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Post by lizareese on Dec 20, 2007 1:09:27 GMT -5
Ten years? An approximate age finally. Though, she would not have pegged him for ten years. Ten years of traveling after graduating from school, would mean at least ten years her senior. If he worked at the shop he now owned for the amount of time she had been out of school, he would be at least ten years. He was much younger looking than she would have guessed his age to be. Perhaps she was being too judgmental? No, not yet.
Though, as intently as he listened to her go on, she listened right back, intrigued. A traveler in the midst? Indeed.
What pulled him back to London? Assumption would be Ollivander's shop. He covered the length of time. Covered where and why. What more could she do than admire the places and imagine all he learned from ten years of it?
"Wow..." she answered quiet impressed. "All of those places and yet you settled right into little old London?" she asked him teasingly. There could have been many reasons. If not Ollivander's, perhaps a love, family, a large number of reasons.
Just then the waitress returned to their table, poised and ready to take the order. And right then Elizabeth was not sure she even cared to order. Did they need to eat? The conversation itself was carrying the 'date' right along nicely, she thought.
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Post by Nick Taylor on Dec 20, 2007 1:27:07 GMT -5
Nick smiled as she teased him about his choice of returning to London. At the same time, it brought up an interesting question for the man. Why did he chose to return to London? Truthfully, it was probably just because that's where his home had always been. Besides, after he had been offered Ollivander's, the wand maker wasn't going to pass that up.
The shop owner had just opened his mouth and was ready to explain this to the woman sitting across from him when he was interrupted by the waitress, ready to take their food order. Closing his mouth, Nick smiled, then opened it again, repeating exactly what he said earlier. "Ladies first, Ministry woman."
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Post by lizareese on Dec 20, 2007 17:08:11 GMT -5
Was that sudden rush of heat a blush? The small, smirking smile on her lips would never portray that she was in the slightest bit embarrassed about the situation. No, Elizabeth was not embarrassed about being out with him, sitting in the Leaky Cauldron with a man she did not know but was learning much about, but rather she was amused by his insistence to not request her name. It was not embarrassing, no, much too intriguing for that. However, the appraising look from the waitress said it all. She was more than interested in his calling of her. Not to worry though, the waitress was not the one out with the shop owner. Was she supposed to look at the menu? As much as Elizabeth ate there at the pub, she knew her favorites by this point. Did she merely go with a standby? Or did she order something...different? Steak, not really first time out material. Salad? Please, she was hungrier than that. Chicken? It was a standby, not too typical and mediocre, actually a good choice.
"I will have the herb and lemon chicken, rice on the side with extra sauce." Simple. Simplicity was key after all, at least for a bit of time. And simple it would be. Not a glance at the menu, why should she hide that she had been there before? A number of times before. There was no reason to hide it, she had not spent nights out with other gentlemen, she had been alone. Dining alone was not the first choice of many, but she enjoyed it sometimes. It allowed time for her mind to relax and think without having to worry if she was going to overcook something in her apartment.
Throwing a small, shy smile at the man across from her, she waited for his order as well as any comments about her choice of plate.
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Post by Nick Taylor on Dec 22, 2007 0:22:44 GMT -5
The waitress stared down at Nick, apparently quite impatient. Already, she had seem unamused and even unimpressed that the shop owner kept calling his date "the Ministry woman," which might account for her lack of friendliness and non-interest. Despite this, Nick did not care; if he wanted to have dinner with the waitress, he would have asked her, not the woman now sitting across from him.
The Ministry woman seemed to immediately know what she wanted for dinner, indicating that she had visited the pub previously. For whatever reason, this made Nick slightly apprehensive as he had no clue what he planned to order for dinner. This was quite inconvenient when one considered that the waitress was now standing beside him, waiting for his order.
Rather than wasting time by looking over the menu, Nick just went for the first thing that came to mind. "Could I have the meatloaf with a side of mashed potatoes and coleslaw?"
