RP: BREAKING BREAD, MAKING FRIENDS

[shh_dennis]

Date: 05 May 2005
Characters: Dennis Creevey, Wayne Hopkins, Dean Thomas, Katie Bell, (?)
Location: Hammerside
Status: Private
Summary: Dennis has friends (or those who are on their way to becoming such) over for lunch
Completion: Complete

The smell of fresh bread baking was better than any coffee could provide, or so Dennis thought, but he'd never

Comments

[shh_wayne]

The week hadn't changed his mind. If anything, Wayne was pretty sure by Saturday morning that he'd be talking to his family about leaving the company. It was probably cowardly to put it off when he's basically realized last weekend that this decision was the best for him, but he didn't like the idea of fighting with people he loved, regardless of how annoying they could sometimes be, and he did love working on the local inn, even if it wasn't the right career for him now.

He'd have to stop putting it off before long, though, and he really needed to get all his various thoughts together about what to actually do for community projects. He just had too many ideas, from a senior center to afternoon programs for kids to fixing up a few nice parks in town and along the river, and he had to decide what was possible or what was long-term goals

[shh_dennis]

Opening the door a crack, he saw Wayne and let it open all the way.

"Wayne! You came! Good to see you. Come on in."

He led Wayne into the flat, glancing at the river in the process. He'd come to quickly love the view.

"Have a seat, I just need to wash up the brownie stuff. You want anything to drink. I've got Harps, Guiness, Milk, Orange Juice and water. Oh and I have some Herbal tea, not really tea, but I like it."

He paused to wait for an answer while he took one last swipe at the remains of the batter in the bowl with his finger, and wondering if he should put some socks on.

[shh_wayne]

"Thanks for inviting me," Wayne said, grinning as he entered the flat. He looked around and whistled. "Bloody hell. They didn't have this place when I got to town or I'd have definitely found a flat here. Fucking aces, man."

He walked over to the large window overlooking the river and looked at the view. "Whatever you've got is fine. Harps, I guess, though milk might be best if I'm going to be sneaking me some brownies."

He looked over at Dennis and grinned. "Sure you'll not let me lick the bowl? Batter is great, even if it's probably not that healthy."

[shh_dennis]

Dennis finished licking the chocolate off of his finger, and poured Wayne a glass of milk.

"I lucked out, and Dean did a great job. I looked at where Colin used to live but that seemed too much like, I dunno, walking in his footsteps. Camping on his doorstep? Nothing wrong with that, but I wanted something different." Which was the same reason he hadn't replied to Rita Skeeter's overture of job possiblity. He pulled the bread out of the oven with a mitt as he spoke, and put the pan of brownines in.

"I'll be nice and share, but I get to lick the spoon" Setting word to deed he sucked the spoon into his mouth and pushed the bowl across the counter.

[shh_dean]

Dean had two rules in his life. Never, ever stick a fork into an electrical socket even if someone offers you money and never turn down free food. Although he'd broken rule number one twice now, he'd always made sure to stay faithful to rule number two

[shh_dennis]

Dennis left Wayne with the bowl, and went to answer the door. As he hadn't felt wards shift, he quessed it was Dean. And opening the door, proved him right.

"Hi, Dean. Glad you could make it. Stew should only have about a half an hour to go, and then we're ready to eat."

He tilted his head at Wayne as he headed for the cold box.

"Can I get you something to drink?"

[shh_dean]

"Dennis, good to see you mate," Dean grinned. The news about the food was welcome and his stomach grumbled. "I can't wait to try it although I might have to ban you from baking in the middle of the night. That smell rises through the vents and you're killing me up in my flat."

"Ale if you got it. No glass necessary." He replied, looking at what Dennis had done to the flat. There was a mix of wonderful smells in the air and that along with the simple decor just added to his admiration for Dennis. "You need to come cook for me and decorate my flat."

He looked over at the other man in the room and tilted his head. He seemed familiar but Dean didn't recognize him. He walked over and held out his hand before he smiled. "Hi, I'm Dean Thomas."

[shh_wayne]

Wayne dipped his finger into the bowl and licked brownie batter from his finger when Dennis went to answer the door. When he led in a familiar looking bloke, he wiped off his hand and stood up.

"Wayne Hopkins. We were in touch about a building project not too long ago," he said, shaking Thomas' hand before he sat back down. "Nice to meet you, mate."

[shh_katie]

Katie knew she was running a little behind in getting to Dennis' place. Well, they were, but it had been her fault in getting to Cedric's place late. It wasn't so much from anything important to do, as she simply lost track of the time. She'd been reading in her flat when she'd glanced at the clock, realizing exactly what the hour was.

She had been going to do a few things before heading over, since she figured she'd be heading to the cinema straight after lunch for the matinee. She'd decided the night before on showing Scooby-Doo, since the afternoon shows did tend to be kids who showeed up. But, with the time, she only grabbed her things before apparating over to Cedric's, grabbing him so they could apparate to Dennis flat. He said he was living in the building Dean was renovating - and she was fairly certain she had remembered the number correctly from when he'd mentioned it Wendesday, although she couldn't be certain

[shh_dennis]

Once again feeling the wards shift, and thinking that Dean had too, Dennis left Wayne and Dean chatting while he headed for the door, almost sliding to it. He'd forgotten about the combination of socks and wood floors when he went to put something on his feet.

