better get a head start, start running [oliver]

march 2001

Quinn Regan was looking fabulous, which really wasn't any different than usual. Her short, red dress matched her red lips, and her dark hair was falling in a gentle wave. Short, well manicured fingernails drummed impatiently on the wooden tabletop. First dates weren't a new thing for her, but waiting for one to show up definitely was. And to complicate things more, she had no idea who she was actually meeting. Maybe she was still coming down from her winner's high after her defeat of Portree, but regardless of the reason, she had agreed to the blind date all the same.

True, she had shown up early to make sure she had the upper hand on the date, but she still didn't like to be kept waiting. It was a particular dreary Tuesday evening in a nicer muggle neighborhood of London; while she would have much preferred to meet in a seaside restaurant in Falmouth, she didn't want the chance of being mobbed by adoring fans to intimidate her date and shy him away. She was considerate like that. The restaurant was small, only holding about a dozen tables, dimly lit (but still with enough lighting for her date to see just how fantastic she looked), and catered to somewhat nicely dressed couples.

She was seated at a cozy table for two towards the back of the restaurant, but from Quinn's position, she could keep her gaze fixed on the door to size up every man that walked through it. All Elias had told her about her potential date is that she would know him when he saw him, and she assumed that he knew her type: the cliche tall, dark, and handsome. But the restaurant was starting to fill up now, and she had yet to see anyone that fit this description enter by himself. Quinn sipped on a cold glass of cider as she watched the door and nearly spit it back in the glass on herself when the next man walked in. She knew who he was, of course. She knew who every quidditch player in her league was, and this man was no exception.

The reservation was under Elias's name, the easiest way to set up this rendezvous, and Quinn did her best to read his lips from across the room to see if that was the name he was requesting. But when the host pointed in her direction, she instinctively sunk down a few inches in her chair. This wasn't happening. Elias hadn't seriously set her up with Oliver Wood. But as he stepped closer towards her, it was becoming painfully obvious that was exactly what he had done. She straightened up in her chair, her gaze quickly flitting to the window to check her reflection, before she turned her attention back to her date and smirked.

Quinn wasn't going to be the one to quit this date first.

@Oliver Wood

Oliver wasn’t quite sure why he’d let Elias talk him into letting him set him up, let alone set him up  on a blind date. He supposed it was because he knew that once Elias got something in his head, that was the end of it, whether anyone wanted to agree to it or not. So, in the end it had been easier to say yes to his roommate than giving him any more reason to prod and mettle – not that Oliver was terribly bothered by the idea of a blind date, he was just happy as he was. But Elias had insisted that he had found him someone he couldn’t pass up, and that was how he had found himself in a dark dress shirt, a new pair of jeans, and a pair of dress shoes that had passed Elias’ inspection.

He’d been trying to figure out who Elias would have set him up with since he had been out of the German’s sight, but was coming up completely empty. All his friend had said was that there would be a certain spark and that had been absolutely useless. As he reached the door of the restaurant, Oliver ran a hand through his hair, trying to smooth it out after he realized he’d been running his hands through it while he’d been thinking. Once that was taken care of, Oliver slipped through the door of the restaurant and gave him Elias’ name as he’d been instructed to do. And, when the host pointed him in the direction of his table, he was almost certain his eyes were deceiving him, until he neared the table and saw that his eyes were just fine. Elias had set him up with Quinn Regan. Quinn bloody Regan.

When she greeted him with a smirk, Oliver couldn’t help but regard her with a skeptical look of his own, as her rocked back on his heels, with his hands in his pockets and amusement plain on his face “Ms. Regan...you’re looking lovely tonight” he greeted her, momentarily unsure what to do other than to make a note to strangle Elias next time he saw him, before sitting down across from her. She did clean up nice, although he had a sneaking suspicion that she knew it, if the way she was looking at him was any indication.

He realized it also made sense now, why the restaurant was in muggle London, and what Elias had meant about there being a spark, he always thought he was so clever. Oliver was thankful that they were eating somewhere where they wouldn’t be recognized, the last thing either of them needed tonight was to be hounded and harassed. It was hard, though, for the Keeper to wrap his head around the fact that he was on a date with Quinn Regan, and that she was kind of hot. Based on what the wizard knew about the Seeker, which was admittedly very little, it was bound to be an entertaining evening at the least “congratulations on the win over Portree” he commended easily as he took a sip from his pint, which had been freshly delivered. They might have been on a date, but he would be damned if they weren’t going to talk shop at least a little, not when he couldn’t quite get a read on the witch across from him. Challenge accepted he thought smugly as he turned his attention to the menu in front of him, skimming his eyes over the choices before shooting her a glance over the top, daring her to resist “My treat tonight.” Quinn could say whatever she wanted about him after tonight, but he’d be damned if she wouldn’t call him a gentleman. 

Quinn quirked an eyebrow to accompany her smirk as it was made plainly clear that the keeper was as much in the dark as she was. "Thank you," she replied, amused that he was doing nothing but stand there awkwardly, happy that she was clearly already winning this date. He knew who she was and had already offered her one compliment. And the date had only been going on for thirty seconds. She was definitely going to be receiving more compliments before the night was out, that much was certain.

