Playing with Matches, a Girl Can Get Burned (Dominick)

[parvati patil macmillan]

Seeing an advertisement for a matchmaker in the Daily Prophet, Parvati was a little uneasy. Plenty of people still relied on such services, although they were going the way of Naming Seers—a dying art. With her bad luck in love already, though, she didn't see any harm in providing her personal information. The company's slogan might have been a bit cringeworthy, but off to Blishwick Matchmaking she sent the requested materials. If the man with whom she was paired turned out to be insufferable, she thought, she could always tell him that she didn't think that things would work out between them. It would be better than making herself miserable, and at least she had had the joys of marriage once.

The speed at which the matchmaker had come back with a match for her was alarming. It had been so fast that Parvati questioned if anyone had put any thought into it at all. What worried her most was that she clearly hadn't read the fine print the first time: She wouldn't know who the man was beforehand, and neither would he know who she was. Yes, she had signed herself up for a blind date.

It wasn't the end of the world, but Parvati guessed that the best outcome would be an amusing letter to her sister once all was said and done. Blishwick had made all of the preparations, from securing a location for the date to scheduling it at a time when she wouldn't have to explain to Professor McGonagall why on earth she was missing a staff meeting. (Still, though, Parvati could picture the disapproval on the old woman's face if she found out.)

Parvati had promised herself that she wouldn't touch any of the divination supplies that Padma had given her on their birthday, lest she make herself more miserable in the process. She would have to trust that the success rate Blishwick Matchmaking touted wasn't inflated, though one positive note was that she recognized the location of the date itself: It was the same café in Horizont Alley where she and Padma had had their birthday brunch.

Taking that as the one good sign in what was sure to be a memorable night, Parvati got herself ready and used the Floo Network to transport herself to Diagon Alley, from where she walked to the café with the letter from Blishwick Matchmaking in hand. The café, at first glance, appeared closed, until she illuminated a sign in the window that noted that it had been reserved for Blishwick Matchmaking. “Since 1850,” Parvati mused aloud, straightening up her dress robes.

She had decided to go with one of the simpler dress robes that she owned, in a deep blue, playing it safe when she had no clue whom she was meeting or how he would react to seeing her in something more Indian-influenced, and she'd taken down the bun she'd been wearing earlier in the day so that her hair's full length was apparent.

Looking at the door again, she knocked. A bored-looking young man came to answer her, motioning her inside with an attempt at a French greeting that would have made her look fully fluent. Remarkably, there were no lights on, which Parvati was quick to note before she stepped much farther into the place.

“Aren't there candles here,” she asked curiously, “or something?”

“Er,” said the young man, whom she hoped was her waiter for the evening and not her date himself, “you read the letter. It's dark dining.”

Feeling lucky that he couldn't see her raised eyebrow, Parvati repeated what he had just said. “Dark… dining?”

“Yeah,” nodded the young man, who didn't seem too enthusiastic about the idea, either. “You don't see the food.”

Well, that was far from reassuring to Parvati, who momentarily considered walking out right then and there. She didn't know who her date was and wouldn't know what she was eating until it was actually in her mouth. If this whole date was someone's idea of a joke, it was working. “Alright,” she forced herself to agree, tightening her hold on her wand even after the young man had seated her.

“Your date should be here by now,” the young man—clearly the waiter—commented, and Parvati saw him walk back towards the door. Hopefully, she thought, her date hadn't made the same mistake that she had in almost thinking that the café was closed.

@dominick

[Deleted]

Sometimes, Dominick really frustrated himself. He was late. And he could have sworn he'd tried his hardest to do the exact opposite of this. And on such an important day too.

The day had come for Dominick to admit how lonely he was, how he'd actually wanted some companionship. Someone who understood him. It had been a little while since he'd actually been in a relationship with a woman, much less been on a date with one. Actually, now that he thought about it, the last date he could remember had been during his first year at Hogwarts. He was pretty sure he had bored his date with the intricacies of Arithmancy, which she had asked him about. She must have not been expecting him to give her all of the details or it must have been much duller than she had been expecting but he'd talked about it with an enthusiasm that rivaled sports fanatics when their favored teams won a championship. As he's spoken he'd watched as her eyes had grown less and less interested until she'd stopped him mid-sentence and asked if they could leave. He could have been offended but he'd just taken it as just the fact that she wasn't someone he was meant for.