He grinned when he saw Katie and the smile grew even wider as he noticed who she'd brought with her.

"Hi, guys. C'mon in." He spoke mostly to Katie as his own natural shyness kicked in again. He'd never met Cedric properly before aside from being pointed in the right direction for classes a couple of times in his first year. But he remembered the man from school as always being nice and friendly, especially to those that were smaller, weaker, or who might have been considered outcasts.

"I think you both know Dean and Wayne. Make yourselves comfortable, I just need to get the bread out of the pan before it starts to stick. Can I get you anything to drink?"

[shh_katie]

"Dennis, I'd like to meet Cedric, and vice versa," Katie said with a smile, motioning between the two men. She'd already explained - rather obviously - that Dennis was working for her to Cedric, and on Wednesday when Dennis had insisted she bring Cedric along, or at least the 'whoemever' she was seeing.

"Thanks for having us," she continued, the two of them following Dennis into the kitchen. When she saw that the other two were already there, she felt even worse for being late. Smiling and nodding at Wayne and Dean, she asked for a glass of water only.

The flats here were certainly a lot nicer, especially on the inside. Well, at least larger. Dennis' seemed rather sparsely furnished, but she liked the open space of his place anyway. "Your flat is nice." And, as she smelled the food he was cooking, her mouth watered. "And, whatever you're making for lunch smells amazing."

[shh_dennis]

Dennis turned the loaves out of the pan, and cracked the oven to check on the brownies, before getting them their drinks.

He waved his hand..."mostly Dean's work, but thanks."

He checked the stew and added a bit of paprika, before putting the lid back on.

"Just Chicken Stew with Ale, or Beer, whichever word you like." He made a mental note to check on Milne in a bit. The owl was probably sleeping but if not, Dennis would give him a treat, which reminded him.

"I did find out that there are going to be classes for adults this summer. Don't know that I qualify as that," he laughed at himself, "but I think I'm going to try and take a couple. Maybe Charms and Herbology. In addition to my other lessons."

He cut up some of the bread, and put it on a plate with a bit of goat cheese for people to nibble on as it would be about another 10 minutes before he trusted the stew to be done.

[shh_cedric]

"You like Batman?" Cedric asked Dennis. "A fan of DC? Remind me to introduce you to Ernie. He's the DC fan hereabouts. I'm a bit more into Marvel. Spider-Man, X-Men, Daredevil."

Cedric shot Dean a grin. "Grand tour, name your time -- as long as it's not a Monday or the crack of dawn. And as long as you show up later." He winked.

Then he just listened for a bit. At Dennis' question on the mural he nodded. "Yeah, that was me."

The joking about marriage was ... interesting. Especially insofar as neither Dennis nor Dean were back-peddling overmuch. Cedric resisted making assumptions of any kind, even if he was tempted to do so. He didn't really care what consenting adults did, and he'd had a suspicion or two about Zach, but he never quite knew what to say, whether to laugh or not. So he concentrated on his soup.

[shh_dennis]

"Batman, yeah. There's a new movie coming out this summer. I'll have to get to Exter or someplace to see it. Check out the competition." He grinned at Katie.

"You're very talented", he told Cedric.

Dennis got the impression that Cedric wasn't comfortable with his and Dean's joking. At least he thought it was teasing, like Dennis and Colin used to do, still did sometimes. He had felt comfortable around Dean from the start, so he hadn't thought much about it. But he didn't know much about Dean's life. Regardless, he decided to change the subject, and his memory had been jogged by talking about the projector.

"Katie,so it's okay to charm Muggle things now? Is there anyway to make a Muggle air purifier work? Help with allergies."

He figured she'd know what he was referring to without him having to go into the whole asthma bit.

[shh_katie]

Katie thought she knew exactly why he was asking, but thought about it. "Well, it's as ok as it ever was," she explained with a laugh, "same chance of blowing something up, or ruining it, if you really screw up. But as for an air purifier...Merlin knows. I certainly don't know an existing charm for it." Shrugging, she added, "I can have a look if you want sometime, giving you a hand in seeing what we can do

[shh_dean]

"I can run the projector?" Dean's voice sounded a little too excited as he spoke. "I'd love to come by some time." He chuckled at her conflicting messages comment. "I'm horribly straight. Being an artist gives you an appreciation for women."

He glanced at Cedric, remembering their conversation over his house plans. "We've discussed this already."

"Okay, Cedric, how about next week Tuesday at the butt crack of noon?" Dean asked. "Maybe you can show me a few of your sketches." He winked. "Turnabout is fair play."

He looked over at Dennis. "Would it be better if I installed purifiers in the vents for you? Don't want you getting sick." He laughed. "I'd miss your biscuits and company."