Sometime after 9:30pm.


Fauna wore her heart on her glow-in-the-dark pajama pants. She received several looks for it as she walked to Raine's flat, hearts flashing in the night, the ears on her pink bunny hoodie flopping on her back, and her slippers proclaiming her favorite dessert to the world. Cupcakes! She carried the cupcakes in a clear tupperware container, and wished she'd brought a bag.

Fauna paused in front of Hiraeth Gardens, recognizing it easily. She smiled at the amalgamation of colorful units mashed into one building. It was her kind of place. Well, maybe it was a little too hip for her, but it was perfect for Raine. Music, laughter, and voices filtered out through a few of the open windows. Curtains were left open, lights on. Fauna breathed in the night air and the scent of something spicy wafting from a restaurant close by.

This would be a good night.

She didn't know Abby well at all, but hoped to make her feel welcome. Plus, Raine would need help with hexing. Not that Raine ever needed help with hexing. But Fauna was prepared to help hex regardless.

Just as she started walking up the front steps, Fauna's mobile rang. She balanced the cupcake container in one arm while rummaging around in her purse. The container began to slip. Fauna set the tupperware on the top step of the porch and finally fished out her phone.

"Oops!" She answered it on the very last ring.

Her older sister's voice sounded, teasing her for the delay, her greeting, and then wondering what she was up to. Fauna walked away a bit from the building, telling her she was just outside a very hip flat, and yes, she'd been invited somewhere hip, and no, her sister was not invited, and yes, this was Raine's place, her younger friend and recent trainee.

"It's a slumber party! I brought cupcakes." Fauna paced casually on the pavement. "Yes, they're edible," she lowered her voice. "I hope."

Pause.

"Um, why not? You're never too old to have a slumber party. ...Maybe you are?" She teased in an undertone.

Fauna laughed. "You're not cooler, you're just older."

Long pause.

"It's a slumber party," Fauna repeated, pressing her hand to her forehead. "You know, with pillow fights and junk food and drinking. An adult slumber party, I guess."

Pause.

"No! It's not a sexual thing!" Fauna blushed, the phone warm against her cheek. She turned around. She saw someone standing there.

Was that...?

A short, cute, familiar witch.

"Um. I have to go, sis." Pause. "No, not to-" She blushed fiercely. "Bye."

Fauna lowered her phone and dropped it into her purse, very aware of her goofy pajama bottoms, her goofier sweatshirt, and the heat in her face. She managed an embarrassed smile.

Tia Gamp had spent her evening alone, sitting down in Rachawadee to go over some old maps from work and a plate of pineapple fried rice. She had been so absorbed in her late dinner and work, she hardly knew where the time had gone by the time the restaurant clock showed it to be half past nine. Couldn't time just stop so that she could catch up with all her work? And laundry? And reading?

The werewolf stuck her maps into her pocket, her quill behind her ear.

"Thanks Eashan!" she waved at the restaurant owner and took her full coffee cup out into the courtyard - Tia promised to bring the china back intact the next day. It was cold outside, from having rained earlier. Maybe she should have worn a jacket. But it woke her up, the chill, and she stood there for a moment doing nothing but enjoying that. Life was really good sometimes.

            "No! It's not a sexual thing!"

Tia nearly dropped her drink. Where was that...? She looked around, and then spotted someone chatting on a muggle mobile just outside the courtyard entrance. Someone... who was... glowing in the dark....

It was Auror Blake! Tia recognised the pretty witch from the Ministry Mixer. They had clicked, she thought, but lost track of each other when things got hectic with the post-mixer drinks. Easy to do when the trainees wanted to get super drunk. The werewolf walked over just as Fauna was hanging up on her caller. She waved, balancing her cup in her other hand.

"Hey!" Adrestia smiled back, leaning against the porch wall and careful not to step on the tupperware. "I like your jammies! And your slippers. Tasty," she glanced at Fauna's feet briefly. "Are you staying at someone's tonight?"