Fastfoward to now and after spotting the ad one morning during breakfast in the Daily Prophet for a matching making service, he was about to go on a blind date. It hadn't taken much for him to fill out the questionnaire in the paper and send it off but the wait for a match had been grueling. He'd had to remind himself multiple times that wanting a girlfriend wasn't pathetic and waiting for a letter to arrive in the mail wasn't pathetic either so him waiting on the arrival of his match didn't make him pathetic. When his letter arrived, he'd gotten a bit nervous to open it. He put it off for two days and instead tried to pour himself into his research. The letter practically taunted him until he opened it. It was a blind date. The letter told him it was a blind date and he was a little miffed at that. He'd told himself he wasn't going to do it but he at least wanted to know the name of the woman he would be going on a date with so he could consult Arithmancy to know if this was going to be another bust. If not that then he wanted to get insight on her personality to know if they would mesh well. He wouldn't be able to do either apparently. His date would be at a cafe in Horizon Alley and they were supposed to be dark dining so he expected that he would have to dress nicely.

With the arrival of the set day for the date he'd thought he'd given himself plenty of time to get ready and get to the cafe on time. He was dressed nicely but not too nicely as to be over dressed; black button down and a pair of dark blue jeans. He'd groomed himself nicely and, after an intense battle with himself, he decided again wearing any cologne because it probably said that he was meticulous with his grooming and he didn't want to give his date any false pretenses of what he was really like. And just when he grabbed his blazer, he checked the clock in his quarters only to realized that he was running exactly six minutes late. He had to stop himself from panicking, quickly grabbed a hand full of floo powered and disappeared to his destination. The floo point was a short ways away from the cafe and his feet moved at a brisk walking pace as to not be any later. This alone could ruin the date, really. As he was approaching the designated area, he noticed that the place was dark. He was at the right place right? He paused and reached into the pocket of his blazer to pull out the letter to check and make sure he was in the right location. Just as he got the letter opened he heard someone shout for him. Only a little bit surprised, he looked up and noticed what he assumed to be a waiter standing in the doorway of cafe, ushering him to approach. "I apologize for being so late. I lost track of time. Is my date already here?" he approached the gentleman with a jog and spoke as he reached the door. The man informed him that, yes, his date was already inside and he walked him inside the darkened restaurant. Dominick took a deep breath then. It was just a date. With a complete stranger. It would be a process but everything should go fine. He walked behind the waiter until he stopped at what he assumed was the table. It took a minute for his sight to adjust but when the waiter moved out the way he spoke. "I apologize for making you wait." He looked up and received a bit of a shock. Parvati MacMillan was sitting in the seat opposite the one he was supposed to occupy. She was his date.

Tag; parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

Parvati—who had no way for certain of telling the time—guessed that it must have been a few minutes more, at the most, that the waiter was left to stand at the café door and wait for her date to arrive. She looked at her place setting occasionally and then back in the direction of the door, unsure if being stood up would have been the worst thing to come out of her night. Any man could have been on his way through that door, she thought, and she could think of one whose presence could tempt her into walking out right then and there.

When she heard conversation at the doorway, she reminded herself not to make any snap judgments. Whatever happened next, she told herself, she could always write Blishwick Matchmaking and tell them that she was no longer in need of their services.

As two sets of footsteps approached her, she took in a deep breath, but it was her date who spoke first. “I apologize for making you wait,” he told her—and he sounded earnest about it, too.

She was about to answer him to let him know that he hadn't been keeping her waiting there for very long, when she realized that she recognized her date's voice already. Her eyes, she found, had adjusted to the lack of light well enough that she recognized him, too. She had been matched with Dominick Riveras, one of her own colleagues.

He must have realized that she was his date at about the same time as she had realized that he was hers, if what she could see of his facial expression was anything to go by. “Dominick?” she asked, admittedly shocked yet pleasantly surprised by her good fortune. She had spent plenty of time around him—in a work-related capacity—but never would she have considered dating the Head of Ravenclaw House. It wasn't as though they didn't have a thing in common; it just wouldn't have crossed her mind.