She let her gaze fall from Oliver's shockingly nice face down to his shoes before slowly moving it back up again, lingering on the more interesting parts of him. At least he would be fun to look at, even if everything else about him was a total waste. She smirked again at the thought of this and didn't bother to wipe the expression from her face as he finally seated himself and ordered a drink. And then, cue compliment number two. "Oh, you heard about that?" Of course he had heard about it. That was probably the biggest upset in the league the past round. "Your performance against the Cannons was really.. top notch," she paused before finding the perfect word for it, actually almost sincere. His keeping skills were the only thing that kept them afloat in the match, but she didn't need to add all that superfluous information. She didn't want it to go to his head or anything.

The woman looked down at her own menu when Oliver did, though she had been early enough to the restaurant that she had decided on what to eat ages ago. "Oh?" She looked up at his offer to pay for dinner to find him looking back at her. Quinn's eyes narrowed, skeptical that this was a genuine offer and not somehow a cleverly disguised insult. "How thoughtful," she settled on accepting it, looking back down to her menu to find something a little more expensive than her original choice.

But there were more important things than food right now. Like how they both managed to be conned into this date. Quinn set her menu down once more and took another sip from her glass. "So," she said as she set her glass back down, "How do you know Elias?" She raised both eyebrows this time, very curious to know the details behind their setup. With any luck, Elias wasn't too familiar with him and had convinced her to agree to the date without knowing just how completely wrong Oliver Wood was for her.

Had he heard about it? Of course he had, and he knew she knew he had. It was so typical of seekers to act as though their job wasn’t right out in the open for everyone to see. He shot Quinn a quick look, but it was friendly “I don’t think there isn’t anyone who works in the league who hasn’t heard about it” normally he wouldn’t have given her the extra compliment she was looking for, but he wanted to see what she did when she actually got what she was looking for. Two people could play that game, and Oliver certainly wasn’t star struck, so he wasn’t going to give her that satisfaction. He gave her a slight nod in appreciation of her comment “heard about that, did you?” he teased, not done yanking her chain just yet “Thank you, though, really. Just a tough break” he finished with a shrug.

The ex-Gryffindor wasn’t terribly thrilled that they had lost the match, and as usual it had taken him a few days to come to conclusion that he wasn’t entirely responsible, at least not this time around. He was glad though to move away from talk about the match against the Cannons if even just a moment, not wanting to risk souring his mood. He offered her a small smile before deciding on his own meal, speaking as he looked “It’s the gentlemanly thing to do” he concluded, and it was true. He’d been raised to do it, and so he would.

After taking another pull from the pint in front of him Oliver shook his head slightly amusement back on his face “Would you believe it if I told you he’s my roommate?” At this particular moment, though, Oliver was wondering why that was, after he’d gotten him into this mess. He was mildly curious to see how Quinn and Elias knew each other, though “And you?” he prompted before looking around for their waiter, wondering absently when they would get to order.

She shrugged, attempting to be as casual as possible. She had found through years of experience that if she at least pretended to be humble about her accomplishments, she tended to garner more praise in the end. "That's probably true," Quinn nodded, almost actually thinking about how true that statement really was. But she knew that. Of course she knew that. It was her best catch of the whole season, that was certain. But part of her was a bit disappointed that he didn't have more to say about it, and the other part of her was disappointed that he wasn't going to argue her on it. This was going to be trickier than she had thought.

"I did, yeah," Quinn mock pouted at his loss. It had been a headline as well, albeit a much smaller one than hers was. She nodded as Oliver shrugged, deciding not to continue on past what she had already said. The Falcons weren't exactly at the top of the league, after all, and she didn't need him to somehow steer the conversation back around to her loss against the Cannons, which actually sort of was her fault. But she was never going to admit that.

Quinn nearly snorted as he said something to the effect of him being a gentlemen, but she managed to reel that in and smile back at him, however sarcastically it may have come across. It was a good thing that she was no longer drinking when she learned that fun fact about Oliver and Elias living together, especially as her mind flashed to the comical mental image of them sharing a teeny tiny bed together. "You're kidding. He conveniently forgot to mention that." She shook her head, reminding herself to definitely kill Elias later.

"We've been friends for a few years," she replied, taking another sip of her drink. "We had dinner together last week," she continued with a nod. "That's actually when he got this," she motioned her hand back and forth between the two of them, "wonderful idea." The word "wonderful" was laced in sarcasm, but Quinn was still smiling. She was pretty sure she had even mentioned United's match and Elias had remained silent on the subject then, too. Thankfully, the waiter showed himself then, and she didn't hesitate before ordering a small, but expensive cut of beef.

"Oh," she remembered, before the waiter had a chance to get anything from her date, "I'm going to need another one of these," she pointed to her nearly empty glass. "And just keep them coming," she added with a smirk to Oliver. "You should keep his coming, too," she was speaking to the waiter but not taking her eyes off of the keeper across from her. She waited as Oliver ordered, taking sips of her drink and absentmindedly licking her lips.

