Ask not what you can do for your country.
Category: Pink Sheep RPG
Ever the (in)efficient Ravenclaw, Penny had had her assistant owl Cedric about meeting for lunch on the weekend. Typically, he was first to arrive at the little bistro, Zach presumably yet to drag his slatternly arse from whatever bed he spent the night in. Smirking at his own internal snarkiness, Ced lazily eyed the menu from across the table. Enhanced eyesight and various spells he'd been subject to during his 'missing years' meant he had the information viewed and retained before most would have even sat down. Though that still didn't mean he knew what he wanted yet.
Penelope slid into one of her favorite lunch spots and scanned the crowd for her guests. Mandy had introduced her to the bistro awhile back, mostly because it was conveniently across from the Prophet offices but it had quickly become one of their usual places. It had seemed like the perfect place for lunch with an old friend (and company).
Now, looking at the yuppie Prophet employees and fine white table linens, she wondered how her Unspeakables were going to fair. Or maybe she should be more concerned for the other patrons.
She was probably worrying over nothing.
Spotting Cedric, Penelope navigated the maze of chairs and tables to reach him and took her own seat.
"Hello, Diggory," Penelope greeted the man as she sank into a chair. "How're you? You seem to be missing your more lecherous half."
Cedric smirked as he leaned over to kiss her cheek. "He'd say it's because he always makes it a point to come last," he replied with a low chuckle. "I'm not too shabby, Penny. And yourself?"
The chaste kiss gained Cedric a smile and a slight quirk of the eyebrow to cover up her start. She didn't like to show it but she was a bit twitchy about human contact. The effort was appreciated though.
"I'm fair. Still trying to build up the client base at the practice. You wouldn't happen to know anyone in need of legal advice, would you?" Penelope asked, only half-joking. She was becoming concerned that her father would shut her down soon if she didn't begin handling more cases. She'd really hate to have to return to the Ministry so soon and put Dean out of a job. "That Smith of yours seems like trouble. He must need a good lawyer."
"He needs a good wallop more, but the higher-ups won't sanction it. I think they're waiting for the chance themselves," the wild-haired man quipped with a smile.
"Mm, a pity." She didn't sound morose at all. "I suppose I'll be sending Lilah--my assistant--out on a sordid crime spree. I'll represent all of her victims and give her a bonus for the tarnishing of her name and time lost while in Azkaban."
"Shouldn't she be busy massaging your feet or fetching you exotic delicacies? Isn't that why people get assistants?"
"I would think having your assistant attempt to rob shops would fall under things above and beyond the call of duty," Penny pointed out. "Besides, she does all the fetching of exotic delicacies for me earlier in the day, crime, like most illicit activities, is traditionally done at night."
Zach's face broke into a grateful grin to have joined the table at that part in the conversation. "Are we making bookings here?"
Penelope's cheeks turned a shade pinker at Zach's arrival and the conversation's subsequent dive into the gutter.
"Oh good, the lecher has arrived," the barrister recovered enough to quip. "Hello, Mr. Smith. We were actually discussing lending out my assistant as a cat burglar for hire."
"Wearing actual cat ears, and a leather body suit?" The taller man dropped into the empty chair with a half smile. "Call me Zach."
"Which is still nicer than he deserves," added Cedric, though there was no venom to his tone.
"Alright, Zach. Call me Penelope or Penny, then. I don't care which," Penelope returned the courtesy, beating down the fluttering that damn half-smile had induced. Really, she was more of a masochist than Mandy, eating lunch with these two.
"Now that we're all here, I suppose we can order?" Penelope ventured. "D'you want a moment to look at the menu, Zach?"
"Cheers." He took the offered page and read them quickly as the others got back to talking.
Cedric turned back to Penny. "So if you're looking for clients, does that mean you've not got too much on at the moment, or you're just trying to establish yourself?"
"Both," Penelope admitted reluctantly. "We've a few clients that knew me from my Ministry work and some others that are familiar with the firm's name from Muggle London but none are in any immediate need of my services. We're going spare from lack of work."
Swallowing a comment about how she could fill her free hours, Zach offered a suggestion. "If you like, we could go about wrongfully arresting people, and give them your card? That might tie you up for a few days." He wouldn't mind tying the bird up himself, but he'd best say that out of earshot of the king of the bedhead.
"That's very sweet of you, Zach--from a certain perspective," Penelope thanked him wryly. "But no need to go out of your way for my sake. Unless you wrongfully arrest people regularly in the first place then I suppose someone must bring you to justice."
