gavin b cattermole, dragonologist in training. (thegavinator) wrote in thesocieties, @ 2010-11-16 17:21:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | ! log, 2023: 10/october, ch: chloe carmichael, ch: gavin cattermole |
WHO: Gavin Cattermole and Chloe Carmichael.
WHEN: Saturday, 16 October, lunch time. (SORRY, it's a MONTH LATE.)
WHERE: The Green Dragon.
WHAT: Date.
Waking up at ten o’clock in the morning was Gavin’s favourite weekend luxury. There were a few weeks when he was scheduled at the Reserve on a Saturday, but usually this involved having a day off midweek so that he didn’t end up living on the Reserve. Which, as nice as the idea might be, wasn’t exactly in Gavin’s long list of things to do before he died. Feeling quite relaxed today, Gavin was very much looking forward to spending time with Chloe. Since they didn’t have their regularly scheduled classes, Prefect rounds and their lives confined to the school grounds anymore, life had become, predictably, busy. He didn’t mind being busy so much -- it made conversations and dates with Chloe more fun because they always had something new to talk about. Not that Gavin needed much help in the chatting department. “You just want chips or something a bit more substantial?” he asked as he held the door of his new favourite joint open for Chloe. It was a small pub, the clientele usually compromised of Dragon Keepers who worked at the Reserve. Muggles rarely made their way in -- Gavin had always assumed it was because of some Muggle Repelling Charm. “Substantial,” Chloe answered almost immediately, shrugging out of her jacket nearly as soon as she was in the door before Gavin. It might be chilly outside, but it was warm enough in the pub, like it always was. She’d only been there a few times before, each with Gavin, but she remembered that much. “I may or may not have skipped breakfast in favour of sleeping in. “ It was strange, if Chloe thought about it too hard, that she was now an adult. Graduated, without any time left in Hogwarts, and living in a flat away from home with a full-time job, where it was a luxury to sleep in and going out on a date didn’t just mean Hogsmeade on a weekend. She was used to it, sort of, but it was just...strange. “What about you?” The jacket went onto the seat of an open booth, where Chloe followed. She recognized a few of the other customers by sight, and more by their job if not their faces. “I’m in full support of sleeping in,” he replied with a grin, raising his hand in a half wave at some of the people he recognised from work. They liked to tease him about the fact that he actually brought his girlfriend to the little hole-in-the-wall pub of theirs for dates, but aside from that, they tended to leave him be. After all, they weren’t the ones who could admit to having a date. “I did that this morning too, but I had a muffin for a breakfast, I guess.” He nicked a couple of spare menus off an empty table, passed one on to Chloe and perused the other, trying to decide what meal sounded best. “Something substantial. Are you going to this charity thing after this? Any idea if there’s going to be food there at all?” Chloe, for her part, had never minded the hole-in-the-wall pub. She liked it, actually. The chips were just as great as Gavin had advertised them to be, the atmosphere was comfortable and unobtrusive, and the people-watching was never dull. Besides - they weren’t really a fancy-dress dine-and-wine sort of couple. They were a hole-in-the-wall pub sort of pair. “It’s a charity event,” She pointed out, accepting the proffered menu. “I’m guessing light snacks, if that. The opposite of substantial.” Chloe perused the list of lunches, only really half thinking about what she wanted. “I’m not sure, actually. I don’t think my budget can take a bidding war. And I was thinking about doing something else, maybe. Did you want to go?” “I don’t think mine can either,” he agreed, eyes locking onto the listed peppercorn steak special. And it came with chips! It was the little things that made Gavin’s day, it was true. “I mean, I’d want to go, but I’m not exactly pulling a high salary yet and I have to think about stuff like moving next weekend.” Ever since Ace had pointed out that he was starting to speak like a grown-up, using phrases like ‘lock in a date’, Gavin had grown a great deal more conscious of just how different life was now. To think that only a few months ago, all he had to do was worry about homework and exams - not who was going to do his laundry, or cook his meals, or buy the groceries or pay the bills. He had a newfound respect for the way his mother had managed household affairs -- something he’d informed her of last night, only to receive a knowing chuckle in reply. “I might skip it. What are you planning on doing?” he asked, glancing back up at her. “I think I’m going to have the tuna sandwich,” Chloe informed Gavin, after a small moment of debate. She usually made her decisions fairly quickly, really, and if she stared at the menu for too long she’d begin to get doubts. Which would interfere with getting food soon, which her stomach thought was very important just then. “Well, we’ll just have to plan to go to the next one. Maybe by then our respective salaries will allow us to bid on something?” Managing