Toujours Pur (dot) Net

"Mina Dagbell does have a certain ring to it. Regal and whatnot." Peter adjusted his glasses, pretending to think about it. "Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that, he'd probably like you simply based on the fact that you're a woman."

"She doesn't share his looks, does he? I've seen the cook before... not a pretty sight." He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. He'd only seen her boss in a passing glance once before, but figured he'd heard her talk about him enough that he could imagine just how unattractive his sister would turn out to be.

"Peter, please," she said, giving him a comically serious look. "This is the new century. I'd make him change his surname to Liang. I'm an only child after all, I've got to keep my name going. He'd be... he'd be... Dagbell Liang?" She ended at a question, realizing she had no idea what Dagbell's first name was, and promptly began to laugh, and kept laughing as Peter considered the cook's sister.

Mina shrugged. "I honestly have no clue," she said. "Say, how daring are you? Maybe I could arrange a blind date." She gave Peter a playful nudge.

Peter rolled up the sleeve on one arm and scratched at the skin there, ruffling his arm hair. "Eugene. Rather hip sounding name, Eugene Liang. Very this century." He gave a barking laugh and tried to imagine it. "People are going to assume he's Asian with that famed hair, and be sorely disappointed to find he isn't."

He smirked. "Blind dates are more nerve wracking than speed dating, Mina," he said with an exasperated air in his voice. "Thanks for thinking of me, but I think I'll pass."

Mina looked off past Peter, considering the name. "Eugene Liang," she said aloud, before looking at Peter. "I don't think I could do it, mate. Eugene is such a dad name. Or, like, someone who would go out with a trombone playing Terry, d'youknowwhattamean?" She laughed as he mentioned the hair again. "Oh, yeah! I can't give people a false impression like that. It would be cruel."

She gave him a knowing smile and nodded. "All right, all right," she said. "Everyone needs a bit of love though, Peter, even Lady Cooks."

Peter laughed as Mina commented on Dagbell's first name. "Hey, with your help, he might be a dad someday. And he'll fit his name. Joy all around!" He said as he gently elbowed her in the ribs, which might have been more forceful than he meant. He really couldn't judge those sort of things.

"Maybe if Lady Cook Aldridge sounded as good as Eugene Liang, I'd consider it." He shook his head. "What a shame."

Mina stuck out her tongue, disgusted, giving Peter a playful shove in return for his jab. "Oh, for God's sake, don't even joke, Peter," she said, looking at him with an aghast expression. "Me and children, are you mad? The world is screwed up enough as is without me adding some little Minas into the mix; believe me, I'm quite enough."

She grinned. "Besides, there's a fifty percent chance that they'd be little Dagbells in which case, you, my friend," she said, jabbing him in the chest with her index finger. "will be assigned baby sitting duty. I mean you'll already have had years of experience in the Dagbell avenue, it'll be a piece of cake. I'd trust no one more."

Peter shrugged a shoulder. "You never know. You could end up being one of those women who never wanted to be a mother before becoming one. My mom never wanted kids and she ending up having four boys." He nodded, as if he were agreeing with himself.

He snorted incredulously at her suggestion and absently patted his hand against the spot she poked. "Let's not be silly here, Mina, come on. One Dagbell is enough to handle. Besides, I'm sure that after popping out a few of the little ones you'd be just as experienced as I am. Even more so." He suddenly laughed, embarrassed with what he had just said, and smacked a hand over his eyes. "Bloody hell. How'd we even get to talking about this? And I'm sober this time."

"What are the chances of that happening, eh?" Mina said skeptically. "I mean if I had four rambunctious boys who liked to bet on Quidditch matches, I'd be over the moon but knowing my luck I'll end up with one who wants to do something boring like run for Minister of Magic, one who's socially awkward and one who grows up to be a sex offender." She held her hands out as she remembered: "And it's Dagbell, so that plus my luck makes it pretty inevitable."

Mina threw her head back in laughter at Peter's next words, only continuing to laugh when he seemed embarrassed by them. "I've no idea, mate," Mina said, her laughter subsiding to chuckles. "Maybe we're both at a point where we can only have normal conversations if we're both piss drunk. I suppose that's what being a bartender -- and being friends with a bartender -- will do to you." She leaned back, a smile from her laughter still on her face. "Not a bad way to live life, eh?"

Peter snorted with laughter as Mina counted off one by one what sorts of children she would probably have. "One could be all of those combined, you know. That could make an awfully good story for the Daily Prophet." He spread his hands in the air, as if holding up the paper in his hands, and read off the headline. "'Minister of Magic hopeful seen giving awkward sexual hand gestures to old ladies.' That sounds more like something that would come from having Dagbell as a father." He grinned at her as he pretended to fold up his invisible newspaper.

He nodded, a look on his face that said, you make an excellent point. "I think we should test that theory one day. Maybe we can discuss..." he quickly thought about topics he was the least interested in, "... physics. Or we could read the dictionary out loud. Over shots." He winked at her, as he was indeed very happy that he was friends with a bartender. Besides having access to practically everything behind the bar, she knew a lot of different drinks. Though he would always stick to beer (unless Thomas was around to offer overly-salty margaritas).