How do you like your popcorn?

[Olive Layton]

It was time. Time for the walls to be broken down. Professor Layton knew that there had been a little tension, at least on her side, surrounding one of her colleagues given that they'd met before she'd joined at the school as a Professor, and it unnerved her that there seemed to be a wall between them, acting like the elephant in the room every time they'd tried to socialise. Olive had spent most of her day with Leda, and as much as she loved her sister there was only so much time she could handle around the girl who was quickly transforming into a teenager who loved nothing more than her own attention, which quite frankly was exhausting. Dressed in a simple festive outfit, she'd headed out the school for some time away, glad for the opportunity to be given some time both away from the school and to talk to someone she still considered a friend, even if it had been a number of years since they'd spoken properly. She recalled his address and it didn't take too long for the red head to locate his residence, taking a breath before approaching the house. Jonathon seemed to be on the same page given she'd received his invitation a few days ago, and with a bag thrown over her shoulder she confidentially knocked on the front door. Even if they parted ways without any progress at least she could have said they'd tried. ​

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[Jon Phillips]

Jon's house was his safe place, where he could be himself without any qualms or worries of what anyone else might think. Where he could be silly, or dorky, or whatever he wanted to be on any given day because he felt safe enough to do so. It was therefore a place where he usually did not feel comfortable inviting over people that he did not consider a close friend. However that evening was an exception. He had invited Olive Layton, an old acquaintance turned colleague over for a few drinks, wanting to catch up with her and hopefully get rid of the level of awkwardness that was between them. At least enough for them to make small talk at work without being painfully aware of the elephant in the room that was the fact they already knew each other. Another motivation was Jon wanting to be a more sociable person, that was confident talking to people he did not know well outside of work, rather than a tongue tied, awkward mess. It was something he tried to keep at the front of his mind as he tidied the house, so he felt motivated to be social rather than anxious as he waited for Olive to arrive.

A knock eventually resonated through the house and Bongo bounded over to it, wagging his tail and sniffing at the floor in front of the door. Jon arrived to open the door not a few seconds later, smiling at his friend and making sure he was standing in front of the dog so he did not run outside the house. "Hey!" He greeted. "Come on in. I ordered pizza, and got a bunch of snacks. Don't mind my dog." He then said, closing the door behind Olive as she walked inside.​

 

[Olive Layton]

Olive didn't have to wait long until the door in front of her opened, and the woman grinned up warmly to her companion. "Hey!" Walking through the door, she looked down to be welcomed by not just Jon but a dog too. "Oh hi you," she smiled, dragging out the last syllable in her voice as she quickly knelt down to pat the dog that seemed happy to meet her, the Potions Professor trying to act as natural as possible. She scratched with her long red nails behind the doggos ears, before looking up from her crouched position to the man she'd come to meet. "What's his name again?" She asked, glancing down and making funny faces at the fluffy hound. Olive eventually turned her attention to Jon, standing beside him and swinging the black backpack round to her front, popping open the clasp, "That sounds great! I brought this too," she said, pulling a pack of cans from her bag before thrusting them towards the man. It was strange to be inside his home, and she peered around the place he called his home, careful not to step on his pet as she moved past the doggo into the next room, admiring the decoration. She wasn't sure what to talk about now that she was actually here in his presence, and the woman found it much easier to focus her attention on her surroundings rather than come face to face with her old friend. Olive thought that she was ready to meet up with Jon again after their previous encounter, and ready to move on from the wall between them, but now that it came to it she was little nervous. She noted a large number of toys around the house, and although she didn't recognise the references to most of the items, it was clear that someone here liked their games. "Do you have kids now?" she asked directly, not turning to look at her host nor realising it could be considered a a forward question. During the time she'd known Jon in the past, she hadn't really gotten to know him beyond who he was on the outside, and even though on some levels they'd managed to connect, there were still many personal things between them that had been left unsaid.
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[Jon Phillips]

