No Such Thing As Too Much Cake (Lydia)

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It was finally Christmas break and Jace was excited to see his family. His dad and step-mother and sisters came to London, figuring that it would be fun for the family to explore a bit over here instead of having Jace make the long journey home. Better to all be somewhere nearby and spend as much time together as possible and Jace was glad of that. He'd missed his family, though he'd never tell them that. He had a reputation to uphold, after all. Besides that, he had far too much fun exploring Hogwarts to miss them TOO much, but he wouldn't tell them that either. 

The other day he received an invitation from Lydia Fudge to ... well, he wasn't exactly sure what it was too. His parents were surprised and pleased that a school friend wanted to do something with him during the break, so they agreed that he could go and Jace was excited. In her owl, she'd invited Jace to come to her home, which sounded really cool, but the vagueness of her invitation left him a little uncertain. What were they going to be doing? Since he didn't know, he decided to dress up in a nice, button-up dark blue shirt with nice, dark jeans. It almost looked like he was dressed for a date, so he hoped that he'd fit in to whatever she had planned. 

He approached the door, reaching up to mess with his hair right after ringing the doorbell, hoping he looked presentable enough. He had no problem doing things with Lydia. She was fun and pretty and definitely flirty, so they got along very well. He just wasn't sure if he was going to be meeting her family or something like that. He pasted on a smile as he waited for the large, fancy doors to open. Here goes.

@lydia

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Lydia was always dressed up, obviously. That was what she DID for a living, basically. So, today she was wearing black leggings, a dark, royal blue dress that cut off at the knee with a lace color on top, with a black leather jacket. She was excited to hang out with Jace today. Sure, she was happy to be betrothed to Blair but Blair was NOT a flirt by any means. They were... too intense for that sort of thing. Very romantic when they wanted to be, sure, but definitely not a 'flirt'. Jace was, and as far as Lydia was concerned she could flirt with whoever she wanted until the literal minute she was married.

When he knocked on the door, Lydia straightened out her skirt in the sitting room and sat up in her seat. One of their house attendants answered the door and led Jace to the room where Lydia was perched. "Jace, darling," she said in a teasingly 'old woman' type voice. "Would you care for some tea?"

@jace

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Jace didn't have to wait long at the door. A butler-looking person opened it, leading Jace through the house. He glanced around himself curiously. The house was definitely much more fancy than he expected. Then again, it was Lydia. While he'd never seen her in her "natural habitat", he knew the girl was a rich pureblood. He shouldn't be surprised by any of this. 

The walk didn't take long, and Jace was soon being introduced to the room where Lydia was sitting. He grinned at the sight of her, loving the teasing, though he wouldn't say so. "Oh there you are," he said airily, trying to mimic her tone and accent ... and failing miserably. "I wondered if this house ate you or something, we passed so many rooms before we reached you." His persona broke and Jace laughed, moving closer to her and nodding. "Yeah, sure I'll have some," he answered easily. Tea wasn't quite his favorite thing, but after being in England for a few months he was sort of getting used to it. He could endure some for Lydia.

@lydia

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Jace spoke, teasing about how she was there and mimicking her tone. She raised an eyebrow as he spoke about the house eating her and all, but accepted the tea. "Jace, darling, mockery is a good color on you. You should use it against enemies, though, not friends," she teased. She gestured to the seat across from her. "I'm sure you're missing some American drink. What's the popular one? Coca Cola?" of course she knew what Coca Cola was, but it was fun to play dumb about it - especially since it wasn't a drink for the rich, British, or the magical in her opinion. Not that she judged Jace for being American. No, she rather enjoyed that exotic nature about him.

@jace

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Jace couldn't help but smile as Lydia teased him about his attempt to tease her, using her accent and all. "But if I don't practice, how will I be any good against my enemies?" He didn't mean it, of course. Jace had no intention of doing anything that would really mess up his friendship with Lydia. She was too much fun for him to really want to mess it up. He shrugged when she mentioned that he was probably missing Coke, but smiled as well. "I've never had tea so much in my life," he admitted. "I do miss Coke, and coffee. You guys don't have that a lot here." They did more tea's and juices, like pumpkin juice. Who in their right mind wanted to have pumpkin juice. It just sounded weird. "I think I'm starting to get used to it a bit though." He'd still take his Coke in the blink of an eye, but tea was getting better, little by little. 

