[frida's] it's all about perspective || danny

Danny's mouth dropped open. "Not that familiar with their music?" he repeated, aghast, his eyes wide. How could she-- She hadn't heard-- What in the world-- Just how?? "I would take you right now to set you straight on your Weird Sisters education if I were not this hungry and really enjoying this margarita," he told her, half serious, half joking. But also mostly serious. The band was like a religion to him. He refused to let Jere decide what WWN station they listened to while in the office and if a WS song came on, they were listening to it at top notch. Or maybe just a little louder than usual. Rebecca from the department next door had complained about their "loudness."

He smiled wider at her giggle, a thrill of pleasure shooting through him as being able to make her laugh. But him in an even better mood. Good food, pretty girl across from him, he might actually owl Janae a huge thank you card even if this was a whole set up with Jeremy. He still couldn't quite work it all out. Either, it was a set up and he had just lucked out on going on a fake date with someone easy-going and gorgeous or she was going to realize at some point or another that she was way out of his league and pick one of the waiters here instead. Of course, all the wait staff had to look like Brazilian models. So suave. Danny was jealous, almost. "Don't worry about it," he said dismissing her concern with a little wave. "He was probably just waiting for you to order your salad," he joked.

Danny raised his glass to his lips and almost ended up spitting it up, coughing and choking as he widened his eyes. "Andronicus Octavaian...?" he asked, slowly saying the name. "Wow, your parents go big, don't they? What's Ellie short for? Ellenandria? Elberta? Elchimichanga?" he guessed, making up names as he went. He perked up as he heard models for her photography, immediately wondering if she was into nude photography or something, but then it took a turn and Danny had to laugh. At least her explanation made more sense than his assumption. "That sounds fun. How did you get into it?"

As the conversation turned to his family life, he smiled at the memory of working on the farm when he was younger. "Lots of cows, chickens, a few goats, a couple of horses, a sheep dog but no sheep actually, some ducks. Mostly cows, though," he said. A thought popping up making his wonder how long it had been since he'd apparated home. Probably too long. His mum probably wasn't too happy with him. Speaking of. "Mum and dad run a little inn too, keeps them busy with tourists stopping in, wanting to see a real working farm and all that." He had always thought he would grow up and work the farm and inn just like his dad. The Ministry job hadn't really been on his radar, but he was enjoying it so far. "I guess," he said, easy-going enough to agree to her statement about lots of siblings. "Some of them are alright," Danny added with a smile, leaving out the bit about some of them being not alright. Simon was still a bit of a prick, but whatever. At least he was consistent.

He grinned and shrugged a little, feeling embarrassed enough by the line of questioning for his cheeks to turn a bit pink. He didn't think she was going to latch on to that one. Nice going, Willbond. "Oh it's not that interesting of a story. Happens to everyone I think," he said with a roll of his eyes. He knew he and Jere could make pretty dumb decisions especially when drink was involved, but he didn't want to give her all the gory details otherwise she'd be running even before the nachos showed up.

Speaking of! The waiter arrived with the nachos setting them down with some napkins before disappearing again and Danny's stomach rumbled in appreciation. They smelled so good, the cheese melting all over the seasoned beef and the healthy dollop of guac on top was calling his name. "Ladies first?" he asked, trying to be polite even though his fingers were itching to dive in.

"What can I say? I'm a man of mystery," he said breezily with a smile at her. "I can't give away all the secrets on the first fake date. It goes against protocol."

Eleanora smiled hesitantly at his reaction, unsure if the fact that she wasn’t too familiar with the Weird Sisters meant that’d she be losing some points instead of gaining them. She actually didn’t listen to much music at home, though she did have a soft spot for the occasional pop song and jazz, her tastes were a little outdated but she only had her parents to blame for that; they were oddly obsessed with silence and were not fond of the children listening to the radio. Then again, Eleanora liked quiet too because it helped her focus. Either way, her hesitation was short-lived as he continued on, you can show me next time, she considered saying but again, it was too early for all of that. He still thought they were on a fake date, after all.

“Elchimichanga?” she laughed, “Bonus points for creativity,” she added, though she found the thought of being called that extremely amusing. “It’s short for Eleanora,” she said moments later, though, in contrast to Ellenandria, it didn’t sound as interesting anymore. “Danny’s short for—Daniel?” she ventured a guess, though could only hope it was, nothing ridiculous like Demosthenes, that was a name she had found in the genealogy book once before. “Well—mostly my cats,” she confessed, there was no exciting backstory to how she had gotten into photography. Her therapist had encouraged her to continue it, as a form of self-expression, but that little detail could wait for later. “They’re so cute,” she said excitedly, moving to reach into her bag and pull out a picture from her wallet, of two point Persians playing with a ball of yarn, “My babies, yes—I’m one of those cat ladies,” she explained further, her friends made fun of how enchanted she was with her own pets.