the paper at school for two years had given her some sort of familiarity with responsibility, as had being a prefect, and Chloe found scheduling herself specific times for certain things - laundry nights were Sunday nights, and she and Erica swapped off grocery swapping, and bills were paid when they came in - made it a little easier to manage these new and bigger responsibilities. Sort of. Occasionally she’d come home and wonder what she was eating and then recall she was eating whatever she bothered to make, but that was really the extent of it. Chloe was a responsible girl, more or less. “Actually, something you may be interested in. I spoke to Erica yesterday, so I was thinking of going by a pet shop later today. And I thought you’d like to come with?” Gavin’s eyes lit up at the sound of this. “She’s cool with you getting a kitten?” he asked, all in a rush. “That’s awesome. Yeah, I’d love to come!” Admittedly, he hadn’t broached the topic with Ace yet, but he figured he had time to do that. They had a lot on their plate as is with moving, collecting their various odd pieces of furniture, packing up their rooms -- and in Gavin’s particular case, putting up with a million hugs from his mother who was tearful that her ‘baby’ was finally leaving home. He didn’t think she needed to worry so much. After all, it wasn’t like Ross was going anywhere any time soon. “Talked with her about it just yesterday,” Chloe said, grinning at Gavin’s excitement. Although her excitement was pretty strong, too. Erica had had one or two things to say about that, but Chloe was too pleased to care much. “So I thought you could help me pick one out! And think of a name. Names are important: the kitten will have to live with it forever, after all. It needs a name it can ignore that the other kittens won’t mock.” “I can definitely help you pick one out. I have good taste, you know,” he informed her with a slightly smug expression slipped across his face. “So it needs to have a good durable name, one that’s not overly cutesy, like Mr. Fluffy. Just in case it decides to take over the world but can’t hire any minions?” “Do you, now? And how do you know that?” Chloe propped her chin up on her hands, watching Gavin with slight amusement, and burst out laughing when he finished talking. “Exactly! Just think how terrible that would be. It needs to be a name that would be appropriate for the future, but also for the present - when he or she is still an evil overlord in training.” The corners of his lips turned upward into a smirk, as often occurred whenever Gavin was both amused and deliberately attempting to be charming. “I think you’re evidence enough,” he informed her in a matter-of-fact tone, once her laughter had subsided. And though they were joking around, there was a part of him that wanted her to know that he meant it too. In the meantime, they had names for kittens to attend to. Or rather, ordering lunch, and then naming kittens. His stomach was growling a bit as he waved over a waitress to place their order. As soon as she’d disappeared back into the kitchen, he turned his attention back to Chloe. “Sorry, cats. What about Sir something? I think that would be a very dignified prefix?” “Charmer,” Chloe accused, although she sounded not at all out of sorts, and in fact smiled at her boyfriend, content. Gavin would not be half as charming if he were not usually sincere about what he said - well, the meanings, at least - to Chloe. “We could say the same about my good taste.” “Sir is absolutely a dignified prefix. Look, let’s test it.” Straightening up - to signify dignity - Chloe smothered her grin and looked across the table in silence for the space of a minute for dramatic tension, which was absolutely dignified. “Sir Gavin, how do you do this fine day?” Gavin was about to open his mouth to say something about how his taste was better than hers, but her next statement distracted him from pursuing the pseudo-argument. “Very well, Sir Chloe” he returned with a smile. “Wait -- that’ll only work if it’s a boy kitten!” “Dame Chloe, then. I believe. I only pay so much attention to the rules of knighting. The first time I’ve ever needed to ask one of the ghosts something, and we’re miles from Hogwarts.” Chloe shrugged, grinning, as she folded her napkin one way and then the other, apparently without realizing it. “Or Lady? Lady is quite dignified.” Gavin’s working knowledge of aristocratic titles was dismally lacking, so he decided that whatever Chloe said would do. “I like Lady Chloe,” he reflected -- just as their food arrived. “Dame sounds a little stern, in my opinion. Just as long as you don’t call the cat Princess Something, I’m happy.” “No Princess Buttercup, then? Duly noted.” Chloe had long since unrolled her utensils, and now just put her (much folded) napkin in her lap. “We can talk more after we get the kitten.” “No Princess Buttercup,” Gavin echoed, not quite following the reference and pulled his knife out from the folded and rolled napkin a lot less gracefully than Chloe’s unrolling. As long as it got the job done, he thought as he pulled his plate closer to him. Before he began eating, though, he sneaked one last smile at his girlfriend. It was fairly safe to say that, yeah. He was feeling pretty content right about now. |