mother of dragons

caspian: I am glad you added that second text because I was going to question if they were more interesting than me.

nesta: i'd never say that

nesta: out loud

caspian: I'm still not sure why you did work tonight over coming out with me.

nesta: Cas, dragons are more interesting than quidditch

“Should I not be sitting here or something?” Maggie looked around the café, a slight confused look on her face. “The table was clear when I sat down with my coffee. I don’t think you can reserve tables here.”

"How should I say this... There’s a guy who is very particular where he sits and he usually comes around this time. You could try reasoning with him, but it may be a bit difficult,” Nesta explained, trying to be careful with her words.

Octavia smiled appreciatively, “I hope so. Thank you very much, Nesta. I am grateful for you saying that,” she paused, “But how are you doing? Good, right?”

Nesta patted the other on the shoulder, offering her a warm smile. “Sure thing, I’m here if you ever want to talk,” she offered. “I’m good, Octavia, I’m good. Life’s going great, work’s going great, what more could I want? It may sound a bit boring to some, but I think I’m at that point in my life when I want things to be more stable.”

“While I appreciate you saying that, my sense of humor has been my downfall in some cases,” she snorted, clearly not too hung up on the fate of those past situations. “You sound like my mum now,” Stella teased. “Nesta? That’s a cool name. Not one you hear everyday either. Did your parents name you after somebody?”

“Maybe those people just didn’t have the right sense of humor?” She offered. Some people were simply hopeless and Nesta didn’t bother to try staying friends with them. “I don’t believe so, no. At least they never mentioned anything to me. Don’t have any family member with that name so hopefully they actually were a bit creative.”

“I mean…” Octavia sighed, “It is but as big of a gossip as I am, I don’t really want to go around spreading her business. I think I’ve figured out how to help her so it’s all good,” she smiled apologetically, “I promise I will listen attentively next time.”

"It’s all good, no worries at all,” she quickly assured the other. It was actually good to know she kept her friends’ secrets safe. “I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed everything works out,” she added and reached to pat her on the shoulder.

“I don’t feel it’s always necessary to know a lot about art. Sometimes it’s just about how it makes you feel. You also don’t have to love everything. Art is entirely subjective.” Orlando smiled, hoping to alleviate any concerns the woman had about offending him if she didn’t like what he’d been gifted. “And no, not particularly everyone. As I said, it’s not to everyone’s tastes and it was bought for me, not the masses so if I appreciate it, surely that is all that matters.”

"I guess I mostly prefer art that moves you know? I’m not great at being still so staring at something that doesn’t move is just... not my thing,” Nesta shrugged. Not that she actually attended many plays, but at least they sounded like much more fun. “Oh, I see. Maybe... your office if you have one?” She suggested.

“That’s a bummer because I think only a miracle could help somebody like me,” the blonde replied with a dramatic huff. “Noted. Although we’re talking about all these what ifs when I realize I don’t even know your name,” she then pointed out with a laugh. “I’m Stella. And you are?”

"Come on, you’re funny, I’m sure many would be immediately attracted to that,” she assured the blonde. “Not to mention all your other qualities,” she quickly added. When the other mentioned they didn’t know their names, Nesta blinked in surprise. “Oh Merlin, you’re right! Nice to meet you, Stella, I’m Nesta.”

“It’s a piece a well intentioned and comfortably affluent older admirer of my work decided to purchase for me. It’s quite thoughtful really. I’m sure I can find an appropriate place to display it in my home.”

“I don’t really know much about art,” Nesta admitted after a moment. She certainly wasn’t a person who went to museums or galleries to have fun. “Do you want to show it off to everyone who stops by?”

“I might need you to set me up with a date next time, you clearly are better at picking them than I am,” Stella laughed, half-joking. She had a history of either bad taste or being the one to blow up the relationship, so perhaps it was just best she strayed from them altogether. “I’m going to take a guess that you probably don’t have the best pokerface either?” she teased upon seeing the woman’s failed attempt at winking. “I’ll remember not to take you to Vegas if I’m ever going.”

"I suppose I could try, but please don’t expect miracles,” Nesta chuckled. She didn’t think her past choices were particularly good, but at least they were convenient. “Oh no, no, I’m horrible at that. So for your own good, don’t take me anywhere where you need me to bluff,” she quickly said. Whenever she needed to do something under pressure, it always ended badly.

“That’s really lucky actually. I’m kind of jealous you never had one of those ‘blow up in your face’ type of breakups before,” she confessed, an air of curiosity still in her words. Perhaps it was the interviewer in her, but Stella was so nosy by nature and wanted to know more about the woman’s past relationships even if they hadn’t been dramatic and juicy. “For legal reasons I can neither confirm nor deny. Better not risk making you an accessory to any of this, right?” Stella then replied with a cheeky wink.

"None of them were truly serious and clearly none of us were so into each other that we wanted to be dramatic about getting apart,” Nesta shrugged. She had nothing to hide and didn’t really mind sharing, especially there wasn’t much to share anyway. “Oh, I see, I see,” she tried to wink, but failed. Instead she offered an awkward smile that was sort of seem to be conspiratory.

“Shit, shit, shit.” Joshua cursed, wishing he hadn’t decided to be spontaneous and bring his marking out of the castle in order to get a decent cup of coffee and a slice of cake. He was trying his best to try and collect what was close to him, whilst also reaching for his wand for those that escaped his grasp and were potentially going to be lost among patrons and the open cafe door. In his eager dash to try and rescue his students work, he also managed to knock his half full coffee cup on himself and onto the parchment he had saved. “Bollocks.”

Nesta had been observing Joshua only for a short while, but it as enough to notice that he probably was in need of some help. She decided to wait for a moment to see if things were going to improve, but as soon as she heard his exclamation, she knew there was no time to wait. She quickly stood up from her seat and pointed her wand at the escaping pieces of parchment to stop them from moving. “You okay in there?” She asked Joshua casually.

“Come on... you had to have done it at least once, right?” Stella prompted the other to get a straight answer out of her. “If I had easy access to dragons like you do I’d unleash them on my creepy exes all the time.”

@nesta-g

Nesta snorted at the question. “All my exes were pretty decent and I’ve never really had a bad breakup, but I cannot say that’s not a bad idea at getting back at someone,” she grinned. “Illegal, but not bad. Should I worry you’re going to break in and try to steal a dragon, or..?”

Tav sighed, “It’s ummm… Just roommate troubles. It’s not a big deal,” she explained, “Sorry, for zoning out. I’m usually a much better listener.”

"Hope it’s nothing too serious?” Nesta asked. Usually when someone said something was not a big deal, it was the opposite, so she preferred to double-check just in case. “Honestly don’t worry about it, I’m sure I’ll come up with another great topic for a monologue very soon.”

bea: thanks honey ❤️ they brought a couple of people but fortunately it's not too bad. hopefully we won't see more injured but... i'm prepared for anything at this point

nesta: fingers crossed this whole mess will be resolved soon 🤞