A waitress finally made her way to the table to take their orders. Penelope noted that the poor thing seemed to blow a circuit when she saw both Cedric and Zach at the same table. She probably couldn't decide who to hit on more for tips.
"Scotch steak with the Jack Daniels sauce, please, sweetheart. Medium," Cedric ordered, sparing her a crooked half smile.
Penny ordered the pomegranate glazed chicken and a glass of wine then watched with veiled amusement as the waitress made the most ridiculous eyes at Zach.
"And for you, sir?" she simpered.
Zach's eyes had flicked up and down while the others took their orders; he'd already chosen what he'd be having, but decided a little fun for Penny's benefit wouldn't go astray. "I don't know. What sounds good to you, love?"
"W-well," the petite blond nearly hummed with excitement, "the pan-seared scallops are succulent." The waitress dropped her voice to a faux-whisper. "I head that they're an aphrodisiac as well."
Penelope snorted, nearly choking on her drink.
Zach's smirk widened as he glanced at his companions. "Sounds great, sweetheart, but I think I'll have what he wants," he jerked his thumb at Ced. "I usually do."
Eyes widening, the waitress darted looks back and forth between Cedric and Zach. "Oooooh, I completely understand." She shrugged at Penelope, trying to engender companionship with her fellow female, "Always either gay or taken, right? Your food will be along shortly." Without further ado, she hurried away.
Cedric sniggered into his drink, and smiled blithely at Zach. "You brought that one on yourself, mate."
The blond man simply rolled his eyes.
"Oh, I should have known," Penelope crowed, wildly amused. "Partners in more than crime fighting! How scandalous."
"Doesn't that make you our fag hag?" Zach interjected with a wry smile.
Put out, Penelope crinkled her nose at the thought. "Its not nearly as fun when you put it that way."
Cedric patted her hand consolingly. "The boy's still learning his social graces," he informed Penny, tipping his shaggy head in Zach's direction.
"Someone will get you properly trained one day," Penelope informed Zach archly as she swatted Cedric's hand away, actively ignoring that its pleasant warmth. "Poor woman has her work cut for her though."
"I'll find a way to distract her, Miss Clearwater, don't you worry."
She rolled her eyes. "It's always about sex with you, isn't it?"
Zach just cracked a shit eating grin.
"You learn to tune it out, eventually," Cedric promised her.
Penelope had opened her mouth to retort when the waitress returned, bearing her wine and a sympathetic look. Rolling her eyes again, this time in annoyance, Penelope took the wine with a thin smile. This time the girl had the good sense to not open her mouth and simply faded away with a spare promise that sustenance was on the way.
"Do you think I'll learn to tune her out eventually?"
Cedric just gave a small smile. "Probably not, but that's what you have Unspeakables for. We're really good at disposing of bodies."
"You'd dispose of an annoying waitress for me? Diggory, that's the sweetest, most disturbing thing anyone has ever offered me."
"Give Zach the rest of lunch, I'm sure he'll top it," the older man replied.
"There's a few things I can top for you, if you're interested, Penny."
Cocking an eyebrow, Penelope gave Zach an appraising look. Certainly the man was fit and had an alluring bad boy edge, but that only reminded her of her previous experience with bad boys. At this moment, sitting in the bright bustling cafe, the prospect left her feeling rather hollow.
"A pity that I'm not, then," Penelope replied just as the food arrived.
"Yet," he returned with an easy wink, not pushing the matter. She looked type to need, and appreciate, relieving a little tension every so often, and Zach was sure he'd left an indellible impression in that regard. It was enough for now.
She gave Zach a chilly look but didn't dissuade his delusion of irresistibility. Instead, she inspected her lunch and shifted the conversation to Cedric.
"So, an Unspeakable, hm? I never would have imagined it for you."
He gave a half shrug. "After what happened, there really wasn't much other choice." Cedric leaned back in his chair. "Much as I love Quidditch, the pro leagues weren't something I could really want to let myself get into and be absorbed by after...all of it."
"Did the idea of fame and glory go sour?"
"Not sour, just didn't seem as important, really."
Zach broke in with a smirk. "That, and he knew he couldn't live up to the expectations of any sadly deluded little fangirls."
Penelope snorted, "You'd already decided you'd have fangirls? Maybe it is for the best that you didn't join the League. Your hair would grow even larger with ego."
"So that's what keeps it up so high."
"It's alright to sound surprised, Smith, no one expects you to know anything about keeping things up."
