All work and no play [open!]

[nessalaurentius]

Word count: 464
Tagged: open!
Quote: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a rich widow.

"Thank you for your purchase, come again," she said, handing the canvas bag over to the witch in front of her and smiled as the customer opened the door, which immediately started singing christmas songs. They always charmed the door when the yuletide was beginning, it made people laugh and laughing people made happy customers.
Nessa liked her part-time job. Especially today, as they'd put her in charge of the cash register. Usually, she was in the back mending clothes that had come in or altering clothes so they would fit a customer perfectly. Sure, she liked sewing, but a bit of social interaction didn't hurt at all. Had Nessa solely wanted social interaction, she'd have applyed for a job at one of the pubs or tearooms - and she hadn't because those were just too busy for her. This was just the right amount of social and the just the right kind of customers, asking her for advice on fabric or colours. That was something Nessa could advice people about. Not about kinds of coffee or the best brand of firewhiskey.

The shop was silent and empty, for a moment, and Nessa looked around. The shelves surely weren't as endless as Madame Malkin's, but Gladrag still had quite a large number of goods in stock. Sure, at least one third of them was socks (not quite Nessa's expertise), but all the rest was absolutely wonderful and very inspiring to her.
Sometimes clothes would be brought in (either by the suppliers or by customers) in colours or models she had never thought about before. Occasionally, when business had been going well, the owner of the store actually allowed Nessa to use fabric leftovers to make something from scratch, either for herself or to sell it.
Oh, no, really - it wasn't as glamorous to Nessa as Madam Malkin's, but it was certainly a good place to start. And at least she would be able to show she had work experience (next to the fact she also had an extensive portfolio, a portfolio which she wore every single day).
Today was no exception. Especially when working, Nessa was keen on looking like someone who could handle fabrics and clothing with skill. She had only finished this the other night and the fabric had cost her a fortune. But the most work had been the charms. Nessa had charmed the fabric to match the situation in which she wore it, which was absolutely fabulous as it meant you could wear the same dress both at parties, births, funerals, marriages or just for summer. The dress was still even-coloured, though. Charming changing patterns onto a fabric was something Nessa was still practising. Today, the dress was a deep, bordeaux red which (somehow) didn't clash with her hair.

[Amos Patroclus Diggory]

Aside from Quidditch and girls, and considerably before schoolwork, looking good was high on the slight pompous, Amos Diggory's agenda. He had a good reputation at school, what with being on the Quidditch team and being reasonably good looking, and he had to keep that reputation after all. He couldn't wander the corridors in threadbare robes like some of the mopey teenagers around here, he'd look like some poor idiot. That meant that he needed new robes every so often, obviously, to keep up appearances. But unfortunately Amos wasn't the most clued in person with fashion trends and so that meant he never visited Madame Malkins, where the customer was left to his own devices and he once came out with dangerously unfashionable glow in the dark yellow robes. Instead he visited Gladrags, where the owner himself was often on the front desk advising the young Hufflepuff on how to best flaunt his athletic body.

And so, when Amos received the Christmas money his parents had owled to him (at school, because they were going skiing this Christmas and didn't trust their seventeen year old son not to trash their house when they were gone), Amos had taken the opportunity to get some extra nice robes at Gladrags. It was considerably more than usual, he supposed his parents were feeling guilty for leaving him behind, not that he was complaining. Amos jogged down the cobbled streets of Hogsmeade, trying to keep warm in the light snow of the December weather. He smirked as he pushed open the door to Gladrags, ruffling some snow from his short hair as Christmas jingles rang in his ear. Amos got a surprise however when he reached the counter and saw instead of the helpful owner, a girl from his house and year, Nessa. Amos grinned, feeling cheerful and festive and trying to be charismatic. He wasn't too upset about Gladrags not working today, Nessa was admittedly much easier on the eyes, and she was just as friendly.

"Alright Nessa" Amos smiled, squinting at the walls of fabric behind her and feeling slightly intimidated by the variety. "How's business?" He added with a smirk, pulling out a rather garish orange tough fabric that he naively thought might help him pull in future.