She smiled again as the waiter left, her left index finger slowly tracing around the rim of her glass. "So.." she said slowly. Besides quidditch, what did they really have to talk about? They couldn't exactly reminisce about their school days together. He had been two years ahead of her, and in Gryffindor to boot, which was not really something she wanted to discuss. "You should probably catch up," she said, picking up her glass and finishing the cider that was left. "I may have had one before this while I was waiting for you." And Quinn was built like most seekers were, small and lean, and she abstained from alcohol when her training was particularly gruesome, which was almost always. This date would be harder to champion if she was the only one with impaired judgement.

“I’ll bet he did” Oliver agreed sardonically. Not that he was terribly surprised, since they were on a blind date, after all, but he could see Elias trying to sell her on the whole thing, just like he’d done to him, and conveniently leaving out important details like that, or the fact that he’d known Quinn for a few years “He didn’t mention you two were friends either, never mind that you two had dinner before all of this.” He added, shaking his head in mild disbelief at the fact that Elias had managed to pull this over on the both of them. The wizard had to admit he was slightly impressed with his friend’s ability to orchestrate this without tipping either one of them off. Impressed or not, Oliver was already formulating a plan to get his revenge, that was his job as a roommate, and a victim of a blind date after all.

Wonderful was right he thought as he rolled his eyes in commiseration “At least we know who to blame if the press gets ahold of this, yeah?” He joked lightly, pausing to let her order. A dark brow arched in surprise as Quinn ordered them essentially endless drinks. He could have guessed she was the type to take charge, but he was still surprised to see her be so bold about it. Oliver tipped his head slightly in acquiescence, as he flashed her a quick grin, wondering if the lithe seeker knew exactly what kind of pot she was stirring. Regardless though, he had to admit that he was curious to see what she would do next.

He’d anticipated something like this happening, and was glad to have grabbed enough muggle currency as a precaution to cover it. Not wanting to keep their waiter waiting too long, Oliver quickly ordered himself some grilled shrimp and veggies, automatically picking something that fit into his training regimen out of habit. After their waiter had left, Oliver turned his attention back to the witch across from him, his eyes following the movement of her finger around the glass in front of her for a moment before taking her up on her suggestion.

Oliver picked up his pint glass, which was a little less than half full, and proceeded to finish the glass in a few swallows without breaking eye contact with her before gently setting the now empty pint back on their table “You were saying?” He questioned evenly, although mischief was written clearly on his face. She didn’t need to know that he hadn’t had a single drink since the beginning of Quidditch season, per the team’s collective diet strong suggestions, since he was mostly certain he could still drink her under the table if it came to that tonight. He wasn’t going to give her an inch, he decided, not if he could help it and nodded to their waiter, if he was going to catch up, he was going to need his first refill.

While normally Quinn would be outrageously offended that Elias hadn't bragged about their friendship to absolutely everyone, she nearly understood why she would have left out that minor detail for his own roommate. She made a mental note to find out later just how long they had been living together before deciding how upset she actually was. Still, she found it hard to believe that if Oliver had known who the date was with, he wouldn't have still agreed. She was talented, gorgeous, seriously what more could he actually want?

"Merlin, the press," she sighed, bringing her hand up to her lips. How had she not considered that already? It was news enough in some circles when she went somewhere with a male someone, and that was when that someone wasn't also a quidditch player of almost Quinn-caliber. It would do wonders for the keeper's image, though, and if United started doing a little better in the league, it might not hurt hers either. No. Why was she thinking about the press knowing when there was going to be nothing for them to know about?

"I think we'll need to have a little sit down with our pal Elias," she said, feeling her cheeks grow warm almost immediately. She wanted to blame her blush on the alcohol, but she knew it was because she had realized that she had just voiced that she had plans to see Oliver again in a non-professional setting. There was no way they would be taking this any further than whatever happened tonight, so why was she even considering the possibility? Both she and Oliver would talk to Elias on their own and then never, ever trust him about anything ever again, simple as that.

She watched with a toothy grin and a look of mild disbelief as Oliver drained his own glass. "Um, that is exactly what I was saying," she laughed, biting her bottom lip as she took in the features of Oliver's face once again. No, this wasn't going to work if she was getting distracted. She followed his gaze to the waiter and took the opportunity to just slightly adjust her posture; straightening her back, holding her shoulders back, if only to draw whatever attention she could to her chest.

The waiter had definitely took her request to heart, as not a minute after Oliver had finished his beer did they both have refills in front of them. She quickly had her hand around her glass and had already lifted it halfway to her mouth when she said, "Do it again?" She didn't give him the chance to respond in either way, as she was already attempting to drink her cider as quickly as possible. Quinn did her best to keep her eyes on him, but once she was about halfway through her drink it was proving far too difficult to both see him and not slosh everything down her front.

