Comments | stoatshead_hill: RP: Dinner in Exeter

shh_cedric in stoatshead_hill

RP: Dinner in Exeter

Jan 06, 2007 15:46

Date: January 6, 2005
Characters: Katie Bell, Cedric Diggory
Location: Exeter
Status: Private
Summary: Cedric owes Katie dinner, at least.
Completion: Complete

( As usual, Cedric was running a bit late to pick up Katie, so he arrived at 6:10 instead of 6 sharp. )

january 2005, katie bell, place: private residence, cedric diggory, place: exeter

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shh_katie January 7 2007, 21:31:34 UTC

"Ah, the days of needing everything filled out in triplicate to do the smallest thing," Katie replied with a sigh, "it's been such a hardship with that being different."

Cedric was almost too sentiminetal to be real, but she supposed there was some validity in wanting people to feel some belonging with the museum, rather than keep it as an impersonal place - where things were to be seen but not touched. "I'd say perhaps stick to the back wall of the building for the public painting if you want an area that doesn't matter," Katie added with a smile, "although having a group paint in an alleyway or something doesn't really get the sentiment you are going for ( ... )

shh_cedric January 7 2007, 21:40:49 UTC

"I will confess to having an ulterior motive on the encouragement of participation in the painting." He grinned. "If you can get people to commit to something by participating in some way, even if it's just asking questions they feel a need to reply to, then they're invested. And if they're invested, they're more interested -- and more likely to be supportive." He took a drink of water. "I'm a manipulative little bastard sometimes -- but don't tell anybody I admitted as much. You'll ruin my public image." He winked.

The Sorting Hat hadn't offered him Slytherin for no reason.

"And yes, I know what you mean about the issue of birth -- have to know the 'right sort' and all. Rather annoying, and I hope something that we can change in the new government, you know?"

shh_katie January 7 2007, 21:56:04 UTC

"How underhanded," Katie replied, pretending to be impressed, "Why Cedric, I never knew you had it in you. Here I was, under the impression you were wanting people to feel a kinship with the museum for more ultruistic purposes. I suppose I should warn you in advance, despite the investment I feel from helping, I don't think the occasional visit I may make once it's open is going to lead to booming business ( ... )

shh_cedric January 7 2007, 22:10:40 UTC

"I'm sneaky that way," he confirmed, still amused. "Although yes, I really do want people to feel as if the museum is theirs. Nonetheless, museums can become the sort of thing a culture thinks it 'ought' to have but doesn't find any too interesting. I'd like to change that, if I could. I've been taking notes on popular museums, including the one I work for. They tend to have community interaction. So while it's quite a ways in the future, I have plans for involvement with the school, the possibility of meeting rooms, even a wing aimed specifically at children -- very hands-on. But we're talking years down the road for some of that. Right now, I'd just like to get some of the artifacts and artwork in there." He chuckled ( ... )

shh_katie January 7 2007, 22:25:09 UTC

"I slipped in to watch, along with half the town it seemed, but I was hardly astounded by what happened - which didn't seem to be much." Katie paused in her assessment of the meeting to cut a piece of her chicken. She forked the piece, raising it to her mouth. She could feel the flavours exploding in her mouth. Resisting the urge to grab for her water, she had to comment, "This is really good."

"But no," she continued, swallowing her first bite before she went on, "outside of a bit of talk about currency and vouchers, nothing was really discussed. And certainly nothing came from it. Not that I know what should have, but I was expecting a bunch of jockeying for position, or debate. But maybe everyone else was literally there to just watch like me."

"How about you? I was half expecting to see you get up and speak," Katie commented, cutting another piece of food.

shh_cedric January 7 2007, 22:52:58 UTC

He smiled when she declared that she liked the food. "I'm glad.

"And I suppose I expected either a lot of people mouthing off because it was a public platform to do so, or exactly what happened -- everybody waiting to see what his neighbor said first ... so nobody much said anything except those who felt as if it were expected of them.

"But if I'd really thought about it, I'd have predicted the latter. Too many people and -- unlike me -- most aren't inclined to stand up and address a crowd of a hundred or more. Also, the questions were so broad, I'm honestly not sure most of the listeners had any idea where to begin. Notice that they were far more willing to talk during announcements -- biting off smaller chunks ( ... )

shh_katie January 7 2007, 23:22:43 UTC

Although Katie could have probably finished her entire meal in the time Cedric spoke, she took only a few bites, trying to concentrate on what he was saying, but he was certainly covering a lot of ground in one long speech.

This was why she had expected him to get up and talk. Although he may have been limited by the time restrictions anyway ( ... )

shh_cedric January 8 2007, 01:42:32 UTC

He nodded thoughtfully at her comments. "I tend to agree with you on the galleon, although really, like I said, I tend to stay away from discussions of economics because I understand them so poorly. I do know a few things -- that we need to get money flowing into the community from outside. It's hard to rebuild an economy relying only on internal resources. That's part of why I decided to get job outside Stoatshead in Exeter. I exist in the Muggle world, I can hold a job here, so I take my paycheque from the museum and spend it in Stoatshead. I've been doing my best not to buy things in Exeter unless I have to.

