when two legends collide

[ODETTE HARMON]

A huff of annoyance echoed loudly throughout the head office of the Department of Magical Games & Sports. Its sole occupant was annoyed at how long this was taking her. She had been working on a massive project, one that would expand the department and the game of Quidditch tenfold. She had been waiting for additional information that one of her employees was supposed to bring her earlier. However, said employee went home for the evening and had yet to respond to any of her owls. She wanted to get this done so she could present it for consideration.

She closed the file she had been leaning over, her frustration making her want to quit for the evening. She was too angry, and she knew it would hinder her more than help if she kept trying to work on this. Her eyes shifted to the clock on her wall, and she sighed, knowing she had one final meeting scheduled for the evening. Phillip Abbott was… well, to be honest, she didn't know. She didn't know him, just of him.

He had been a player when she had been, though he'd played much longer than she had since he was older than her by a handful of years. But then she had heard about his unfortunate fall from grace, and she had always felt bad for him, even if she figured he'd done it to himself with all the drinking. But now he was coaching one of her teams (not in ownership, but in her league), and she would need him to keep things ship-shape so as not to mess up the plans she had for the British and Irish Quidditch League.

A knock sounded at her door, and she sighed once again. she would much rather grab a pint and some fish and chips, but this needed to be done. "Come in," she called as she took the folder she'd been recently pouring over and placed it in the top right-hand drawer of her desk. She would either work on it more when he left or take it home. She'd already invested too much into this project. "Mr. Abbott, thank you for agreeing to meet with me," she said as she switched into work mode and stood to greet the man who'd just walked into her office.

PHILLIP ABBOTT - nudge me for any changes ♥

[PHILLIP ABBOTT]

Detention! And on a school night too! But he had fun things to do (not necessarily planned but they would come to him - they always did). Then again... wasn't that the point of detention? To be on a school night and hinder your plans? Then again *again*, he wasn't a kid in school anymore so this wasn't detention as much as a stern lecture about how he would be fired for good good (not as a player but as a coach this time) if he didn't ship up and shape out... whatever that meant. On second thought, yeah, this was very much detention.

"Knock knock. Who's there? It's me." He racked an unapologetic knocking medley of the muggle hit 'Hey There Delilah' against the wooden door before helping himself and opening it, poking his head in with his usual cheeky grin that either won you over, super duper won you over, or pissed you off.

"Oh. Is that one of mine?" He noted boldly with no shame, nodding and pointing toward the folder she was peering over. "Not as good as the first one mind you but certainly a banger never the less. Critic's choice no, but People's Choice? Yes. Definitely." Sliding inside, still maintaining his smile, he closed the door behind him using his rear and hands, not tearing his gaze away from the woman on the opposite side of the desk. Not someone he recognized - which was saying something - and he was certain had he seen her he would have remembered even if he had been three sheets to the wind. Or was it two? Lots of sheets. Pretty. Woman. Pay attention, Abbott. I am paying attention, I'm just also making an observation. No you're- wait a second. Are you having a conversation with your inner monologue now? Well, if I am, it's not an inner monologue is it? It's an inner... I dunno... Conversation? Inner conversation are you a moron?! Well I oughta - girl. Pretty girl. Pay attention. Right.

"Please... Mister Abbott is my father's name. You may call me my Father's Son." She probably didn't find that funny. Nah, she definitely did. Just couldn't show it. At least that's what the Canadian decided. Whoever this woman was, pretty one that she was, she didn't look happy to be there either. She did a far worse job of masking that however. At least Phil could manage a grin, she was sporting the biggest sour puss he had ever seen. Still pretty though. Beautiful even.

"Oh yeah. Agree. Totally." He leaned against the wall crossing his toned arms over his chest. "I find it easier to agree with three aurors standing in front of me glaring and holding out a summons. Two of them were bald by the way. Dude in the middle had a beautiful blonde mullet. It was like a hair sandwich. Didn't even know mullets existed anymore though I'm all for business in the front, party in the back. Aren't you?" Nope. Definitely not. "So you know my name, Father's Son, mind telling me who you are or do I get to guess? Leslie? Patricia? Patrice? Debby? Sandra? Kelly? Monica? Shoshanna? Beverly? Dorothy? Ken? Tell me when I'm getting warm... Samantha? Leia? Sarah? Sara with an a? Massachusetts?"