Eleanora was jealous that he had been raised on a farm, the idea of doing something like that sounded much more exciting than the boring etiquette classes she had been forced to take as a child. “An inn? Like a proper bed and breakfast? Sounds lovely, you’re so lucky,” she added but without much context that statement probably didn’t mean much to him. The thought of having the freedom to roam around on so much land, watch and care for the animals, sounded like a fairy tale. Apart from the gardens kept for the Lovecraft Apothecary, which Eleanora visited as much as she could, it was a lovely place to escape to, she had spent most of her life in the city, surrounded by more concrete. “I haven’t got a lot of siblings but I certainly do have a lot of cousins—most of them, not alright,” she smiled a little, she could think of several people in her family she did not exactly care for.

“Everyone? I don’t think I’ve ever woken up on the kitchen floor before,” she added with a small smile, but left it at that, she didn’t want to pry anymore than he was allowing her to. Whatever the situation was, it sounded like he had had a lot of fun doing it. Taking another sip from her sparkling sangria, Eleanora looked over in delight when the nachos arrived, probably a little more excited than necessary as she took in the beautiful display of food, and all of the guac! She didn’t have to try it, she already knew it would be a total dream to eat.

“Are you sure? You let me go first, I might eat them all,” she joked, sort of. Eleanora was no stranger to eating all of something, and if she got distracted enough, it was easy for her to do. “Go on, eat up, there is much more food on the way,” she encouraged him, taking one of the chips, making sure to get a healthy serving of all the topics and took a bite, her eyes closing as she made a delighted little sound, never having tasted something so delicious in her life before. At least nothing that she could remember at that moment. After she was done, she was already reaching for another chip, “These are so good,” she said, elongating every vowel in an effort to describe just how amazing they were. “Such a good idea, golden star for you, Danny,” she added.

“Don’t worry,” she reassured him, “Whatever I don’t get from you, I’ll get from my middlewoman, I’ve got my sources,” she threatened lightly, “What are your friends like?” she asked, figuring that it was an innocent enough question, hopefully just the right type of boring. It would give her some insight into who he was, at least a little bit based on what he thought of his friends.

Her laughter sounded like bells, he loved to hear it. Jere was always a great audience for his jokes, but Ellie was much prettier and looked better doing it. "Oh, Eleanora, yeah that makes more sense. Not as bad as Andromeda Octavius though," he commented, hoping he got her brother's name right but also seriously doubting it. Did he get bonus points for trying? He nodded again at her question on his name. "Yeah, mine's a bit easier," he added, smiling. He had always thought his parents were pretty traditional with the selection of their children's names, but Tom and Anne Willbond had nothing on Ellie's parents.

Danny saw her face light up as she talked about her pets and he put his drink down, reaching out to take the photo he showed her. He looked at the cats, sure, but it was also interesting to see this little extra piece of her. "Huh, never figured you for a crazy cat lady," he teased lightly. "They're cute though. I had a pet rat, but he passed last year. Still miss that little guy," he said, thinking of his pet rat named Tiberius that his friend Finn had gifted him one year. That little dude was legendary.

As she mentioned the inn, he nodded along, thinking not much of it. "Yeah bed and breakfast, tour of the farm, some of the tourists even sign up to do chores!" he said with a laugh at the ridiculous idea. "People pay us to do the chores and I spent half of my life trying to get out of them." He would never understand that at all, but that was city folk for you. A few days on a farm, some fresh stories to tell their posh friends in the city, and then all of it became a distant memory. He grinned at her mention of cousins. "I think everyone's got cousins they don't like, an uncle who's creepy, and an aunt who talks too much," he said laughing as he thought it was very true for his own family. He dreaded family dinners when his Uncle Fred and Aunt Penny came into town.

He tilted his head a bit as she told him she had never woken up on the kitchen floor and shrugged it away. No, she didn't look like the type of person to do it and that was definitely a good thing. "A few too many drinks leads to bad decision making, what can I say," he explained away with a small smile. He and Jere thought their drunken antics were hilarious, especially recounting them with lots of 'remember that time when,' but he did feel the need to impress her a bit even if she was just going through the whole motion of a date because she was hungry and the food here was good.

"Really? Alright then," Danny said, chuckling, his eyes bright as he dug into the nachos without being told twice. He was hungry, he loved nachos, and they smelled so good he couldn't resist. Chips crunched in his mouth as the toppings and cheese all mixed together in one delicious bite and he found himself nodding repeatedly, making mmm sounds. "Good, really good," he told her, watching as she took a bite too. Damn, this girl was pretty even eating nachos. He could definitely not introduce her to Jeremy, the guy would fall for her in seconds if she was eating nachos in front of him. "Bonus points and a gold star? Hey, I'm doing alright tonight," he grinned happily.

Danny slowed his chewing before narrowing his eyes as she mentioned her 'sources,' his mind whirring again. "Sources huh? You going to tell me who you're working for yet?" he asked, still confused, still trying to work it all out.

