lunchtime chats {Ruby}

It was a slow day, and Verity found herself with nothing to do. Manning the store front was easy when no one was around, and that’s exactly why she didn’t want to be doing it. There were so many things to do, and here she was staring at the little bell that hung over the door. Eventually she just groaned and gave up, grabbing her bag as she made her way out the front. “I’m off to lunch!” Maybe someone heard her, maybe they didn’t. She didn’t particularly care because she needed food and she had stuff to get done. A grin spread over her face as she made her way out of Diagon Alley and back into Muggle London. She wouldn’t be expected back for a good while, not if Fred knew what was good for him at least. That gave her plenty of time to not only get food but chat with Ruby as well, which was perfect. She wouldn’t say she’d been avoiding her friend, per se. She just hadn’t been doing anything that reminded her too much of the Battle at Hogwarts except work because she needed the money.

There weren’t many time Verity felt like having a burger, but this happened to be one of those times. She swung by the closest place that was serving them to go and placed an order for herself, making sure to get something Ruby would like as well. It didn’t take too long for the food to come out, and in that time, she couldn’t help but wonder how Ruby would feel about the unexpected visit. Especially since it was an unexpected visit after not having spent time with her in private. No lunch dates, no hanging at each other’s places… Just avoidance on her end. Verity bit her lip as she ducked around a corner, trying to find a relatively safe place to apparate from. It was easier than walking the rest of the way to Ru’s place.

The pop of apparation was always satisfying to her ears, and as Verity rolled her shoulders, she quickly glanced around to make sure no one saw her. This particular alleyway was normally abandoned, but it was close enough to Ruby’s home that she didn’t have to continue trekking through London. After making sure the coast was sufficiently clear, she made her way out. It wasn’t long until she was standing in front of her friend’s door. “Ru, I’ve got food!” Her voice was sing-song as she called through the door, her free hand knocking thrice before she shifted the food back into it. “And a good hour or two since work’s been slow.”

Today was cleaning day, which meant that Ruby was trying to do anything but. It wasn't as if she enjoyed living in a pigsty, but it was hard to keep her flat clean when her flatmate was never around and didn't clean up after himself. Huffing as she stood up with a piece of moldy pizza in her hand, she suddenly wished that she had lived alone or, at very least, lived with someone cleaner. Scrunching up her nose at the mess in front of her, she dumped the slice of pizza in the trashbin nearest her and sighed, reaching for her wand on the coffee table.

As she pointed her wand at the first pile of trash, she flashed back on that fateful year on the run. If someone had told her then that life would get better again, that she'd see her friends and wouldn't have to life in constant fear, she would've called them a filthy liar. But the fact of the matter was that that year on the run took a toll on her and injured psyche, and she still found herself waking up at night to nightmares of strange hooded figures coming after her. Just as the hooded figure reached a hand out to her, she snapped back in to reality. Blinking, her jaw clenched and she angrily muttered the cleaning spell, causing the first pile to disappear completely.

Ruby tried to put some distance between her and her thoughts as she turned on the radio, the only semblance of muggle life she still clung to. Living amongst wizards for so long had caused her to drop many of the tokens she'd grown so used to in her muggle life. Television was mostly non-existent, if only because she couldn't afford to pay for proper service, but she couldn't live without her radio, her music. She turned on her favorite rock station, and as a song began playing, she felt her spirits lift. She began moving around to the music, tapping her foot at first and then moving her arms as the rhythm picked up. This... this was exactly what she needed.

As she continued to clean up each pile she came across, she thought of all the things she wanted to do now. Her music was picking up more and more, and their band had several gigs lined up. Maybe one of them would eventually bring them stardom, or at least some money so Liam wouldn't have to pay all the bills. Once the final pile of garbage was gone, she set her wand on the counter and opened the refrigerator and grabbed a can of beer. She opened the can and lifted it to take a drink when she heard a voice coming from outside her flat. More specifically, she heard the word food.

Setting the can on the coffee table, she ran for the door, forgetting that she wasn't wearing any clothes. She opened the door, smiling at the woman in front of her, but quickly frowned when the wind hit her exposed abdomen. "Shit," she cursed, and then slammed the door on her friend. She quickly ran into her room and fished for a robe and then threw it on as she ran back to the door, opening it once more, and letting another curse slip. "Shit. Sorry. Come in. Let me put on some pants." She held the door open until Verity could enter and then she quickly slipped back into her room. "What'd you bring?"

The first thing that hit her was the sound of music drifting through the air, through the door. A small smile graced Verity’s face as she nodded along to the beat; her friend had excellent taste in music. That was to be expected, though. Ru was a good musician, good enough that the band she was part of was managing to do better than so many others had. Maybe they’d get picked up, or whatever happened to bands after the “playing in random bars” stage of their journey… Whatever went down, Ver just hoped she was there for it. The door opened, and for a second Verity thought she caught a glimpse of her friend. By the time she’d processed exactly what she’d seen, though, the door was once again shut.

It took her a couple of seconds to register what had happened, but when it finally sunk in, Verity couldn’t help but double over in laughter. Her friend had answered the door… With nothing. Nothing at all. How she managed to exist in a state of no clothing was beyond Verity; she felt awkward if she didn’t have at least a comfy shirt on. When the door reopened, Ruby standing there with a tad more clothes, Verity was all but sitting on the floor, laughter not subsiding at all. “Holy shit, Ru. Hoooooly… What would you have done if it had someone else?” She stood, wiping the start of tears from her eyes. This was golden, and she was only sad she wasn’t able to capture it on film or something.