[ODETTE HARMON]

The man sauntered in with that i-know-you-will-think-that-i-am-an-asshole-in-about-twenty-seconds grin on his face, and Odie couldn't help but roll her eyes. He seemed flippant, as expected, and she wasn't sure if she liked it. He had no way of knowing why she had asked for this late afternoon meeting, but he was going to find out soon enough.

He was also quick to tell her not to call him Mr. Abbott since that was his father. But then he told her that she could call him my Father's Son, and she furrowed her brow in confusion. "Wha-" she started as he moved over to the wall to lean against it, but stopped when he started peaking again.

He was talking about three Aurors, two of which were bald and one who had a mullet (a mullet, really?), and something about a sandwich. She had no idea what he was talking about and was about to ask him what he was talking about when he shifted gears slightly.

She sighed as he started ticking off names hoping to guess right. She was sure he wouldn't, but she wouldn't sit there and let him keep naming names until he got it. "Not even close," she finally managed to get in, her tone sharp and her annoyance obvious. "My name is Odette Harmon, and I'm the head of this department," she said as she lifted her chin slightly to look at him standing there against her wall. "I asked you here because I thought we should have a chat now that you’re the new Harpies coach," she told him bluntly.

PHILLIP ABBOTT - nudge me for any changes ♥

[PHILLIP ABBOTT]

She wasn't amused. That much was clear even to someone who couldn't see her face but Phil, well, he just didn't notice (or more than likely he just didn't care). The Beater turned bar owner and very apathetic coach continued grinning away like the mutt who got into the trash before the owner could do anything about it. And Phil loved trash. Some might argue that he was garbage! And honestly, Phil had long ago accepted that they probably weren't wrong.

"Not even close."

"If I had a galleon every time that I heard that." He retorted with a cheeky little smile not caring how problematic it was for him to say it to someone he technically worked for let alone that it was essentially a self burn eluding to him being inept in the bedroom. But Phil, as usual, didn't tend to get bogged down by the particulars or specifics. Those were boring and time consuming. He preferred to live off the cuff even if often at his own expense.

"Odette, huh?" A hint of his ever present smile still very confident despite not having figured it out. "That was my next guess." You know, except that it wasn't. "What is that? Greek? French? Italian?... Swan?" He paused, his grin growing in excitement of his own realization. "Ya know... Like that muggle movie with the swan princess. What's it called? Oh yeah. Swan Princess." He continued leaning, shifting a bit against the wall still trying to keep up the casual appearance. "American film making very on the nose. Typical Bruce Springsteen move if you ask me." That probably didn't make any sense. Oh well. Didn't matter. Something else she had said caught his attention.

"Good for you." The empty praise led to a pause and then... "What department?" Glancing around he looked back to the woman behind the desk. "Oh. This one. And that would be?..." Her mention of his profession had a bit of a sobering effect. His smile briefly faltered before he could plaster it back on. "Not by choice." He responded just as blunt. Two could play this game and Phil loved games - he had made a career out of it. "I prefer to have my chats over dinner... expensive ones." Yeah, that probably didn't help things much.

"Please don't tell me you're a vegan."

[ODETTE HARMON]

Odie found herself getting more and more annoyed with this man. Had he gotten drunk before he came to this meeting? She fought the frown that threatened to take over her facial expression as she looked at him. He stood against the wall, and she wanted nothing more than to knock that cheeky grin off his face. But she knew she couldn't because she was on the clock and this meeting was work-related.

He continued to ramble on about nothing important and certainly nothing to do with work or the point of this meeting. He was starting to piss her off now, and she was almost to the point of screaming. However, when her words finally seemed to sink in, he sobered quickly. Interesting, she thought to herself.