{Summary: Pen takes Ced and Zach in hand to lunch.}
Ever the (in)efficient Ravenclaw, Penny had had her assistant owl Cedric about meeting for lunch on the weekend. Typically, he was first to arrive at the little bistro, Zach presumably yet to drag his slatternly arse from whatever bed he spent the night in. Smirking at his own internal snarkiness, Ced lazily eyed the menu from across the table. Enhanced eyesight and various spells he'd been subject to during his 'missing years' meant he had the information viewed and retained before most would have even sat down. Though that still didn't mean he knew what he wanted yet.
Penelope slid into one of her favorite lunch spots and scanned the crowd for her guests. Mandy had introduced her to the bistro awhile back, mostly because it was conveniently across from the Prophet offices but it had quickly become one of their usual places. It had seemed like the perfect place for lunch with an old friend (and company).
Now, looking at the yuppie Prophet employees and fine white table linens, she wondered how her Unspeakables were going to fair. Or maybe she should be more concerned for the other patrons.
She was probably worrying over nothing.
Spotting Cedric, Penelope navigated the maze of chairs and tables to reach him and took her own seat.
"Hello, Diggory," Penelope greeted the man as she sank into a chair. "How're you? You seem to be missing your more lecherous half."
Cedric smirked as he leaned over to kiss her cheek. "He'd say it's because he always makes it a point to come last," he replied with a low chuckle. "I'm not too shabby, Penny. And yourself?"
The chaste kiss gained Cedric a smile and a slight quirk of the eyebrow to cover up her start. She didn't like to show it but she was a bit twitchy about human contact. The effort was appreciated though.
"I'm fair. Still trying to build up the client base at the practice. You wouldn't happen to know anyone in need of legal advice, would you?" Penelope asked, only half-joking. She was becoming concerned that her father would shut her down soon if she didn't begin handling more cases. She'd really hate to have to return to the Ministry so soon and put Dean out of a job. "That Smith of yours seems like trouble. He must need a good lawyer."
"He needs a good wallop more, but the higher-ups won't sanction it. I think they're waiting for the chance themselves," the wild-haired man quipped with a smile.
"Mm, a pity." She didn't sound morose at all. "I suppose I'll be sending Lilah--my assistant--out on a sordid crime spree. I'll represent all of her victims and give her a bonus for the tarnishing of her name and time lost while in Azkaban."
"Shouldn't she be busy massaging your feet or fetching you exotic delicacies? Isn't that why people get assistants?"
"I would think having your assistant attempt to rob shops would fall under things above and beyond the call of duty," Penny pointed out. "Besides, she does all the fetching of exotic delicacies for me earlier in the day, crime, like most illicit activities, is traditionally done at night."
Zach's face broke into a grateful grin to have joined the table at that part in the conversation. "Are we making bookings here?"
Penelope's cheeks turned a shade pinker at Zach's arrival and the conversation's subsequent dive into the gutter.
"Oh good, the lecher has arrived," the barrister recovered enough to quip. "Hello, Mr. Smith. We were actually discussing lending out my assistant as a cat burglar for hire."
"Wearing actual cat ears, and a leather body suit?" The taller man dropped into the empty chair with a half smile. "Call me Zach."
"Which is still nicer than he deserves," added Cedric, though there was no venom to his tone.
"Alright, Zach. Call me Penelope or Penny, then. I don't care which," Penelope returned the courtesy, beating down the fluttering that damn half-smile had induced. Really, she was more of a masochist than Mandy, eating lunch with these two.
"Now that we're all here, I suppose we can order?" Penelope ventured. "D'you want a moment to look at the menu, Zach?"
"Cheers." He took the offered page and read them quickly as the others got back to talking.
Cedric turned back to Penny. "So if you're looking for clients, does that mean you've not got too much on at the moment, or you're just trying to establish yourself?"
"Both," Penelope admitted reluctantly. "We've a few clients that knew me from my Ministry work and some others that are familiar with the firm's name from Muggle London but none are in any immediate need of my services. We're going spare from lack of work."
Swallowing a comment about how she could fill her free hours, Zach offered a suggestion. "If you like, we could go about wrongfully arresting people, and give them your card? That might tie you up for a few days." He wouldn't mind tying the bird up himself, but he'd best say that out of earshot of the king of the bedhead.
"That's very sweet of you, Zach--from a certain perspective," Penelope thanked him wryly. "But no need to go out of your way for my sake. Unless you wrongfully arrest people regularly in the first place then I suppose someone must bring you to justice."
