Closed Roses and Thorns

[Analei Westwick]

It was a rare long weekend for the Auror in training, so of course she invited her best friend over for dinner and a sleep over. Unfortunately Analei hadn't managed to do any grocery shopping so they had to do that first. They had decided on homemade burgers, and the blonde had sent Arvel off to grab the lettuce, while she found the tomatoes, before looking around to see where her friend had gotten to.

@Arvel Ayers

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel stood dumbly in the middle of the vegetable aisle. What the heck did a lettuce look like, anyway? And how different could it be from any of the other hundred leafy green vegetables in front of him? He deliberated half a moment longer before grabbing the closest lettuce-coloured thing he saw and taking it back to Analei. “Lettuce,” he announced, as he put the cabbage in her basket. “Anything else?”

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei looked down at the green that Arvel put into her basket, before looking back at him with a smile when he asked if there was anything else. "Yeah, lettuce." Analei laughed. "I'll keep the cabbage though, I'm sure I can make something from it." She told Arvel, linking her arm with his. "Come on, I'll show you." She led him to the section where the lettuce was. "See? They even have little names that tell you what they are." Analei teased, pointing at the lettuce.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel rolled his head. Cabbage, lettuce - what was the difference, apart from the name? They were both good for you, probably. He picked up a lettuce and turned it over. “It’s exactly the same!” he said, with a hint of a smile. “It’s all terrible. Does anyone even like lettuce, really? Come on - don’t tell me you do.”

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei laughed at Arvel's exclamation. She had missed him a lot! "Yes! It tastes good! I like cabbage too!" She said, snatching the lettuce from his hands and putting it in the basket with a smile. "You don't have to have it if you don't want it. What do you usually have on your burgers? Just a plain cheese, or can I convince you to try some avocado?" Analei asked lightly, moving towards the small brown pods.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

“Liar. No one likes vegetables,” Arvel persisted. “We just learn to coexist with them without retching. What’s an avocado?” He followed Analei down the aisle with a deep apprehension. When he discovered avocados were the wrinkly brown things that looked like they’d already gone rotten, he drew back his chin. “No. Absolutely not. What’s wrong with cheese? Why would you ruin a perfectly good burger with... vitamins?”

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei laughed at Arvel's comment. "I'm not lying! They're a staple ingredient, and they're good for us and they taste good!" She laughed again when he disagreed with avocados. "I mean, you haven't even seen what it looks like on the inside yet. Don't judge a book by it's cover, right?! It tastes good, I promise." She said putting one in her basket. "And nothing's wrong with cheese, it'll be there too, just, amongst other stuff." Analei linked arms with Arvel again, to continue with the shopping. "So tell me how work is going? How is that - colleague you told me about?"

 

[Arvel Ayers]

The Dark Lord would rise again before Arvel let Analei put that shrivelled thing anywhere near his burger, but he had lost enough arguments with her to know she had already as good as bought it. He picked up a bundle of rhubarb, vaguely recalling that his mother had once made a dessert out of it by adding a pack of crumbly stuff and shoving it in the oven. If she could manage it without magic, Arvel was sure it wouldn't be too hard.

He carried the rhubarb as they walked on. The coworker to whom Analei referred was called Joe. “Still alive," Arvel said, in a tone suggesting great disappointment in this fact. "I'm a cleaner. It's not exciting." Indeed, his highlight of the week had been noticing that a pattern of poo on the wall looked a bit like a smiley face. "What about you?"

 

[Analei Westwick]

"Whatcha doing with the rhubarb?" Analei asked, curious as to why he picked it up. For someone that was so anti vegetables, he sure picked up a random one. She certainly hadn't had it with a burger before but was happy to try it if it was going to Arvel to eat her 'hiderous vitamin filled' burgers.

Analei laughed at Arvel's tone when he spoke of his coworker. "I dunno, you have told me some pretty interesting stories. And anything with Joe involved is always enjoyable." The blonde teased. "Training is good. Hectic this week. Still have to see Kingsley every day but I don't actually have to deal with him that much." Analei laughed. "Plain buns, or seeded buns? Or something else?" Analei asked as they reached the bakery section.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

“It’s a surprise,” Arvel said, though he couldn’t yet be confident it would be a pleasant one. It also wouldn’t be very surprising once he picked up the crumble mix, and so the surprise, presumably, was the fact he was buying fruit for himself and nobody had a wand to his head.

“For you,” he said. For him, anything with Joe in it made him want to rip his own face off, but he was truly glad somebody was entertained by his horrible coworker. Venting to Analei about him made his suffering a little more bearable, anyway, and he was grateful that she let him - which was why he refrained from rolling his eyes when she talked about Jacob, even though he privately thought she was being dramatic. If seeing Jacob Kingsley was her biggest complaint about work, she was doing all right for herself. "Wine?" Arvel suggested, picking up a pack of plain buns. "These'll do. Let's just get the wine and go."

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei gave Arvel a slightly intrigued but impressed look as he told her he was doing a surprise with the rhubarb. She definitely felt as if he had just grabbed any random vegetable but she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Analei nodded her head enthusiastically when Arvel mentioned wine. "Yes, you go get the wine, and I'll grab some cheese and we can meet at the till?" Analei offered, quickly making her way to grab a block of cheese, picking up some frozen fries as well before going to the till, and waiting for Arvel to make his way over.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel headed to the alcohol aisle, picking up the crumble mix en-route. He grabbed two bottles of Analei's favourite before joining her at the tills and dropping everything on the conveyer. "I'll buy this," he said, referring to his not-very-mysterious dessert ingredients as well as the drink. Given all the trouble Analei had gone to inviting him over and making burgers, it was really the least he could do - even if he was dangerously close to not being able to pay his rent. Screw the rent. He hated his flat, anyway. This was more important.

Today I learned rhubarb is a vegetable

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei smiled at Arvel, appreciative of him getting his share. She got a lot of help from her parents, but as she was still training, she wasn't earning her own money; but she knew Arvel's job wasn't exactly generous with their pay. Paying for her things, Analei waited for Arvel before she apparated the two of them back home. "You know where everything is, if you want to get started on your...surprise dessert." Analei said, unpacking her groceries, and grabbing out her wand to send the patties to start cooking themselves. "Wine?" She asked, magicking out the glasses as well, grinning at her best friend.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel looked at the rhubarb. What the heck was he supposed to do with it? His mother had cut it up and put it in a saucepan, but beyond that, he was clueless. Water. She must have boiled it. Was there a spell to boil rhubarb? Why didn't Hogwarts have culinary classes? "Yes. Please," he added. He was just going to have to improvise and pray the gods of rhubarb crumble were looking on him favourably. As he waved his wand to get things started, he asked, "How's Edmund?"