She set her glass down proudly, her hand quickly shooting up to wipe a stray trickle of cider from her chin, but she was greeted with the disappointing sight of Oliver already being done with his. "Damn." The woman was starting to lose her original train of thought, to keep this date in her favor, to be the victor at the end of the night. Her cheeks were warm again, but this time the alcohol was most assuredly at fault. "Not bad," she commended him as she leaned into the table a bit, folding one arm across herself to give her bust a little, hopefully noticeable, lift.

Oliver nodded along with Quinn’s surprise as she realized the implications of their date to the press. It wasn’t as if they were major celebrities, even if they both considered themselves to be more important than the average Joe, but when it came to the press their minor celebrity was enough to create quite the headache. And, the last thing Oliver wanted was to be in the Prophet for something other than his gameplay, his personal life – romantic or otherwise – wasn’t anyone’s business but his own. Not that anything was or ever would be going on between him and Quinn Regan, but that small fact didn’t mean much to anyone with a Quick Quill and a penchant for finding the stories that sold. “I say if it gets out, we charm all of his robes to change color for a month.” It didn’t seem like a very equal punishment for what Elias had just opened the door to, but physical harm seemed like a bit much, too so they’d have to settle for something in the middle.

“We, eh? I must be growing on you…” Oliver said as he winked at Quinn, gently catching her implication that they’d see each other again. He noticed she was blushing, too and found it rather endearing, she had feelings after all. “You could lure him in with the promise of wine, and then when we’ve got him cornered, we’d be all set” He offered with partial sincerity, because hypothetically they could confront him together, if they wanted to. But Oliver certainly wasn’t going to push it, because part of him didn’t want to give Elias the satisfaction of seeing them together after he’d arranged this whole scheme.

Oliver grinned, a self-satisfied look on his face as he regarded his empty pint glass on the table in front of him. He felt mildly silly for being so pleased with himself over one empty pint, but he was equally glad to have managed to surprise Quinn, even if it was only a little, because she had a nice laugh. His smugness was cut short though when he turned back from signaling the waiter and found that her dress was doing very nice things to her er…assets…maybe, he decided, just maybe Quinn Regan was more than kind of hot. The man was so caught up in his own inner dialogue, it took him a moment to realize what was going on. Quinn was already working on her next glass, and Oliver was determined not to lose, not now. A calloused hand shot out and quickly grabbed his next pint before raising it to his mouth and chugging with abandon, bugger whether they were in a restaurant or not.

He was somewhat surprised to find that he’d managed to beat Quinn, despite the fact that she’d had a bit of a head start on him. He smirked at her acknowledgement of her defeat, his fingers drumming lightly on the tabletop in silent victory “I think I could say the same…” he offered before realizing that his gaze had unconsciously followed her arm, and drifted back to her bust as he’d said it. It was his turn to blush, as he coughed, realizing what he’d just done, unable to offer any kind of passable apology. The alcohol was definitely working its way through his system, and he wondered how someone as tiny, as elf like, as Quinn was holding up if he was already buzzed. But before he could give it much more than a moment’s thought, their faithful waiter had delivered the next pair of full glasses, although this time he left them a basket of bread, too and Oliver offered him a grateful smile before picking up one of the warm slices and buttering it for himself. He needed something to busy his hands, and his eyes he thought crossly, and hoped their food got there sooner rather than later.

Oh, Oliver was just going to change the color of Elias's robes? Amateur. With so many rules reigning in her behavior on the pitch, Quinn needed every opportunity she could get to not play fair off the pitch. He could do whatever he wanted with his robes, but she was something that wouldn't be quite as easily fixable in her friend's near future. What exactly that was going to be would have to be determined later, because right now Quinn wanted to focus all her attentions on the situation at hand, because she was clearly slipping.

Quinn scowled as Oliver caught on to her use of the word 'we' but couldn't help enjoying the wink he offered. "You know what I mean, Oliver," she retorted, feeling the warmth in her cheeks increase as she actually enjoyed using his name. Get yourself together, Regan, she scolded herself, narrowing her eyes again to keep her scowl afloat. But then he continued, detailing his plan of their shared attack on Elias and then it was her turn to judge his word choice. This dinner was getting very confusing very quickly.

His smirking, his face in general, it was all very distracting. That, plus the effects of the now three ciders in a very short amount of time without a bite of food, Quinn's formerly pristine judgment had now left the building. She grinned, looking rather smug, as she saw his gaze drift south of her face. At least one thing was working in her favor and she would definitely be taking advantage of this. She laughed again as he coughed, coming to the realization of what he was doing. No worries, Wood, they'll be right here when you want to take another look, she thought as she smirked, taking her turn to wink when she caught his eye.

He looked much too relieved to have bread as he dug into the bread basket almost immediately. But Quinn was much more focused on her fourth drink in front of her. She clasped her fingers around it, and took just one swallow of it this time. If she had any hope in knowing what she was doing this evening, she would have to space out the chugging just a little bit. Her crossed arm stayed put, just in case Oliver lost interest in his bread.

