[frida's] what do you call cheese that isn't yours? [fflur]

June 2003

"Weird that another term's come and gone, right?" And weirder that they weren't sitting in a pub or getting drunk in the greenhouses. This term had been full of surprises and Nazreen was, as always, just going with the flow. Normally they'd go out and celebrate the end of a term. Especially one that had completed without a single student death (which honestly, was not often enough anymore), but this time they were going out for something else. Fflur was done drinking again and Nazreen was one hundred percent supportive of it. She was also very interested to find out what these "nachos" she was promised were all about.

Naz was the sort of witch who had traveled the world, seen many things, experienced all sorts of cultures, and yet was about as sheltered as a subway station. She'd never had nachos before and she was eager to give it a go. The two witches had met at Frida's on this night, the sun had just about set and the dinner rush was tapering off which was good. "And not a single Gryffindor lost." She said, holding up her water glass for a toast for the sake of old times. Sure they had lost the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup this year but they were not talking about that.

The food coming out of the kitchen smelt amazing. It smelt spicy, and full of flavor, and she was pretty sure everything she'd seen walk by was covered in onions and peppers and bits of cheeses and she did not mind that at all. She'd let Fflur do the ordering, since she had no idea what most of the words on the menu meant, but that didn't keep her from browsing. "Should we try this, and this, and this too probably? Oh have you had this?" She asked, turning the menu toward her as she pointed at the pictures. Nazreen usually only ate plant based foods like things she could grow in her greenhouse but that didn't mean she wasn't willing to try new things.

@Fflur Blevins

“Very.” She scooped another tortilla chip into the salsa and did her best to maneuver it into her mouth without losing a drop. She dusted her hands off and shrugged, sitting back on her side of the booth. “This job’s in the running for ‘longest one I’ve ever had’,” she said, shuddering. It’d been two full years, plus the couple of months she had tacked on to the end of that one year, that year when they were desperate for teachers.

Fflur nodded and leaned forward for another chip. “Yeah as hard as I might have tried,” she joked, not actually trying to get any Gryffindors lost but the idea certainly had some merit. “May they be as successful next year,” she said with a laugh, tilting her glass to Naz’s. “Or better.” They’d tried unsuccessfully to get their house ahead of the others (through ethically questionable means), forgetting that the House Cup had been awarded at the feast earlier that evening.

“I ordered one of these, and this,” she said, pointing at things on the menus. She’d ordered nearly every taco — braised lengua included — but it was the nachos she was most excited for. “Still can’t believe you’ve never had these.” She tapped the nachos on the menu before leaning back again, glancing at her glass of soda water suspiciously. She’d been avoiding this place because of the margaritas, mainly, and how all this food sort of just… demanded she have one.

There was the lull between ordering and receiving food (and again, this space would be filled nicely by tequila) and Fflur nodded toward the door, toward the rest of the world. “Are you staying at the school all summer?”

Naz was happy for Fflur, she'd been at Hogwarts for two plus years now and the witch truly hoped Fflur had enjoyed her time so far. Sometimes she had a hard time getting a read on her friend. The other witch could be rather sarcastic, borderline cynical, especially when she was sober, so Naz was constantly guessing. Honestly the lack of alcohol between them was making Naz feel a little off base. She knew they were friends with out it... weren't they? She thought they were and that thought gave the witch a warming feeling. "Longer than Quidditch?" She asked honestly, never thinking twice about bringing up things that might be triggers for the other woman. She followed Fflur and popped a tortilla chip in her mouth between the question and her next statement. "I'da thought you played for some time." Naz hardly followed Quidditch, obviously, but Fflur seemed like she had played for a long while. She had that air about her when she taught the kids... or perhaps it was reckless disinterest... no it was definitely experience.

"Better, certainly better." The Gryffindor alumni said sternly and damn if she didn't mean it. She was all about acceptance and fairness and equality but there was something about the House Cup that always brought out the competitive side of her. And she was more than willing to bend to peer pressure when it came to their students. The Lions should of won, they were supposed to win every year, that was just how it was. Shrugging off Fflur's words Nazreen took another moment to admire the stack of chips, cheese, and honestly who the hell knew what else that was on the menu. It made her stomach growl. These chips and salsa were not going to cut it for long. She really should have eaten something earlier but the woman had been so excited to try out everything on the menu at Friday's that she hadn't had a thing all day. And now it was coming back to bite her in the ass.

"I've got to," she said between chips that she was basically demolishing now. She was on track to ruin her whole meal at this point. "Someone has to take care of all the plants, especially the dreadful ones the students left behind." She giggled, whispering the last bit because it felt wrong to even say it out loud but damn some of the students were awful at Herbology. If she was paying better attention she would have realized that directly reflected on her and her ability to teach them, but she was too hungry for all that. "How about you? Any plans?"

“Nearly,” she said with a sniff, not elaborating, changing the subject away from quidditch. She’d lasted seven years with one team, or nearly; she hadn’t been paid for that last match that would have been the end of her seventh season. She couldn’t picture herself still teaching at Hogwarts in seven years but then again she couldn’t picture herself in seven years -- at forty -- at all. “Few years,” Fflur confirmed with a shrug after Naz didn’t get the hint to drop it.