"Hey!" Fauna smiled.

Tia Gamp leaned casually against the wall, looking casually adorable in an outfit that wished it were still July.

Fauna had met Tia at the Ministry Mixer, where she'd discovered that the werewolf mentor was related to Auror Gamp, and again at Penny's party, where she'd realized she was also related to Penny's obsession, Cepheus. They ran in separate, but overlapping circles, and hadn't really had a chance to talk on their own. Which was a shame, because Fauna thought she might like her easygoing, humorous manner.

Tasty? Had Tia just called her - oh. Fauna glanced down at her feet, belatedly remembering her cupcake slippers. She glanced up again, the blush remaining on her face, despite the dampness in the night air.

"Yeah," Fauna answered, distracted by the compliments. "I was just on my way up, but my sister always finds the wrong time to ring," she gave her purse a pat, hoping Tia had not overheard any of her conversation. Older sisters and their timing!

Moving forward, she bent and picked up the tupperware container. Fauna took a second to peer into the transparent lid. Still intact!

"I made cupcakes," Fauna declared with a sheepish lift of one shoulder - no, she wasn't sure if they were tasty.

She hesitated, the container in her arms and one slippered foot on the porch step. Tia's coffee cup was not a takeout cup, she hadn't bothered with a jacket, and whatever papers were sticking out of her pocket looked like they wouldn't survive another rain. Tia either lived here, or frequented the restaurant, or both.

"Did you just come from the restaurant?" Fauna's gaze caught on the quill tucked behind Tia's ear. She smiled a bit, then shot the briefest of glances behind the witch, wondering if she was out with friends. Or someone.

Fauna looked really, really cute when she blushed. It had never occurred to Tia that anyone on level two was capable of blushing. It would clash with their robes or something. But Fauna's pink cheeks went well with her pink pyjamas. What was she thinking about again?

           "Did you just come from the restaurant?"

Right, back on track. "I did! I live here." Tia glanced behind her at Rachawadee, where some diners still lingered with their chai or dessert. "Was having a quiet night in, doing some museum work." Because that's what all the cool people do on Friday nights. Work.

Which made her wonder what actually cool witches like Fauna did when their weekends rolled around. Maybe it was true what they said about Aurors: work hard, play hard. Or maybe she was thinking of Beasts Division. Tia gulped down more coffee to wake herself up and decided she could be normal and ask.

"So was it your sister asking if you staying here was... sexual?" she raised a dark eyebrow. That totally wasn't the question she meant to pose. Adrestria tried to backtrack, "Sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop! Everything sounds a lot louder in here," a gesture at the courtyard in general.

She was super curious about whether Fauna was dating someone in Hiraeth. And if she was, what kind of dates did they have, with unicorn cupcakes and cosy pyjamas?

Fauna nodded, not surprised that someone cool like Tia lived here, though she was surprised (and a bit impressed) that the witch was still working on a Friday night. She glanced at the papers sticking out of her pocket, curious about the sort of museum work she did.

Fauna's eyes widened when Tia admitted she'd overheard. Oh, curse her sister! Despite the fact that if she hadn't called, Fauna might not be standing here making conversation right now.

"That was her," Fauna smile-grimaced and shook her head, glancing around the building and at all the open windows her conversation might have drifted into, though she was most curious about what Tia must be thinking.

"She just likes to tease me. It's not, by the way! Sexual, I mean. Not that there's anything -  it's a slumber party," Fauna said for what felt like the thousandth time that night. "Well, sort of. We won't be doing any slumbering. I don't think. There will be lots of drinking and silliness, and um," Fauna rolled her eyes and chuckled at herself. "Cupcakes!"

She tried for a better explanation, shifting the container against her hip. "Raine is throwing a welcome-home party for her new flatmate, Abby. You remember Raine, from the mixer?"

A slumber party!! Merlin, that made Tia think of what it was like at Hogwarts - years ago now. Twelve years. She felt a little old, doing that math, especially considering Fauna's time at school was nowhere near as distant. The bottom of the coffee cup was nearly visible as she stress-drank more of it.