One of the perks of having a dog was people focusing more attention on it than him, which allowed Jon to worry less about his awkwardness, knowing whoever he was speaking to weren't as likely to notice how nervous he truly felt. That evening he was particularly thankful for it, as it meant he had an opportunity to gather his thoughts and feel less unsure of what he should say next as he watched Olive greet Bongo. He crossed his arms over his torso, continuing to smile when Olive looked up to him, asking the dog's name. "Oh, his name's bongo. Like a drum, you know?" Soon after that she stood up, pulling a six pack of cans from her backpack and handing them to him. Not usually being a beer drinker, Jon inspected the cans with a raised eyebrow before walking to where the kitchen was, placing the cans on the breakfast bar. He wondered if Olive wanted to drink the beer straight from the can or pour it into glasses first, and looked over to her, opening his mouth to ask. Although Olive's sudden, unexpected question caused him to gawk in surprise instead. "What? No." He answered, bewildered. Not wanting to make the situation feel more awkward, he quickly asked his question. "Do you want to drink these from glasses? I don't know if there are actual beer glasses in the cabinets but we can make do." Jon was not fussy about whichever way he was drinking beer so was happy to leave that decision to Olive. "Oh, and the pizza should be here soon, if you're hungry." He added, worrying that if he stopped talking and a lingering silence fell it would mean the rest of the night was terrible.​

 

[Olive Layton]

Olive wandered through into the area that was covered in various lego memorabilia, looking through the models that decorated the shelf in the corner of the room. Professor Layton tried poking one of the models but it came off in her hand, and the Y-wing came off in her hand. She wanted sure what she should do so with a subtle glance towards Jon to see if he'd noticed, she laid the part next to the model in the hopes that he didn't mind too much that she'd broken it.

Olive finally turned to her friend, wandering over to stand beside him as he began to hunt for the glasses for their drinks. "You do not need to worry about that," she said quickly, picking up one of the cans and popping it open. She may not have had any experience with beer but it didn't stop her from wanting to give it a try. She brought the can to her lips, taking a taste of it for the first time. It wasn't exactly what she expecting to taste but she took a few gulps, staring at Jon over the rim of the can. After a few seconds, she lowered the can, but before she could stop herself she belched loudly, her hand flying up to cover her mouth as her cheeks reddened at her sudden forwardness. The situation was suddenly a little awkward, and Olive glanced across to her friend to see how he would react. ​

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[Jon Phillips]

Jon looked away from Olive and began to search through the kitchen, becoming too distracted by the task of searching for beer glasses to notice when the woman accidentally broke a wing off one of his lego sculptures. He could only find regular mugs in the nearby cabinets and began to worry he would look incompetent if he could not find proper beer mugs, meaning when Olive moved to stand next to him and made it clear that they did not need glasses he felt relieved. "Alright." He responded, watching as she popped open one of the cans. He, in turn, picked up a can and opened it. Though before he had an opportunity to sip the sound of Olive burping loudly caused him to laugh. When the unexpected sound stopped, it dawned on Jon exactly how awkward the moment would get if he did not do anything to save it, so in an effort to save the night from being terrible and himself any second hand embarrassment, he placed the can down and applauded his friend's effort. "Nice one. But I bet I can burp louder than you, though, I just need a moment to get ready." He then said, challenging her as he picked up his can again and began to drink from it in a more hearty manner. The beer had a bitter taste he was still not accustomed to and it made him cringe as he swallowed, but it was all for the sake of keeping things less awkward than he knew they would be otherwise. When he began to feel slightly full he placed the near empty can on the counter and belched, trying to match how loud Olive's had been. When he finished he looked to Olive with a cheeky grin on his face and laughed.​

 

[Olive Layton]

Olive's cheeks were beginning to change to match the warmth of her hair as her hand continued to cover her mouth, slightly embarrassed by the noise that had managed to escape it. Drinks with bubbles weren't usually her forte, but she felt as though it was a good time to try new things, and why not now. Olive started laughing herself however when Jon began to clap, her nose scrunching up a little as she began to relax. Perhaps she'd had it wrong in her head that this reunion would be awkward, as it seemed to be easy and fun so far to be around Jon again. She'd barely contained her giggles by the time Jon let out one of his own, the effect of the alcohol in her system already hitting her blood flow, her laughter coming a little louder the second time round. Just as he had done, Olive placed her can down on the side and began to show her appreciation for his attempts with her hands. "That was beautiful. Beautiful. I'm not so sure it was louder though," she teased with a grin, picking up her can once more to take a more reasonable sip of the liquid. It wasn't the greatest thing she'd ever tried, but for the first time in her life she was already feeling its effects and with the small amount of tension still between the pair she could only believe it was going to help them. She was almost at the bottom of her can when she recalled food would probably be better for her body, and she could only hope the pizza wouldn't take too long to arrive. The potions Professor glanced round the room, noting the occasional reminder there was a pet in the house, "So, does Bongo get on with cats?" Olive inquired, her words drawn out as she gave him a small smile. It was hardly a secret that they were her favourite animal, and it would baffle the red head if he didn't have one of both if he had any at all.