[nessalaurentius]

Nessa was leaning on the counter dreamily. Somehow, she felt, Christmas was the right time for dreaming, really. And she did dream, she dreamt of having her own place, maybe a shop or at least a job.. a nice guy would be pleasant, too, but they seemed hard to find these days..
She looked up as she heard the door bursting out in a canon-version of ''tis the season to be jolly', glancing at the customer that walked in. She knew him, more by reputation than by actual contact, though, she had to admit. Amos was in the same year as her, but seemed to mingle with different crowds than she did. He was into Quidditch and, well, more air-headed girls, it seemed. Nessa definitely disliked the latter, though she had to admit she'd never even really tried understanding Quidditch. It wasn't that she didn't like it, really, but she always had better things to do and most of her friends that went to matches only went to see the boys play..

Either way, Amos smiled and Nessa smiled back. He was a nice guy, after all, right? Besides, customer's king, or what's the saying anyway.
"Alright Nessa." Smiling back at Amos, she leant on the counter. "Afternoon, Amos." Customer or not, she wasn't going to call him 'mr. Diggory' or anything like that. "How's business?" She chuckled a little at the question, it wasn't like Gladrags' was her business, after all. "It's good, I suppose, I'm not doing the finances, really, but I suppose things are going well or I'd be out on the street already. Oh-" Nessa grinned, gesturing at the fabric. "You don't want that, it's warmer than you think and will make you sweat in an instant, besides.." Her grin widened a little. "..the colour rather clashes with her eyes."

[Amos Patroclus Diggory]

Amos was pleased with Nessa's greeting. It wasn't totally formal, which made him feel awkward when he was shopping. Amos liked to think of himself as important but it made him cringe to be called 'Mr. Diggory' - that was his dad, not him. Granted, it wasn't his ideal greeting. Amos was used to girls giggling and batting their eyes at him whenever he turned his attentions to them. Nessa was never around the girls he flirted with usually though, Amos mused. She seemed to spend a lot of her time drawing up sketches, or sewing, and she was never one of the girls at the back of class painting her nails. In the past, Amos had dismissed her as boring because of it, but in the snatches of conversation he had with Nessa (which admittedly weren't often) he had learned that she was friendly, and he felt guilty about it his snap assumption about her now.

He nodded along as she talked about the company's business, noting her chuckle and feeling slightly embarrassed. Obviously he didn't think that Nessa was controlling Gladrag's finances herself, it was a throw away comment, meant to make himself seem interested and perhaps emit a giggle from Nessa. Now he was worried that he just looked stupid, it happened surprisingly often to him. Amos felt a slight blush rise to his cheeks as Nessa gestured to his ill-chosen fabric. Now that she mentioned it, he realised that it did look bloody awful. "Merlin, yeah, I don't know what I was thinking" He grinned sheepishly, resisting throwing in one of his 'charming' comments about sweating during Quidditch. The comment about his eyes had taken him off guard though, he'd never thought Nessa would have noticed his eyes in a million years, nevermind what would clash with them. Amos mentally brushed off the comment. She was probably just doing her job, right? If Nessa had liked him in the slightest, Amos would have gone out with her ages ago, probably convinced her to sleep with him and then given her the old heave-ho.

Actually it was probably better that Nessa had never expressed the slightest interest in him then, seeing as Amos was good at getting girls, but not at keeping interest in them, and Nessa seemed too nice and too clued-in to be mucked aboutlike that. "Gladrags usually helps me pick 'cause I'm kind of... useless." Amos grinned sheepishly, looking up again at the daunting countless rolls of fabric. "Er - what do you suggest, then?"

[nessalaurentius]

Nessa was well-aware Amos was usually greeted by batting lashes, but she didn't think too highly of her lashes, let alone that she thought about batting them at someone like Amos. He seemed a nice enough guy, really, and she didn't want to judge him too soon before decently talking to her. Who knew, maybe he just needed someone to put his feet back on the ground? She wasn't the flirtatious sort of girl, anyway, she hardly expected him to be interested in her at all.
Besides, wasn't he too busy? Quidditch season was pretty much all year round (why, she wondered, who wanted to fly when there was a bloody blizzard out?!), plus he was rather competitive homework-wise, too. No wonder he only had time for one night stands.