His comment about being the coach of the Harpies wasn't his choice caused her eyebrow to tick. Was there something there that she needed to know? She wanted to ask him but didn't when he told her he preferred his chats over expensive dinners. Was he asking her to dinner? She blinked when he told her not to tell him she was a vegan.

Odie took a deep breath before responding to him. She could do this one of two ways and decided to play his game. Plus, once she was out of the office, she wouldn't hesitate to slap him if he needed it. "That's a form of self-torture I'd never want," she told him honestly. "And the only way there's going to be an expensive chat is if you're buying," she said with a grin, and she began to close up her things. She knew she wouldn't be working on any of it for the rest of the evening, so she would leave it here overnight.

PHILLIP ABBOTT - nudge me for any changes ♥

[PHILLIP ABBOTT]

Oh. She was annoyed. Pissed even. Phil couldn't help but smile quite pleased that he 'still had it' (whatever it was). It took all of his manly emotional muscle strength (very little) to not sport his signature grin (and he barely succeeded) now leaning over one of the chairs facing her desk. He wouldn't sit but he sure as heck would use this chair a thousand different ways and in different poses just to spite the notion.

"Relieved to hear that." He remarked without skipping a beat. "If you were one of those atrocious herbivores I would have had to report you to Congress and they don't want to hear from me as is." There was an understatement. People in high positions tended to avoid Phil if only for job security. He had a knack of delivering a really legendary fun night followed by a swift dismissal from your position the following morning.

Wait. Was she agreeing to go to dinner with him? Was she calling his bluff? Whoah. She was serious. Now he felt less in charge. "So... like... Applebees?" The words left him unsurely, so unlike him. Phil was very much a fake it until you make it sort of bloke.

[ODETTE HARMON]

She was not getting anywhere with this man, this frustrating, egotistical, obnoxious man. She hated giving him so many adjectives because she didn't want to find him charming. But he was funny, she had to give him that, but she could not crack a smile. She would not. She wouldn't dare give him that satisfaction.

Not today, anyway.

His crack about her being an herbivore almost made her laugh. Almost. But she kept it at bay because she knew he wanted that. He had the upper hand if she caved, and she would be dammed if she let him think that.

When she told him that the only way she'd go to dinner with him was if he was paying, he seemed a bit taken aback. Had she caught him off guard? A smirk threatened to take form on her lips, but she refused to let it. She couldn't. Not yet.

When he responded next, he seemed unsure of himself, which caught her by surprise. She arched an eyebrow when he asked if a place like Applebee's was what she meant. She merely shrugged a shoulder. "If that's your way of showing a girl a good time, then sure, why not," she said to him with a shrug.

She then stood from her desk, waving her hand over her desk to cause all her folders and files to go into the top right drawer of her desk neatly, and then again to lock the drawer before she turned to face him. "We standing here all day or you buying me dinner, Abbott?" she asked, her smirk finally showing.

PHILLIP ABBOTT - nudge me for any changes ♥

[PHILLIP ABBOTT]

"Hey now. Wait a second. What was that?" He keyed into the slight twitch of her mouth boldly pointing his finger at her from across the room and his adidas sneaker clad feet carried him the rest of way to behind her desk standing in front of her. "That right there... Is that a smile I see?" Probably not the wisest thing to do, cornering your boss about smiles but then again Phillip wasn't the sharpest fish in the sock drawer.

"Two for twenty is always a good time." He responded too quickly, too sincerely, too defensively. He didn't know a heck of a lot, but he knew Applebees like the back of his hand. The left one. He didn't see the right one too much. "My checkbook certainly thanks me come tax season. Just wish Applebees would sponsor me. Then I wouldn't need to buy a check book at all... Did you know some places still take checks?!"

It was when she turned around actually giving into the smile that his own grew into a grin (not a cocky one but a genuine one). He had made plenty of women smile in more ways than one during his days (he had even made one he loved cry something awful) but somehow this one felt special amongst the sea of nameless faces and faceless names. This one was earned. "If you get to walking I'll get to buying." He retorted, hands on either of his hips he then *actually opened the door for her* and gestured to the hall. My how things had changed!