 

[Jon Phillips]

Jon laughed again when Olive began to applaud his burp in return and tease him that his was not as loud. It must have been an off night for him as he was sure during any other night of the week he would be able to win against her in a burping competition, no question about it. He downed the last bit of beer in his can, then returned it to the counter pushing it aside as he picked up a second can and opened it. Being used to stronger alcohol, Beer was like bitter tasting carbonated water to him and he could drink it quickly without feeling much of an effect. Though Olive on the other hand seemed affected by her one beer already. He tried not to think too much about it as he sipped from his own beer before answering her question with a shrug. "I have no reason to believe Bongo would not get along with a cat, he doesn't bark at cats or try to chase them when I take him for a walk. He gets along with everyone and everything from what I've noticed." He continued to drink from his beer, only pausing when there was a knock on the door and Bongo ran to see who was visiting. "Must be the pizza." Jon said, walking to the door and opening it. He greeted the delivery person politely and paid for the pizza before shutting the door and returning to the kitchen with the order in his hands. After placing it on the counter next to the beers he moved the garlic bread to one side and opened the box with a smile on his face. "I got pepperoni, but with olives. Thought it was fitting." He joked, looking to his friend. On paper it did not sound like the nicest tasting pizza but adding olives on a pizza for Olive was too hard to resist. "Also got garlic bread too, if you don't like pepperoni or olive." He then added, picking up his can of beer again and sipping from it. Getting plates to eat off of seemed too formal and Jon did not see the point of it so he waited for Olive to take the first slice, assuming she would not mind eating straight from the box.​

 

[Olive Layton]

Olive nodded along as Jon spoke, finishing off her first beer and setting it to the side, hopefully not too obviously that she was already finding it hard to move her arm in a clean and direct motion. She was however, a little disappointed when he mentioned that the only time Bongo seemed to interact with a cat was during time they were out the house, which almost certainly meant he'd chosen the large fluffy brown thing over the adorable creature that was her own Nugget. She was about to ask why when the door rang, and Olive waited for him to grab it, picking up a second beer while she stayed in the kitchen. She could smell it before she saw it, and she began clapping again, this time in excitement as he brought the food through. "Awwwh Jon!" She squealed at his choice of topping that was for her behalf. Many people many not have loved it, but she did. "Oh my god this smells amazing," she added as the lid was lifted, revealing the goodness underneath, her eyes closing slightly as she smelt the food she hadn't had for what felt like forever. With the can still in her hand, her other one waved over the boxes, causing them to levitate in the air beside them. "Come on," she said , nodding her head to the side with a grin, beginning to walk backwards through the open planned room, before taking a seat on the couch, the boxes gently resting on the coffee table. As much as she loved his kitchen, she didn't feel like standing in there to eat when there was a perfectly good chair to making the most out of. Setting the can to the side, she pulled out the first slice of pizza, cheesing melting away from the centre of the dough, waiting for him to do the same so that she could clink their slices together in toast of their reunion.​

 

[Jon Phillips]

Olive's reaction to the pizza was overwhelmingly positive, telling Jon that adding an extra topping to the pizza just for laughs was a good idea. He had worried for a moment that it would seem like a bad idea, but regardless of the fact it was bad, or not, or Olive was so affected by her one and a half beers already that any food was appealing to her, the bottom line was that she was happy with it which meant he had done something right. He watched, smiling as Olive walked to the sofa, levitating the pizza to land on the coffee table in front of her. He downed the last of his can of beer before he followed her to the living room and sat down next to her. Picking up a slice of pizza shortly after Olive did, Jon turned to face her slightly as he said "To friendship." and clinked his pizza with Olive's in a toast. He then bit into the slice, finding that the mix of pepperoni and olive flavors was not too terrible. He did not mind the taste at all, though what he realized he did mind was the fact he had not brought a beer with him from the kitchen to wash the pizza down with. Unfortunately Jon was not very good with wandless magic and more so with two beers in his system. Even if he was not overtly feeling the affect of them he knew it was not going to help his efforts to levitate the beers to the living room as easily as Olive seemed to levitate the pizza.