"Oh they're a bunch of idiots like me," he summed them up shortly before taking another chip, followed up another sip of his drink. He saw the curious look on her face though so decided to explain. Belatedly, he thought he probably needed to represent himself a little better. Girls didn't want to date idiots, right? "Jeremy is my best mate, known him since day one on the train to school. He's crazy, will take you up on any challenge, but he's a good time. Live with him and our other mate from school called Greg. He's a little quieter, has this crazy herb garden growing in the window sill that I'm not allowed to touch, and he's wicked smart but not like in a know it all kind of way. Then there's Freya and Ari, friends from school. We all go to this trivia game night thing at a muggle pub and we're terrible, but it's fun. Hmm, who else. Oh, Finn McKenzie. He's a big quidditch player so you might have heard of him? He's roomies with Frey. I think that's about all the regulars." he finished with a glance down at the nachos, picking his next chip before looking back to her. "What about you? Have you kept in touch with your friends from school?\"

The corners of her mouth twitched at how he mistook Andronicus’ name for Andromeda, they had a cousin named Andromeda, she normally went by Andy as well. It was nice to know that she wasn’t the only person that thought the family names were stupid. “I like Daniel, it suits you,” she said but she wasn’t really sure how. It was one of those weird things, when you met someone and said their name, you couldn’t think of ever calling them anything else.

“I’m so sorry to hear about your pet, though, that must’ve been hard. I had another cat when I was at Hogwarts, she lives with my mum now though, a little grouchy and used to hog all the blankets, we didn’t get along,” she added. It was so odd talking about her past, almost as if it was so distant that she was reminiscing on memories of when she was younger. Eleanora felt like she was starting to sound like her mother. “I’d do that, I’ve always wanted to learn how to milk a cow, is that weird?” she asked, though she probably figured he might think so. Eleanora didn’t really know much about chores, she had had house elves and staff that took care of things for as long as she remembered. It was probably why she struggled so much now, constantly relying on her friends with odd questions about how to maintain her apartment on her own.

“Been there, definitely know what you mean,” she agreed, having had her own share of embarrassing stories from too much drinking. But those would come later. She watched as he ate, smiling to herself as he ate with as much enthusiasm as she did. “You’re not doing too badly, no,” she joked. He wasn’t doing badly at all. “Oh you know, all my spies, I’ve got eyes everywhere and the like,” she replied as nonchalantly as she could, it was something she had read in a novel before, and the thought itself was amusing. Eleanora found his suspicion endearing at this point, wondering how long she’d be able to keep it up before he realized that it was in fact a real date and he was doing a really good job of keeping her interested. Eleanora wondered what he might have been like under different circumstances.

Even though she had brought it up on her own, the topic of friendship was still a mildly sensitive one. When she had first started school, Eleanora had plenty of friends; the young witch had found much happiness in meeting new people, experiencing new things. She had had her little group of friends too, some idiots but in general a very fun, good group of people that made her initial years at Hogwarts a place where she could see herself creating lasting memories. But over time, those connections had faded. With Eleanora taking extensive leave and her strange, unresolved feelings about the war and her family’s involvement, and later the Dome incident, the people she cherished the most had somehow faded into the background. She blamed herself, Eleanora had not made the effort to keep in touch as well as she should have but how could she when her mind was always elsewhere?

But this wasn’t the place nor time to get into these sorts of things. “They sound great,” she noted, though her smile was not as enthusiastic as it had been earlier. “Oh, Freya’s a pretty name, I used to know a Freya from school too, she was super nice, pretty sure she was friends with everybody at school,” she noted. Eleanora was not sure if they were talking about the same girl, she wasn’t really even sure how old Danny was but considering he worked at the Ministry, she assumed he had to be a few years older. Not that she minded. “I just finished sixth year,” she announced, though as an afterthought realized that that probably didn’t sound very good, “Had to take some time off for…err--personal reasons so I went back last year to do my sixth year. Not sure if I’m going to go back, I like working, makes me feel like a proper adult, you know?” she shrugged it off.

“Got my own place, beats living in a dormitory, that’s for sure,” she added, it was nice to have her own space but dormitory life was certainly more fun. Eleanora had already decided that she would not be returning to Hogwarts but there was always someone trying to tell her how bad of an idea that was. “But I spend a lot of time with people from work, like Janae, she’s lovely, and a few people from when I was a kid. I guess most of my friends are pretty laid back, probably spend most of our time together trying new places around town,” she added. Food was a safe topic.

“I don’t think anyone but my mum calls me  Daniel,” he said with a scrunch of his nose. It had always sounded too stuffy for him, too formal. He couldn’t even be serious in the most important moments let alone on a daily basis. Danny has always seemed more natural.

“It’s alright,” he said about Tiberius his pet rat. But then glanced up and added. “Thank you though,” trying to remember his manners. He smiled in surprise at her cat story, shaking his head. “I don’t know how much of a cat person I am so he probably wouldn’t have liked me either,” he said with a little chuckle.

“You would?” Danny asked incredulously, looking over at her with surprise. “I mean, I’ll teach you of course, but you’d really want to? Most girls get one whiff of the barn and decide to back out,” he said with a smile. Whenever he had to corral the tourists for fake chores, he’d always make a show of it, purposely telling them to take a deep breath of what they called barn fresh fragrance. He glanced her up and down, taking in her little dress and girly shoes. “Somehow I can’t see you on the farm,” he teased lightly.

He smiled a little wider under her praise and shook his head at her and her ‘sources.’ “Alright, keep your secrets. I’ll find them out eventually,” he promised with a grin. He would get to the bottom of this prank even if had to steal all of Jeremy’s stash and hold it for ransom to do it.