@dominick

[Deleted]

Dominick realized that he hadn't said a word for a few too many moments, his shock having overtaking him. He'd never though about dating Parvati for a multitude of reasons including the fact that he'd figured she'd had suitors or because if she didn't, she'd been focused on her work and had no interest in dating. Seeing her sitting in the seat at the table ruled out one of those, He cleared his throat and smiled in an attempt to clear up any awkwardness that might try to appear. "Hello Parvati. Again I am really sorry for being late," he placed his blazer on the back of his chair and took his seat at the table. As a colleague, Parvati was kind and cordial with him and it was all he could ask for. He didn't see her as often as any of the other Professors because of the fact she was the counselor and while his office was located on the fourth floor, hers was on the first. He imagined her days started much earlier than his most days because he didn't have classes throughtout the day so even still he only saw her sparingly in the staff room. As he sat down in his seat he tried to look around the restaurant but he couldn't see much of anything due to the darkness. So this is what dark dining was like. He hadn't participated in such a thing before but he imagined this was only the kind of thing that was done on dates anyway. He'd never even been to this cafe so he couldn't imagine the placement of the rest of the room. The waiter chose that moment to come over to take their drink orders. He didn't want to second guess it; Parvati was a work collegue but they were on a date. Now that she knew he was her mystery date, would she even see this as a date any longer? Or would it just be dinner with a colleague? Clearly trying not to overthink was failing. "I'll have water for now. Because I don't know what I'll be eating, I'll just have whatever wine you think goes best with what we're having when dinner comes," he ordered smartly. He waited until she finished ordering before addressing her. "Have you ever dark dined before? I have to admit this is a new experience for me," he chuckled a bit. He wasn't certain about what direction things would turn but he wanted things to at least go well.

Tag; parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

Dominick continued to apologize for his tardiness, but Parvati didn't mind. If anything, she was simply relieved that not only had she been matched with someone familiar enough to her without reaching the level of familiarity of being her ex-husband, but she'd also ended up with the possibility of a pleasant evening.

“I know how much of a challenge it is to get away from the castle,” she assured Dominick with a small smile. “Don't worry about it.” If anything happened at Hogwarts in their absence, Parvati was sure that they would be notified and would have no difficulty in returning. That was another thing: Dominick understood the demands of her job, which was another welcome factor.

As Dominick seated himself, Parvati set her napkin on her lap. Other than that, there wasn't very much to see at all, and Parvati was slightly glad that the waiter had returned to take their drink orders from them. Dominick went ahead and ordered water for himself, which—the more Parvati thought about it—seemed like a wise idea. He ordered wine for himself, too, explaining his thought process as he did. “Because I don't know what I'll be eating,” he told the waiter, “I'll just have whatever wine you think goes best with what we're having when dinner comes.”

“I'll have the same,” she told the waiter, too; she didn't want to make the mistake of pairing the wrong wine with whatever it was that they were going to be served.

Once they had finished ordering, Dominick resumed their conversation. “Have you ever dark dined before?” he wondered. I have to admit this is a new experience for me.”

That made two of them, Parvati thought, who was still waiting to see what came of the unusual dining concept. “I haven't, no,” she told him, shaking her head. She hadn't even heard of such a thing until this date of theirs. “Padma and I had brunch here for our birthday in January,” she explained, “but I don't remember seeing anything about dining in the dark.” Laughing, she knew that something so strange would have stood out in her memory. “This place is quite lovely with the lights on,” she added, though Dominick would have to take her word for it.

@dominick

[Deleted]

He laughed along with her when she commented on not having seen anything about dining in the dark the last her and her sister Padma had been at the cafe. Dominick took solace in the fact that she had been to the restaurant before. "It is an odd dining experience but it's nice to try something new every once in a while," the amusement made his eyes bright and he grinned though he wasn't certain if she could see him very well in the darkness. "When I read that this is what we would be doing for our date, I never imagined that we would literally be covered in darkness. It adds a bit of mystery to all of this," his words were just slightly flirtatious and he didn't know if he'd meant them to be that way or if he'd said them carelessly. Her comment about the loveliness of the place had him nodding. He could only believe her as he'd never been here himself. He didn't want to the silence to stretch for too long but he couldn't quite decide on what to say next. Did he treat it like a regular date? He knew Parvati as a collegue, knew what her job entailed so asking her about work seemed a bit silly. But asking her to tell her about herself would require her to talk about her job, right? "So" he said finally, "I know you as as a fellow Head so I know you a little bit at work. Tell me something about you that I'd be surprised to know? Or just tell mesomething I don't know already." He had to start somewhere and learning something new about her seemed like a good place. He would save all of his.. probably more intrusive questioning for later because he was certain her answer would only make him more curious about her. He was curious to see which she would choose or what she would choose to tell.