He sighed, placing his pizza down in the box before standing up and getting the rest of the beers from the kitchen. On his way he also grabbed a couple of glasses from one of the cabinets, a bottle of vodka, and then a bottle of lemonade, thinking that drinking something stronger as the night progressed would allow him to feel more calm and make sure his catch up session with Olive continued to go well. "Thought it would be funny to bring vodka into the mix, don't feel like you have to drink some if you don't want to." He said, quickly mixing a drink for himself . "Anyway, what's been happening in your life? What made you take a job here?" Jon then asked as he sipped from his glass, wanting to move the conversation forward. He felt like their time so far had been made up of him talking while Olive asked questions and he wanted to switch it around and listen to how she had been fairing since they last talked.​

 

[Olive Layton]

"To friendship!" Olive smiled back, before tucking into her slice of pizza. She couldn't lie, it was pretty good. She watched as he abandoned his food, disappearing back off into the kitchen to retrieve something. As she sat munching on her food and peering around Jon's living room, she wondered how long he'd resided here, who he lived with, whether he was the type of person to dust his ornaments every Saturday afternoon or if he had someone visit the house while he was away to keep it tidy; Various thoughts that had accumulated in her mind after years of being pushed into making such decisions for herself, and still unable to let go of the feeling that she was no longer needed for the first time in adult life. As her friend returning with additional alcohol, she looked between him and the glances, swallowing the food before speaking. "I've never tried Vodka before," she admitted honestly, hoping that he wasn't about to laugh at her for her lack of experience. There were many reasons why she'd left drinking out of her life for so long, although it was easier to admit when speaking about a spirit rather than something like beer. She shrugged, "I don't see why now isn't a bad time to try?" she offered up, taking another bite of cheesy goodness.

His final question caught her a little off guard, and she wondered just how much of their previous encounter he truly recalled. She hadn't drunk a thing last year, and after saying goodbye to her sister who had just joined Hogwarts, Olive had proceeded to attend a house party, the same party in which she met the colleague she now sat just a few feet away from. "Well, it's not like I needed to stay at home for Leda anymore." With her sister now in Slytherin, Olive was free for the first time since she was thirteen. "Once home I realized how redundant I was, and with six years of Potions experiments under my hat I figured if I can't help Leda, maybe there's others out there who would benefit from it." She said, leaning to take a sip of the new drink, although her face quickly gave away that she did not appreciate the strength as it burnt it way down her throat. "Oh god, you drink this for fun?" she asked, turning with a pained expression, wondering if it was really worth it. ​

 

[Jon Phillips]

Olive revealing she had never drank vodka put Jon through a loop. Most of the people he knew had tried vodka before in their lives regardless whether they were seasoned drinkers or not which is what surprised him about her comment. Though as he took a moment to listen as Olive answered his question he remembered how buzzed she seemed after a beer and a half and it suddenly made a little more sense. It made him consider putting the vodka away, concerned it might be too much in comparison to beer. But when he looked back towards his friend she was already drinking from the other glass, expression telling him she was not a fan of the taste. "If it's too strong, you can add more lemonade." He advised, not sure what else to say as he sipped from his own glass, evidently not minding the taste like Olive did. "And yeah, I do drink this for fun. 'Cause it is fun." Jon was beginning to feel a buzz now and smiled as he returned his attention to his pizza slice, picking it up where he left it in the box and biting into it before asking more about Olive's life. What she had said thus far was different to what he assumed and it intrigued him. "It's good that you found a way to use your potions knowledge to help others." He responded. "Are you enjoying being a professor?" It was not an easy job to teach teenagers but Jon found it entirely rewarding, and was curious to know if Olive thought the same.​

 

[Olive Layton]