“Yeah, they are, for the most part,” he said agreeing about his friend, smiling. He tilted his head a bit as he got another nacho, asking, “Freya Trickett? Yeah, she’s great.” How many Freyas could there be? Plus her description kind of sounded like Tricky.

He had just crunched into another glob of nachos when she said sixth year. He started coughing again in shock. The chip going down the wrong pipe, scratching his throat as he tried to recover and swish it down with his drink. “I’m sorry, what year?” he asked, trying to be cool about it but there was an edge to his voice as he mentally tried to calculate (which was never a good idea for him) what age students were in sixth year. 16? Or 15? Merlin, Maisey was 16. Was she the same age as his younger sister. He felt a little feeling of alarm, considering he was maybe on a date with an underage witch. No wonder Jeremy had set him up! It was all starting to make sense now!

He was distracted by the age thing that he almost didn’t hear the last of what she was saying, but tried to nod along, agreeing as he took another big slurp off his drink.

He wasn’t a cat person? If she didn’t find him charming she would have called it a deal breaker. Cats were not exactly Eleanora’s life but Milo and Birdie were certainly a big part of it. It didn’t matter, cats had a way with changing everyone’s mind about them, it only took a little time. She didn’t give the cat bit much thought though as she was much too excited by the prospect of having a proper go at farm-related experiences, nodding with much enthusiasm as he asked if she actually would be interested in learning.

“I’d love to,” she continued on, her expression only faltering into a pout when he noted that she didn’t really seem the type. He was probably right, “I resent that,” she commented lightly, puffing out her cheeks just slightly as she gave him a disapproving look. “But you’d be surprised at what I can do,” she said, mostly to give herself confidence. Eleanora had an idea of what farm life looked like, at least had seen plenty of portraits of it at home, now it was just a matter of experiencing it. She wasn’t as much of an outdoors type of person as she liked to believe, but it didn’t stop her from wanting to try it. She reached for another one of the nachos, taking a bite as he continued on, grinning only slightly at the irony of that statement.

Eleanora had many secrets, just probably not the sort that he was expecting.

“That’s right, Freya Trickett, she was in the same year as Keela Doyle, they were on the Quidditch team, I remember,” she said in response, oddly excited by the idea that they had some sort of common knowledge, they knew people, even if they were more his friends and more her acquaintances. It made things feel a little more comfortable somehow. There were plenty more old classmates she remembered but stopped herself from going down the list of who they knew and who they didn’t know. After all, the memories of that time at Hogwarts felt a little too distant to talk about now.

“Are…you okay?” she asked, though it was obvious by his reaction that he wasn’t exactly alright. Had he been eating too fast? She considered for a moment before he asked her to repeat her year, “Huh?” she looked at him curiously, her head tilting just slightly before she smiled, bringing a hand up to wave it as if to deny whatever it was he was thinking. “No, no, it’s not like that. I wasn’t very clear, sorry,” she said, smiling a little nervously for not knowing any better. The horror of an adult possibly dating a fifteen year old. At least she could take comfort in the fact that he wasn’t into it? “I’m actually seventeen, I’ll be eighteen at the end of next month, promise,” she added though wasn’t really sure if he would take her word for it.

Even if she was underage, eating a meal together might have garnered him some weird looks but it certainly wasn’t illegal. How old was he anyway? He didn’t look that much older than her. “But if that’s—not your thing,” she started, not really sure how to say what she wanted to say, “No pressure, really,” she continued, falling silent for a moment as she clearer her throat, feeling a little awkward. At least until the food arrived. “This looks yummy!” she said to herself, her eyes focused on the plates of food rather than him. Eleanora felt a little embarrassed.

“Anyway, so how do you know Janae?” she asked, hoping that it would smooth over whatever was happening at the moment.   

"Sorry, no offense meant," he told her with a little shrug of his shoulders, not understanding the look she gave him. "Well, then you'll just have to surprise me," Danny added with a smile, wondering if fake dates extended to trips home to his family farm. It seemed a little far-fetched to him, but maybe he wondered if she would actually go on a real date with him after this. The idea made him a little nervous as if a real date meant so much more than this little chat over nachos they were having. Although, if he thought about it, she probably had dates lined up til next  year. He had no chance.

Danny nodded along, smiling as she named some of the friends they had in common. "Yeah, Freya and Keela, Ari, Casey, Finn, Edmund. I bet we have a lot of friends in common. We probably hung out in the common room together loads of times without even knowing it," he added with a laugh. School had been so fun, but so weird all at the same time. Stuck in one place with a bunch of people you'd never actually have met otherwise.

He continued to cough, thumping his fist against his chest as if that would help dislodge the chip that was scratching his throat as he waved at her like everything was completely fine. He managed to hear her explanation through his coughing and it alleviated his worry. Two years apart was no big deal. He tried to smile at her as he took another drink and cleared his throat. "Ah, now I understand. Thanks for that tidbit," he told her with a grin. "No, no, it's fine! I just thought-- well, you said sixth year and my sister is a sixth year and I couldn't remember if she was 15 or 16.. and I think you get what I'm saying," he started laughing well before he finished his thought, trying to smooth it over. He didn't think it was an overreaction, he had just been surprised. "Also you do not look like you're 18, just for the record."