"So..." she started, replacing her glass on the table, "This dinner is a one off, right? I just want to make sure that we're on the same page." Truthfully, she was now skipping all around her own rule book, jumping from 'get him to buy you dinner' to 'have enough babies for our own quidditch team' to 'just leave now' to 'get his clothes off' and so on. But, if he wanted to shut it down after this dinner, she'd be fine with that too. Or wouldn't she? Quinn honestly had no idea at this point. They still hadn't played against each other this season, so at least they would have that to look forward to. Or dread. Whichever.

Thankfully the waiter returned once more, this time bearing their meals. After a quick thanks, she said "Oh, that looks good," while eyeing her date's entree choice. Her own looked delicious as well and after another swig of her drink, she tucked in. She made sure to not wolf it down too quickly; she didn't care what she looked like while she was eating, but she didn't want all the protein to soak up all her alcohol too quickly. But it was a small cut of meat and it didn't take her too long finish it all, and she wasn't exactly in the mood to eat her side of vegetables. Instead, she continued drinking, because how could that possibly not be a good idea? Never mind that by now her cheeks were fuzzy and the tip of her nose was getting tingly.

The man was surprised when Quinn used his first name, but even more surprised that he liked the way it sounded. He offered her a cheekly unapologetic grin “Do I? You might have to elaborate..” he knew he shouldn’t have been, but he couldn’t stop himself from teasing her, her reactions were too interesting to not keep it going. It also had the upside of maybe getting her to call him Oliver again, although the fact that he wanted her to call him Oliver instead of Wood, like everyone else was slightly unsettling, but he chose to blame the alcohol rather than consider the fact that it could be because he might like her.

At her laugh, Oliver felt himself blush again, and busied himself with another piece of bread to make sure that his gaze didn’t drift back to where it didn’t belong. It wasn’t like he’d never seen a woman before, but he’d usually managed to have at least a few more ounces of self-control than he’d had tonight, despite the fact that she was likely doing it on purpose. In that sense it bothered him how easily she could get under his skin, but he was also impressed, and intrigued. Usually he didn’t have a problem behaving himself, or in this case not making a fool of himself, but Quinn had taken all of five minutes to prove to him how wrong he’d been. Elias was definitely getting a howler, at work he decided, his embarrassment making him momentarily spiteful.

When Quinn asked him what he wanted their dinner to be Oliver shrugged lightly as he grabbed his utensils and dug into his food nodding at her appraisal “Er…I assumed so, yeah? But I mean…” He trailed off mid bite, both to give himself some time to chew, and to think about his next words, the last thing he felt like doing was making a fool of himself again for the second time in the span of a minute. “I mean, I suppose if we haven’t murdered each other by the end of this meal, we could see each other again” Oliver finished unsuccessfully, still somewhat surprised it’d even come up. Oliver was confused, too. Quinn Regan wasn’t supposed to make him want to snog her or otherwise in the span of a meal, but she had, and the wizard wasn’t sure what to do, he’d never found himself feeling that way about someone on the first date before.

He would understand if she didn’t want to make it a repeat, although a small part of him protested at the thought, and he promptly ignored it. Choosing instead to focus on the last few bites of his shrimp and finishing up his pint. This first date was getting too complicated inside his own head, and the fact that he was buzzed was not helping things by any means. Draining the dregs of his glass Oliver shot Quinn a quick glance over the rim, trying to guess whether or not she wanted to go somewhere else. Unable to do so, Oliver decided to give into his buzz and simply not care “So, er…I’m gonna pay, and then I was gonna suggest we find another, more regular pub to grab a drink at?” He half questioned/half told Quinn, his own confusion showing itself on his face for a moment before he turned to get their waiter’s attention.

Once they were square, Oliver tucked his wallet back into his pocket and waited for Quinn to gather her things before heading for the door, and out onto the street. He thought there might be a nice small pub just down the way, and so he gestured for the Seeker to follow him “I think there’s a place just down the way here, shouldn’t be far.”

So all she needed to do was not murder him? That did sound tempting, but the thought of this meaning anything was also suddenly tempting as well. She finished her pint as Oliver did the same, the silence almost getting awkward. He caught her eye, and then caught her by surprise with his next sentence. "Oh, um, yes." After not being very firm about wanting to do anything after dinner when she had asked earlier, he seemed pretty eager for a change of venue now. From Quinn's experience, moving to a darker, more alcohol-filled location was usually a good thing. She was glad she didn't have to make the suggestion, too, though she had been very close to doing so. It was probably a good thing he had spoken up when he did because her suggestion was probably going to be to go back to her place.

She pushed her chair back as she said "I'll be right back." She got up from the table, her heels giving her a good four inches of height more than she usually had, and hurried off to the toilet. She didn't want to be gone too long, in case he changed his mind. Quinn was determined to help him not regret his decision. It wasn't until she was in the toilet that it hit her just how much she had had to drink so far that evening, and clearly standing up had help spread the alcohol to the rest of her body. She giggled as she touched up her lipstick, among other things, and made it back to the table before Oliver had finished up with things. "Thanks," she said quietly as she reseated herself with another laugh.