A waitress finally made her way to the table to take their orders. Penelope noted that the poor thing seemed to blow a circuit when she saw both Cedric and Zach at the same table. She probably couldn't decide who to hit on more for tips.
"Scotch steak with the Jack Daniels sauce, please, sweetheart. Medium," Cedric ordered, sparing her a crooked half smile.
Penny ordered the pomegranate glazed chicken and a glass of wine then watched with veiled amusement as the waitress made the most ridiculous eyes at Zach.
"And for you, sir?" she simpered.
Zach's eyes had flicked up and down while the others took their orders; he'd already chosen what he'd be having, but decided a little fun for Penny's benefit wouldn't go astray. "I don't know. What sounds good to you, love?"
"W-well," the petite blond nearly hummed with excitement, "the pan-seared scallops are succulent." The waitress dropped her voice to a faux-whisper. "I head that they're an aphrodisiac as well."
Penelope snorted, nearly choking on her drink.
Zach's smirk widened as he glanced at his companions. "Sounds great, sweetheart, but I think I'll have what he wants," he jerked his thumb at Ced. "I usually do."
Eyes widening, the waitress darted looks back and forth between Cedric and Zach. "Oooooh, I completely understand." She shrugged at Penelope, trying to engender companionship with her fellow female, "Always either gay or taken, right? Your food will be along shortly." Without further ado, she hurried away.
Cedric sniggered into his drink, and smiled blithely at Zach. "You brought that one on yourself, mate."
The blond man simply rolled his eyes.
"Oh, I should have known," Penelope crowed, wildly amused. "Partners in more than crime fighting! How scandalous."
"Doesn't that make you our fag hag?" Zach interjected with a wry smile.
Put out, Penelope crinkled her nose at the thought. "Its not nearly as fun when you put it that way."
Cedric patted her hand consolingly. "The boy's still learning his social graces," he informed Penny, tipping his shaggy head in Zach's direction.
"Someone will get you properly trained one day," Penelope informed Zach archly as she swatted Cedric's hand away, actively ignoring that its pleasant warmth. "Poor woman has her work cut for her though."
"I'll find a way to distract her, Miss Clearwater, don't you worry."
She rolled her eyes. "It's always about sex with you, isn't it?"
Zach just cracked a shit eating grin.
"You learn to tune it out, eventually," Cedric promised her.
Penelope had opened her mouth to retort when the waitress returned, bearing her wine and a sympathetic look. Rolling her eyes again, this time in annoyance, Penelope took the wine with a thin smile. This time the girl had the good sense to not open her mouth and simply faded away with a spare promise that sustenance was on the way.
"Do you think I'll learn to tune her out eventually?"
Cedric just gave a small smile. "Probably not, but that's what you have Unspeakables for. We're really good at disposing of bodies."
"You'd dispose of an annoying waitress for me? Diggory, that's the sweetest, most disturbing thing anyone has ever offered me."
"Give Zach the rest of lunch, I'm sure he'll top it," the older man replied.
"There's a few things I can top for you, if you're interested, Penny."
Cocking an eyebrow, Penelope gave Zach an appraising look. Certainly the man was fit and had an alluring bad boy edge, but that only reminded her of her previous experience with bad boys. At this moment, sitting in the bright bustling cafe, the prospect left her feeling rather hollow.
"A pity that I'm not, then," Penelope replied just as the food arrived.
"Yet," he returned with an easy wink, not pushing the matter. She looked type to need, and appreciate, relieving a little tension every so often, and Zach was sure he'd left an indellible impression in that regard. It was enough for now.
She gave Zach a chilly look but didn't dissuade his delusion of irresistibility. Instead, she inspected her lunch and shifted the conversation to Cedric.
"So, an Unspeakable, hm? I never would have imagined it for you."
He gave a half shrug. "After what happened, there really wasn't much other choice." Cedric leaned back in his chair. "Much as I love Quidditch, the pro leagues weren't something I could really want to let myself get into and be absorbed by after...all of it."
"Did the idea of fame and glory go sour?"
"Not sour, just didn't seem as important, really."
Zach broke in with a smirk. "That, and he knew he couldn't live up to the expectations of any sadly deluded little fangirls."
Penelope snorted, "You'd already decided you'd have fangirls? Maybe it is for the best that you didn't join the League. Your hair would grow even larger with ego."
"So that's what keeps it up so high."
"It's alright to sound surprised, Smith, no one expects you to know anything about keeping things up."
{Summary: Pen takes Ced and Zach in hand to lunch.}