The waiter decided to grace them with his presence and piles of hot food at the best possible moment and he was glad for the topic change as they looked over the feast, filling ever little inch of their table. "I don't know where to start," Danny said as he grinned up at her before he grabbed a piece of the quesadilla and bit into it, nodding at her to show his appreciation of this dish. "So good, try it," he told her.

"Oh, school friends," Danny said about Janae, trying not to talk with a mouth full of food because his mum would yell at him if she knew, but it was so good he couldn't wait. He took his fork and dug into the ceviche before widening his eyes in surprise and delight. He had never had this before. "What was this again? It's good!" And then changed back to the topic of Janae. "Have you heard her band? They're wicked good."

Well, then you’ll just have to surprise me, he said, did that mean he wanted to go out with her again? Had she managed to convince him that this wasn’t whatever prank he thought his friend Jeremy had cooked up and a genuine, first blind date? Eleanora wasn’t entirely sure but she was beginning to feel optimistic at the idea. She wondered how fun it would be to visit the family farm but that felt a little serious too if she brought a boy home her mother would start asking her all sorts of embarrassing things about him like what he did for a living and what sorts of savings he had, things she, personally, did not care about. Would he even feel comfortable in the family estate? Inviting him over for family brunch on the weekends sounded fun as she’d have someone she actually wanted there but she would hate for him to feel uncomfortable.

She knew some of the names he listed of, nodding in agreement as he spoke. Would he have even noticed her if they hung out with the same group of friends? Probably not, it was hard to stand out among the Gryffindor girls her age, they were all so very—captivating and much more interesting than she had ever been. “Probably so,” she concurred. It was such a strange thing, to meet people you would have probably known years prior had you paid just a little more attention. At least Eleanora would have still been hanging out with all of her Gryffindor housemates had things not turned so odd for her so quickly after the war.

Eleanora was relieved when he explained just why he had reacted the way he had when she told him her age, particularly reassured by the fact that he wasn’t bolting for the door because she had confessed she was under eighteen. She was an adult by wizarding standards but she could also understand the appeal of dating a woman his age, probably prettier, more well-put-together girls at the Ministry she figured. “Sorry,” she apologized again, feeling a little guilty for having started him in that way. “Are you making fun of my height, Danny?” she teased, though it wouldn’t be the first time someone had. It didn’t really bother her anymore, she liked being on the shorter side, or average side depending on who you asked because her height didn’t make her stand out, it didn’t draw too much attention to her.

Looking down at the food she smiled, delighted at the way everything had been presented and more than eager to eat all of it, or at least as much as she could stuff herself with. Taking another sip from her drink, she took him up on his offer, the cheese inside of the quesadilla so deliciously melted, cheesy, and so very good. “It is, will totally be getting this next time,” she added. Probably tomorrow, Eleanora wasn't picky.

“Janae and I were school friends as well, I’ve seen the band a few times, they’re so talented, I think they’ll make it big one day,” she said. At least she hoped so, Janae certainly deserved it considering how much work she put into her passion for music. “The ceviche? It’s like seafood cooked in lime juice, then they add all the extra stuff like cilantro, tomatoes, onions, and so on. We have this a lot when we visit my grandmother in Spain, you should try hers, it’s to die for,” she suggested.

“Do you like to travel a lot? Have a favorite country or something like that?” she wondered.

He smiled as he felt a little of the awkward tension dissipate as they resolved the whole "underage" issue. "No, it's alright," he said waving away her apology easily. "Your height? What do you mean?" Danny asked, confusion coloring his tone as he looked at her, running back his words in his head. Then it clicked. "No, not at all. Although you are fun sized, it's cute. I meant you look old. Not old!" he said widening his eyes as he realized his error. "Just older than 18. More sophisticated, wise, mature. Not like old lady mature. I'm just going to shut up now," he finished and took another bite of his quesadilla as he looked at her, hoping she wouldn't take offense.

There I go again, putting my foot in my mouth, just like mum always says.

He watched as she dug in, appreciating how she wasn't shy about it and the look on her face was a bit mesmerizing as she took a bite of the quesadilla. Danny was nodding along with her at how great this place was, how delicious the food was. "Might apply for a job here, just so I can eat the food in the back," he added with a grin. "And the nachos?" he made a little swooning motion, falling back in his chair a little and then perking up a second later with a laugh.

"Aren't they great? I bet they'll be the next Banshee," he guessed talking about Janae, thinking of some of the songs off their latest album. It was safe to say Danny was a fan boy for sure. He was glancing down at the ceviche stuff and nodding as she explained. "Whatever it is, it's good. Your grandmother is from Spain? What part?" Danny asked. As if he knew anything about Spain other than the names of some of the Spanish national quidditch players that were on his fantasy team. And he told her so, unabashed about that sort of thing. "The only thing I know about Spain are some of the quidditch players," Danny admitted on a laugh. "Speaking of though," he said as he pulled another piece of quesadilla off the plate, the cheese oozing from it. "What's your favorite quid team? Please don't say Ballycastle," he warned lightly.

