RP: Meet the parents (part 2).

[rar_katie]

Date: May 16, 1999.
Characters: Katie Bell, Dean Thomas, John Bell [NPC]
Location: Muggle London
Status: Private
Summary: Dean finally meets Katie's dad.
Completion: Complete

Comments

[rar_dean]

Dean sipped his water slowly, but swallowed quickly as Katie's dad asked him a question. Mr. Bell seemed to be a nice enough bloke, but being his girlfriend's father made him just the tiniest bit intimidating by default.

"It was great. Seamus--that's my best mate--and I went. Don't get to spend as much time with him any more, what with new jobs and all, so it was perfect, really." He flashed Katie a smile. "Kate's got a much better handle on the whole gift thing than I do, I think."

[rar_katie]

Katie beamed at Dean. "You give brilliant gifts, silly," she said. John watched them with an amused expression on his face. He was happy to see that his daughter was so happy in love with such a good bloke. True, it would have been better if he was a banker or government employee, something that made a decent wage, but if Dean really was as good as Katie kept telling him he was, maybe he could make a decent go of it. And it wasn't like Katie was expecting to be a kept wife, after all. She'd earn her share.

"Sounds like a good time, then," he said to Dean. "West Ham's doing better than Liverpool right now, but I'll try not to hold that against you."

"You'd better not," Katie said with a scowl. "Now, how about dessert?"

[rar_dean]

He bit back a comment about not holding being a Liverpool fan at all against him; those sorts of comments could wait until they'd known each other a little longer. No reason to risk saying the wrong thing to her dad. Instead, Dean just laughed.

"You know I'm always up for pudding." He moved his empty dinner plate to the edge of the table.

[rar_katie]

"Well, I never turn down dessert, do I, Katie? I remember once when I was going out with your moth-" John stopped suddenly and looked down at his plate. Katie fidgeted uncomfortably for a few moments and then grabbed the menu.

"They've got a really nice chocolate cheesecake," she said in an overly bright voice.

John looked up and smiled sadly. "Sounds lovely. Why don't you order a slice for me? I'm just going to visit the loo. Let you two lovebirds snuggle without the old man cramping your style, eh?" He got up and walked away. Katie watched him go anxiously and then rested her head on Dean's shoulder.

"We can do magic, right? So why can't I fix this? Why can't I fix my parents?"

[rar_dean]

The mood at the table changed substantially as soon as Mr. Bell even almost mentioned Katie's mum. The other two tried to cover it as quickly as possible, but the following awkwardness was unavoidable. Dean was glad for a couple of minutes alone with Katie, despite the lack of any "lovebird" actions at the moment.

He put his arm around her shoulder, rubbing her arm. "If it were that simple, there wouldn't be any problems in the world."

[rar_katie]

Katie nodded. "I know. I just wish we could, sometimes." She picked up the menu and looked at the desserts again, still resting against Dean. She could hear his heartbeat and its steady rhythm was a comforting sound.

"Dad really likes you," she said, "although I don't know how anyone couldn't. But I think you've definitely passed the Dad test." She leaned up and kissed him gently. "I'm thinking about apple pie. You?"

[rar_dean]

"Me, too," he agreed. "There are loads of things I'd like to fix." In a lighter tone, he added, "I mean, Liverpool? Come on. He could do loads better."

"Football preferences notwithstanding, I think we could get along fine." Dean grabbed the menu from her as she kissed him and looked over it for a moment. "Cheesecake for me, though I think I'll go with cherry instead of chocolate."

[rar_katie]

Katie rolled her eyes. "You'd be 'fixing' me too, then, mister. And I don't take kindly to fixing."

"Good choice," Katie said, just as her dad came back from the loo. He smiled reassuringly at her. "The waitress hasn't come by yet, Dad."

"Ah well," John said, "I forgot to ask you to get me a coffee, so that works out, actually."

The waitress came by and took their orders.

"Are you going to be having an exhibit some time soon, Dean?" John asked. "I hear so much about your art, it'd be nice to see it."

[rar_dean]

"See? And that's exactly why we can't fix everything," Dean said, grinning. "Because otherwise I'd be far too tempted to try, and you'd have to hurt me."

Mr. Bell came back and they got their orders sorted. Thankfully, the tension seemed to have eased a bit, so when he asked about Dean's art, Dean smiled, glancing at Katie. She'd obviously been telling her dad things about it, and that was a really good feeling. "Well, I had a tiny exhibit of sorts at this benefit dance we had. Other than that, there aren't any official plans for the possibility until maybe next year, though I'm open if the chance comes along."

[rar_katie]

Katie grinned up at him and kissed him quickly on the nose.

She listened to Dean talk about his artwork happily. Her dad seemed to be okay now, which was reassuring.

"When you're not so busy, we'll have to talk business," John said as the waitress set his coffee down in front of him. "I'd love a portrait of my Katie, if I can convince you to part with one, that is."

Katie flushed bright red. "Dad!" But he shook his head.

"I have a beautiful, talented daughter. And I want to see her even when she's not there. Who better to capture her then the talented young man whose already captured her heart?"

[rar_dean]

Dean laughed as Katie blushed and Mr. Bell talked of wanting a portrait of her, talking of her beauty and talent. That was a topic that they definitely had in common. He felt himself grow warm, though, as her dad mentioned that Dean had "captured her heart." Bloody hell it felt strange having her dad say that, though he couldn't exactly say it was a bad strange.

"I've actually done one already, sir," Dean said, almost conspiratorially. "I don't think I can part with that one, but I suppose I could be persuaded to paint a second. Probably even from memory, if she doesn't want to cooperate." He winked at Katie.

[rar_katie]

Katie glared at Dean. "You two haven't known each other for a day and you're already conspiring against me," she grumbled with a pout.

"Awww, look at that pout. Dean, she's been pouting at me like that since she was two. She's got it down to an art now," John said with a laugh. Katie scowled and kicked him under the table as the waitress set down their desserts.

"Well, I'm not sharing my pie, then," she said huffily. John rolled his eyes and winked at Dean. If he could put up with his daughter's foul moods, then Deanwas definitely man enough for her in his books.

[rar_dean]

"Ah, I'd wondered," Dean joked, bumping Katie lightly with his knee. "She's perfected it so well that it had to have been a skill trained over many years."

They got their desserts, and Dean dug his fork into the cherry cheesecake, then held it up. "Who needs pie?" he said, then ate the giant bite. "Think you'll have to do better than that, love."

[rar_katie]

Katie was feeling like introducing Dean to her dad wasn't the best idea after all. Now they could gang up on her and tease her together. She frowned into her pie.

Katie leaned over and kissed Dean just as he took a bite of cake, slipping her tongue between his lips so she could taste it. It was a low move, especially when her father was watching, but he'd backed her into a corner.

"Not bad," she said, licking her lips. "My pie's better." She grinned at her dad who just shook his head.

"You can back out now, Dean and I won't think any less of you, I promise," he said to the younger man.

[rar_dean]

Katie surprised him with a particularly...invasive kiss, and when she pulled back Dean was sure he was going to just sink into an embarrassed puddle in his chair. Mr. Bell seemed to take the motion in stride, though, so Dean tried his best to shake it off. He pinched Katie's leg under the table in retaliation.

"Nah, I never back down from a challenge." He grinned.

[rar_katie]

Katie squeaked when Dean pinched her under the table and dug back into her pie, offering Dean a conciliatory bite off her fork.

The waitress came by a few moments later with their check and John threw down some money before either Katie or Dean could move. "Uh uh. My treat," he said firmly.

"Thanks, Dad," Katie said, smiling at him. Dinner, it seemed, could be counted as a definite success.