Tag; parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

Fortunately, Dominick found the concept of being unable to see what they were eating before it was actually in their mouths to be as unusual as she did, though, as he said, it wasn't a bad thing to try something new. There was something about the way he spoke that made it sound to Parvati as though he might have been smiling, but it was too dark for her to say with certainty. ”When I read that this is what we would be doing for our date,” Dominick added, “I never imagined that we would literally be covered in darkness. It adds a bit of mystery to all of this.”

“It does,” she agreed with him. The blind date—a mystery itself—was made even more mysterious, which could have spelled disaster if it had played out any differently. So far—and Parvati wished that she could have seen better to actually touch wood without knocking something off of the table in the process—she thought that it wasn't going too badly at all.

She didn't even mind being put on the spot by Dominick. “I know you as as a fellow Head,” he began, “so I know you a little bit at work. Tell me something about you that I'd be surprised to know? Or just tell me something I don't know already.”

“Hmm,” Parvati considered. What was there to know about her? Rita Skeeter had probably gone and written about everything “interesting” that there was to know about the people who had once made up Dumbledore's Army—however factually inaccurate she might have been with her material—which included her and her sister. And Dominick was right in that he already knew what she was like at work, which took up a good portion of her life anymore. “Well,” she started, thinking past everything obvious—that she had an identical twin sister who was a Ministry official, that she was also the mother of twin boys, and that she was divorced. “Before I started working at Hogwarts, I worked for Witch Weekly as their agony aunt,” she laughed, then added, “but that's probably…not up your street, is it?”

Being slightly nervous around Dominick Riveras was admittedly a new sensation for Parvati, but, then again, she had never once imagined herself on a date with him. He was younger than she was, for one thing, although their age difference wasn't so significant that they looked odd as a pairing. And she had always imagined him—having been in Ravenclaw—as someone who would have been more of her sister's type: thoughtful and intellectual. Her own type, however, had become more and more narrowly defined by one common attribute, and that was that all the men to whom she found herself drawn had turned out to be less than desirable. (Maybe the matchmaker had done better than she ever could have, she thought.)

@dominick

[Deleted]

He waited patiently, giving her time to think about what she wanted to divulge to him. He knew that Parvati was well know because of her part in the war and as a member of Dumbledore's Army. He was certain there had been a period of time that her privacy had been invaded by the media and she was questioned relentlessly about her life afterwards but he had seen as just that, an invasion of privacy. Plus, he had been pretty young at the time; his first year at Hogwarts had been the year after the war had ended and he hadn't been interested in reading the paper when there had been so much to explore around the castle. So he really did only know Parvati through work. Whatever she decided to tell would be something he didn't know about her. When she finally commented, his eyebrows shot up, more in fascination than in surprise. She had worked for Witch Weekly as an advice columnist? That was interesting indeed. He chuckled along with her and shrugged. "I can't necessarily say that it isn't up my street but it does make a lot of sense when you think about it," his tone was fascinated and yet still filled with amusement that didn't seem to be going away. "While counseling can be in a different ballpark, it is in the same realm of giving advice. You helped people then I'm sure just as you're helping people now work through something they're struggling with," his words were thoughtful as he spoke because he found it interesting, her transition from giving advice through a magazine to full on using tried counseling techniques to help students cope or problem solve. "Was it the journalism aspect that drew you to it or have you always been drawn to helping people in such a way?" The waiter chose then to bring out their waters and he thanked the gentleman before turning his attention back to her.

Tag; parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

“I can't necessarily say that it isn't up my street,” Dominick granted her, “but it does make a lot of sense when you think about it.” He went on, elaborating that counseling was “in the same realm of giving advice.” Parvati couldn't say that he was wrong. Dominick added that he was sure that she'd helped people then, just as she was helping people now, and Parvati smiled. That was the intention.

“Was it the journalism aspect that drew you to it,” asked Dominick, “or have you always been drawn to helping people in such a way?”