She was a little surprised when he blushed slightly. Had she said something? Oh, well, he was here to purchase something, and as he had just indicated: "Gladrags usually helps me pick 'cause I'm kind of... useless. ... Er - what do you suggest, then?"
Somehow, she felt her face break into a smile. "You've come to the right place entirely. What sort of outfit are you looking for?" she asked, pulling out fabrics as she talked. "I'd go for navy or a darkgrey, maybe with hints of an earth tone, if you're searching for something formal," she mused, glancing over him and trying to guess his measurements.

[Amos Patroclus Diggory]

What sort of outfit was he looking for? Wasn't that the 64 million galleon question? Amos didn't have a clue. He just knew that he had more money than usual and it was just itching to be spent. If he didn't have the likes of Gladrags and the occasional glance at a men's magazine (not that kind) Amos would be completely lost when it came to fashion. Trying to decide whether or not he needed dress or casual robes, Amos was useless. He stared, slightly dazzled, by the fabrics Nessa suggested, grateful at least that he didn't have to pick through the hundreds on the walls. He didn't like the navy or the black, they reminded him of the Ministry uniform his dad and his colleagues wore, and he didn't want to look like he was going to work. But the earthy grey looked promising, not to gloomy but not the garish yellow he had naively chosen before. "Er - that one" Amos grinned sheepishly, brushing Nessa's arm as he pointed to his chosen fabric.

Now, that was the fabric sorted. But what on earth was he going to have made with it. Truthfully, Amos hated all this stuff. He liked to look good obviously, he liked the finished product but the whole shopping thing. Well, Amos had been brought up to assosciate that with girls, and what with his recent confusion over his own identity- he didn't want to be assosciated with anything girly. He was Amos Diggory- manly man, Quidditch star, womanizer - right? Amos grinned his best charmingsmile at Nessa, shifting from one foot to the other so that it was deliberately difficult for him to gauge measurements for him without doing it herself. "Look I'll be honest, I don't have a clue about styles or anything, you'll have to help me out Nessa" He shrugged, trying to look lovable so she would help him out. And she had been a pretty diligent shop assistant so far - he'd have to give her a tip once she'd finished, or take her out for a drink, if she even wanted to. "I trust your judgement" He added with a small smirk, before chancing his arm and adding.

"But I've er - got quite a bit taller since I last bought robes here, Quidditch you know" He resisted flexing his muscles, a tried and tested pulling technique, reminding himself that Nessa had never seemed particularly impressed by Quidditch. "You might have to measure me up again"

[nessalaurentius]

Amos looked puzzled, Nessa smiled a little, making sure to keep it a polite smile. She didn't want him to think she was laughing at him, after all, but wasn't this the rich man's problem? They never knew what they wanted, just bought things, and sometimes Nessa wondered if they even knew the value of friendship was higher than the value of money. But she mustn't be prejudiced, maybe Amos wasn't at all like that.
At least he had chosen a fabric now, that counted for something. "We have a catalog with certain models, if you'd like to leaf through it?" Nessa asked, half reaching to said catalog behind her which had everything in it that the shop could sew. Of course, Nessa was always willing to make something that was not in there, if the client so wished.

The moment he smiled that smile, she knew he was going to ask her something. It seemed like the sort of smile one would smile to get something done. It was a little funny, Nessa thought, as she worked here - whatever he wanted (as long as it had to do with the shop..), she would do. Customer was king.
"Look I'll be honest, I don't have a clue about styles or anything, you'll have to help me out Nessa. I trust your judgement." She chuckled. "Sure."
"But I've er - got quite a bit taller since I last bought robes here, Quidditch you know. You might have to measure me up again." Had he flexed his muscles, Nessa would probably not have been impressed, but now, she just nodded. "Sure. I'll measure you and then meanwhile you can ponder over what sort of attire you'd be interested in, yes?" She grinned and got her centimetre, measuring him with no blushing at all. Pure business. Shoulders' breadth, arms' length, in- and outside leg.. She worked quick and precise, scribbling the results down on paper. "You are.. beater, right? So would you say your bi- and triceps will be expanding in the future? I could take that into account when drawing the pattern, leaving extra wide seams which will be easy to let out, if you want."

