walk into any room just like you own the place [freya]

Shelby's eyes flickered over the suggested items. Turkish delight was good, but wasn't particularly her favourite flavour in the world. She nodded as Freya pointed out the next - starry night and glittering sounded like a good time, but maybe at night or on a cloudy day? Shelby was afraid it wouldn't work with her complexion. Plus, no flavour listed. "Could we get some of the finger sandwiches too?" she asked. Maybe she should have had breakfast.

Freya settled on the glitter one. Shelby smiled. "You have to tell me what it tastes like!" From the conversation with the waiter (such that there was one) it was definitely not pumpkin flavoured, which didn't really narrow anything down. After Freya had ordered the food (scones AND sandwiches, woohoo!) it was her turn. "Uh," she pointed, "could I get a pot of the rooibos rouge?" Rooibos was one of those words she had learned by reading - Shelby wasn't sure she pronounced it right. The waiter repeated the order back with a slightly different pronunciation, and Shelby grimaced slightly. Well, next time.

She watched the waiter disappear into the kitchens. This place was gorgeous. Her eyes kept roaming, taking in the view. "When was the first time you came here?" Shelby wondered if this place existed when Freya was 12. After all, Shelby just barely existed when Freya was twelve, so that would have been ages ago.

Freya wrinkled her nose as the waiter disappeared. It was a solidarity wrinkle as she shared Shelby’s cringey moment getting corrected by the waiter. She didn't know her cousin well enough to know how much things like that affected her, but Freya still took a solid ten minutes each night to remember all of the times a waiter had told her "enjoy your meal" and she'd replied with "you too!".

“Only last year, I think,” Freya said. She smiled a little at the memory. “On a date, actually,” she added. The date hadn’t gone particularly well; she hadn’t really liked the guy in the first place, but she had such a hard time saying no to people. Telling Hot Duncan she wasn’t interested in seeing him anymore had twisted her into pieces and she’d apologised way too many times that day. He was still pleasant to them – though after almost a year of getting free drinks here and there, it was a bit of a jolt to have to pay for everything. Her fault, as Danny and Jem liked to remind her. Thinking of Danny made her feel a bit nervous again.

The blonde turned in her chair a little, eyes raking over the scenery. Well, decorations, she corrected. "Pretty cool, huh?" she asked. "I came here with Finn once and spent the next three weeks trying to convince him to decorate our house like this." She laughed at the thought. "Could do your room up like this or something. Oooh, if you could get the other girls in your dorm to agree, you could do your dorm up..." She trailed off, smiling.

Freya made a face at her as the waiter went away - one of Freya's nose scrunchie faces, with her face all twisted up. Shelby giggled. "Rouge," she repeated, trying to mimick the waiter's tone and accent, but with a more snooty vibe. She shrugged. "How would I have known?"  It had bothered her in the moment, and she would probably remember that correction for the rest of her life, but in Freya's presence she wanted to try and channel some of her older cousin's easy confidence.


On a date! Shelby was about to ask who with, then remembered they were just talking about 'starting something new...' so it stood to reason that whoever the date had been with, it hadn't worked out. "It's a really nice spot for a date," she settled on saying, shuffling her feet a little on the floor. She looked around, thinking about Freya's idea. "I think I could get some of them on board with that," she said thoughtfully. Wendy and Trudy would be on her side of course, but some of the other girls might complain. "Are they real flowers? Maybe Professor Ajay could help us with the charms for it." She hoped so, anyway.

In almost no time at all the tea and treats arrived. Shelby could hardly wait for it to cool - as soon as the timer went she poured herself a cup and took a sip. "Ouch!" Too hot. Shelby stuck her tongue out to let it cool. After a second, she looked down, smiling at the red tips creeping up her hair. "Ip worps!" she exclaimed, her tongue still out as it cooled. It would have been cool if there was one that would make her blonde.

Finn hadn’t liked the idea of having trees in the house, but Freya didn’t understand it at all. What was the point of being magic if their apartment looked like a boring muggle one? She supposed that internal trees would totally cancel out the possibility of having muggles like Hot Duncan over at her house, like ever. But that wasn’t something that she was really anticipating happening ever again anyway.

“Yeah,” Freya replied with a nod. “Very romantic.” The blonde used to think she was a super typically romantic person. When she was fifteen or so, she would have literally perished upon like, receiving a bouquet of roses or whatever. These days though… Well, it wasn’t like she wouldn’t enjoy it or anything ridiculous like that, but her relationship wants had shifted a bit. She didn’t want a prince charming, necessarily. Just someone who put effort in. Someone who cared. She had more appreciation for cute moments in relationships than the bigger gestures.