Once their waiter had brought them their waters and left again, Parvati laughed lightheartedly, quickly dispelling any notion that she had ever had true talent as a journalist—not in the way that plenty of other people did. “I'm no writer, no.” She had done it when she had first started out, but it had been decades since she had written anything more creative than a response to someone's quandary.

“I think,” she began with a pause, careful to watch her words, “when you survive a war,” although she supposed that it would be true of any tragic event, “you start to prioritize life differently.” Years on, images of the Battle of Hogwarts hadn't left her memory, and Parvati was doubtful that they ever would. She didn't intend for the theme of the conversation to turn so somber, though her tone remained pleasant—slightly more pensive, maybe, but still pleasant. She didn't intend to turn Dominick off of her, either. That she had played a role in the Second Wizarding War contributed to who she was, and she couldn't change that about herself.

@dominick

[Deleted]

Dominick smiled at the sound of her laughter, chuckling a bit himself because it was contagious but the words that followed sobered him a bit. He hadn't thought about it that way. Her surviving the war had lead her to want to help people and, though he had never participated in a war, he'd seen the aftermath of one. The wizarding world had a cloud over it, even though the righteous had come out victorious over evil. People's lives had been left in shambles by the sheer damage, emotional and physical, the war had wrought. He was an only child but his parents had both worked in St. Mungo's during and after the war. Seeing them come home, feeling defeated over another person lost to violence that was connected to it had been too often for anyone to stand. He hadn't really understood it when he was younger but as he'd gotten older he'd admired and respected them for all they'd done. "I can empathize with that. My parents worked in St. Mungo's for the whole of the war. In Spell Damage, no less, so they saw a lot of the damage," he was nodding still even though he figured she couldn't see him in the darkness. He didn't know if he wanted to change the topic to something lighter or if he should continue, if she even wanted to talk about anything related to the war. He had to feel about a bit on the table to reach for his water but he sipped just before asking her more about herself. "What are your favorites? Like color, food, book, subject in school. Which ever ones you'd like to share," he asked happily. Yes it was typical but he liked to know and sometimes it lead to more interesting questions or commonalities.

Tag; parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

“I can empathize with that,” Dominick told her. It was still strange to think that he hadn't even been in school then, though Parvati knew that she couldn't hold that against him. “My parents worked in St. Mungo's for the whole of the war. In Spell Damage, no less, so they saw a lot of the damage.” He had never mentioned that, though it had never come up in conversation before, either.

Nevertheless, Parvati knew instantly what his parents must have seen and felt. Even in the midst of battle, there had been attempts to tend to the casualties, and the corpses of the Fallen Fifty had been laid out in the Great Hall after it was all over. “I'm sure.” She nodded solemnly to what Dominick said, pushing the gruesomeness out of her mind as much as she could.

“What are your favorites? Like color, food, book, subject in school. Whichever ones you'd like to share”

Grateful for the subject to shift from the war before it got much darker, Parvati found her own glass of water and took a sip from it. “Favorites?” Parvati repeated, laughing as she tried to recall what all he had asked. She began to list them, counting them off on her fingers to keep track.

First, ”Color? Pink,” she told Dominick. If she had to voice a preference, pink probably would have been it. It had been the color of her Yule Ball robes in her youth, and she had gone for a much more muted tone of the same for her robes on the occasion of the Yule Ball that had happened only months before.

“Food?” She considered it. “Kulfi,” she decided. “Indian ice cream,” she clarified; the shortest explanation she could give for the dessert.

Of the other two (book and school subject), the latter came to her mind much sooner. “My favorite subject at school was Divination,” Parvati answered him. “But book?” That was harder. “Shall I write you a list when we get back to the castle?” she offered, her tone almost joking. It would buy her time to think of any worth recommending, anyway.

