landslides and masquerades [evelyn]

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The month of January was drawing to a close, and Andy was getting better. It was more than Natalia had thought to hope for. She had known that her sister was going to heal from the physical injuries of the night - it would be impossible not to, in a place like St. Mungo's - she had been worried that mentally, Andy was never going to be the same. if she was honest, Nat was a little worried that she would never be the same, either. It had taken some time for her to realize that things were indeed going to be alright, which meant that it had also taken some time for her to get back into her routine. Natalia desperately needed groceries, which was the reason that she was out in London despite the fact that she still wasn't feeling the best. Finding a place that would have all she needed was proving harder than usual, but Nat didn't want to be lugging bags of groceries from place to place, especially considering she was planning on a big haul to restock her empty cupboards.

@evelyn

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Ev needed to go to the store. Well, it wasn't a desperate need, but she had the day off and both Dustin and Rocco were busy, so she decided she might as well go to London and get more food. Or wander around aimlessly. She was in that type of a mood that day. As she walked around, Ev thought she saw a familiar figure. Could that be ... Natalia? She wasn't sure and she really didn't want to be wrong, because awkward, so Ev walked past her and pretended to look at something while she glanced back. Okay, she was pretty sure it was Natalia. She knew their letters ended quite a while ago because the girl didn't want to talk to her or something, but after a minute, Ev decided to go over. Maybe Natalia wouldn't mind. "Hi," she said with a tentative smile as she walked up to the other girl. "Remember me?"

@natalia

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Natalia had just found a grocer that would (hopefully) fulfill all of her needs, but just before she was going to step inside, she felt someone’s presence at her side, and heard a familiar voice. Natalia turned, and tensed a little when she saw Evelyn. Her letters to the other woman had been brought to a rather abrupt end by her worries about what her father would do to anyone who consorted with her, especially a Muggleborn. Since then, Natalia hadn’t exactly been in a state of mind to restart the correspondence, even though her worry was no longer legitimate. “Yes, I remember.” Nat answered, casting her eyes downwards. “Evelyn, I…” There was no use making excuses now, and Natalia wasn’t really in the mood to explain what had changed. She just wanted to get her groceries and go back to Grimmauld Place and curl into a ball and…not have to deal with the way her world was right now.

@evelyn

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Natalia was clearly not pleased to see Ev. She seemed more ... uncomfortable, which wasn't really what Ev wanted. Granted, should have realized this would happened. Natalia said she didn't want to talk to Ev anymore, why did she think approaching her in person would change that? Ev nodded in determination when the other girl seemed at a loss for words. "Don't worry about it, I'll leave you alone. Sorry," she apologized, not having any idea of what else she couldn't do. She should've let the other girl shop in peace. Ev started to walk away, wondering if Dustin would mind if she popped over.

@natalia

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Natalia made a soft, frustrated noise when Evelyn said that she would leave the other girl alone. How was she supposed to explain that she didn’t want to be left alone, but she didn’t know how to ask people how to stay!? Everything had been a lot less complicated when she was just following the script that was laid out for her. “The thing that I was worried about isn't an issue anymore.” Nat blurted out to Evelyn’s retreating form. She didn’t know if it would be enough to make the other Ravenclaw stay, but at least Nat had tried to do something other than just stand there mutely and watch her opportunity at friendship walk away.

@evelyn

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Evelyn paused when she heard Natalia speak to her. If the girl didn't want to talk to her anymore, then why was she ... oh. So whatever the problem was, wasn't a problem anymore? Ev turned around, her expression unsure. "Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to cause you problems," but Ev really, really wanted to make another friend and she thought that things clicked well with Natalia. "Where are you going?" she asked, trying to make things less awkward. If Natalia really didn't want her around, she'd probably show it somehow and then Evelyn would go home and bury herself in one of her books. 

@natalia

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Natalia blinked at Evelyn, her shoulders rising and falling in a heavy sigh. She didn’t want to say that she wasn’t sure, because she was, but did she really want to drag another person into the madhouse that was her life? “Any problems you can cause me won’t be nearly as big as the ones I’m already causing myself.” Natalia said after a pause. It was easy to say that people would make life more complicated, but Nat did make her life more complicated on her own, so that was a moot point. Evelyn asked where she was going, and Nat glanced back at the storefront. “Grocery store.” She said shortly. “My sister’s been in the hospital…so I’ve been spending a lot of time with her there. Haven’t really had time to buy food.”

@evelyn

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Evelyn didn't know what Natalia was talking about, but maybe she was doing that on purpose. Still, Ev wanted to be a friend if the girl accepted it, and it seemed like she was. "Do you want to talk about any of it?" She asked hesitantly, not sure if that's what most people would say or not. She didn't know how to get people to open up and talk with her. Honestly, Ev wasn't good at talking either. "I'll go with you," she offered, leading the way into the store. "Is your sister all right?" Natalia probably didn't want to talk about that, but Ev was trying to be friendly. Hopefully she wasn't overdoing it.