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Post by lizareese on Dec 22, 2007 0:57:39 GMT -5
The waitress might not have approved of the shop owners calling of her, but Elizabeth did not mind. Cute, definitely. And besides all else, she technically did start it. They were not through dinner as of yet, so really, why exchange names. Would dating not be easier if this was how it was done. Then if by the end of the date something did not click, you would not have that person's name burned in your mind for months on end. Easy as cake. Truthfully though, she did not see something happening to make her not want to exchange names by the end of the night.
A small smirk reappeared on the corner of her mouth. Meatloaf. It was almost predictable. It was not usually a first dinner meal, normally closer to the fifth. Either he was extremely comfortable, nervous, or he actually trusted the cook.
After the waitress jotted the order down and turned from their table, she took another sip of her butterbeer and tried not to laugh through it. Amused she was.
"Meatloaf?" she asked teasingly. He had understood her teasing all night, surely he would now too.
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Post by Nick Taylor on Dec 23, 2007 1:39:53 GMT -5
Taking a drink of his butterbeer as the Ministry woman made fun of his dinner choice, Nick was forced to choke back a laugh. He grinned into his cup, unable to swallow the butterbeer. A moment or two later, he was finally able to consume the drink and the repressed laugh escaped his lips.
Shaking his head from side to side, he said, "making fun of my meatloaf?"
This, the shop owner realized, was quite interesting: if this were a 'normal' situation, Nick would have become quite nervous and embarrassed after being teased. Perhaps it was because he found himself very comfortable with the Ministry woman, or maybe it was because they had not exchanged names, but Nick was completely unconcerned. Whatever the reason was, Nick found himself very relaxed and, consequently, was not anxious or embarrassed when the woman teased him. It was nice.
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Post by lizareese on Dec 23, 2007 1:50:01 GMT -5
That was habit. Sometimes people just brought that liquid up to their lips and she had to risk being sprayed just to get a comment in. Thankfully though, she was not and got it in anyway. After a moment or two, in which he did not require CPR, he finally continued and spoke. Truthfully, it was funny, why deny it when she knew it was?
"No, making fun of your choice," she smiled at him. Why make fun of the meatloaf? It had not even arrived yet. That would happen when it arrived on a plate. Nothing harmful, just a little poking fun at it. Could she really make fun of something she had not seen as of yet, nor had any sort of visual description of? Perhaps, but this could wait. Prospects of teasing him were looking too good at the moment. "And maybe of you."
With a small wink to let him know she meant no harm, the smile on her lips widened in full. A nice large smile. After all, had the night not been full of light fun so far? "I could not pass up such an opportunity, now could I?"
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Post by Nick Taylor on Dec 25, 2007 23:54:47 GMT -5
A smile across his face, Nick shrugged. He knew that the Ministry woman was kidding the entire time, and he didn't mind at all. After all, had the evening progressed like a "normal" date would, they would probably be engaging in dry conversation about each other's careers right now. However, Nick much preferred the teasing and light-hearted feeling of the entire evening.
"I don't know..." Nick said, teasingly. "It kind of hurts my feelings." If the Ministry woman was allowed to tease, certainly the shop owner was permitted to do the same, right?
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Post by lizareese on Dec 26, 2007 1:36:10 GMT -5
"Oh," Elizabeth drew out and brought a mock hand up to cover her mouth as though she were sincerely sorry, like in older movies when a woman did. Completion of the final look ended with wide bright blue eyes that held a little too much sparkle that ruined the perfect look she had been trying for.
"If it will make you feel better," she began, wondering what kind of a reaction she would get from saying what she was about to, "I am only making fun of you because you are too cute not to." There, it had been said. It was too late to turn back time and change it. Now, for the reaction.
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Post by Nick Taylor on Dec 29, 2007 0:33:48 GMT -5
When it came to dinner date compliments, cute was about fourth on Nick's list. Compliments such as "hot piece of man," "beefcake," and "handsome" were higher on the list, but the shop owner still appreciated cute. The shop owner appreciated cute especially when he considered the way the Ministry woman had said it too him.