Olive let out a small laugh when Jon said it was fun, but with her experience she could only take his word for it. If she were honest she was ready feeling the effects of the beer and now the small amount of Vodka, and the smile on her face was becoming increasingly fixed on her face. The Potions professor nodded between eating her slice of Pizza. "I am. Of course, it's a little different from teaching one person to teaching a whole room, but then it's also more satisfying." Olive had been slightly wary that some of the students wouldn't get along with her, which of course would have been natural but still made Olive doubt her abilities. Luckily though so far no one expressed a dislike towards her, at least not to her face. "How long have you been at the school now?" She asked Jon, taking another sip from her glass. She wasn't sure how he could drink it so easily but she didn't want to add lemonade. No of she was going to drink she was going to do it properly. "Where do you plan to go from here?" The red head added, knowing it would be nice to have a good friend to spent time with outside of the classes. Olive kicked off her boots, before tucking her legs up on the sofa beside her, her eyes jumping between the pizza she was demolishing and the man she wanted to hear more about.​

 

[Jon Phillips]

Teaching had never been a career in Jon's sights while he was in school, not that he did have any career in his sights. If he envisioned himself in any career it would have been something related to comics or video games. Teaching, specifically, was more a career he fell into without any prior experience and only with his grades and knowledge of the muggle world to back him up, meaning he understood Olive's words about the difference in teaching an entire room of students in some ways but not others. But what he did understand fully was how rewarding it was to teach. Even if he never envisioned himself as a teacher at first, it was something he had grown to love and now he would never change his career for the world.

Nevertheless of his level of understanding, Jon nodded at Olive's words anyway to show he was listening as he alternated bites of his slice of pizza between sips of his drink. He leaned back against the sofa at her question, counting the years in his head before he answered in shock of how long it had truly been since he both moved to New Zealand and started teaching. "Oh gosh, it's been six, almost seven years." He brought a hand to his face and laughed. "Where did all the time go!? I'm so old." He paused to sip from his drink before answering Olive's second question. "I don't know where I will go, I don't know if there is a place to go." The answer was vague but it was the only one he could form as the reality of how much time had passed since he became a professor continued to dawn on him. So much had changed during the years while so much remained the same and he did not know if he should celebrate how far he had come from being a scatterbrained twenty three year old or wonder if his time had been wasted. "Man, this is heavy to think about." Jon added, speaking both to Olive and himself as his mind processed everything. "Where do you think you'll go?" It seemed natural to return the question back to her and that's exactly what he did. ​

 

[Olive Layton]

Olive tried to consider what she was doing a few years ago, and whether at 22 she would have been able to handle the group of students she had now. Rid**** seemed a little younger than her too, but Olive wasn't sure that she would have been the same person at Hogwarts if she had started her teaching career a little earlier. For the Potions professor, beginning now had been a good place for her, now that she was out of the depths that held her down for so many years, and able to pursue her own dreams without the nagging feelings of guilt. Taking another sip of the Vodka, she glanced back to Jon when he mentioned he was old. It wasn't that she was disagreeing, and instead she grinned at him in unspoken jest, knowing that Jon would take her silence as humour. "Maybe you don't need to go anywhere. I mean if you're happy, that's what important." she noted, taking in Jon's question and her voice descending slightly in volume, "I've, never really known what I'm doing. Hogwarts for me was a shambles, Potions being the only subject I was any good at. Then I spent ten years bringing up Leda so it's only now that I suppose I have a choice." she replied, taking a shot of the alcohol as though it was going to help her be more open. Since the day they'd met, Olive and Jon had always had quite an open relationship, and despite a number of people in her past that had caused her more harm than good, he was one of the few that she felt like she could trust. "I'm not complaining though, don't get me wrong. I'm just content where I am." she raised her head back to the man, a genuine smile appearing on her face as she admitted both to him and herself that she was doing just fine as she was.

"HOW IS NUGGET NOT THE CUTEST?!" Olive's voice by this point, was rather loud. They'd been drinking for some time before the conversation had taken a turn back to their pets, and thrusting her phone in front of Jon's face, she showed him the gorgeous black cat she'd adopted four years prior, adamant that there was no way that anything was going to beat it. She had a massive smile on her face and her glass still in her hand as the Potions professor was scrolling through what she believed would be the best pictures of her son to show off. "Look at Bongo," she nodded her head at the fluffy beast that lay quietly on the floor, "Do you really think that if it came down to a competition of who was the cutest, he would win?" she laughed at her friend, not remembering the last time she felt quite so carefree.
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