@lydia

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He said that he needed to practice his mockery and she grinned, "wow, you think like a true trouble maker. I'm impressed and applaud you," Lydia complimented. Her eyebrow raised, "but if you get to practice then so shall I," she promised, but she didn't give him any trouble just yet. He said that he'd never had so much tea, but he did miss those other drinks, even if he was getting used to tea. She snapped her fingers and both a coffee and a tea were brought in by one of the maids. "Whichever you'd like," she offered. The maid set the tray on the table and then walked back out.

She reached for her tea and brought it back toward her, taking a sip. "well, today we're going to try some wonderful cakes at two different bakeries, but we have a few moments before we have to leave," she explained, "feel free to pretend to be my betrothed, could be fun," she winked at him.

@jace

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Jace gave a little bow when Lydia said that she applauded him. He wasn't entirely sure whether or not she was joking, but it was always better to take these sorts of things as a joke, wasn't it? He shrugged when she said that if he gave her trouble she'd return it. "Bring it," he said with a laugh. "I'm curious to see what you'd do." He really was too. She seemed like such the proper type, the type of girl who always did things just so. Was she really willing to be a trouble maker as well. 

Lydia's maid brought in coffee and tea and Jace closed his eyes for a second, breathing in the familiar smell. He didn't hesitate, but reached for the coffee. He wished it was available in England more often, but he hadn't seen it in Hogwarts. The one annoying thing about the place. He nodded as she started to explain that they were going to go try out cakes and that he was free to pretend to be engaged to her. "You're engaged?" he said, laughing a little. Not at her, it was more in surprise. He cocked his head to the side, "Where's your fiance? Not that I mind pretending, I'm just curious." It would be fun with her, Jace just wanted to know what he was getting himself into. 

@lydia

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He challenged her, saying he was curious to know what she would do. "Do not underestimate me, sweet Jace," she grinned, "very few Slytherins waste their cunning and resourcefulness on only serious matters. Tom foolery, well though out Tom Foolery, is a popular house trait." As he reached for the coffee, she grinned a little more, then continued to sip her tea. The coffee would dye his tongue blue. A simple trick, but a hilarious one.

He expressed his surprise at her engagement and she wanted a hand dismissively, finishing her sip. "I forget you aren't of full blood, or from Europe," she paused. "It is very common for us to be betrothed at a young age, you see, and I have recently received mine. No matter, though. It's not official until vows are said," she smiled. She didn't want to lose her changes to flirt, after all.

@jace

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Jace couldn’t help but grin as Lydia started teasing him back. “That sounds like a lot of fun,” he retorted. He already knew that Lydia was fun to hang out with, but he was so interested to see her cunning side. “Don’t hold back just ‘cause we’re friends,” Jace insisted. Really, he liked all sorts of shenanigans. He wanted to see what she would do if given the chance.

He listened as she explained a bit about her betrothal, saying that it was common and she only got hers recently. His brow furrowed a little as he thought. “And your fiancé wouldn’t mind seeing you having fun with someone else?” He wasn’t sure if her fiancé would get jealous of some good, old-fashioned flirting or hanging out, but he did know that he respected Lydia enough that he didn’t want to get her in any unnecessary trouble. So he might as well ask about this stuff now.

@lydia

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He said that the tom foolery sounded like a lot of fun and she nodded, confirming that guess. He told her not to hold back just because they were friends and her eyebrow raised mischievously, her grin wicked as well. "Oh, I only give pranks to the best of my friends. Don't you fret, you'll learn of my cunning soon enough," she promised. Though, her jokes and messing around were usually more tailored to appearances than anything else.

He asked if her fiance would mind seeing her have fun with someone else and Lydia waved a hand. "Oh, it's no matter. Miles won't mind either way, he has better things to do," she explained. The truth was Miles and her had a deeper relationship brewing, something that she didn't think would be bothered by some shameless flirting. She took another sip of her tea, topping it off. "Alright, you about ready to go?" she snapped a finger and a maid came in, clearing her own tea cup.