[Amos Patroclus Diggory]

Amos flicked through the catalogue half-heartedly. It wasn't helping his inspiration much to be honest. Really he just found the posing witches and wizards quite funny. The thing looked to be from the mid-fifties, and even though Amos wasn't the most fashion-conscious people in the world, he had an inkling that now in 1975 he'd look suspiciously like his Uncle Cedric, who had been wearing the same tweed suit since 1958. Amos tried to look interested all the same though.He didn't want Nessa to be annoyed - after all she was being a very apt assistant. Amos tried to put himself in her position. He'd never had to take on a part time job (being an only child he had always been quite spoilt and never had to do anything himself), but he reasoned that it couldn't be much fun to have some dissatisfied teenage boy dither undecisively when you were trying to get on with your work. But that still didn't help his own current indesciveness. Amos grinned sheepishly at Nessa and shrugged, trying to articulate what he wanted with some over-zealous hand movements (he was better at physical communication than verbal).

"I want something like.. semi formal? Something that I can wear at the weekends, not too heavy. Something that I can wear on .. dates?" He chuckled slightly finishing with a shrug and tried to remain perfectly still whilst Nessa measured him up. It didn't feel the most comfortable thing in the world. That was slightly strange to Amos, who usually enjoyed girls being this close to his crotch. He supposed it depended on the circumstances. Whatever the case, Amos was glad when Nessa was finished, and he watched her scribble down her results, glancing curiously over her shoulder. He nodded enthusiastically to her musings on his Beater position, resisting the urge to again flex his muscles. "Yeah, that's right, they tend to expand quite a lot. That's a really good idea actually" He grinned, impressed by Nessa's ideas and then chanced his arm adding; "What do you think, I mean, what would you like to see me in if we were, on a date.. or something?"

[nessalaurentius]

Nessa wondered if the catalog would help Amos. She hoped so, she couldn't just sketch something from thin air. Well.. she could, but chances were he would not like it. She wanted to have at least some clue what sort of clothing he wanted. The last thing Amos needed to be worried about, however, was about Nessa being annoyed. It took a long time before she did so, and, besides, was eager to do any clients bidding, especially if said client had special wishes. Any seamstress could sew what was in that catalog, not any seamstress could come up with new ideas which actually looked good.
"I want something like.. semi formal? Something that I can wear at the weekends, not too heavy." Nessa pursed her lips, trying to get at what he was trying to make clear, though his next words made her go 'ah' and nod. "Something that I can wear on .. dates?" She grinned slightly. "So something suave, it is?" she asked, getting out a piece of paper and sketching a man with Amos' built without trouble. "Do you prefer trousers or actual robes?"

Nessa had been insecure about measuring people up when she'd first come to work here, but after a year of experience, she had learned it was better to just be professional about it. Customers like that more, either, in stead of a blushing girl at their feet. She just was glad when it was over and she could focus on sketching and then sewing.
"Yeah, that's right, they tend to expand quite a lot. That's a really good idea actually." Nessa smiled widely, eyes sparkling a little - she couldn't help it, she loved compliments regarding her work. "You're welcome."
"What do you think, I mean, what would you like to see me in if we were, on a date.. or something?" She pondered a moment, before saying: "You sure you shouldn't be asking that to a girl who's actually your type," she said, grinning a little. She knew full well Amos wasn't into girls like her. "They might not like what I like."

[Amos Patroclus Diggory]

Amos pretended to look deep in thought as Nessa asked him what kind of robes he would prefer. "Um, trousers" He smiled, nodding. Really it was a no brainer. Only the most geekiest and weirdest guys in school wore their robes without trousers. What would happen if they fell over? The whole school would get a bird's eye view of the underwear, that's what. Not that it would be too much of a catastophe in Amos' case - he wore reasonably nice underwear, and Quidditch had made him reasonably muscular too. But the kind of guys who were trouserless robes were never the Quidditch, nice underwear type really. "Something suave" Amos repeated, still grinning at Nessa as he pulled himself casually up onto the counter. He was still curiously watching her work on the blank parchment, as though expecting to see the cogs turning in her head. It was interesting to Amos to see Nessa working, not just because she was a good-looking girl, not just because the idea of having a part-time job was a novelty to him, but because the girls Amos usually spent time with didn't exactly.. think, very much.