Thankfully he was done almost as soon as she returned and it took her a few seconds for her to realize what was happening. She looked up, still seated and following Oliver with her gaze, and found herself eye-level with Oliver Wood's derrière. The woman didn't know just how much she had wanted to see exactly that until she saw it. It was wonderful motivation for her to stand up, grab her purse, and quickly follow Oliver out of the restaurant. She drew up beside him, letting her arm fall and just so casually brush up against that fleshy prize, but her lessened coordination only hindered her sly attempt. "Sorry," she said quickly and probably a little too loudly. "My hand slipped," she added with a laugh, grabbing her coat on the way out the door.

She slipped it on as they got outside, and she nodded along to what was being said, "That way sounds great, Oliver." At this point, her cheeks couldn't grow any warmer or redder, so she brushed off the use of his first name again. This was a date, not a match, so she shouldn't be ashamed to call him by his name, should she? She let the keeper lead the way as she walked beside him. "You sure there's something over here?" she asked, nudging his arm with an elbow. She wouldn't be too mad if they ended up just walking around London all evening, but drunk-Quinn really wanted more drinking, and more Oliver-ogling.

But they were there before she could consider any more options for the end of their night. "This round's on me," Quinn said, grabbing ahold of Oliver's upper arm and leaning in. She couldn't help but admire the muscle she felt under her hand, but drinks was the more important topic at hand. "I'll get them from the bar if you get us a table. Any requests?" Her only request would be he find a more secluded table, although in this dimly lit pub, it wouldn't really matter. All the tables were fairly small and seemed to require their occupants to get a little cozy with each other, which was absolutely fine with her.

Elias Dörfler was not a meddler.

The German really believed this to be true, but it was hard to explain why he was to be found sitting in a dark corner in a muggle restaurant in London, waiting for two of his friends to arrive for their blind date. If he hadn't been the one to set the whole thing up in the first place, he might have been able to pass his presence off as a very strange coincidence, but the fact was that when he had arrived an hour earlier, it had been necessary to explain to the hostess at the front why there were two tables reserved under his name for different times, and why they definitely were not supposed to be adjoining.

As he lifted the dark beer he was drinking to his lips, he told himself that what was really happening was that he was just supervising. He had no intentions to actually go over and interfere with his friends' lives -- at least, not any more than he already had by practically forcing them into this evening in the first place. No, he was just here to take notes on the evening. If things didn't go well (though he felt fairly confident they would), then he would need to see where he had gone wrong in case either requested a set-up in the future. Plus, he told himself, he knew Quinn could get a bit...feisty. It was probably best that the pair had some supervision, in case she decided to hex his roommate. Oliver probably would not appreciate Elias' matchmaking if it ended in him growing a knee-length beard.

The door to the restaurant opened, and Quinn walked in, a bit earlier than Elias had been expecting either of his friends to arrive. He quickly picked up the muggle German newspaper that was sitting on his table and opened it so that his face was mostly hidden from sight. After a moment, he braved a peek around the edge and saw that Quinn had been seated by the table he had selected for the couple-to-be. He pulled his head back and tried to focus on a political article that happened to be right in front of him, but it was hard when he was so anxious to see how things would go.

Elias stayed hidden behind his paper as best he could, but couldn't resist the temptation to look up again when he saw Oliver coming in to the restaurant out of the corner of his eye. He lowered the paper just enough so that he could see over the top and smirked at the shocked expression on both of his friends' faces. He had been successful in keeping them in the dark, then. They looked like they were sizing each other up, getting ready to make a show of the whole evening. This was what had inspired him to bring them together in the first place: they were both competitive and passionate when it came to their sport, but those traits carried over into other aspects of their lives. He felt sure that if they took the time to get to know one another a bit, they would be perfectly matched. Who could understand the manic life of a professional quidditch player better than another professional quidditch player?

Reminding himself that spying was not exactly a virtue, Elias tried to refocus on the paper. He wasn't here to be nosy, just supervise. He had set this thing up, and it was therefore his responsibility to make sure that neither of his friends ended up hurt. Their waiter passed by him a few times in quick succession, and he wondered whether all of these drinks were being delivered to their table. That didn't seem right, but then again, this whole evening had been a result of a drunken genius plan that he and Quinn had come up with last weekend. He peeked out once again just in time to see their waiter clearing two empty beer mugs from their table. Quinn was looking a bit pink in the face, and though Oliver seemed to be a bit steadier, even he couldn't drink two beers in the span of five minutes and feel nothing.

Elias gestured to their waiter as he walked past on his way to the kitchen and ordered a basket of bread for their table. The pair might need some food in their stomachs if they were going to spend their date determining who could chug more beer. The waiter took a minute to understand that yes, it was to be added to his bill, but no, he did not want the table to know that it was a gift. He felt a bit better when the bread and butter arrived and Oliver immediately took a slice. Clearly, Elias knew best what the pair needed right now. It was a good thing he was around to watch out for them.