Danny shrugged a little as he took another sip of his drink, glancing around for the waiter, wanting a refill but not seeing the guy. He was probably off judging someone else's order. "Not much, unfortunately. Too bad my department doesn't pay for trips abroad like some of the International Coop blokes," he added with a laugh, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "How about you?"

Eleanora arched an eyebrow, looking at him suspiciously as he spoke and attempting to keep the smile from her face, it was hard when talking to him she soon realized. She wasn’t sure what that meant but so far it had kept her from rushing through conversation and her food or from making up an excuse to go home. Though she was certain that Milo and Birdie would not be happy when she arrived home, they had always been particularly picky about their dinner times. “I’m old and cute,” she said slowly, “I don’t know, Danny,” she shrugged playfully, her tone light as she watched him take a bite from the food. “Sounds like an offensive compliment to me,” she added. She finally laughed as he explained himself. “My parents would be very proud, I think that’s exactly what they were going for,” she concluded.

It was true, she learned it from etiquette class, not that ever took any of that seriously but she supposed that she was proud it showed. “If you get a job here, you’ll give me freebies, right? Extra chips and the like when I come for takeaway?” she asked eagerly. It wasn’t like she needed the handout but she certainly wasn’t about to deny herself free food, especially with the way she ate so much takeaway now. “It’d be nice to work in a restaurant, imagine all the yummy food you can take home,” she noted. For someone as small as she was, she certainly talked about food a lot. He was probably going to get very weird ideas about her now, so she decided to fall silent on the topic.

“I think they’ve got the potential, that’s for sure,” she agreed in turn. Maybe they could catch one of Janae’s shows together sometime in the future. It wouldn’t have to be weird, and if they both shared a mutual friend it would only make sense for them to go support her together, wouldn’t it? She looked up at Danny, curious that he’d ask about her grandmother but was appreciative all the same. “Málaga,” she said, her Spanish coming out on its own as it had always felt wrong to say the name of the city the English way. “It’s along the coast, pretty touristy I think,” she explained briefly, there was nothing much to say about it apart from it was beautiful and her grandmother lived there they visited often. “I like—the…winning team?” she said slowly, her expression a little apologetic as she thought about it. Eleanora had seen many Quidditch matches when she was at Hogwarts, mostly to support Andy or other friends but had never taken much interest in the sport herself. Liking the winning team seemed like the best way to always be on the right side of Quidditch politics.

“You’re not in that department?” she pretended to be surprised, “I thought you were Danny, the man of mystery, like into espionage,” she continued, “I travel often, mostly for family things, but I’ve never traveled on my own, I’ll like to do that maybe go to South America or something. See what’s on the other side of the pond and whatnot,” she explained, reaching for a spoonful of ceviche excitedly. “Want another drink?” she suggested as she finished off her sangria, “Or will kitchen floor Danny come out soon?” she teased.

I'm old and cute. "No, wait--" he interjected as he laughed, stumbling over his words because he couldn't keep it together. "I didn't mean it like that, I swear," he said as he met her eyes, trying to apologize and explain. Her laugh made him relax a bit, settling back into his chair with a grin. "Good, cheers to your parents and their ridiculous name picking skills," he added, lifting his glass to her before taking a drink.

He nodded repeatedly and then took a glance back at the kitchen. "All the freebies you want," he agreed happily. That's how waitressing worked right? Getting paid in food and drink? Sounded like a dream job. "You think they're hiring? I'll go apply right now. Hopefully they won't fire me for eating nachos 24/7," he mused with a wide smile. "I thought you said you were a waitress? Uh oh, did you forget your cover story?" he asked with a smirk.

"Malalaga?" Danny said, trying to repeat the Spanish town where her grandmother lived. He tried again and then again, before shrugging and giving up. Clearly Spanish was not his forte. Well, foreign languages in general were not his forte. He did pretend to speak French a la Prosper, but his ruse to pick up chicks with a French accent never worked in his favor. Too bad. "Do you visit her often?" he asked, wondering if she traveled a lot. He had always wanted to - maybe Southeast Asia or Australia - but that cost money and it wasn't like he was rolling in sickles or even knuts.

Danny laughed as she mentioned 'the winning team' and shook his head. "Well the winning teams usually are the best," he said with a little wink. "I'm a Puddlemere fan. Sad to see they didn't get to the final this year, but there's always next year," he said, shrugging. His eyes glimmered as she mentioned Daniel, the international man of mystery and his chest puffed up a little. "Well, if I am him, you won't ever know. That's top secret." Her travel plans echoed his and he nodded. Then he laughed, tipping his head back a bit, rocking on the back two legs of his chair before he looked back at her. Pretty and hilarious, who knew. "Kitchen Floor Danny is another alter ego of mine, you know spy stuff. But he's not around yet, we're good," he said as he nodded at the waiter who came over a second later, asking how the food was. Danny smiled at him, told him everything was great, and then asked for another round of drinks.

