absolute gravity [AMATERASU]

[Gawain O'Clery]

Gawain had had a particularly busy day, and he was settling down at the Three Broomsticks with a drink. He didn't have anything too strong, knowing that he would have to go home in whatever state he left this place in. His children were with their mother right now, the two youngest, and Gawain found himself suddenly with a free evening. He sighed a little bit. He wondered if he was the first father alive that wasn't enthusiastic about having time alone. He had been a father for thirteen years... He honestly wasn't sure how to be alone anymore.

And the Three Broomsticks brought back some bad memories. Well, they weren't bad, exactly. Quite the opposite. Gawain remembered the time that he had spent with his then girlfriend Annie, and those good memories had been spoiled by years of hardship as love turned into hate. Now Hogsmeade was the place where he did most of his business...

He wondered if he should use this time to get drunk. He never had the chance to, and he would probaby be fine getting home... But something stopped him. He knew just what it was, too. He was conflicted about the idea of losing his self-control when he had worked so long to be a good role model. He wasn't even sure what kind of drunk he would be anymore, and he could just imagine walking through Hogsmeade with his daughters and having some person relate to the trio about whatever Gawain had gotten himself into. No... It was a problem that he would rather avoid, and drinking was never worth it. His own mother could attest to that, if she wasn't too drunk to remember.

About ten minutes after arriving Gawain decided that he should head back. For some reason, there was an overabundance of teenagers and young adults. And then, he realized that it was probably a Hogsmeade weekend for the school. The last thing that he wanted was to have his oldest daughter find him drinking anything at all, because she would probably tell her mother about it and Annie would blow the incident out of proportion to make him seem like a poor father. She always said things like that, even unprovoked. He didn't want to give her a reason.

So he left the Three Broomsticks with his wares in hand. Today, he had been trying to sell some paintings and swords on the street because he didn't have any customers to deliver to. He'd sold a few, but nothing to brag about. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better.

[Professor Amaterasu Kuang]

Teaching had been much more complicated then Amaterasu had ever imagined. Especially at a school that was not specifically for the arts. She had never expected to have students in her class without the burning passion and artistic spirit that most artists possessed, yet she found herself with students looking for an easy out class with no inspiration or artistic inclination what so ever. It was frustrating for her to deal with such students, but she knew that was part of being a teacher. And despite some of her students she felt her first year teaching was going rather well.

Being at the school all the time was rather tiresome though. She was very used to life on the road with the opera touring companies she had been with from the tender age of 16 until recently. So staying in one place for some long was quite an adjustment for her, and somewhat vexing at times. So she had made it a habit to come down to Hogsmede every weekend and walk around, have some tea, and just enjoy the fresh air that never seemed to be present in cities. Today was one such day. She had dressed somewhat casually, put her hair up into her trade mark twist, and put on a coat to stroll the streets of the little town. The only give away to her operatic fame was a golden butterfly pin inlaid with small diamonds she wore in her hair. It was her trademark from her leading role in Madame Butterfly and she wore it everywhere she went. Most people thought it was just a lovely pin, but those in the know would recognize it.

She walked along the cobblestone paths slowly, her hands in her pockets and enjoying the fading day when something caught her eye. Someone, actually. It was a man who seemed to be carrying some rather interesting looking objects. She hadn’t seen him here on any of her previous walks so she didn’t think he was local just bringing home some new artwork, perhaps he was selling them. He wasn’t that far ahead of her so she caught up to him easily. “That’s quite an interesting haul you have there.” She said softly as to not startle the man had he not heard her approach, but pleasantly.

[Gawain O'Clery]

Hearing a soft voice, Gawain turned to find a stunningly beautiful (but unfamiliar) face. He knew that he would recognize her if he had seen her here before, both because he knew most of the people that were around Hogsmeade during the week, and also because despite her casual clothing she seemed different from most of the people here. Not only because today the street was full of Hogwarts students enjoying the weekend. He realized that he had been just sitting there for a moment. He looked down at the swords and paintings and laughed a little bit. The poor lady probably thought that he couldn't speak.

“Yes, I meant to sell them today. I didn't realize that it was Hogsmeade weekend already.” He was surprised actually that no students had come to him and asked if they could buy a sword. That had happened more than a few times, but he always refused. He wanted money, but he didn't want to be responsible for anyone at the school getting hurt. The fact that they would tie him to it was not an issue, he just knew as a parent what it was to have one's children in danger. He looked at the woman with interest. “Are you a professor? I have seen most of the people that come here during the week, but I don't believe I have ever seen you before. My name is Gawain O'Clery.” He extended his free hand to her with a small smile.