“Oh that’s cool,” Freya said, glancing up at one of the trees appreciatively. “Not sure if they’re real,” she added absentmindedly, reaching out for a petal as it fell her way, then frowning as it drifted off away from her. She shrugged, returning her attention to their table as the food arrived.

"So what haven't we talked about," Freya mused, grinning a bit as Shelby burned her tongue. "You okay?" she asked, teasing a bit but absolutely wanting to hear a "yes" answer. She'd apparently inherited the Trickett overprotective gene. She poured her own tea out, watching the little sparkles in the surface of the water. They'd covered Shelby's grades, her crushes (or lack thereof) Freya's love life (or lack thereof)... what else was there to talk about? "Oh," she said, "I think your dad told my mum that you're going to a summer camp this year?" she asked, glancing up again. "I'm so jealous, they basically didn't have those when I was your age," Freya smiled though, to show the envy was well-natured.

Freya reached out for a petal and the petal swerved to avoid her hand. Shelby laughed, reaching up to try and grab one herself. It floated away from her too - maybe they were enchanted like that.

"I'm fine," Shelby said, pulling her tongue back in. It hurt a little bit still, but not enough to bother Freya about healing it or whatever. Maybe she should ask for an ice cube to suck on. Her eyes were bouncing back and forth between her new red-tipped hair and Freya's sparkly one. She blew on her cup a little before taking another sip - didn't want to burn it again. She was not the klutz of this family! With each successive sip, the red crept up a little higher in her hair.

Oh, camp! "Yeah, five weeks, in America!" Shelby lit up. "They have this thing called Science? I don't know what it is exactly but it sounds really cool, and an antique shop and a lake that DOESN'T have a squid in it, and boats that you can row around..." She was rambling, so she slowed to a stop. "I'm really excited," she finished lamely, reaching for a cucumber sandwiches. Cucumbers were coolants, right? Wasn't that why ladies put them on their eyes?  "But I'm home in time for the barbeque!"

Freya watched, amused, as Shelby’s hair slowly changed colour. The red crept up from her tips. “Suits you,” she said, nodding. “Should see if your mum will let you dye your hair.” Freya blew across the surface of her own drink, then took a light sip. She looked at her arms, waiting for the effect to kick in. Soon enough, her skin did indeed start glittering. She held a hand out to the sunlight streaming in through the window beside them, and was pleased when many little rainbow sparkles were cast against the wall.

“That sounds so cool,” Freya commented, retracting her arm to pick up a silver knife and spread some jam on her scone. Jam first, then cream. “I haven’t been to America – can I come in your suitcase?” she joked. The blonde took a bite of her scone, and sighed a happy sigh.

Travelling was always something she’d wanted to do, but even though she’d been “free” for the past couple of years now, she hadn’t gotten around to planning any big trips. She’d thought about doing things by herself, but it just didn’t sound as fun as doing things with her friends or whatever. She’d gone to a couple of places in Europe for a day trip or a weekend away... But it wasn’t the same as like, proper travel.

“That’s good, though,” she added, covering her hand with her mouth while she spoke through a mouthful of scone, then swallowed. She brushed some crumbs from her lips with the back of one hand. “I think pretty much everyone’s gonna be there,” she said. She quirked her eyebrows once. “A busy one. Even by our standards. How are they?” she asked, eyeing the sandwiches.

She rubbed the ends of her hair between her fingers, stretching a strand out to look. It wasn't that Shelby was being vain - there just wasn't any mirrors, and she so wanted to know what she looked like. She kind of hoped she looked like some of the older Gryffindor girls, with their fiery hair and freckles and blue and green eyes. That would be wicked. "You think?" Shelby dropped the lock of hair self-consciously. "I don't think Mum would like that," she said, frowning a bit. But Mum was starting to colour her hair to hide the grey... maybe it would be possible in a couple of years.

Shelby looked back at her cousin, eyes going wide. "Woah." Freya looked absolutely ethereal, with the glitter effect seeming to come from inside her skin. She was positively glowing, like an angel. Her blonde hair seemed to light up all the way from the effect. "That's so cool." If she did dye her hair, she would be dying it blond for sure.

