Dearest Cousin, Have a Drink

Balthazar Harding was not an alcoholic. People could whisper such words behind his back, or exchange knowing glances whenever he ordered another drink, but the thoughts of other people wouldn't make it true. He might have been, once, when he was young and foolish and pretended not to know the meaning of the word responsibility. Now, however, he was not nearly so naive.

He'd had things so easy, when he was young. Sure, he'd had a lot of pressure on his shoulders from his father, but that had been a piece of pie in comparison to now. His father had retired, handing over his half of Harding & Sinclair to his only son. That hadn't been too difficult, Balthazar had been prepared and waiting on that very event for years. Hell, he'd practically been in charge of his father's half of the business for the last decade. What was difficult, was his work partner.

Balthazar had always adored his little cousin, but that didn't mean the wizard couldn't admit that Sebastian was not ready for what life had handed him. Bash had been through a lot recently, his father's death, the company, whatever the hell was currently going on in his love life. The man wasn't nearly as efficient as his father had been, understandably enough, but Balthazar had spent a decent amount of time over the past few months picking up his cousin's slack. Still, Balthazar knew that he couldn't blame the younger wizard. The fault at least partially laid with Bal himself, having introduced Bash to drinking and drugs instead of responsibility and company politics. While Balthazar had aged, he'd learned to balance all aspects of his life, something the much younger Sebastian had yet to completely grasp.

Tucked away in a quiet corner of the Leaky Caldron, Balthazar sipped on his beer, waiting for his cousin to walk through the door. They made sure to meet up every two weeks, not counting board meetings, to have a drink and a chat. Bal figured they both deserved it, and it was rather nice to find out what was going on in his cousin's life from Bash himself, instead of through the H&S grapevine.