There were a lot of reasons why he might not have seen her that didn't have to do with school, he realized. That they might have just come here at different times, or she didn't live anywhere nearby, or countless others. But Gawain was in Hogsmeade so often that it was worth asking. He saw the golden butterfly pin and wondered about it, but he wasn't sure that he should ask. Already he was behaving somewhat impolitely for him. Maybe it was the alcohol...

[Professor Amaterasu Kuang]

Amaterasu's eyes found their way down to the various paintings and swords that she couldn't properly see from a distance. They weren't bad pieces, so when he said he had been intending to sell them she couldn't help but wonder if people were just not in a buying mood today or if people didn't recognize good artwork.“I see, what a shame. People must be so busy dealing with the students that they haven't payed much attention to the selection.”she said politely. Perhaps she would buy something, after all she needed more art for her classroom.

She nodded with a small smile when he asked if she was a professor, “I am. I'm the new Muggle and Magical Art teacher. I am Amaterasu Kuang, its nice to meet you Mr. O'Clery.” she said with a small habitual bow she had picked up in her Japanese school, before lightly shaking his hand. She didn't want to be rude so she had addressed him with his last name, another habit that had stuck around from her time in school.

She moved a bit closer to look better at his paintings and swords as she spoke next. "You must come here quite often to be able to pick out professors from the regular crowd so easily.”she said as her fingers lightly examined one of the swords he had. It was clearly a hand-made sword as it didn't have the look of the manufactured ones she was used to seeing on the stage. “Do you make all of these? They're rather impressive. You don't see many today who practice metal working with any real skill.” she asked, looking back at him with interest.

[Gawain O'Clery]

Gawain smiled. It as nice of her to say that, though he wondered if his work was losing quality. If even the students didn't ask him about the swords... But Gawain wasn't one to pity himself. He knew that if he truly was failing in one area, he would just have to find something else to pick up the slack. “That may be true. I hope that it is,” he said with a light laugh. He didn't want to bother her by asking her if she wanted to buy something, though his 'salesman instinct' told him that he should. The most he did was make it easier for her to see what there was.

He was used to people calling him O'Clery, but they usually left 'Mr' off. And most of them didn't bow either. He wondered if he had done enough not to offend her. “Nice to meet you as well, Ms. Kuang. You have a lovely name... Is that Japanese? I know Amaterasu is. A goddess,” he said with a smile on his face. He hoped it wasn't offensive to ask about the origin of her name, but he was a bit of a mythology nerd at one point in his youth and that didn't leave a man as he got older.

“Yes. If no one has made any orders I come to Hogsmeade to sell things. It works better than you would expect, with all the stores around. People have come here to spend money, and most stores don't carry what I do.” He couldn't help but feel a little proud of the swords, though it was a personal kind of pride and not the kind that was born of greed. “I think that is the way that most things should be. Done with a person's hands, crafted from the soul. Factories and magic can only do so much.” He decided to be a bit forward and ask her about the butterfly after all. He almost felt he had to, being a lover of craft. “That pin, I've never seen something of the like before.”

[Professor Amaterasu Kuang]

She nodded when he asked her ethnicity “I am, but only half. My mother is Japanese and my father is Chinese. My mother had a small obsession with mythology when she had me.” she said with a small laugh. She had ended up the only child in her family with such an odd name, when she was younger she hadn't like it all that much. Now however, she enjoying having such an uncommon name. It had helped during her opera career to set her apart from other auditioners.

She nodded as she listened to him explain about coming here to sell when he didn't have any orders elsewhere. It made sense to her. Go where people were looking to buy things already and you might have some success. “It makes good business sense to make things by hand I think. No one else can make it exactly the same twice. It makes things unique. Though perhaps you should update you calendar a little to avoid such a high number of students. You might have more success.” she said with a small smile, continuing to look through his wares slowly. She actually liked a few of the pieces quite a bit.

She looked up when he mentioned her pin. “Hmm? Oh, this?” she said, pulling the pin from her hair and holding it up to show him a bit more easily. “Its not surprising. It was custom made for me by my first opera company after a successful tour of Madam Butterfly.” she explained with a small smile, holding it out for him to examine the gold metalwork inlaid with small diamonds.