"Mm yes, Raine. I remember. She's like... really focused." Adrestia nodded as she considered what few run-ins she had with her upstairs neighbours. "Didn't seem like the slumber party sort." Unless Almasy was going to start teaching her guests how to cast a Patronus.

But maybe the redhead had hidden depths! Tia liked to believe everyone had hidden depths. Like Fauna. The other witch came across as cute and cheerful but there was something else there too. Something that made her linger on the porch instead of wishing Fauna a good night. Cold as it was.

"What flavour cupcakes did you make?" she eyed the box with interest, "I took a baking workshop once but everything I bake got burnt. Or under-baked. The teacher said I'm very good with icing though," Adrestia quickly added because she was a grown-up and could do some things well. "I should stick to maps, maybe."

She patted her pocket, where her folded paperwork stuck out.

"Um, I think the slumber party idea was influenced by her flatmate." Fauna tried not to laugh at the description of Raine as 'focused'. That was apt, but Raine could have fun too (when she was focused on having fun).

Fauna lifted the box up and pointed at the side of it.

"Vanilla with rainbow sprinkles baked in," she gave another sheepish shrug, having spent far too many days trying to decide on a flavor she could successfully bake, and a flavor that would suit unicorn cupcakes. Her friend Akiva, an excellent baker, would be proud to know she'd attempted something like this with only a minimal amount of begging directed at Grace to help her.

"I'm better at the decorating, too," Fauna admitted, glad to know she wasn't the only one to find baking difficult.

"The icing is the best part. And it's safe. Store-bought. It took me a while to get the horns to look-" Not phallic. "-Normal. At least I know they'll like half of the cupcake?"

Was it weird that she kind of wanted to offer Tia one?

"Right, you work at the History museum," Fauna remembered, either from Tia herself or something Auror Gamp had said. "What do they have you doing on a Friday night?"

Her smile turned gently teasing, but interested, as she glanced at the maps.

Adrestia considered the other witch. Fauna looked kind of like a vanilla girl... with an emphasis on those rainbow sprinkles. And she was really frank, which was nice. Could be an Auror thing. Most of them looked like they'd rather swallow their own tongues before they tried playing social politics.

"They'll like the whole cupcake." Tia assured her with a winning smile. "It's hard to go wrong with cupcakes. Even the inedible ones taste better with enough icing. Especially unicorn icing with horns that... look like horns," she winked. And then she drained her coffee cup.

WOW. She was super awake now. It was like ten o'clock, coffee was such a bad idea. At least she'd be up all night to finish her work, even if it meant getting up at noon the next day.

            "...do they have you doing on a Friday night?"

"Maps!" Tia exclaimed enthusiastically, balancing her cup in one hand as she pulled out the folded sheets. "I actually head the cartography department. It's not very exciting," she laughed with a self-conscious blush. "So these are some copies of, um, Edinburgh I think. Old Edinburgh?"

Gingerly, she shook out the sheets to unfold them and give Fauna a look. It was a small, largely incomplete map that didn't really resemble the present day city. "There's this whole other city below modern Edinburgh, and I'm helping restore all the missing parts so that we can display them at an exhibition next month." Tia glanced from the map back to Fauna. "You should come! There's other interesting stuff to look at too, not just old maps."

The wink and the big smile reminded Fauna of Tia at the mixer, when she'd offered the same sort of reassuring, playful commentary. Like then, Fauna felt glad she'd bumped into her.

Head of the cartography department? Fauna looked at her with new respect, and some amusement as she watched her shake out the maps.

"But that does sound exciting," Fauna protested with a shy smile.

Setting the cupcake container at her feet, Fauna stepped beside Tia, holding one end of the map out. She leaned in to peer at the sparse tangle of lines, well aware that her hair was still slightly damp and smelled of apples from the shower she'd taken an hour ago. Once Fauna had baked the cupcakes and spent hours decorating them, she'd made a mad dash around the Radford estate while her housemates looked on and laughed. Penny had sung 'get ready' songs with her, but that was nothing new.