@natalia

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Natalia flinched a little when Evelyn asked if she wanted to talk about anything that had been happening. “It’s not something I want to talk about in public.” She answered quietly. It wasn’t a flat no, and if Evelyn did end up tagging along with her throughout the day, maybe if they went home together…but right now, Nat wasn’t sure she wanted to talk about everything, surrounded by so many people. Natalia was relieved that Evelyn agreed to go with her, both for the company and for not having to face the awkwardness of rejection. “Honestly, I don’t have a clue.” Natalia said with a sigh. Everyone was being a little bit tight-lipped about Andy’s progress, as if saying anything in any direction would curse her. “I just want to have one nice meal.” Natalia muttered, more to herself than to anyone else. A homecooked meal would do a world of good for her right now.

@evelyn

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Evelyn nodded, not sure if Natalia was saying she'd like to talk if they weren't in public, but accepting her decision nonetheless. She didn't want Natalia to feel pressured around her, especially since they were just now deciding to try and rekindle the small semblance of a friendship that they had a few months ago. She nodded when Natalia continued, saying she didn't know how her sister was, but that she wanted something nice to eat. "Then let's get you some good food," she suggested, following Natalia into the shop. If she wanted help with the cooking, Ev was willing to tag along for that as well, but they'd see what happened when it came up.

@natalia

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Good food. It had been so long since Natalia had heard those words, and it was beginning to occur to her that her one cooking lesson with James had gone a bit awry thanks to Natalia’s own sweet tooth. Hopefully she’d be able to find a recipe book she was capable of following, otherwise no matter the amount of good food she got, she’d have an abysmal meal at the end. “What to buy, what to buy…” Natalia whispered under her breath. “Do you know what keeps well? I’m not sure how long this peace is going to last.” Nat always had a niggling feeling that something bad was going to happen, and she didn’t want to buy anything that spoiled quickly in case her desire to cook diminished in light of another tragedy.

@evelyn

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Natalia seemed confused and a little distracted, but Evelyn didn't mind that. She followed the girl into the shop and looked around a little well. Then Natalia asked what items wouldn't go bad. "Well, boxed things last longer," she said, walking towards an aisle that had more things like that. She wasn't sure exactly what Natalia was interested in, but she took her to the cereal aisle and held her hands out. "This normally does really well ... or we can go and look at pasta if you want something more suited for dinner." Ev wasn't really sure what Natalia was looking for, but she'd do her best to help.

@natalia

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Evelyn knew more about groceries than Natalia did, and really, Nat knew she shouldn’t have found that surprising. Anyone who wasn’t pureblood seemed to know more about shopping for actually useful things than she did, and since Evelyn was a Muggleborn, she had to know more than Natalia did. The Ravenclaw accepted the box from the other woman, looking at it. Cereal. When was the last time she had had cereal for breakfast? Probably never, actually. “Pasta sounds good.” Natalia agreed, ready to follow Evelyn’s lead. That would at least fit into her theme of learning how to make Italian food. Natalia navigated to the pasta aisle (which was helpfully designated with an overhead sign), and she had to stop herself from choking on air looking at the shelves. “I did not know there were this many types of pasta on earth, let alone in one grocery store.” Nat had eaten spaghetti and fettuccine, but other than that, the Ravenclaw didn’t recognize any of the noodles, let alone know which ones she ought to buy.

@evelyn

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Natalia took a box of cereal from Ev and then said that pasta sounded good. She walked with Natalia to the pasta aisle and smiled at the girl's reaction to all the food. "Well the good thing is that you can try it all or just find one that you like and get that kind," she teased, wondering if Natalia would catch that she wasn't entirely serious. Ev wasn't used to joking with most people. "My favorite kind of noodles are angel hair. It's like spaghetti but thinner. But penne and bowtie pasta is good too," Ev pointed out the types of pasta as she said their names so that maybe Natalia would understand what she was talking about. "Does any of that help?" She asked doubtfully, hoping that she wasn't annoying Natalia.

@natalia

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This was crazy, Natalia thought to herself, still a little shell-shocked by all of the pasta that was on the shelves in front of her. Ev said something about trying it all, and Natalia only half-heard it, blanching a little at the idea of eating that much pasta. She loved the food, really, but that much of any kind of food was sickening. After Nat was able to shake off the remainders of her shock, she listened to Evelyn listing off the different kinds of noodles she liked, giving Natalia a total of five different noodle times that were safe to eat – or at least were recommended to her as safe to eat. “What about sauces?” Nat asked, a little fearful of the answer. “Can I just put marinara on all of them? Or are there special rules?” She didn’t see a super-thin pasta like angel hair being good with marinara, which was thick, but Nat was clueless about cooking (as she kept reminding herself) so it was good to defer to someone with greater knowledge.

@evelyn