[Gawain O'Clery]

Gawain had to laugh at Amaterasu's explanation, because he had something similar. “I was named after Gawain, one of King Arthur's knights. I suppose that our parents have ideas in their heads when they name us...” That was true of everyone, but it was more of a show of faith to name someone after a goddess or a knight rather than a family member or something like that. “At least no one else in the world would have the same name that you do.” He doubted that there was another Gawain O'Clery in the world either, but it sounded more regular.

He laughed yet again at her advice. She had a good point. He needed to keep track of things like that, because they were business variables as much as anything else. “You're right. Well, no one is perfect. Besides, if I had done that I wouldn't have been able to speak with you.” Instantly Gawain regretted his words. They sounded much more forward than they had within his mind. Since he had been married for so long, he never just hit on women in the streets. But she probably wouldn't believe that. There was no reason to trust that he wasn't that kind of person. His face felt warm and he felt as foolish as a teenager.

“Madam Butterfly?” Gawain repeated. Then he smiled with recognition. “I have heard of that before. It is really fine craftsmanship.” He looked at the pin in all its detail and found himself inspired. He could never make something exactly like this. He couldn't help his enthusiasm about the pin itself though he was interested in her career too. “You went from touring with an opera company to working at Hogwarts? How did that happen? If you don't mind my asking. It just sounds like it would make a good story.”

[Professor Amaterasu Kuang]

She smiled, at least she wasn't the only one with an mythological name. “Yes, there most likely isn't. It helped my opera career immensely I think, to have such a different name. Has it helped you as well?” she asked, looking up from his various paintings and swords. She smiled when he laughed at her advice, and its true, they wouldn't have run across each other if he had known it was a Hogsmede weekend. “That's very true. Then you might have missed out on a potential customer.” she said with a small laugh, having missed the forwardness of his comment. She had a tendency to miss things like that at first, perhaps that was why she was still single after all these years.

He recognized the opera, which was good. She liked not having to explain opera to people. “It's not to terribly interesting. I've been touring since I was 16 with a few different companies, became quite in demand for a few of them. I wanted a change of pace though, so I moved to London to be a consultant for the opera house here. Then I heard about the opening for the art teacher at Hogwarts and I just applied. It seemed like it would be fun, a new challenge to prepare me to perhaps open my own studio.” she said, waving it off slightly with a smile. She didn't feel the need to mention her fame, anyone who looked her up could find that out, plus it was nice to be treated normally by people which was another reason she had picked England over France or Italy. People here weren't quite as familiar with her face.

[Gawain O'Clery]

“No, not really... Though there are always people who are willing to comment on the fact that 'my swords are fit for a knight' and look at me as though we're sharing a private joke.” Gawain smirked at the thought of that. Everyone thought that they were clever, the first to think of it, but he had been getting comments like that ever since he was a child in school. “I believe that I've damned my children, too, with the names that I've given them.” He hoped that would lead them to success like it did for Kuang. He seemed relieved that she didn't take offense. Actually she didn't seem to notice his slip at all. “A potential customer, hmm? What can I do to make you walk away with one of these swords today?” he asked in a teasing voice, like salesmen often did when making a deal.

Gawain did find her story interesting. As a man who went from job to job, he understood the way it felt to need a change. Probably better than most people did, he was so restless sometimes. “An Opera star at Hogwarts. They attract the best, it has always been true. At least you will have experience with students that way, even if the subject is a bit different.” He thought fondly of Hogwarts. “How are things there now? I was attending when the business with the Dark Lord Voldemort came about...” He realized something after that. “Oh, you probably didn't attend Hogwarts as a student, did you?”

[Professor Amaterasu Kuang]

Amaterasu smiled slightly, “That must be quite annoying after a while.” she said with a small shake of her head. Though he said he had named his children in a similar fashion. “Really? What are their names?” she asked, moving a few of the paintings to have a seat on the bench so she could look through them a bit better. “Does your wife have a similarly odd name?” she asked, flipping through the paintings before pulling one out.

“Well, I would consider walking away with a sword if a painting was thrown in. I need some more artwork for my classroom, and these would do nicely to show my students a wider variety of art.” she said with a small laugh, holding up one of the smaller paintings with a smile. She was partially teasing as well, but it never hurt to try.

She nodded at his comment of Hogwarts attracting the best. From what she'd seen there was a very fine assembly of teachers at the school. “That's the idea. I was somewhat lacking in my experience with the untrained, which I'll need if I want to open a studio. Though I had never expected some of them to be so...unyielding.” she said with a small frown, recalling some of more uninspired students she currently had.