After the waiter shuffled away, he glanced back at Ellie. "So what are you going to write about me in your post mission report?" he said, teasing about the fake date situation.

“Well I work at a nightclub, more like serving drinks and appetizers rather than dinner, I don’t get to take any bottles of whiskey home, if that’s what you mean though, so no freebies for me,” she noted, with a smile, paus “Didn’t think I had a comeback, did you? I’ve come prepared,” she said playfully, giving him a wink for good measure. It was somehow easier to speak more honestly under the guise that she was joking. At least this way, if she said something embarrassing then she could take it back later pretending that she had been only kidding all along. It was probably not the best way to go about on a date but Eleanora was significantly out of practice and needed a little courage to keep going.

“Uh—close enough,” she teased, pleased with the fact that he had tried to say it at all and a few times at that, whether he could speak the language or not didn’t really matter to her, the fact that he was honest about it did. He was such an improvement from the sorts of boys that her parents and grandmother had tried to set her up with in the past: all refined in an obnoxious sort of way, where they pretended they knew everything just because that’s what was expected of them and insisted on buying you gifts you didn’t want in the first place. Danny seemed well—just like himself, unpreoccupied by what she might think of him, unforgiving for who he was, she liked it. Eleanora found his personality, no matter how ordinary some other girls might have found it, extremely refreshing. “A couple times a year, I think, she’s absolutely amazing when she’s not trying to introduce me to guys,” she added, making a face as she thought about how badly those blind dates had gone.

“Puddlemere fan, I’ll add that to my notes,” she said, even though in all honesty had absolutely no idea who they were or what their team colors might look like. She’d have to do her research, Eleanora decided, just in case she suddenly became interested in Quidditch or something like that. Maybe she’d ask Andy, he was really into that sort of stuff. “All these alter egos are starting to make my head spin,” she joked, really curious as to what he was like underneath. Was he always this cheerful and funny? Or, like her, did he have a darker side that was harder for him to reveal to others? “I’d like to meet kitchen floor Danny, sounds like a fun time,” she continued, reaching for more food as she heard him speak to the waiter, pleased that he was interested in spending a little more time with her. They still had plenty of food left anyway and she certainly wasn’t in a rush to get home. That was a new but not entirely unwelcomed change for her.

“I’ll have to see how well you tip the waiter first, that’s important,” she said with a light giggle, “That you’re a Puddle-something fan, you’re obsession with nachos is concerning, oh and maybe that you’re interested in a career change. The food industry, I suppose?” she said as seriously as she could, struggling to conceal her laughter before she paused, taking one more nacho and biting on it thoughtfully before upping the ante. “Is this your roundabout way of asking what I think about you? I like you,” she said simply. It didn’t get more involved than that but she liked the vagueness of her statement. He could take it however he wanted and she could easily deny it if the situation became uncomfortable.

"Oh, which one? Too bad on the whiskey though," He asked, curious about what nightclub she worked at. He wasn't sure if he could see it. She didn't seem like the type of girl to work in a nightclub, but then again, he didn't particularly see himself as the type of guy with a boring Ministry job. It was all a little too middle-aged humdrum boredom for him. He wanted excitement!! adventure!! and yet, he had somehow realized that Ministry mail man was needed to pay the rent.

Danny grinned at her wink and he smiled even wider. He liked that playful look in his eye, she was good fun. Plus, it didn't hurt that she was gorgeous. Merlin, he hoped this wasn't a fake date, even for all of his blustering at the start. He wondered if Janae would really pull a prank on him like this.

He saw her less than pleased look, but the idea of her grandmother setting her up with Spanish guys made him laugh. "So your friends and family are always setting you up on blind dates? That desperate for a good man like me?" he joked, his tone both playful and self-deprecating.

"Make sure you add that they're the best team in the league," Danny added with a nod, as if he expected her to write it down now. He was very serious about Puddlemere United. He would fight Jere on it any day. They just needed to win the Cup now. He sighed, pining for that day.

"You might regret meeting Kitchen Floor Danny," he admitted as he sipped at the new drink the waiter just dropped off. "I hear his reviews are only one or two stars. Apparently he's loud and too honest and makes bad decisions, hence the floor sleeping," he said with a careless shrug, citing the things his friends had said about him when he has one drink too many. Of course, they were usually also high or drunk, but details didn't matter. "Is there a Kitchen Floor Ellie I should meet though?" he asked, wondering what she was like when she let her hair down.

"Tip the waiter? I thought you were paying," he gave her an astonished look before falling into laughter. "Just kidding, I'll tip him only if he keeps the chips coming," Danny said with a nod toward their chip bowl. "Woah, woah, woah, first of all--" he said as she listed off her report. "It's Puddlemere United. Very important. I'll win you over to the team. Get you a shirt and a hat and everything. Second of all, an obsession is a little strong of a word. Passion for nachos sounds much better. And anyone would consider a career change if this place was hiring." He ended with a little nod as if that affirmed everything he said.

Her blatant honesty was a bit of a surprise since his experience with girls was not like this at all. "You do?" he asked with a bit of a smile, a thrill of pleasure zipping through him. "I like you too, you're fun," he said, a genuine smile before a twinkle glimmered in his hazel eyes. "Even if this is a fake date," he said just before he hid his smile behind his glass and drank.