Freya would absolutely not fit in her trunk, but Shelby nodded anyway. "I can squeeze you in there under my clothes," she joked, giggling as she took a little bite of her sandwich. It was delicious. "Nobody will ever know!" It was fun as long as they both knew it was a joke - Shelby was really looking forward to getting to spend time with new people. And old friends. Mostly Tomie, now that she thought about it.

Everyone was gonna be there. The last few years that hadn't been the case - there had been work trips or other weird scheduling for the adults. Shelby was a little anxious - there were always people she didn't know, new boyfriends or girlfriends or her older cousins. "They're good!" Shelby said, realizing she had been thinking for too long and letting the silence linger. She pushed the plate of sandwiches towards Freya. "Is anyone new coming? Like, do you know if," Shelby spun a wheel in her head and picked a cousin, "Erika is bringing anyone? Or is Brita bringing Ben again?" She liked Ben, he was really nice to her all the time. She wasn't too worried about the cousins in her age group - most of them seemed to be going to camp, too. Being a Trickett was always being one of many, which was nice, mostly.



@Ben Fletcher

“Yeah, probably not,” Freya agreed solemnly. She’d wanted to dye her hair when she was a young teen, too, but there was no way her mother was having any of that, and she’d been too much of a “good girl” to even consider just doing it. Freya got the vibe that Shelby was quite similar to how she’d been when she was twelve, though Shelby seemed less annoying.

Her honey-brown eyes flicked from her cup to her hand, which was now glittering rather impressively. She took another sip of her drink, then reached for her scone with her hand and took another bite. “I’ll tuck in under your new stuff,” she said through half a scone, raising her eyebrows. Freya covered her mouth with a hand as she swallowed, then brushed some crumbs away.

She nodded when Shelby said the sandwiches were good, and reached for one of them, putting it on her plate so she could try it in a moment. “Pretty sure Brita’s bringing Ben,” Freya said with a nod. “Unsure about Erika?” She thought about it for a moment. The blonde saw both of her cousins semi-regularly; she and Brita exercised together most weeks, and she and Erika worked together. Well, sort of worked together. Freya didn’t really go on fun and exciting expeditions anymore; these days she was just a boring office person.

"Oh, You could bring a friend if you wanted?" Freya suggested with a bit of a smile. She reached for a second scone then thought better of it and went for the sandwich instead. "You know no one will mind," she added.

The scones looked absolutely scrumptious. Shelby finished off her sandwich in one bite (what? They were small, and Freya didn't seem to be judging her for it) and grabbed one for herself. She mimicked how Freya had prepared hers - jam and butter, then all the way in her mouth. There was butter on her face now, for sure. Shelby grabbed the napkin, tried to wipe it off, and ended up smearing it all on her face. Well, that was embarrassing. How did Freya do it? Shelby brought her hand to cover her mouth as she chewed, too, trying to figure out Freya's technique for Not Making A Messy Fool Of Herself.

Okay, Ben was coming - that was good, she liked Ben. Erika was a mystery - Shelby hoped she brought someone. Erika's friends and boyfriends tended to be nice and exciting people.

"A friend?" Shelby repeated dumbly, a little bit of scone falling from her mouth. Who would even want to come? Tomie and JR and Benny - none of them seemed like they would fit in well with the Tricketts, for the same reason Shelby felt out of sorts with the big clan gatherings. "Oh, do you think I could bring Wendy?" Shelby perked up - "You're friends with her brother, too, right? That would be fun." And Wendy would fit in with the Tricketts. That made sense.

Freya swallowed her mouthful of sandwich.

“Wendy Wilbond?” Freya said, nodding already, “yeah, ‘course!” It was totally not at all weird to think about Danny’s little sister coming to her family gathering thing at all. Nope. Freya wondered distantly who’d be dropping Wendy off. She was pretty sure she’d met Wendy once or twice at the train station, but it felt like it was a hundred years ago now, and Wendy was practically a foetus back then, so. The blonde wondered if Wendy was Shelby’s best friend or whatever. They’d talked about friends at the start of this little hang-out, but Freya only remembered bits.

“Oh yeah,” she said, nodding and trying to be chill about it when Wendy brought up Danny. She sipped on her tea, cupping her mug with two hands and trying not to think about how she really needed to talk to him at some point. Definitely not thinking about the conflicting feelings that the concept of talking to him brought up. “I don’t think I’m gonna bring anyone though,” she added unnecessarily. “Friends or boys, I mean,” she clarified, as if they were mutually exclusive categories. The blonde went for another sip and finished her drink.