@jace

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Jace grinned when Lydia explained that pranks only came to the best of her friends. “I’ll have to try and keep my eye out then,” he commented, though he had a feeling it would be hard to do that. The girl was in Slytherin for a reason and from what he’d heard, that meant she had a fair bit of sneakiness and cunning in her. At least that would make the game more fun. He laughed, “I’ll be honest, my pranks aren’t normally sly at all. They might even be easy to see coming, but I still get some people, so I consider it a success.”

She insisted that Miles wouldn’t mind her having fun with someone else. Jace was a little surprised by that, but he wasn’t about to argue. He liked Lydia’s company. She was fun and easy to talk to and get along with. If nothing else, he wanted to have as much of a good time with her as possible. He nodded, “I’m ready. Can’t wait to try this out,” he said with a chuckle. He never thought he’d be doing something like this, so it would definitely be interesting.

@lydia

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He admitted that his pranks were usually easy to see coming, but he still got people occasionally and so he saw that as success. Then it was time for them to get ready to go, and he said he couldn't wait to try it out. She laughed as they headed out the door, into the car that the family driver was waiting for them in. He drove them to the first bakery, and opened the door for them. Lydia stepped out, her bright green heels hitting the pavement with precision as she stepped out of the car.

The bakery was a cute little place, but the pastries and cakes throughout were incredibly finally designed. Not only were the designs beautiful, but they were enchanted as well. Lydia would never get a wedding cake from a muggle bakery. The bride and groom figurines on top could be created exactly to match the couple, and spun around dancing together. Some cakes even had beautiful scenes and landscapes that seems to move like water rushing down a waterfall, or trickling down a river. Lydia grinned, and the baker approached them. "Miss fudge, a pleasure to meet you. We have your samples ready in the back room, you can meet with our cake designer there as well." The two were soon lead back, and three plates of 12 different little cuts of cakes sat before them, labelled. She turned to Jace, "go ahead and start us off," she offered.

@jace

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The whole situation was definitely something different for Jace. He wasn't used to being driven around by someone that wasn't family, or having his driver open doors for him. He liked hanging out with Lydia thought. She was fun and pretty. That's what mattered, right? He followed her into the bakery, his eyes a little wide as he looked around. Okay, so he'd never actually been to a wizard bakery before, this was so cool! Someone came out, talking to Lydia, and Jace stood in the background as he waited to see what would happen next. They were led to the back, where so many cakes were waiting for them. Jace chuckled a little, definitely looking forward to this. It was about to be very fun. Then Lydia told him to start them off. He chose salted caramel truffle. The design was fascinating, of a beach, with the sand and water and everything. It looked almost real. "Let's try this one," he said, pointing. He took a bite, his eyes widening. Jace swallowed quickly and looked over at Lydia. "This one's the best. Pretty sure it'll be impossible to beat that," he said with a small smirk. Actually, he was sure all the cakes would be amazing, but he did really like this one a lot. "Your turn," Jace suggested.

@lydia

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Jace chose his first one and Lydia leaned toward it to look at the design, "looks great," she complimented. She turned toward him, watching him as he ate it. His eyes widened and she let out a breathy laugh, shaking her head. "My dear, there are many more," she countered. She reached for a green one, a key lime. The design on this one was a small tree, a lime tree, looking as if it was sprouting fresh fruit. She took a bite and carefully chewed, not showing any reaction on her face until she swallowed. 'That was magnificent. I like a little but of tanginess in my cakes," she said, She nodded toward a bright pink one toward the back, "what's that?" she asked, challenging Jace to take it on.

@jace
These two XD

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Lydia obviously thought he was being silly, but why should he eat more cake? This one was delicious. Why couldn't they just choose the first one they liked? Apparently she wanted him to try more though. There was a glass of water nearby and Jace picked it up, taking a quick drink before watching her try some of the next cake. It was tangy? He wasn't sure how much he wanted a tangy cake, but alright. He was about to try that cake when she nodded toward a different cake. Jace looked at it then turned back to her, giving her a look. Really? She wanted him to try the bright pink cake? Naturally. He rolled his eyes and then moved toward it. The cake was actually a berry cake and it was delicious. Jace sighed in enjoyment before swallowing. Then he smirked at Lydia. "I do not envy your choice. These cakes are all magnificent." At least, the ones he tried so far were. This place was amazing. "You do that one," he said, pointing to another cake. 

@lydia