bit more subtle, and less deranged, and tapped his fingers against his lips. It wouldn't do to scare customers away now, would it? His face settled into a safely mischievous expression, Corwin turned his attention to the delightful task of pay-back pranking.

[AERON DONOVAN HEWITT]

Aeron didn't have very many customers during the summer holidays so he was able to leave his shop and wander for a bit. He soon came across Corwin's shop and felt the need to visit the man. Entering he called out, "Yo! Cor! You here?!" Aeron wasn't exactly friends with Corwin, but he knew that the other male was 100% Gryffindor and a good person... even if he was a bit crazy at times.

The scruffy man wandered through the shop looking at the stuff that was on the shelves. Jokes weren't Aeron's thing, but he knew that children liked them and so long as shop owners gained the money to keep their shops open then the business was good. Aeron had once come over on a busy day and boy was he surprised by how many kids had been in here.

After looking around he waited for the other man to make an appearance. Corwin was younger than Aeron by about a year and two months. Or was it just two months? Oh forget it. Aeron was here to bug Corwin, not wonder when his birthday was. So with that scruffy Aeron waited.

[CORWIN HARPER LANCASTER]

From the front counter, down an aisle to the right, to the back of the shop, down an aisle to the left, and back to the front. That was the path Corwin's meandering feet took him as he paced and plotted pondered, open charcoal robes swishing. He was on his fifth such circuit when a familiar voice broke the near silence. Aeron? Now that wasn't someone Cor was expecting to see in his shop.

His mental train of thought chugged to a slower pace as Corwin not-quite-scampered to the front of the shop. He greeted the scruffy man with a huge smile. "Aeron! How've you been?" He rocked back on his heels slightly and tucked his thumbs into the pockets of his trousers. "It's been a while. Business doing good?"

It was times like this that Corwin hated summer. His shop didn't get so much as half the custom it attracted when Hogwarts was in session. Corwin hated being bored more than he hated quidditch and summers left him horribly bored. But here was kindly Aeron to save him from his own insanity.

[AERON DONOVAN HEWITT]

Aeron shrugged. "I've been better." The man smiled at his fellow shop rival. On the subject of business, "Summer sucks... period." Summer was a slow time for all the shop owners in Hogsmede. Because of that the shop owners got to spend more time interacting with others around them. Aeron looked at Corwin, "Slow business is no fun. I love when the students are running around finding all sorts of things to entertain themselves. Coming here to buy jokes, even though I'm not really into them, to each their own." He grinned at that. "Coming to the shops for food and drinks. I love watching the children having fun. It makes being a shop owner all the more sweet."

Aeron leaned against a cleared area and stared at the other man, "I'm almost tempted to buy some stuff from you just to keep myself entertained." The man laughed at that thought. It was definitely bad if he wanted to buy joke items from the joke shop. Aeron was not into the jokes, some of which could hurt others, but Aeron wasn't going to snap at anyone for choosing to shop here. The bartender felt like a little scrap, but the man had nothing to do at the current moment.

[CORWIN HARPER LANCASTER]

Summer really was a right rotten time to be in business in Hogsmeade. While there were people living in the town business just wasn't the same as when Hogwarts students were swarming. If it weren't for owl-post orders, Zonko's would be in pretty bad straits come summer. Luckily for Corwin, though, it seemed that some of the students just couldn't be without their nose-biting teacups or what have you for the summer holiday.

All of this was hardly new, however, so all Corwin said was, "Don't even get me started!" There was a plaintive note in his voice that showed just how thinly stretched he was. There weren't many customers at this time of year but Corwin was still used to at least having an employee around to torment. Bored Corwin was never good. Bored Corwin without social interaction was worse. Aeron had probably saved Corwin's poor employees from a horrendous prank-back by his mere presence.

Cor was well aware that Aeron had saved him from himself, so to speak, and was actually quite grateful. "You and me both. Sometimes they drive me a bit batty but it's better than the alternative." In a stage whisper he clarified, "Boredom," following the word with a melodramatic, full-body shudder. He shook out his robes and returned Areon's grin.

"You know, I do have things that don't explode or bite, right?" he asked with a rather cheeky smile. Cor vaulted the counter and rummaged around underneath it for a few moments before exclaiming, "AHA!" and jumping back to his feet. He held out a box to Aeron, grinning fit to split his face. The box wasn't terribly impressive looking and contained an assortment of snacks: taffy, individually wrapped cookies, tiny bags of crisps, pretzels, caramels, and so on. "Completely harmless, I promise."

[AERON DONOVAN HEWITT]

Aeron cracked a smile, but it quickly vanished when Corwin produced a box of "treats." Aeron knew better. Even something that was harmless looking could have something wrong with it. "I hope whatever effects these things have don't last long." He snatched up a taffy and nodded to Corwin, "Thanks." He took a bite of the candy and hoped that nothing bad was going to happen. Aeron didn't really do jokes, but he would eventually laugh along with the joker if it had been a funny joke. However, Aeron would never willingly use anything to purposefully harm another being.

Some of the items in Corwin's shop could be painful, but not in the pain that Aeron was thinking of. A nipped nose was one thing, having fingers cut off or the like was not something that Aeron cared for. The taffy was a reddish pink color. It tasted rather good and Aeron began to relax slightly. What was wrong with simple taffy? It tasted good! Aeron wondered if Corwin was actually not joking for once, but Aeron didn't throw the idea out entirely.

Aeron knew Corwin ALL too well and sometimes got into a fight with the other man. Nothing lasting, but Aeron got testy to others when he was having a rotten day. He always apologized afterwards, but it never changed the fact that he blew up at others on his bad days. Finishing the taffy, Aeron looked himself over to see if anything had happened. If something did happen he hoped it wouldn't last long.