“Yes, unfortunately I'm not the right person to ask about that. I attended school in Japan during that whole ordeal. I remember hearing about it, was it truly as bad as the paper said?” she asked, the smile fading from her face. She didn't know all that much about the actual events that took place, but from what she had read it seemed terrifying.

[Gawain O'Clery]

Gawain smiled wryly. “My daughters are Idril, Olwen, and Alannah. And my son is Cirdan. Cirdan and Idril are names of elves. Olwen is from King Arthur stories, so I don't know why I wanted that. My wife named Alannah.” He laughed. Of course it was the most ordinary sounding name that he didn't come up with. It was obvious that he loved fantasy stories, even being of muggle origin. When asked about his wife Gawain clearly hesitated. “No. Her name is Annie. But we're divorced now, so I suppose it doesn't really matter.”

It was always awkward to bring up the divorce thing. Mostly, it made the person that Gawain was talking to feel uncomfortable. By now, he was more relieved that she was out of his life.

He smiled at her 'offer'. “If you mean to say that you are more interested in the paintings... I could either honor that, or we can say two paintings for the price of one.” It was amazing that she would even be interested in the art. She was a professor at Hogwarts, and she likely knew good art when she saw it. So he was flattered. Even if she was only being nice about it.

“You mean to say that some of them took the class to have a 'free period'?” Gawain asked with a small frown. He remembered dealing with classmates like that in school. “Don't worry. Maybe by the end of the year they'll have gained an appreciation for art that they never had before. That's the best thing that a teacher can do for her students.”

Gawain nodded. It had been a long time since he had spoken about it to someone who hadn't been there. It was hard even to know what to elaborate on, so much had happened at once. “It may depend on who you ask, but... In my opinion, yes. I've still never seen anything worse. It's as though they had gone into my own home and killed my family... Hogwarts was like that for so many people. That was almost worse than the peril the wizarding world was in.” He shook his head. “That sounds incredibly selfish...”

[Professor Amaterasu Kuang]

He wasn't kidding when he said he had passed the odd names onto his children. She hadn't heard the names before, but then again she was much more familiar with asian mythology naturally. His wife had picked the most normal sounding name of the bunch. Though the news that they were divorced came as a bit of surprise. “Oh...I'm sorry. Have you been separated long?” she asked, knowing she should probably drop the subject, especially if it was a recent split. She didn't want to make him to terribly uncomfortable or unhappy by continuing the topic or pry into things he would rather not share.

She mused on his counter offer for a moment with a small 'hmmm...' before holding out her hand to shake. “I do believe you've just earned yourself another sale Mr. O'Clery. I'll take two paintings for my classroom.” she said with a smile. “See, the day isn't a total let down business wise.” she added with a small laugh, placing two of the paintings on her lap.

She nodded with a small frown as he mentioned the 'free period' expectation. “Yes, I'm afraid thats the way they see it. I can only hope I can achieve that for them though, the appreciation. Perhaps some of them might even consider taking future art classes, but I suppose that depends on how convincing I am as a teacher.” she said with a small shake of the head.

She listened eagerly as he spoke about the battle. No one seemed to really want to talk about it who had been there. She didn't blame them though, they weren't fond memories for anyone involved, but she couldn't help but be curious. “I see. No, not to selfish. Everything feels worse when you feel your family is being attacked, especially when you're young. You must be happy, knowing that the schools been rebuilt and has been carrying on quite well.” she said, trying to bring to mood back up a bit. She was never one to dwell on the bad for to long, preferring the much happier aftermath.

[Gawain O'Clery]

“Almost two years, legally,” Gawain said. He could have kicked himself for adding in the last word which was meant to remain in thought form only. “Honestly, though, it was one of those relationships that should have ended a long time ago. Or, I would say that, if not for the fact that we had children. It's hard to have regrets about something that brought about what makes you happiest.” He smiled a little bit. He couldn't say that he loved his wife as he used to, but he did love the children. He wasn't so bitter anymore. He thought it best anyway to think of it in a positive light while speaking to someone else. There was no reason to make this woman feel uncomfortable.

He couldn't help but smile widely at her words. “You're right. Not a let down at all. I had lost hope when I realized that nearly everyone in Hogsmeade today was students. And I have pestered the other teachers enough.” He winked at her playfully, in a much better mood than he'd been before she came along. He would still always wonder whether she actually liked the paintings or not, but sadly he was in a position where he could accept pity.