“Coven,” she responded without hesitation, not wanting to give him the wrong idea about the nature of her work. Eleanora knew the sort of looks that she would have gotten from her parents upon mentioning the word nightclub and could only imagine that Danny might also feel the same way. But Coven was a nicer place on the right side of town that catered to only the most exclusive guests, that had to account for something. Eleanora certainly didn’t intend to stay there forever, but it served almost as an extension of therapy where she could feel a little more like herself. At Coven she was forced to talk to people, ironing out the wrinkles in her socialization strategies and with that felt a little more confident in situations like these.

“Oh yes, they all think I’m a lost cause, good thing I can depend on Janae to help me out in a pinch,” she said with a small smile. While she was not eager to begin dating, per se, many of her family and friends were eager to help her get past her past relationships so that she could move forward. Eleanora was not certain if that’s exactly what she wanted to do, the thought of letting go of River or any part of her past seemed too painful, even if just thinking about it. However, this date had been going rather well in her opinion and it gave her some hope that one day things might turn in her favor.

Eleanora smiled and nodded in agreement to his request but she still had no idea who Pudlemere United was or what made them the best team in the league. She didn’t do much keeping up but also did not believe that they had made news lately? Therefore Danny could have been tricking her there too. Maybe the team didn’t exist at all.

“Loud, too honest, and makes bad decisions?” she teased, the tone in her voice rising just slightly, “he sounds like an absolute dream, to be honest,” she joked, the sarcasm in her voice obvious but not meant in a hurtful way. Though she was intrigued by what that Danny was like and wondered if that Danny had more to say on where she stood in relation to the many girls he must have gone on dates with before. Eleanora shrugged her shoulders playful at his question, “A girl never tells her secrets, guess you’ll have to find out,” she retorted, moving for another scoop of ceviche and placing it on one of the chips before taking a bite. She wasn’t a terrible drunk per se, in fact, it really varied and while some of her friends had encountered overly excited super touchy-feeling Ellie on more than one occasion, sad Ellie also made an appearance and that one was certainly more than a handful.

“I must ask again, am I on a budget, here?” she said with a laugh, completely willing to split the bill or even cover the tip if necessary. She knew how difficult the waiting staff had it and had always been taught to demonstrate much generosity to the service industry. Though she had always suspected that her mother did it for show, as a waitress herself Eleanora did it because she knew they deserved it. “Puddle…mere,” she said slowly, pretending to have difficulty committing the name to memory just for fun. “That much better than the Ministry, huh?” she retorted. But the Ministry was steady and probably paid much better than a job as a waitress.

“Of course you like me, you’re trying to win me over so that I don’t submit this report, I know your intentions,” she said, but felt rather thrilled by the idea that he found her fun, it was something that she had not been described as in a very long time. “Well since this is a fake date, maybe you’ll have a chance for a real one next time, or my company can send in another spy?” she added, her roundabout way of probing to see if he might want to see her again.

"Oh.. isn't that the same place where Janae works? Is that how you know her?" he asked, some confusion on his face clearing slowly as he connected some dots. So did that mean... this wasn't a fake date. If Janae had to work with her and see her day after day? Or was Ellie still in on it even though she said she wasn't? Merlin, he wished he were a bit smarter sometimes. Good thing he could cover with humor. "You're not doing too bad tonight," he offered graciously, grinning, his tone playful.

He laughed at her joke, enjoying her sarcasm, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he grinned at her. Damn, she was funny and she didn't even know it. "I don't want to brag, but I hear some people have called him an absolute dreamboat. You can quote me on that," he told her with a nod. It didn't matter who had said that (it was him) or whether it was true or not (it wasn't), but it was all in good fun. He gave her a look and shook his head, saying "No no no, that's not how this works. You have to share the details. I want to hear more about Kitchen Floor Ellie." He waved a hand at her as if beckoning for more information. It was only fair.

Danny finally sat back in his chair and heaved a sigh, rubbing his stomach and feeling like he couldn't eat another bite. He had inhaled his food, just like always, eating as quickly as he could because everything had looked so delicious, but now he felt like someone was going to have to roll him out of here. "No, no budget," he replied, laughing with her. "Next one is on you though," he said without thinking, sipping his drink before he realized what he had said and then just shrugged lightly, not knowing what else to say.

He zigged his finger through the air like the name Puddlemere was music to his ears and he repeated it after her with a smile. "Puddlemere! So beautiful to say right?" He wondered if she had been to a PU game before. Probably not given the fact that she hadn't really known the team name. Would she be like Freya into the action or more like other girls he knew who were more concerned about which players were the hottest? It would be interesting to find out to say the least.

"I'm always trying to win everyone over with my charm and humor and winning personality, don't take it personally," he told her with an exaggerated wink, laughing at himself. He spun his little margarita cup round and round as he gazed over at her, perking his brows at her question. Another spy? "Are they all as hot as you?" he blurted out and then paused, looking at her, hoping she would take it as a compliment. "I mean.. beautiful?" he amended, hoping that would make his errant comment better.