Amos couldn't help but grin at Nessa as she responded to his compliment. He noticed, of course, the way her eyes sparkled ever so slightly. She was clearly flattered, even if she responded so subtly. It was oddly nice to see a girl flattered by a compliment on her ability, not her hair or her bra size, which was what Amos usually stuck to in compliments. It was something else that seemed to set the Hufflepuff red-head opposite him aside from the girls that were considered his 'type' Amos supposed. Not that he was going to tell Nessa that though. In fact, whenever she mentioned girls that were 'his type' Amos snorted incredulously. "I don't have a type! .. Do I?" He mused aloud, feeling his neck flush slightly at the thought. He didn't know why he suddenly felt like he was flirting with Nessa. After all, if she had a type, it certainly wouldn't be Amos Diggory, right? Well, couldn't hurt to try. "Anyway, I asked you, I wanted to know what you like.. I mean, this is your area of expertise right? Clothes er - not dating. Not that you don't date! I mean" Amos cut himself off, grinning sheepishly again, before adding as casually as he could.

"So er - what's your type anyway Nessa?"

[nessalaurentius]

Nessa nodded at his robes-or-trousers-answer and sketched a pair of trousers and a jacket. It wasn't the way she would usually sketch, but this was just the quick sketch, to see if he liked the idea she had. It seemed a little basic to begin with, just a regular suit, but with certain coloured accents in certain places to make it less formal and more of a stylish, playful sort of suit that still looked vaguely professional. When done, she pushed the sketch toward him over the counter. "As you obviously value the, hm, shape that you're in, I thought it would be a nice idea to use colour accents and fitting to your advantage," she explained, pointing it out in the sketch. Though she'd had, at first, a little trouble understanding what he was going for exactly, she thought this was at least close to it. Either way, she liked the idea, whether he liked it or not, so she'd be sewing it anyway in between school and homework.

She laughed a little as Amos indignantly exclaimed that he did not have a type. "Doesn't everyone?" she mused. "I'm quite sure there are girls you wouldn't even touch with a three metre long stick," Nessa said with a grin.
Although Amos wasn't her sort of guy (or, at least, so Nessa guessed), she had to admit she liked the attention. She'd expected him to be more.. boyish? More of a show-off? Sexist perhaps? She had definitely misjudged him. More than definitely, as he suddenly started stuttering in front of her, and that was certainly something Nessa would not have expected in a million years. "Anyway, I asked you, I wanted to know what you like.. I mean, this is your area of expertise right? Clothes er - not dating. Not that you don't date! I mean- So er - what's your type anyway Nessa?" She wasn't sure whether to laugh a little (not laughing at him, just at the situation) or to be surprised.
"My type?" she echoed, silent for a moment. "Well, not alcoholics, anyway.." Nessa muttered, remembering her 'date of friendly sorts' with Jacob Kirke, which had been a disaster, to be honest. "Not quite sure, I mean, you guessed right that I don't have much experience in the dating department," she confessed, doodling next to the sketch a little. "I suppose it'd have to be someone that values family and is honest and-" She shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. How should I know?" She cleared her throat, a little uncomfortable. "Let's get back to your clothing, shall we?"

[Amos Patroclus Diggory]

Amos couldn't help but be impressed as he watched Nessa sketch out a design off the top of her head. She worked quickly and had come up with it right off the top of her head, and Amos was impressed by her creativity and imagination. He wasn't very creative or imaginative himself, aside from on the Quidditch Pitch when the formations and strategies he came up with were second to none - even, Amos believed, to Jacob Kirke, who Amos was clearly resentful of, thinking he was a better player. Amos realised with a jolt that the same Jacob Kirke had gone on a date with Nessa not so long ago, and his stomach twisted suddenly. It was a strange feeling akin to the jealousy Amos felt for the boy on the Quidditch pitch, and he quickly tried to shake it off. After all he didn't even fancy Nessa - did he? "That's perfect" Amos grinned down at the design, trying to take his mind off the confusing avenue it had just wandered down. "Yeah, that's exactly what I wanted" Of course he hadn't known that until she'd sketched it out. He grinned, adjusting his current clothes and imagining looking dashing in Nessa's design. He couldn't help but adding thoughtfully and with a hint of admiration; "You just came up with this right now?"