Gawain thought. “Well, when I was in school I remember that there were two kinds of teachers that always got the job done. The ones that were strict yet fair, and the ones that scared their students into finishing their work. You seem to me to be the first. Which art forms do you cover?” When he had been in school he had liked art class, but it really had seemed too easy at times. It was all about the way the teacher went about things.

For some reason it was nice to talk about the battle. Pretending that it didn't happen seemed to be a good way to ensure that it would happen again. “Yes, it is a relief. I have two children that are attending Hogwarts right now. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have something like that happen again. But I shouldn't consider the possibility right now, should I? Hmm... Were the Death Eaters very big in Japan?”

It seemed like the whole world revolved around the Death Eaters when he was younger. But he couldn't tell if it was just in their part of the world. Eventually Voldemort would have affected everyone, but... Then again, Durmstrang boasted of some Death Eaters, too...

[Professor Amaterasu Kuang]

Two years was a relatively short time when talking about something as sensitive as a divorce, but the last word hinted at something more. Luckily she didn't have to guess at the something because he offered the information freely. So the marriage hadn't been a happy one, but he was happy about his children. “At least there was some happiness that came out of it. I've known couples where it was all bad.” she said with an encouraging smile and a small quick pat on his shoulder. She didn't really know him, but it felt like the right thing to do at the moment.

“Ahhhh so you go for the fresh meat then.” she said jokingly with a laugh at his wink. She was fairly pleased she had come over to him. Who knew she would have a nice conversation here today, unlike how solitary her usual visits were.

She shook her head with a small smile, “I try not to be to strict on them, but it's difficult from what I'm used too in the theater. I teach both Muggle and Magical Art. The former is somewhat easier for me though. I was actually very nervous in the beginning of the year about the magical art, since I know so much more about the Muggle arts, having worked with them for so long.” she said, remembering how she had been pouring over her notes for the first few classes over and over again weeks before school had started, afraid she wasn't including everything she could within reason.

So two of his children were actually attending Hogwarts, she wondered if she had either of them in one of her classes. She'd have to look over the rosters once more to be sure. “Well, I think if no one considers the possibility then it might happen easier then one would think...but hopefully it wont. The Death Eaters weren't all that prevalent, no. We knew they were there, but they weren't as public as the ones here until the very end.” she said, shaking her head. She remembered seeing things in the paper, no where near as bad as it had been in the UK, but disturbing things none the less that had happened right before the Dark Lord fell. It was kind of odd really, the sudden flare up. Perhaps they thought he would've won the battle and could get away with finally acting out, only to be squashed easily the minute he fell.

[Gawain O'Clery]

Gawain nodded, thinking of his parents. There had actually been times when he'd wished that he'd never been born so that they didn't need to stay together. No child should have to feel that way. “Thank you for not bolting when I brought that up. A lot of people do so... Politely enough.” He laughed. “Are you married, Ms. Kuang?” It was funny to him that he would still refer to her as miss while asking the question, but she hadn't corrected him earlier. Unless she was in a bad situation she would probably have done so. Being an Opera star then a teacher, she must not have a lot of time for a husband.

“Hey! Weren't you the one that approached me?” Gawain asked in a higher-than-usual voice, as though her words had offended him. “And, if I recall correctly, you were also the one that offered to buy something. But... yes. I suppose if I'd noticed you first I would have come with my salesman talk. And probably come away with two more paintings than I will.”

Gawain felt rather like an idiot when he spoke again. “What is the difference between muggle and magical art?” he asked. Despite being an artist himself he had never thought about things in muggle and magical terms. He was a half-blood, for one thing, and he had been introduced to all kinds of art throughout the years. “Strict is not a bad thing, by the way. I had professor McGonagall in school, and she was one of the best professors that they had. Another teacher was not so much strict as he would play favorites, and... well, that probably worked out well one fourth of the time.” At least Amaterasu being from another school would mean that she didn't favor any of the houses too much.

“What did they do at the end?” he asked, unable to help himself. He had never heard about the way it was from someone outside of the UK, and it was hard to resist asking her. Then he realized... “Do you want to step inside somewhere? Have a drink of some sort, maybe? I don't want to make you hold those paintings for too long...” There were magical fixes to that but Gawain was sometimes stuck in his ways and did most things by hand, including carrying items.