His own meal came out of the kitchen at the same time as Quinn's and Oliver's did, which was fortunate, because he would have to fold the paper up again in order to eat. At least now they would hopefully be distracted by their food and not be staring into the opposite corner where he was hiding staying out of the way. He smiled to himself as he saw the way they were sitting, both leaning a bit in toward each other, smirking and joking. He couldn't hear what they were saying from so far away, but he felt sure that he would be greeted the next time they saw him with sincere thanks and ecstatic reports about the progress of the date. He looked away quickly though, not wanting to linger on Quinn's posture, which was clearly intended for Oliver's eyes alone. He felt no need to be involved in that part of their relationship at all.

Before he had even finished half of his plate, the pair were standing up to leave. Had something gone wrong? He suddenly was fighting back the urge to go and intervene -- clearly, the pair were giving up too soon on his genius plan. They just needed to give it a bit more time to see why they would be so great together. Elias had already set down his fork and knife so that he could go officially meddle when he saw Quinn's hand graze over Oliver's behind on their way toward the door. He paused, confused. But then he saw the looks on both of their faces -- somewhere between amusement and excitement -- and he understood. They were "getting out of here," it seemed. Although he didn't approve of Quinn's behavior by any means (they were in a restaurant, after all), an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction settled in as he picked up his knife and fork again, ready to finish his meal. They wouldn't be needing him for the rest of the evening, he could see that much.

At Quinn’s ‘excuse’ Oliver chuckled good naturedly, and wiggled his eyebrows at her in jest “Mhmm. suuure it did. Y’know, if you wanted to grab my arse, all you had to do was ask” He was mostly kidding, but the keeper was kind of hoping to see what kind of rise he could get out of her, if anything. And, he would never admit it, but he was almost flattered that that was the best excuse she could come up with. Although, he supposed that being buzzed helped with the awkwardness of everything too, and was grateful for the warm fuzzy feeling it gave him in his belly, or at least that’s what he told himself when his name passed over her lips again and he felt a grin tugging at his lips in turn, mischief at work again “I’m glad you think so Quinn” he made sure to emphasize her name, winking at her again. He was only teasing, but it was strange to call someone by their first name all the same.

He did his best to keep his long stride even, so as not to out walk his date and make her work to keep up, even if the thought was kind of funny. At her question the brunette bumped her elbow back with his “No, but pretty sure.” he stated honestly, laughing at himself a little “How do you know this isn’t some nefarious plan of mine to snog you in a dark corner?” he asked her curiously, wondering how she would respond. Not that he had any sort of plans other than to get another beer for them both. He was still trying to wrap his head around the enigma that was turning out to be Quinn Regan.

And then, just when he was about to throw in the towel, there the place was, and they were back inside the warmth of the indoors again. Oliver blinked at her, having not expected her offer, before shrugging lightly “If they’ve got a good decently priced scotch, I wouldn’t mind one, otherwise a beer is fine.” He knew he shouldn’t be mixing his liquor with beer, but he liked to have a good glass of whiskey or scotch from time to time, and the mood had struck him just then. He hadn’t meant to take advantage of Quinn’s offer, and hoped she didn’t take it that way as he watched her walk away, appreciating the view for a few moments longer than he should have before grabbing them a quiet little table in a back corner, where they were least likely to bother or be bothered by anyone but each other.

Before long Quinn was back, with their drinks in tow, and Oliver got up to pull her chair out for her, trying to remember some of his manners. Once they were seated, he couldn’t decide whether he was grateful for the lack of space, since it meant he had a reason to touch/be closer to Quinn, or if he cursed it because he couldn’t move without cracking a limb on something. He supposed he should probably be thankful that those were his biggest worries at the moment, and contented himself with sipping at his drink instead, absently marveling at the fact that they hadn’t tried to kill, maim, or otherwise injure each other yet.   

"If I wanted to grab it, I would have," Quinn defended herself, despite the lack of truth in her words. But she was a big girl, after all, and knew how to take what she wanted. The issue here was the thing that she actually wanted: Oliver Wood. But they could have tonight, right? At this point, it was almost all physical attraction anyway, as they had hardly said anything less than superficial to each other so far this evening. And physical attraction was okay, right? There was no written rule that she couldn't fraternize with a rival team, or at least she thought so. She would probably never hear the end of it if her teammates found out, sure, but at least after tonight there would be nothing else for them to find out.

But, it was up to him, now. She was hot, she had already started initiating any sort of physical contact, what more could he really want? Not to mention that she was incredibly talented and was wildly attractive (or had she already mentioned that?). All of these reasons went through her head very quickly, and she was almost too focused on convincing herself that she wasn't actually attracted to him that she almost missed him saying her name this time. Yes, it really was weird to hear him say that, though there was no telling herself that she didn't enjoy it, even if he was just making fun of her for using his in the first place.

She pursed her lips, hopefully showing some sort of disapproval, but her scowl was gone as soon as he detailed his 'plan'. She laughed, grinning, looking sideways at him. "Honestly, I'd be a little shocked if that wasn't your plan," she stated, reminding herself again that she was a catch and he would be lucky to have a snog with Quinn Regan. But despite how amazing she was, she found herself more than reasonably disappointed that they found a pub and not a dark corner. She shouldn't have to be working this hard to get him to make a move.