Later, one hand in his pocket and the other holding an ice coffee he chatted with his boss, lady friend, thorn in his side, date, er.... Odette? "So..." He swirled the ice in his cup taking a sip through a pink straw (that he picked over the other available colors). "How'd you end up working for Games and Sports? Did you drink a lot and fall off your boom in a televised event?" Like he did. He stopped. Oh. Maybe that was a rare thing. "Or, like, uh something else? Probably something else, right? Right. Right." He murmured the last right under his breath and went to take another sip of his drink only to completely miss his straw and gulp air. "You probably went to one of those fancy schmancy post magic school universities, huh?" Where she would never miss a straw.

[ODETTE HARMON]

He called her out, which made it harder for her not to smirk openly at him. But she was still on the clock, and she couldn't do that just yet. Her official workday needed to end before she could let some of her guards down.

She hated how easy being charming came to him, even if he got muddled underneath all of that asshol-iness he exuded in waves. That bastard, she thought to herself as he moved closer to her, her pride not letting her falter. "It's not, I assure you," she said with a shake of her head. It was, though.

When she finally turned around to look at him, she didn't hide her smirk. She asked if they were leaving, and he, in turn, responded that he'd start buying when she started walking. "Touché," she said with a roll of her eye. the pair then left her office and headed out for the evening.

How had that even happened?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Later, the pair were walking down a random street with drinks in their hands and an awkward silence settling over them after their meal. He went to say something but paused after a single word, the tension thick enough to steal his words.

He then asked her how she had gotten involved with the department; it was his way of asking her what sidelined her career. He then used his fall from grace as an example of what could have happened to her. But then he seemed anxious about doing so, so he backpedaled a bit.

"Shows what you know," she said when he said something about her going to a fancy magic university. "I was drafted right out of Hogwarts by the Arrows. I stayed with them my entire career until I got hurt and couldn't play anymore," she said.

She was bitter about it, but what could she do; the attempt to correct that, even with magic, could do more harm than good, and she wasn't willing to risk that. "So I opted to start working here so I could start developing something I've been thinking about since I was a student," she said.

PHILLIP ABBOTT - nudge me for any changes ♥

[PHILLIP ABBOTT]

"I'll have you know that I don't know a whole heck of a lot." Phillip remarked proudly, despite the words he had loudly declared only for his eyes to widen as they settled in. "Wait." No. That had come out wrong. But what had he meant? No matter how much his brain wrestled with the words, forcing them into different configurations he couldn't figure it out. "No. The opposite of that. Wait." The former beater thought over it some more. It was all in vain. "Yeah. No. Yeah. Wait. Yeah." Yeah what? At this point he was no longer sure. Oh well! His grin was back as he continued walking alongside Odette. He was a muscle man not a mind man. That was for dang sure. 

"Arrows, huh?" Quick buddy, turn on the charm and make poetry happen. "You know what they say about hammers and arrows..." What do they say? He didn't know so he didn't complete the thought nor the sentence. He was already onto the next thing (mainly because he had to be). "Hurt? Hey me too." A bit of an exaggeration. Sure, he had fallen off of his broom and it had hurt but it wasn't a career ender. The fact that he had been drunk and this was the last accident in a series of instances of bad behavior? That may have had something to do with it.

"They take us in then spit us back out when they're done with us, huh?" He remarked, though again his own ousting had been entirely his own fault. "Here." Without asking he shoved his drink in her face straw and all. "Want a sip?" He offered with a toothy grin, shaking the contents as if it might entice her. "C'mon. If you use my straw it'll be like we kissed which, lets face it, we're gonna do anyways." Ugh. Must he ruin everything with his dumb sense of humor and inability to be subtle? Yes. The answer was yes, always!

[ODETTE HARMON]

She snorted softly when he proudly told her he didn't know much. She knew it wasn't what he meant (she hoped), but it was funny to hear him say it the way he did. He then got flustered, and her smile faded slightly. But then he carried on a bit longer, and her smile returned, though she didn't laugh at him.