Amos chuckled to himself at Nessa's comment about girls. Of course, that was by a large true. There were girls he wouldn't touch with a three foot stick - Slytherin girls tended to turn his stomach for example. But he didn't really want to get into a serious conversation on his type, because that didn't just include girls but his type of boys as well, and he didn't really want to divulge that information to anyone - not least of which Nessa. Instead he tried to look enigmatic and shrugged, choosing instead to focus on Nessa's type (which he found he was suddenly strangely interested in). It appealed to him that Nessa was modest in describing her 'type' and that she'd made a subtle reference to her date with Jacob which apparently didn't go very well. It was nicer than the usual response to the flirtatious 'What's your type of guy' question, which was usually followed by a description of him - not that this wasn't gratifying for Amos, it was just that it got slightly monotonous after a while. But he found that when Nessa said 'Let's get back to your clothing, shall we?' Amos didn't want to.

He cleared his throat and nodded at Nessa but smiled sheepishly at her (he didn't know why he had suddenly lost the swagger, perhaps because Nessa seemed unimpressed by it and it was unnerving for him) "Yeah er, 'course. But I mean, it's really nice of you doing all this for me. I think I should do something to show you how much I appreciate it" He grinned and shrugged, gesturing out the nearby window towards the popular Three Broomsticks pub. "Like er - take you for a drink or something? Or something to eat, if you didn't want to?" He tried to look casual as he waited for her response, hands shoved into his pockets again.

[nessalaurentius]

Nessa wasn't bad at sketching. Her mother had always encouraged her creative side (of which drawing was certainly a part) and ever since she'd really gotten into sewing, Vanessa had had more than the usual amount of practice, and had often caught herself doodling during lectures in stead of taking notes. "That's perfect. Yeah, that's exactly what I wanted." Nessa grinned back slightly at Amos, unable to keep herself from lighting up at the compliments he bestowed on her. "You just came up with this right now?" She blushed the tiniest bit. Although she liked compliments, Nessa didn't like boasting about her talents very much, afraid it would make her seem self-centred. "Yes," she admitted, smiling through her blush. "Well, I mean, I'm supposed to, right? It's not going to help any customer if I don't manage to draw a design for them.."

It was, of course, completely logical that Amos wasn't about to confide in Nessa. Still, had he chosen to, Nessa was a trustworthy person and she would certainly look at Amos in a very different light (again!), had she known his preferences. Apparently, she was constantly adjusting her opinion of him Less than half an hour ago, she'd thought he was a pompous womaniser, after all, but he was a whole lot nicer than she'd thought at first.
"Yeah er, 'course. But I mean, it's really nice of you doing all this for me. I think I should do something to show you how much I appreciate it." Nessa blinked for a moment, once again surprised. "Oh, well, I won't discourage you, but don't feel obliged," she said, smiling pleasantly, glad that her services were appreciated and that Amos turned out to be nicer than she'd expected. "I mean.. you're paying for this, legally, that should be all the rewarding you owe me." She followed his gesture, glancing out the window. "Like er - take you for a drink or something? Or something to eat, if you didn't want to?" She smiled a tad wider, glancing at the sketch and adding an unimportant detail to a crease before glancing outside once again. "Well, if you're sure - I'm done working at four?" she suggested, apparently unable to wipe the smile of her face.
It was, then, a quarter to and although Nessa was almost a hundred percent sure there would be no more new customers until four, she hated cheating on people, and would not leave her cash register before she was meant to do so. Oh, well, she could start drawing the pattern for Amos' new suit in the meantime, right?

[Amos Patroclus Diggory]

"Well, I mean, I'm supposed to, right? It's not going to help any customer if I don't manage to draw a design for them.." Amos couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "Well it's still impressive, I couldn't draw to save my life." Nessa sure was modest about her achievements. It was completely different to him. Amos could admit himself that he was just a little pompous. Whenever he had the slightest achievement - a particularly awesome bludger evasion, an E on a test, a pretty girl on his own - he could become pretty obnoxious about showing off. He couldn't help it very much, it was an uncontrollable urge, like the one he'd had earlier to flex his muscles for Nessa. But with her being so humble Amos found that there was a sudden depletion in his arrogant behaviour; he felt a little awkward about it really. Admittedly she hadn't been talking to him for so long but it was still impressive for him not to talk about Quidditch for five minutes.