Shelby wondered if maybe she should invite someone else, but Wendy seemed to make the most sense - her parents had already asked to meet her 'delightful romance-reading' friend, and if her brother was friends with Freya, it just made sense. Wendy would fit in so much better than Tomie, and if she invited any of the boys there would be questions from Dad. The invite to Simon's bar mitzvah had already been met with a bit of interrogation before Shelby had regurgitated the explanation of what a bar mitzvah was (a big birthday party, from what she understood).

Freya finished her tea, which made Shelby anxious for no reason to rush and finish hers, too. The red tinge was fading from the tips of her hair - she gulped down some more of the rooibos and watched with relief that the colour returned. "Too bad," Shelby said, wrinkling her nose. "I want to meet your friends too, one day." Not that any of Freya's 20 year old friends would want to hang out with a 12 year old witch. It just seemed cool to hang out with older folks, but Shelby was learning that not everyone was as eager to hang out with schoolchildren as older Trickett cousins were. She ate the rest of her scone too quickly, coughing as some went down the wrong way.

Would Shelby be into a girly night, she wondered? Face masks and pedicures? Freya reached for another scone even though she was full.

“You should come for a sleepover sometime!” Freya said with a smile, leaning forward a little. Her eyes lit up at the idea. Of course, if Freya was inviting Shelby she knew that she’d have to put extra effort into hanging out with all of her other baby cousins – that was just how things worked. There was supposed to be some kind of balance with these sorts of things; you weren’t supposed to have favourites. “I’ll invite a couple of them over for pizza or something.”

That being said, as far as Freya could remember, most of the littler Tricketts – the ones Shelby’s age, that was, not the little little ones – were boys, anyway. So maybe it was okay if she gave Shelby a little extra attention? As the youngest of seven, Freya was eager to play older sister. Especially now that she basically had the house to herself, and the resources to actually do fun stuff, like buying Shelby a bunch of clothes, for example, and coming here for afternoon tea.

Shelby's eyes grew wide as saucers. "Really?" She had half been expecting a vague handwave or a maybe when you're older, just because the idea of hanging out with Freya's grown up friends seemed mad as a hatter to her. Ingvar didn't invite her to hang out with his friends after all. Of course she could count on Freya, though. And pizza was exciting - they never served pizza at school and it was rare at home. It seemed like a forbidden treat. "I would love that!"

She brushed a few more crumbs off her lap, gazing at the picture of the dodo bird on the wall opposite as she started to finish her tea. She wrapped another lock of hair around her finger, looking intently at where the colour shifted from black to red. Freya's sparkles were beginning to fade a little too - maybe it was because the tea was getting cold. "I'm stuffed," Shelby declared, putting one last bite of scone in her mouth.

“Yeah, why not! Maybe after camp?” Freya let out a playful chortle at her cousin’s expression. If Shelby was reacting like that, just to the idea of a sleepover, then by Merlin she was going to make it happen. “I’d love it too,” she said with a smile that verged on sentimental, brushing some crumbs from the front of her shirt.

“Same,” Freya said with a sigh, but she undermined herself by immediately taking another big bite of her scone. It was the last one! She’d be mad as a march hare to just leave it there. Contrary-wise to her better judgement, Freya found it difficult to leave a plate of good food unfinished. Even if it meant she’d get a tummy ache. Oh well, she thought – it wasn’t like they had any plans to galumph around Diagon Alley this afternoon.

“All finished, then?” she asked with a grin. She felt so full she could burst. Maybe she’d have a nap when she got home.

Shelby raised her hand to her mouth, covering the crumbs falling from their as she giggled. She and Freya were definitely related, it seemed - both full, but unable to resist stuffing one more bite down the rabbit hole of their digestive tract. Shelby, at least, was uncomfortably full now. Absolutely stuffed, but it was a waste to leave perfectly good food there. Shelby shifted, sitting on her hands to avoid grabbing another bite. She didn't need to eat herself sick, after all.

"I think so!" Shelby replied, matching Freya's grin. "I think I would burst if I ate any more." Burst, or be sick, or both. Burst-sick. It wasn't the best portmanteau, in fact not even one at all, but the phrase rolled around in her head. "I think I might have to roll home." She laughed again, catching the attention of a server nearby. Soon enough the table was cleared, and Shelby glanced at her hair - red was fading. Perhaps it was time to leave, then.

/out