Restoring the missing map sounded interesting to Fauna. Tia must be skilled at it, to run the department. At the invitation, Fauna glanced at her in surprise.

"That would be fun. Next month, you said? I'll bring my housemates." She considered. "Maybe. If they behave themselves," she thought of the Fayette twins. "Maybe not. Cupcakes?" Fauna wondered why she was still talking. "I could bring a map-themed cupcake." Merlin help her. "I mean, I've no idea what that would look like."

What was wrong with her?

Fauna felt a raindrop fall on her forehead and thought the universe must be asking that question too. She then let out a shiver. Tia was probably freezing!

"Do you want to move into the courtyard? Or," Fauna paused, offering her another smile. "Would you like to come to the party tonight?"

Another drop fell, plopping on her head.

Tia was surprised and, she had to admit, a little flattered when the other witch put down her cupcakes to get a better look at the map. Fauna smelled delicious. Like a sweet and crisp summer, drawing to its end. That was a cheering thought in this abysmal weather - the closer they got to September, the more it looked like Adrestia would have to finally surrender to a warmer wardrobe.

"Definitely come, with or without the cupcakes. Or your flatmates," she gathered the map back together and stuffed it into her pocket again. "I can give you a personal tour of our archives. If you want."

Which was to say, Tia definitely wanted that. Somewhere private and comfortable to get to know Fauna. Somewhere... less cold. On cue, London's typical drizzle resumed its assault. Oh damn it! Tia glanced up at the sky as if though she expected to see her sworn nemesis up there, sweeping clouds in her direction.

            "...Or...Would you like to come to the party tonight?"

Oh! She looked back down at Fauna, eyebrows raised. That was really nice! If Raine didn't mind. But Raine didn't seem like the kind who would have second thoughts about letting you know if she minded.

"Um. Sure? Why not." Tia grinned and tried not to seem too excited about unexpected party times. "I'll stay for a bit, sounds fun."

      "I'll stay for a bit, sounds fun."

"Really?" Fauna raised her eyebrows too, surprised but pleased. "I mean, good. Sounds good."

She bent to pick up her cupcake container again, glancing inside. Horns still intact. She moved into the courtyard with a little bounce in her step, looking forward to a personal tour of the archives later next month, where she could pretend to be witty and get a better idea of what Tia did for work.

"Just to give you a head's up," Fauna paused, then decided to just say it. "The party's for Abby Reid. Er, I don't know if you remember the articles from the Daily Prophet last week?"

She bit her lip, sympathy flickering across her face. Though she felt like an arse bringing up Abby's full name, she didn't want Tia to feel blindsided. "Anyway, Raine and I have determined that it's going to be the best party. Because Abby deserves some fun. And," Fauna glanced her over.

"Pajamas are required." She smiled at her before she realized how presumptuous she sounded.

"Um, not really required. Hmm," Fauna glanced up as another droplet hit her on the nose. She tugged her hood over her head, trading the raindrops for flopping bunny ears. "I can lend you my goofy sweatshirt if Raine blocks the door."

Tia nodded seriously at what she was being told as the two of them made their way across the courtyard towards the lifts. Abby Reid. That had been in the papers. Wizarding society was pretty small... it was hard to go anywhere without sharing a room with someone who recently graced the pages of the Prophet.

"Okay. Best party, got it!" she was ready to help that happen! "At your service."

Cheering people up was something Tia could totally do. Especially if it involved a cute witch with just-as-cute bunny rabbit ears. They stopped at the lifts and she clicked the button, with chipper emphasis. The coffee was definitely working its magic.

"I will take up your offer of a goofy sweatshirt." Adrestia conceded, folding her arms in front of her with a mock shiver. "Wasn't thinking when I got dressed." The lift went ding! and the doors creaked open with old London charm. "Thanks. For inviting me."


End