[CORWIN HARPER LANCASTER]

Aeron's rapidly vanishing smile drew an innocent, pleading look from Corwin. "As if I would ever do anything horrible to you!" he protested, jiggling the box enticingly. "I mean," he began to say, cutting himself off when Aeron took a taffy anyway. Corwin grinned happily and set the box on the counter as the other man ate the delicious candy. Fishing around in the box himself, Cor grabbed himself a black liquorish string which he quickly unwrapped and ate like a piece of spaghetti. "Only lasts an hour, no worries," he said a bit dismissively.

Merlin knows Corwin was far from perfect but he was so seldom a malicious prankster that it hardly bore mentioning. The products he sold were all geared towards simple fun, though he'd be the first to admit that some of them could probably be "hacked" into something nastier. Still, he didn't condone that sort of behavior. Did some of his personal pranks get out of hand? Sure. But severed fingers were never a good thing.

His grin widened as he felt the subtle magic in the candy take effect with a little fizzy tingle in his scalp. He went a bit cross eyed trying to look see his hair, or at least his beard, but was completely derailed as Aeron's dark hair took on a distinctly unnatural rosy hue. Cor couldn't help it. He chortled gleefully and reached out with the intent of ruffling the other man's now candy-colored hair. "What'd'you think?"

[AERON DONOVAN HEWITT]

Aeron glared and went in search of a reflective surface. When he saw the color of his hair he exploded, "CORWIN!" He turned and threw a punch in the other man's direction. It was a non harmful joke, but Aeron couldn't believe he fell for it! PINK HAIR?! Aeron snarled dangerously. Why couldn't it have been something he could deal with like green or blue hair? Why PINK?! He pulled Corwin close, "Tell anyone of this and I will make it to where you don't work in Hogsmede again."

He let Corwin go and shouted to anyone else in the store, "Same goes for you! Tell NO ONE!" Aeron stalked to a corner so he wouldn't be seen. Pink hair?! How humiliating. Why did he think taffy would do anything good? Bloody hell. Red hair would have been preferable. Aeron glared around him. After fifteen minutes he calmed a little. He still didn't like the pink hair, but at least it hadn't been dangerous. With a sigh he gathered some more air before he went in search of Corwin. He was sure that Corwin was sulking somewhere.

"Cor! Come here." Aeron needed to apologize. It had been a harmless joke. Maybe Aeron could find something good to come from it. Aeron was calm now. An hour or so, Corwin had said. Not bad. Some jokes could last for days without the proper counter spell or something.

[CORWIN HARPER LANCASTER]

Aeron's glare rolled off Corwin faster than water off a duck. Besides, its effect was rather lessened by the mane of taffy-pink hair he was currently sporting. His only response really, was to keep grinning. He figured this was a harmless enough joke. It was ridiculous but it wasn't dangerous or even long lasting. Surely Aeron, even as serious-minded as he seemed to be, couldn't find fault with it.

Or not. As it often happened, Corwin didn't realize the extent of his prankee's ire until a fist was flying at his face. His gleeful grin slipped and he made to dodge, not too keen on having his face rearranged. That he avoided, but he didn't manage to avoid the entire blow. It glanced off the side of his nose and mouth and sent him stumbling back a pace only to be pulled back, counter pressing into his stomach. His eyes widened at the unexpected threat. What was Aeron so mad about?

"Aeron, I--" Corwin began when he was released, trying to apologize. The other man had already stalked off to a corner though and the words fizzled out on Cor's tongue. He sighed and turned his back to lean against the counter, assessing the damage to his face. Sore, slightly puffy bit of his lower lip and a sore nose; not all that horrible. Sucking the weird bump of inflamed lip into his mouth, Corwin frowned to himself and headed to the back to make himself scarce. He really hadn't meant to anger Aeron; the joke was supposed to make him smile. Harmless and absurd; that usually made people smile at least a little. Maybe he should have grabbed some of the packaged candy floss so Aeron's hair wasn't the more ridiculous of the two.

Truth be told he was a bit worried. Had his silly little joke set Aeron off because he was already on edge? What a crap friend he was if that was the case. "Shite," he muttered and busied himself tidying up the mess he'd made fiddling with ideas and spare bits of scrap. Maybe he'd go buy a pint later and try apologizing again. He perched on the edge of his work table and ran a hand through his now liquorish-black hair, wondering how to make things right. He couldn't help who he was, if he could his younger brother would probably like him a hell of a lot more. What was a trickster to do?

It was then that he heard Aeron's voice calling him. The man hadn't left? Corwin perked up some. That was a good sign, right? He headed back to the storefront and offered Aeron a sheepish grin that was made a little lopsided by the slight swelling of his lip and nose that he hadn't bothered to Episkey. "Sorry, mate. I really didn't think you'd mind so much..." It wasn't the most eloquent of apologies but Corwin had never been very good at them.

[AERON DONOVAN HEWITT]

Aeron saw Corwin's face and winced, "Sorry about that. I overreacted. I just didn't expect pink. That's what I was angry about. I'm not worried about the fact that my hair's a different color." Aeron pulled out a spare kerchief and handed it to his friend. "Bloody hell. I thought my punch missed. Guess I was wrong." He was very guilty for what he did. Why did Aeron have to lose his cool like that? Aeron was really guilty for what he did.

The man knew Cor was just teasing and he offered a small smile, "After the shock of the hair I do find it a bit funny." He hoped that Corwin would forgive him for the bout of anger. Corwin was a good person and he enjoyed the joker's company. "I just ask that you keep this between us. If they find out about my pink hair they find out about your wound. I don't think either wants this to get out." He held out a hand, "Peace?"