Pulling down her own shirt, Verity scooped the food up before stepping into the apartment. There was a hint of a smell, masked very well by the scent of what would soon be lunch. “Cleaning day?” The question was more rhetorical than anything; the place looked only a little less like a tornado hit it than she remembered it being. “Burgers and chips. I didn’t bother getting drinks because I figured you had some here.” She placed the food on the nearest surface before making herself comfortable on a nearby chair. It was odd, being here without the sense of urgency that she normally associated with having to visit. Before, Verity had visited Ruby more to make sure her friend was alright than anything else. She’d needed the confirmation that everything would be alright when this that war finally ended. And she’d certainly managed to get that much.

Verity’s eyes quickly ran over Ru as she reentered the room, and she nodded. “Looks much better than the au natural look you were working earlier. You often do that when you’re not expecting anyone, or did I manage to just get lucky?” There was a playful tone to her voice, although a part of her was almost… jealous? Nah, Verity didn’t get jealous. That was silly, and implied that there was anything to actually be jealous of. She was just being protective of her friend. That was it. Most certainly.

She left the door open for Verity to close as she managed to quickly tip toe back into her room. Her friend was still laughing, which caused Ru to smile as she fished for clean clothes. "I don't know," she replied, picking a blue tank top and jeans off the floor, slipping them on as she spied the room for a pair of shoes. "I might have jiggled a little and done a little dance. Maybe I could've gotten lucky and they would've given me money," she called back, as she tied the laces of her red shoes and then put a pair of fairy wings on.

Looking for her hair tie, she nodded, knowing her friend couldn't see. "Liam hasn't done a damn thing around here. Why do I always have to clean up after that slob?" At the mention of food choices, she couldn't help but smile. "You are a damn goddess, Verity. A goddess. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

When she finally entered the room, she smiled at the girl. "Thanks. I always clean naked. You just got lucky." Walking towards the kitchen, she called out, "What d'you want to drink? We got water, some expired milk, an orange-colored liquid I think is orange juice, and beer." She paused for her friend's answer, but began talking once more before the girl could speak. "Actually, beer might be safer. Or water. I'll bring both." She retrieved a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water and then grabbed a beer and returned to her friend.

Setting them near the girl, she plopped down once more and reached for the burger. Taking a bite, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to take in the flavor. "This is amazing. This would be so much better if we had drugs. Or something." She reached for her beer, however she managed to tip it over and the world seemed to go in slow motion as it fell onto the floor. "Oh, for fuck's sake. Screw it, I'll leave it for Liam."

In between bites of the burger, she began to talk. "Whatcha been up to? Any hot dates?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Some things never change. The thought made Verity smile just a bit as she looked at her friend. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Uh-huh. Would’ve paid to see that.” It wasn’t entirely untrue; the thought of Ruby doing a jig for someone, clothed or totally naked, was really entertaining, and Verity fully believed that her friend would promptly hex anyone who actually tried to get one out of her. Maybe. Depending on her mood really. Which also would have been entertaining really.

“Okay, so what else is new? I mean, you act like his inability to clean is something that you weren’t already aware of.” She laughed as she spoke; this wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation, nor would it be the last. Had Ruby been in the room, she’d have stood and bowed. Instead she merely grinned and put on her best I’m better than everyone voice. “Bow before me, mere mortal, for I am the bringer of life giving sustenance. This ambrosia came from the finest establishment .” God, she missed this. Missed just being able to goof off with her friend, nothing to worry about. No impending doom, no being on the run, no flashbacks to fighting. Except that wasn’t going to happen; sure it’d been a year and things were starting to become normal again, but it wouldn’t be the same. For a second, Verity was glad Ruby wasn’t there to see the way the smile slipped off her face, the way her expression hardened just for a second before she shook the thoughts out of her head. Here wasn’t the time or place (there was never a time, never a place).

The sight of Ru made everything better. “I should get lucky more often,” she said, waggling her eyebrows in jest. It took a second to think which she’d rather have, but in the end it didn’t matter. The fact that beer was the safest option was… less than encouraging really. “Okay, so I appreciate the fact that you have beer, but should I be concerned that you don’t actually know if the orange juice is… orange juice? Do I need to make sure you two have actually half way decent food and drink options? Because I swear, if you guys are living off of Chinese food take out, so help me I will come and cook for you.” It was meant to be a threat, but the idea wasn’t exactly unappealing. Dinner with friends was actually an excellent idea. But alas, it probably wouldn’t happen. Drat.

“Slow down there, champ. Let’s save the partying for when I’m not on my lunch break.” Not that the shop would miss her much, what with it being a slow day and all. But Ru didn’t need to know that. She let out a snort as her friend tipped the beer over, casually grabbing her wand and flicking it. The liquid seemed to reverse itself, flowing back up into the beer bottle, which righted itself. “So, you do realize we can do this now right? You have no idea how many times I’ve had to do this at the shop, by the way. It’s horrible how good I’ve become at simple cleaning spells. Help, I’m becoming domesticated!”

For a second, Verity considered just shrugging off Ruby’s question. Then she remembered, and a grin spread over her face. “Not exactly, but guess who has an admirer?” She paused for effect, then continued. “So there was this chick at the shop who was admiring the Headless Hats, right? Remember how I spent like… three months altering the design to include something I wanted to try out? Well, she was sitting there looking at them, and she actually noticed. And apparently, she’s a fan of my work.” There was smug, then there was Verity right now. The boost to her ego probably wasn’t the best thing ever, but hey she’d take it. Someone noticed and admired her handiwork on the hats, which in and of itself was awesome. Then there was the other small detail. “And I think she has a crush on me or something. Or at very least she doesn’t know how to talk to pretty girls, ‘cause she was staring hard core.”