The way he said Arrows gave her pause. She could tell he was thinking something stupid, and she wasn't disappointed when he said something about arrows and hammers. She wanted to say something, but he seemed to plow right through that and talk about how he'd gotten hurt and stopped playing.

Before she could register what he was doing, Phillip was facing her and thrusting his drink in her face, offering for her to have some. She moved back a bit and shook her head. "No, thank you, I'm good," she told him, her hands moving up slightly to shield her slightly. And then he said something about them kissing later that evening.

It was amazing how quickly this man could go from charming to a complete idiot to charming to an asshole, and so on. It was enough to make one's head spin, and Odie was getting whiplash. But, at the same time, she could also understand it. Sort of. She couldn't explain it if asked, but she didn't hold everything against him to the same caliber as others. He was as human as she was, and so one.

"I don't have room for that tonight, so I can't help you with that. Apologies and all that," she told him cheekily. Who was he to think that she would kiss him because they had dinner and a drink or two? She wasn't easy and never intentionally made it appear otherwise.

PHILLIP ABBOTT - nudge me for any changes ♥

[PHILLIP ABBOTT]

She was smiling *and* laughing. That was a good sign wasn't it? Some might argue that she was laughing *at* him which was a judgmental thing, like he was such a clown that he couldn't be taken seriously, but in Phil's mind this was a win. Laughing meant looking, and looking meant caring enough to provide your attention, and providing your attention equated interest and, well - interest was certainly a step in the right direction. Quite literally as they were walking! This was all going so well (in his mind).

"Are you sure?" He couldn't take no for an answer when it came to sharing drinks mainly because it was absurd to him that anyone wouldn't want something that is free. Plus he owned a bar. Everyone should trust his drink judgment which was peak goodness!

"Room?" He blinked, truly confused (which wasn't saying much because he often was). "You barely ate anything." At least that's what he thought. Then again, he had pretty much housed a six person ice cream cake by himself unapologetically in front of her so maybe he wasn't one to talk. But he would talk anyways. Why prevent anyone from basking in his gift of gab? "Ya ever been to my a bar?" He questioned out of nowhere. Eyes widening somewhat he caught his error and froze before kicking his brain back into high gear. Blame the brain freeze. Yeah, that was it. "Er - I mean my bar. My bar. Duh." Phil exhaled. "Have you ever been to my bar?" He gave a lopsided little smile, still a bit embarrassed, and wouldn't ya know it? It was actually kind of cute.

"You should. It's actually kind of fun. And I'll have you know that other people besides me say that. And not for any bribe either and I'm pretty good at bribes!"

[ODETTE HARMON]

Odie wrinkled her nose and shook her head when he asked if she was sure about not wanting to share drinks with him. She didn't mind sharing things like clothes (they can be washed in-between wears) or bags and such, but food and drink were different, though she made more concessions with food than with drinks. She was weird like that, but she wasn't changing for him or anyone. "Pretty sure," was all she said. It was all she needed to say.

He then asked if she had ever been to his bar, and she paused before shaking her head. She first had to remember where it was but realized she'd only ever heard of it. "That's up in Hogsmeade, right? I don't get up there as often as I should," she told him. She was usually busy most days, so she rarely had time to attend Hogwarts matches, though she never got to hang around for too long afterward.

He told her she should find time to go since it was a fun place. She couldn't help but laugh softly when he said other people besides him thought it was a fun place to be. His comment about bribes made her purse her lips slightly at him, but she gave him a full smile afterward. "I'll have to see about that then. There's a match at Hogwarts in a couple of weeks that I am going to. Maybe I can swing by afterward; see if you’re lying or not," she teased.