"But beyond that, I really have no expertise. And maybe I'm old fashioned, but yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing the galleon make a comeback eventually. I have no idea when, though, or how. That's the kind of planning I stink at." He grinned ( ... )

shh_katie January 8 2007, 02:19:58 UTC

"Any discussion I have isn't based on any expertise," Kate admitted, "it's just from observation. Although as admirable and prudent as it is to try and spend money here in town, sometimes one has to face facts that there isn't enough here to sustain everyone. I would buy everything there if I could - heck, it's more convenient at the very least - but not many people have opened up shops and the like yet. And as much as I would buy clothes and the like here when it becomes neccessary, mine and Gilderoy Lockhart's tastes don't exactly, uh, coincide. There are too many things you can find in Exeter that you can't find in Stoatshead yet, even if they are muggle ( ... )

shh_cedric January 8 2007, 02:59:59 UTC

He laughed about McGonagall. "I'm sure she can take me, wheelchair or no. She was my favorite teacher back at school, even if she wasn't my Head of House. I went to visit her not long after I got here, talked to her a little about some of my ideas -- just to make sure somebody older than me didn't think I was completely off my rocker, you know? She didn't seem to think so."

Her comment about galleons had made him smile. "You'd be rich, eh? I'm not sure I'd be rich either way, but I agree we need something consistent. Still, it's only been a few months since the war's end. I try to tell myself now and then."

He stirred what remained of his dinner and grinned at the notion of a survey -- or Lockhart's taste in clothing. "I actually thought about going by his shop to get some new robes. I don't really wear them much -- sort of got out of the habit. But I really don't mind them ... sometimes. I wouldn't want to work in them. I much prefer Muggle clothes for that, but ... like a suit, I suppose. If we have another town ( ... )

shh_katie January 8 2007, 03:13:20 UTC

"She was one of mine as well," Katie admitted, "but I had the benefit of her being my head of house - and I'd never met someone older with a mutual love of Quidditch like her ( ... )

shh_cedric January 8 2007, 03:21:37 UTC

"Merlin, they'd better not ban jeans. That would eliminate half my wardrobe. And yes, it's funny how we've managed to form routines even after a couple of months. Human beings are creatures of habit, I reckon. We're more like cats, in that. Although I guess we're like dogs in being pack animals." He shrugged. Cats-and-dogs analysis of human culture was an odd philosophical direction.

"This is a bit off-topic, but you should come visit the museum in Exeter sometime, where I work. Have you been into Exeter much?"

shh_katie January 8 2007, 03:35:35 UTC

Katie wasn't sure how much she liked humans being compared to cats and dogs, but she supposed it was appropriate. At least he hadn't compared them to rats - infesting empty buildings ( ... )

shh_cedric January 8 2007, 03:57:02 UTC

Katie's enthusiasm for the cinema was charming. "Yeah, I've been in them -- and yeah, I know what you mean. I hadn't been to one until a few years ago, relatively, and it was a science fiction film complete with spaceships and other special effects. I was ... pretty overwhelmed. Loved it, though.

"What did you go and see?"

shh_katie January 8 2007, 04:25:00 UTC

"I saw two actually," Katie admitted, still ashamed she had spent the obscene price twice. But once she had seen the first, she couldn't resist. "The Notebook, and the Bourne Supremacy - if you've ever heard of them. It just seemed so real, seeing the people up there on the screen, like you were a part of it. And the stories - they were so fascinating. Muggle certainly lead exciting lives."

She wasn't going to go in to how she spent some time with the projectionist afterwards, a grizzled old man who was seemed willing to buy her story about living in the wilderness for many years, and never seeing a movie before. At least she had known that filming things was possible, otherwise she would have been completely flabbergasted.

"What's your favourite one?" Katie couldn't resist asking. She was sure there had to be at least hundreds out there from over the years.

shh_cedric January 8 2007, 04:41:25 UTC

"I saw the Bourne Supremacy, yeah. The other ... well, it's sort of a chick flick." He smiled. "That's what a movie is called that's usually a love story that the marketeers assume will appeal to a largely female audience. Or a 'date movie,' they're sometimes called. To be honest, I actually don't mind some of them -- chick flick or not. Although I'd have my boy's club card revoked if I admitted as much to some men I know." He chuckled. "But I haven't seen The Notebook, no.

"As for Muggles living exciting lives, I reckon most of them have lives more like ours and less like the movies." He smiled.

"My favorite ... Heavens, I don't know. Spider-Man, I think."

He leaned over the table as an idea just occurred to him. "Katie, do you know what a DVD is? A DVD player? You might have one in your flat. It plays these shiny round disks called CDs ... and they're recordings of films. It's not nearly as exciting and overwhelming as the cinema mind, but you can watch a lot more of them at once."

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