She grinned, but the other woman was apparently being serious. Fflur didn’t live or die based on how Gryffindor did in the Cup -- and don’t get her wrong, playing house favorites was a cherished pastime now -- and she shrugged, relaxing into more of a smile. “Better, then.”

Fflur nodded, eating another chip, brushing the salt from her hand on her jeans. “You gonna make them take care of the same plants next term?” She laughed, though; she’d have left behind a dreadful plant, too. Who nad two (not green) thumbs and couldn’t keep plants alive? This Fflur. “Nothing yet.” She moved for another chip and changed her mind halfway, wanting to save room for the rest of the food they’d ordered. “Another job that requires no experience, no resume, no real skills…” She had tended bar (poorly) last summer and the idea had been bandied around to do it again this summer but this time last year she’d been sneaking drinks so--

She looked up at their waiter, approaching with a plate of nachos, and in the few seconds it took him to get to the table she desperately hoped they were theirs. He set the plate down and walked away; Fflur waved her hand over the the chips mounded with cheese and other toppings: “Nachos.”

"Oh delightful," Naz said as she clapped her hands together when the nachos arrived at the table. While she'd had plenty of pitas, dips, and cheesy dishes she'd never had this sort of entre before and it was ridiculously obvious how excited she was. She admired the towering layers of chips and cheese and vegetables before sliding her small plate closer to the big one. Using a spoon she slid a heap of the gooey goodness onto her dish and then brought one to her mouth. She got cheese all over her fingertips from where she'd grabbed the chip but in the second flat in no longer mattered.

She chewed, taking a moment, before realizing what all of the fuss was about. "Oh it's crunchy, but also soft." She said between bites, her mouth full of food and she couldn't have been bothered to swallow first. She gave Fflur quite the view as she grabbed another one. This chip had more of the extra toppings on it than the last, there was probably more on top of the chip than there was chip itself, and as she brought it to her lips it buckled under the weight. She caught half of it with her mouth and the other half slid messily down her chin. "Oh!" She said as she tried to catch the sliding bits with her free hand and reached for a napkin. "Well, then." She smiled, at Fflur and took a sip of her water after she'd cleaned off her face. "Bit of an adventure, I see."

She kept eating but she was a little more careful now, speaking to Fflur in between bites as she returned to what they had been discussing. "Wonder if we should give Gryffindor a head start this year..." She mused allowed, staring into the cheesy abyss on her plate and finding nothing but happiness staring back at her.

Fflur didn’t bother with cutlery like Naz did, pulling at a nacho with two fingers, bringing it (and the cheese from its neighbors, too) up to her mouth. She nodded excitedly, mouth full, glad that she was getting it: nachos, worth the hype. Naz was having a worse time of it though -- and wasting food -- and Fflur snort-laughed, nearly choking before she managed to get herself together enough to toss another few napkins across the table. “An adventure, an art.” Fflur shrugged, resting for a minute before helping herself to more.

“You think?” The obvious answer was yes they absolutely should give Gryffindor a head start but-- “When do the hourglasses reset?” Were they still sitting at this past term’s totals or were they all at a clean zero? “Bet Flitwick would notice if Gryffindor’s ahead by hundreds of points before the train’s even arrived.” She grinned; it wasn’t enough to put her off the idea.

There was movement close to the table and Fflur glanced sideways, expecting to see the waitress with more food -- tacos! -- but it was a student. A Hufflepuff. Fflur -- or one half of Professors Ajay and Blevins, now -- set her mouth in a hard line, about to say something when Naz started. She looked at her, eyes wide, because it seemed like she was about to let this conversation happen or offer a nacho or anything that wasn’t declaring that school was out but they could still assign detentions.

She cleared her throat and shook her head just a bit when she caught Naz’s eye, doing her best to stifle a laugh.

Shrugging as she kept struggling with the cheese that was sliding off the end of her nachos Nazreen couldn't be bothered to meet Fflur's eye when she spoke. She was enthralled, captivated even, it was silly, but her focus was deadset and obvious. Her expression, tongue at the tip of her lips, head tilted to the side slightly, made it look like more like she was defusing a bomb than eating nachos. It was ridiculous, but it was Nazreen. She knew plenty of things, well at least all the things the smokable tea leaves and nights drinking goblin whiskey hadn't wiped clean from her memory, but there were so many things she was just entirely oblivious to. Luckily she had Fflur to set her on the right path.

"Only if he could see over the ledge the hourglasses sit on," she said, still way too interested in her nachos, and then squeaking a little when she realized exactly what she had said. She dropped the nacho and it plunked onto her plate, an olive flipping over the lip and onto her lap, as her hand rushed to cover her mouth. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at Fflur, "I mean," she started, "He probably would notice." She loved Professor Flitwick, had since she was a child, but there was something about being around Fflur that always made her a little bit more... chaotic. She was still friendly and loving and honestly quite bizarre but she was also a little more judgemental. Nazreen had always been the sort of witch who was easily influenced by others, eager to make others smile, and once and a while her sense of humor got away from her.

Luckily someone came to the table to interrupt them and Nazreen silently thanked them, even considered inviting them to join for nachos, and then saw the look on her friend's face and quickly changed course. "Well hello Elisabeth, would you --- we will see you this fall." She said, giving her a wiggle of her brow and looking back at Fflur.