PHILLIP ABBOTT - nudge me for any changes ♥

[PHILLIP ABBOTT]

"Pretty sure isn't a hundred percent sure." The once professional Quidditch beater noted with a slight cock of his head and raise of his brows as if he was making a very scientific, factual point. Really, he was just being a dope. What else was new? "Last time I checked." Which was never. He rarely looked both ways crossing the street, re-read anything (he barely even read anymore)... Caution and being observational wasn't his game. Drinking, goofing, bro-ing out, having a good time (or at least pretending to?) that was more his bag.

"I'll have to update my manners manual when I get home I guess. Will take a minute though, it's awfully dusty, I think I shoved it under a table at the bar. It was uneven." What was suggested as a joke was horrendously true. Sure he could buy a new table, he had the cash, but this was easier, it worked, and best yet it annoyed one of his longtime bartenders Maddox something awful everytime he set a drink down on it and it slid downward like it was on a slide. An amusement park for drinks! What was better than that? A beer maybe. Or shot. Or both. Both would be very good right now... or always. Maybe he had a problem... His problem was that he didn't have either of those things right now. Pushing the craving to the back of his mind by force he made himself take another loud sip through his straw.

"That's the one." He nodded actually quite proud of his dilapidated baby. "Quite literally actually. It's the only thing for about a block or two which works out pretty dang great for me. No competition. Mind you, as a former Hammer I don't mind a bit of competition pointless as it may be as I usually win I mean look at these guns." He flexed one arm trying to show off his residual muscle from his Quidditch days with such force that he accidentally chucked the cup of milkshake behind him where it crashed onto the cobblestone and splashed all over. He never once looked away from her and instead doubled down, flashing her a charming smile as if nothing embarrassing had occurred.

"You should come sometime. Even if it's only to yell at me. Lots of places for you to stand and do that and for me to take it." He gave her a wink. Not the best flirtation by any means but for Phil he saw it as golden. "Oh. Hogwarts huh?" He shifted a bit where he stood racking his brain. "Think I've heard of it." Yeah sure. It was one of a dozen magical schools in the world and had harbored one Harry Potter but Phil had 'heard of it it'. He was definitely putting on here, or he had fallen off his broom and taken one too many bludgers to the head far too many times. Maybe a mixture of all three? "Maybe I could come with you." There was no reservation in his words as he boldly suggested it. "I mean, I am the coach of a team, right?" Unless he had been fired and had slept through it. "The H... H..." What was their name again? "Her... Hur... Har... The Harpos. That's right. Love my little Harpos." Close enough. 

TAG: ODETTE HARMON

[ODETTE HARMON]

What was she going to do with him? Throttling him wasn't a bad idea, but fucking him into oblivion was also a good idea. Wait, what? Odette blinked rapidly as that thought crossed her mind. Why had that thought crossed her mind? No, she would not let him get the best of her. She wouldn't let him wiggle his way into her life that easily. Could she?

She arched an eyebrow at him when he told her that he would have to dust off his manners manual and update it the next time he had a free moment. She knew he was kidding, but she wondered if his statement had any truth. He was charming; she'd give him that, but he still had a lot of growing up to do. And while she'd love to tell him just that, she abstained. What place did she have to say such a thing to him anyway?

When he talked about his bar, she asked if it was the one in Hogsmeade, and she also made a point to include that she rarely got up there because she was always so busy. An understatement if there ever was one, but she didn’t have the time to overthink that – she had other things to focus on right now.

She had mentioned Hogwarts, and he told her he heard of it. He certainly should have if his bar were in Hogsmeade. How could anyone live or work there and not have heard of Hogwarts? "If you haven’t, then I think you need to take a trip to Mungo's," she told him with a roll of her eyes. She was sure he was messing with her, but it was hard to tell sometimes when he was just joking and when he was being serious.

She paused and raised her eyebrows when he asked if he could go with her to the game at Hogwarts she'd be attending. Before she could tell him that she would be okay with that, he reminded her that he was a coach and that it would benefit him to go, too. When he told her his team's name, she couldn't help but laugh. "You're so stupid," she joked, shaking her head at him. "But, yes, you can come if you really want to," she told him with a shrug of her shoulders.

PHILLIP ABBOTT - nudge me for any changes ♥