Still, the man had no idea how to respond besides the goofy grin he now had on his face. Truth be told, Nick was never very good at excepting compliments -- he once told his aunt that it wasn't nice to help his mother with the dishes when he was little -- and this was no exception. Making a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a suppressed laugh, the shop owner finally responded. "Is that so?"
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Post by lizareese on Dec 29, 2007 22:38:37 GMT -5
A smile that matched just what she said to boot. Actually, yes, Elizabeth did believe he was a rather good looking man, considering she still did not know his name. But to say because he was handsome? It just did not fit, whereas cute worked for the point she was trying to get across. Teasing, yet being a little bit serious, cute worked.
"Ja, I believe so," she said as she leaned forward slightly, her own smile planted. How could it not be so? The, what she believed was supposed to be a friendly gesture of laugh, was even cute. It all matched the man that was across from her. Cute face, cute laugh, nice voice, very nice smile, and not to mention a few other things. Handsome was a more well received compliment, she knew, but cute was what she thought fit the man before her.
((yes))
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Post by Nick Taylor on Dec 30, 2007 0:46:07 GMT -5
Already smiling, the shop owner began to show even more teeth when the Ministry woman began using her native language again. While Nick knew absolutely no German, he assumed that Ja was an affirmative. Perhaps, by the night was over, Nick might learn some German words. Perhaps, by the night was over, Nick might learn the woman's name.
Still smiling, the wand maker opened his mouth and was about to make a response when he saw their waitress returning out of the corner of his eye. Approaching the table, she was holding two plates: the pair's dinner. After the waitress set down the lemon chicken and meatloaf, she walked back to the kitchen.
"See," Nick said, grinning at the Ministry woman. "my meatloaf looks good, doesn't it?"
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Post by lizareese on Jan 1, 2008 22:10:05 GMT -5
Yes, a very nice smile.
A samll laugh, and she had to cover her mouth to keep from giggling like a school girl. True, she was hardly out of school, three years at most, but to giggle like a young girl? Not exactly what she was trying to get at by eating dinner with a true stranger she actually knew. Yes, a stranger. Never take candy from a stranger, but she had initiated the dinner, and she was a stranger to him. While she initiated, he asked, she accepted. It was not candy, it was dinner. More poison to flow through the system, but at least there was a full meal involved.
Glancing down at the plate set before the man, she smiled. No, it did not look necessarily appetizing, as she had expected it would not, though it did not look horrible. Wrinkling her nose, she shook her head playfully. "Not as good as my chicken does."
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Post by Nick Taylor on Jan 3, 2008 0:54:27 GMT -5
(Sorry that this is so short... and sucks.)
Nick knew the woman was only kidding, and so he laughed. Truthfully, however, he thought the meatloaf looked quite good. Either he had lower expectations than the Ministry woman, or she just didn't have enough experience with good, quality meatloaf. It was tragic, really. Meatloaf was definitely better than chicken, anyways.
"Hmm," Nick said, looking sideways at her meal, suppressing a smile. "Your chicken looks a tad dry to me."
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Post by lizareese on Jan 3, 2008 11:42:02 GMT -5
(no worries and it doesn't )"The reason for the extra sauce," Elizabeth smiled and laughed back at him. Low expectations and get enough extra sauce, it made the chicken pretty good in any place. It was all a matter of preparation. It was not as though she needed the extra sauce, she had gotten it in case the chicken was too dry, she had just wanted it to look nice by asking for it on the side with her rice. Lowering her voice, Elizabeth leaned a little closer into the table to tell the shop owner a little secret. "As many times as I have been here, their chicken is never quite right. It is always a little bit too dry, each and every time. I have learned to prepare for it." Winking at him, she sat back with a smile. There were no waitresses around, therefore she did not mind telling her secret where it could have been heard. Had one been standing too close, she would not have told.
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