Closed Thursday Night Dinners, the Sequel

[Monty Pendleton]

This time, Monty didn't bring flowers. He did, however, bring an enormous bottle of wine, which was his way of thanking Ava for inviting him over for dinner again. Once upon a time they had intended to make Thursday night dinners a regular thing, but after Monty had completely ruined the first one by professing his love for Ava, the plan had fallen apart. Still, now that the embarrassment had worn off, there was no reason they couldn't start it back up again. Monty was certainly keen. His mother had been sending him dozens of recipes to try, but he always felt silly going to all the trouble of cooking a grand meal just for himself, and Saveli's children weren't interested in fancy food. (He had plenty of chicken nuggets and chips, though.)

Monty knocked on the door and stepped back. While he waited, he watched a moth flutter around the outside light. His thick, emerald-green coat kept out most of the autumn chill, but his hands were cold against the glass bottle and now they had started to hurt.

 

[Ava King]

It had been a very long time since Monty and Ava had had their Thursday Night Dinner, though they had caught up in between. After things got weird, they quickly got back on track again, and Ava still considered Monty to be one of her best friends. So, hopefully this Thursday night thing was actually going to become a regular occurrence between the two friends. Ava couldn't believe how big both her and Braxton's kids were getting - both Tobias and Benedict were going to be sorted the following year, which she totally understood was weird for them - getting sorted with your nephew/uncle who was the same age as you. But the boys just acted like cousins which Ava was grateful for, especially seeing as she sent her kids off to the Sparkles' so often.
With a knock on the door, Ava quickly finished the last touch on the dinner before putting it back into the oven, yelling out "Coming!!". She rushed to the door and flung it open, beaming when she saw Monty, flinging her arms around him. "Monts!" She exclaimed before taking a step back. "Come in!"

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty smiled at the sound of Ava's voice on the other side of the door. The next thing he knew, she had pulled him into a rather enthusiastic embrace. He laughed and followed her inside, closing the door and the autumnal air behind him. A delicious smell wafted from the direction of the kitchen. "I come bearing gifts," he said, holding the bottle up. "Well, gift. How are you?"

 

[Ava King]

Ava started heading towards the kitchen before Monty mentioned he came with gifts, which made her spin on her foot and head back towards Monty. "A present?!" She exclaimed, before seeing what it was. She let out a laugh. "Ahh, perfect, to add to my collection." Ava teased, giving him a wink. "Thank you Monts! My present is...dinner?" She suggested with a laugh before heading back to the kitchen. She took out an extra glass for Monty, pouring one for him, and one in her already used glass for herself. Ava turned back around and offered the drink to Monty, holding hers up for a cheers.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty laughed and followed Ava toward the kitchen. He stopped at the door, feeling it would be rude to enter, but accepted a glass of wine without hesitation. "And I am incredibly grateful," he said, raising his glass in cheers before taking a sip. "Can I do anything to help?"

 

[Ava King]

Ava grinned at Monty's response, wondering if he'd still have the same sentiments after he ate the dinner. Ava had had a couple of drinks, and couldn't quite remember when she had put the roast in the oven. She remembered having just put the final touch on - but had she put the first touch on? She winced when Monty asked if he could help. "Um. Can you please check to see if the turkey is burnt?" Not wanting to witness the ruin herself.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty laughed. "Oh, I have complete faith in you," he said, though he headed towards the oven and looked in. "What did I say? It looks perfect." Really, he couldn't understand why Ava didn't have more confidence in her cooking. Besides which, she was cooking for him; he'd have eaten it if it had been charred.

 

[Ava King]

Ava laughed when Monty said he had faith in her. She was sure she was going to have to tell him his faith was misplaced, but then he said it looked perfect. Ava let out a sigh of relief, before laughing again. "Oh thank Merlin. I may have started drinking a couple of hours ago already." Ava admitted with a grin. She put down her wine glass, shooing Monty out of the way as she took the Turkey out. He was right - it looked soooo good. Ava invited Monty over to the dinner table, where she had already started setting up. After a few minutes, they were sat across each other and everything was looking and smelling great. "Alright, you're the one with good magic, and also sober, can you please magic the knives to cut this?" She asked with a laugh.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

"Understandable," Monty said, without missing a beat. "You've got an entire evening with me to get through." He helped her transport everything to the table and sat down at the place made up for him. The turkey steamed in the centre of the table, surrounded by golden-brown potatoes and perfectly roasted vegetables. Monty happily charmed the knives to start carving. "Thank you so much for this," he said. "You've gone to so much effort. You really didn't have to, you know - I had instant noodles last night. But it looks incredible. Thank you."

 

[Ava King]

Ava cackled at Monty's response. "I'm glad you agree with my dilemmama." She replied, struggling with the last word in her mind altered state, but knowing he knew it was in jest. Ava loved having Monty around. Ava beamed when Monty thanked her for the dinner. "The kids would be livid to know how much effort I put in for you. They usually get beans on toast. Which I think is better than noodles though, right?" Ava laughed, joking back. Once everything was cut and served, Ava took a bite of the turkey, expecting it to be the most delightful taste ever. Instead, she coughed and spluttered, very charmingly spitting the turkey back onto her plate.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty grinned. "Absolutely. Beans on toast is highly nutritious," he said sagely. He raised his fork to his mouth at the same time as Ava, entirely unprepared for the turkey to bite back. "Oh. Wow. That's quite..." He looked up, concerned, before he started to laugh. Then the salt reached the back of his tongue and he promptly spat his own mouthful out as gracefully as he could into a napkin. He kept the napkin held up to his face to try to stifle his laughter, without success. Maybe it was the wine, or maybe he was an awful person, but this was the most hilarious thing that had happened to him in weeks.

 

[Ava King]

Monty started to laugh and Ava couldn't help but joining in. She couldn't believe she had royally mucked up the turkey. It was awful. "Monty-" Ava said through her laughter. "Stop laughing!" She hadn't meant to put this much salt in.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty was trying, really he was. But the image of Ava spitting food directly back onto her plate was going to stay with him for a while. "Sorry. I'm sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "Just out of curiosity - how much salt did you put in?"