"Scotch, right," she said with a nod, giving his arm a squeeze before turning to the bar. In the four seconds it took her to get the attention of the bartender, however, she had already forgotten his request. It took her longer to figure out her muggle cash situation than it did to order and wait for the beers, but Quinn was heading to the table, hands full of alcohol, in no time. "Good choice," she said as soon as she was close enough, nodding towards the table. She set the drinks down as Oliver stood up, "Sorry I forgot what you wanted so I just got whatever you had at dinner." She couldn't remember a simple "decent scotch" order, but she remembered the specific beer he had ordered at dinner.

"How thoughtful," she said for the second time that evening, just as sarcastic as the first time. She let him pull her chair out for her before she sunk down into it, quite pleased at their close proximity. She shrugged off her coat, letting it fall to drape over the back of her chair. Quinn caught a whiff of Oliver's general aroma, and she was definitely not appalled. She found herself congratulating herself for her decision to shower twice after her workout this afternoon because she was pretty certain that she smelled even better than he did.

But those were some weird thoughts to have, so the seeker quickly picked up her glass, holding it slightly aloft, "To your night going so much better than you thought it would." She smirked before taking a swallow of beer. She realized that she honestly had no idea what to talk about if it wasn't going to be about quidditch, but she was also pretty sure that any talk about their game would only end up heated and she would much rather channel all of Oliver's energy elsewhere. So far their only other thing in common was Elias, and she didn't much want to talk about him either.

"So... why did you agree to this setup in the first place?" At least her excuse was that she was drunk and didn't remember agreeing to this until Elias had reminded her about it the next day, but she was very curious in hearing all about Oliver Wood's love life.

At her rebuttal, Oliver nodded along good naturedly, sensing that it was probably his best bet at the moment. He wasn’t sure when he’d started caring about how he made her feel, but the thought was unsettling all the same. First dates were not normally this complicated, at least in his experience, and it all had Oliver on his heels, whether he wanted to admit it or not. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure what he was doing, she played for the Falcons, a rival team, and relationships took time, time neither of them had. He chose to ignore the fact that he’d just thought about he and Quinn in a relationship together, denying to himself that it had ever happened. This was one date, and probably the only one they’d ever have, and he tried to keep his head in that space.

“I mean, I know how handsome I am..” he waxed “but if I wanted to snog you, I wouldn’t need a dark corner to do it in” he challenged, unwilling to let Quinn see that he’d slipped up again, or that he was almost embarrassed again at his lack of a filter. He knew he could blame the beer, likely because it was at fault, but he also knew that alcohol had a way of pulling one’s subconscious wants and desires to the surface. There was no denying that Quinn was quite attractive, but he was surprised to a degree, that he might have actually wanted to snog her in a dark corner or otherwise, considering he tried to be a gentleman whenever possible, but tonight he was obviously failing in that department, with the way his mind was working.

Oliver was tempted to make a move of some sort, because it seemed like they were both interested in each other, but the wizard was slightly hesitant to try anything and find himself getting his arse kicked by Quinn Regan, nor did the sound of having his name on any potential Regan shit lists sound all that appealing with how many there were in the wizarding world and in Quidditch. He supposed that it would either come down to him finding a way around that inclination, or potentially regretting it. Thankfully though, he didn’t have to dwell on it much longer before Quinn’s presence brought him back to the present.

“I can always make sure to hold the door on the way out just long enough so that it smacks you in the face, if that’d be preferable” he shot back, glad to get back to the things he knew, like sarcasm, banter, and Quidditch. He was surprised that she’d forgotten his scotch, but had gotten him the same thing that he’d had at the restaurant, and he tipped his head in acknowledgement “It’s free beer, I doubt I could really be too picky.” At her toast Oliver found himself laughing and raising his glass in return “Likewise, well, unless you think you could have done better” he joked with a wink. He might have wanted to murder Elias, but he had to admit, the German had done a decent job of at least introducing the two of them. Not that he would ever acknowledge such a fact in front of him, though.

Why had he agreed to this? Oliver shrugged and took a drink before he answered sarcastically “Have you met Elias?” before shaking his head slightly in seriousness “I dunno, suppose I was a little curious to see if Elias could set me up with someone I didn’t hate, or who didn’t just want the status symbol.” He didn’t date much, with Quidditch being his first priority, but all the same he wasn’t sure why he was agreeing to tell Quinn that kind of information, because despite his buzz, he was still a fairly private person, a reaction he supposed that was encouraged by his public figure lifestyle.

He gently bumped her arm with his, and looked at her sideways “how about you? Somehow I doubt you have any problem getting dates if you want them” He hadn’t meant to flirt with her, not really, but Oliver was past the point of wanting to take it back, and he was fairly certain Quinn would have seen right through any excuse he could have tried to offer. He also blamed it on the fact that they were closer to one another than they had been before, and her perfume, whatever it was, was doing strange things to his head on top of the beer.