Amos was still shifting awkwardly about, his hands shoved in his pockets as he waited on Nessa's reply. Perhaps it was because she seemed unimpressed his Amos' usual displays that he felt so bashful and uncertain whether she was going to turn him down. And for a few minutes he thought that she was actually. When she dithered about feeling obliged, Amos felt his stomach squirm uncomfortably. He'd never been turned down for a date with a girl before and he felt instantaneously defensive of his masculinity, which admittedly he was a bit insecure about. But quickly Nessa accepted and Amos felt his stomach leap. He mentally punched the air, resisting this for favour of a warm grin in Nessa's direction literally. He found himself laughing warmly as she said she didn't finish to four. That was fifteen minutes away! Resisting the urge to smirk at her flirtatiously and ask whether she didn't like him enough to ditch work, Amos instead felt slight admiration. "Now that's dedication, I understand I'd never ditch Quidditch practice early" With a voice in his head screaming 'Don't talk about Quidditch you dope!' Amos moved towards the door, leaving a heavy bag of galleons on the desk for his robes and raising his voice over the Christmas jingles to Nessa.

"I'll just slulk about Honeydukes for a while then, I'll pick you up outside the Three Broomsticks in about.. twenty minutes?" Nodding to her, Amos grinned and left the shop trying to be as enigmatic as possible but hopelessly excited for their date ahead.

[Idk if you wanted to end it here, I can change it if you don't. New thread for their date if not? (: ]

[nessalaurentius]

"Well it's still impressive, I couldn't draw to save my life." Nessa echoed his chuckle softly. "Well, I can't fly to save me life - to each his own, right?" Nessa had been taught to be modest. Sometimes, not very often, she wished she stood out more, but then she'd remember how boasting people could get on other people's nerves and would discard the idea immediately again. No, if people couldn't spot her on their own, she was obviously not worth their attention. That's what her mother had told her, at least, and something she held onto.
It surprised her that he almost seemed nervous about her reply, or maybe that was just her mind playing tricks on her - maybe he was just impatient. Anyway, she would like to have a drink with him. He was a nice guy, she knew that now. Maybe she'd even come to see him at the next match, if she could get someone to explain the rules to her. Who knew, maybe he could spark her enthusiasm to come watch at least once.

It seemed Amos wasn't done complimenting her just yet, surprising Nessa yet again. He seemed more like the impatient sort of type, but when he complimented her on her dedication, she realised he knew what that was like - he was obsessed with Quidditch after all. She laughed softly, realising that sewing was to her what Quidditch was probably to him. Maybe they were both a little obsessed.
he put a bag of galleons on the desk and Nessa blinked as it sounded rather heavy. "Eh- that sounds like far more than enough.." she mumbled, not used to seeing such quantities of money. It was 'only' Gladrags, after all - it was decent, well made, occasionally more than average, but not insanely glamorous.

"I'll just slulk about Honeydukes for a while then, I'll pick you up outside the Three Broomsticks in about.. twenty minutes?" Nessa nodded back with a smile. "Sure, I'll see you in a bit."
Nessa spent the rest of her time starting on drawing the pattern and putting the money away in a separate place. She couldn't quite charge Amos yet, it depended on the amount of fabric she was going to need and amount of hours the sewing took. She'd give him his change when she was done.
Surprisingly, the last fifteen minutes of the job she so loved seemed to go slower than usual. Nessa caught herself looking perpetually at the clock, cleaning up and clearing away little irrelevant things and tapping her fingers on the counter impatiently. When the clock stroke four, she sighed, feeling relieved somehow, and locked the shop behind her after sticking a sign on the door 'We're closed, Merry Christmas'.

She glanced around for a moment to see if she could spot Amos (she couldn't) before making her way over to the three broomsticks.



[Here is fine? (:]