@dominick

[Deleted]

He was getting a bit better about being enclosed in the darkness, really listening to the sound of her voice to figure out how she was feeling rather than being able to see it on her face, and he was feeling really happy about it. The tone in her voice had heightened and he could only guess that his change in topic had been the correct choice because of her rise in mood. Or maybe it just could be as simple as the change in topic that had her mood brightening more. He smiled and nodded in the dark as she went ahead and listed off the favorites he'd named. Her favorite color was pink; he wasn't sure why but that made him smile. He thought it was cute. Pink, by society, had always been connected to youth. Not that either of them were old by any means, hearing that the color was her favorite made him smile. She continued listing them off; her favorite food being an Indian ice cream dessert, her favorite school subject was Divination and she offered to give him a list of her favorite books. Had he known about her love of Divination? "While I teach Arithmancy I do still harbor a love for Divination. What form is your favorite?" he asked, the interest in his tone apparent. "And yes, I would very much so like a list of recommendations if you don't mind. It would give me more to do in my freetime instead of just focusing on my research. And I love reading, so why not," he chuckled lightly. His research was important to him but it was nice to sit down sometimes and read someone else's writings. He was curious suddenly if any of the books she'd counted as favorites were on the subject of Divination.

Tag; parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

“While I teach Arithmancy,” Dominick began, “I do still harbor a love for Divination.” There were similarities between the two subjects, but Arithmancy somehow always ended up being seen as the more legitimate of the two. Why that was, Parvati knew that she would never understand, but she appreciated that Dominick hadn't written off Divination as being too subjective or even downright useless.

“What form is your favorite?”

There were so many forms of divining the future, and each had its individual merits. “Tasseography is always good,” Parvati acknowledged, “though my sister gave me a beautiful scrying mirror on our birthday. She bought it in Paris, actually.”

Dominick answered her to say that he would like a list of recommendations if she didn't mind, saying that it would give him more to do in his free time instead of simply focusing on his research. “And I love reading,” he added, “so why not.”

“Alright,” Parvati smiled, catching sight of their waiter in her periphery. She would have to wait to ask him about his research until after they were served their food.

@dominick

[Deleted]

She commented that her favorite was tasseography and he smiled. It was a popular form of divination; everyone drank tea so it was an easily accepable ingredient when something was weighing heavy on your mind and you needed a quick answer. And even if things were still unclear after a reading, at least you were able to enjoy a nice cup of tea. He tried not to use it too often, with as much tea as he drank, so he wouldn't tire himself out with the practice. The mention of scrying though made him chuckle a little bit. "I had a bad experience with scrying when I was a student. Crystal Ball, sixth year. I saw myself trapped inside a broom cupboard," he felt himself shiver at the memory. Since that day, scrying had definitely been knocked out of the running of his favorite divination practices. It was then he noticed the waiter from before. Just as he turned his head to look at the gentleman, he saw him raise his wand and with a wave, the room became darker than it had before. He picked up his hand momentarily from the table and realized he couldn't see it without placing it directly on his face. Where he could previously make out Parvati's silhouette in the darkened room, he could see nothing of her now. "We will get started with your appetizers now," the man commented simply. Dominick waited in silence, his hands flat on the table before he felt a plate fall gently between where his arms rested on the table. His curiosity and excitement rose and he couldn't wait to figure out what it was that sat in front of them. "Please enjoy." He figured he should let Parvati go first. He wanted to know what she thought of the dish and what her guess was first. "You should try it first. Tell me what you think of it."

Tag; parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

Dominick recounted a bad experience that he had had with scrying in his sixth year, when he had seen himself trapped inside of a broom cupboard. He was laughing, though, Parvati noted, so he couldn't have been too traumatized by what he'd seen. “Are you claustrophobic, then?” she wondered, because she didn't think that he had actually ended up trapped inside of a broom cupboard by the way that he spoke.

Parvati saw the figure of the waiter as he returned with their food, darkening any hint of light that had been left in the room as he did. Then, after a few words, a plate was placed down on the table before her, and he was gone again.

“You should try it first,” Dominick told her. “Tell me what you think of it."

Finding her utensils, Parvati wasn't sure if she would need to cut whatever was on her plate or just use her fork. She awkwardly moved her fork and knife around for a moment, trying to get some sense of a texture or anything else that could clue her in. There wasn't any particular aroma that came from it that she could tell, though the outside of whatever they had been given felt as though it might have been a pastry. She cut into it and took the bite off of her fork, not knowing what to expect.

Trying not to gag, she felt for her napkin and discreetly brought it to her mouth. “I-I think that's beef,” she said uncomfortably, sure that she must have put it down somewhere that she didn't eat beef. “It might be some sort of beef Wellington,” she suggested after finding her glass for a long sip of water to get the taste from her mouth. “It's got pastry on the outside.” It hadn't tasted as though it had been improperly cooked, though.

@dominick