Fauna nodded and glanced around the office. Tia as a Ravenclaw made so much sense. Adrestia and Theta had the best traits of the Ravenclaw House, in her opinion. Brainy, but also warm and friendly.

She felt a glow in her chest at Tia's laugh, and more so when it turned into a pretty smile. She just wanted to keep saying goofy things that would cause her to smile.

"Oh, well, um, thanks! You can have the blush and the daily embarrassment," she laughed a little awkwardly, surprised by the compliment as she pressed a hand to her warm cheek. Tia was very generous with compliments. She'd called her cute and pretty multiple times now, and winked at her several times, and Fauna was very glad she'd decided to wake early and check out the museum this morning.

"I mean, I think I caught you blushing earlier," Fauna teased back. "When I joked about singing in front of a crowd."

She understood. She preferred to keep the serenades at home.

Tia's earlier comment settled in, but the meaning had yet to.

"You wouldn't hex a witch?" She tilted her head. "What if she were stealing all your leftovers and, I don't know, coffee?"

Fauna lifted her cup and took a sip to hide her wince at the terrible joke that matched the terrible theft.

One of Tia's favourite things was probably how much more people blushed when you pointed out to them that they were blushing - and Fauna was quickly topping that list. She was so glad the other girl ended up coming to the talk, nervous as she'd been when she remembered last night. Fauna was younger and more hip than her! What if she had thought Adrestia wasn't cool enough?

             "You wouldn't hex a witch? What if she were stealing all your leftovers and, I don't know, coffee?"

Oh, this felt like a trap. A fun and cute trap.

Tia glanced at the table set between them pointedly, the coffee pot neatly positioned between prettily prepared plates of snacks and sweets. And then she raised her gaze to the pretty witch 'stealing' them.

"Men are scoundrels. A lady could just be.... hungry. Or tired of falling into rivers and being bullied by grumpy Aurors," she lifted her own cup to her lips, grinning like a smug cat. "Can't blame her for needing all the food or caffeine she can get, right?"

A very logical response! Adrestia stretched her leg out underneath the table, deciding to take the tiniest of risks as her ankle grazed against Fauna's. "Besides, I'm much more likely to find naked witches than wizards in my flat."

The look Tia gave the cup of coffee that Fauna had 'stolen' made Fauna pause before taking a sip. Her eyes went wide as she tried not to laugh. Adrestia had the most amusing expressions! She was so much fun to be around, and Fauna found she wanted to impress her and see her smile more than she did most people she was just getting to know.

Then everything made sense.

Fauna blinked, automatically and politely shifting her foot away, and then shifting it right back as she realized what Tia was saying.

"Oh."

Everything made sense! The cheesy, goofy vibe she sensed between them hadn't just been fueled by drunken silliness at the slumber party, or nervousness over making new friends now. It was real! It was called flirting. Fauna blushed a brilliant blush.

"I am so, so dense. Can you tell that I don't often find anyone in my flat," she mumbled, resting her elbow on the table and covering her face with her hand as she shook her head. "You don't have to answer that! I mean, it's evident."

One eye peeked out from between her fingers like a disco peace sign. She smiled, shyly but genuinely at her, before letting her hand fall.

The knut finally dropped for Fauna.

It had given Adrestia a worried scare when the auror-in-training withdrew her leg but, feeling their ankles settle against one another again, her heartbeat returned to its regular rate of flirtatious excitement. Her gaydar wasn't perfect. There could have been a chance that Fauna didn't like pussycats or didn't know she liked them.

"Don't worry about it," she giggled and put down her coffee cup as their eyes met through the gap between Fauna's fingers. "I'm like... so bad at being subtle anyway, sometimes girls assume I'm just being super friendly you know? Lesbian werewolf struggles."

A genuine problem! She was either just a friendly witch who winked too much or she made outright confessions about hitting on them. The latter was less confusing at least.

"Not that I'm assuming you want-- I mean, I'd love to take you out for dinner maybe?" Adrestia switched directions, trying not to mumble out apologies for how forward she was being. "Maybe somewhere far away from either of our workplaces. No maps or criminals or dangerous rivers."

Or weird teenagers throwing pillows at each other. That sleepover had been such a great way to get to know Fauna in a fun setting but Tia envisaged something more intimate now that her cards were on the table. "I could cook for you. I make a veeeerry nice spicy pasta dish."

So many chillis. They would turn Fauna's pink lips even pinker.

Fauna nodded, bringing the coffee cup to her mouth, and then setting it down. Her heart was racing faster than usual. She was flattered. Flattered and nervous! But in a good way.

There was something charming about how Adrestia laid her cards on the table. No guessing, or astonishment over Fauna's denseness in the romantic arena. Tia was clearly interested, and asking her out. Fauna just had to decide, well... she kind of did want to. She knew that already, thinking ahead to dinner, and getting to know her better, and thinking absently that yes, it would be nice to avoid rivers and everyone at the Ministry and hang out somewhere other than home where she always risked Pez drool and misplaced badges when she sat on the couch.

"I could do pasta," she smiled slowly, and tucked a loose piece of hair around her ear, resisting the urge to set her elbow on the table and cover half her face with her hand again.

If she liked looking at Tia's face, she could only assume Tia liked looking at hers, too.

"Um. So this is new to me," she gestured between them, in case that wasn't obvious. "I can actually flirt with blokes." She chuckled, and continued conspiratorially. "No I can't! But I'm going to bring my flirting skills to the table. And um, you know. Drinks, probably."

Tia had enjoyed wine at Raine's party. Did that mean she liked wine, or would Fauna seem unimaginative if she brought wine, or would Fauna seem obsessed with wine?

Who could she pester to figure this out? The struggle was real.

She could do pasta! Adrestia quickly made a mental note to find and practice that recipe tonight, just so that it wouldn't be a complete disaster when she had her over. Dates in Hiraeth had a habit of going unpredictably sometimes. If something caught on fire, she supposed, they could just eat at Rachawadee.

            "Um. So this is new to me..."
"I get that," she interjected with a reassuring smile. "Totally fine."
             "But I'm going to bring my flirting skills to the table....Drinks, probably."

Tia poured herself another cup of coffee, raising her eyebrows at the other witch. Flirting skills? Fauna already seemed good at flirting in a genuine, unconscious way.  "I have been warned," she declared in a dramatic voice and giggled. "Bring anything you'd like. It's a creamy seafood sauce, if you want to match the drink to it."

That felt like a very adult thing to say - she surprised herself sometimes, by not sounding like someone who'd just stepped out of Hogwarts.

"I'm free most evenings but -" Tia made an indecisive noise, eyes going to her wall calendar, which was the one that the Museum gave all its employees on Christmas, "- I'm busy this week. Would next Friday evening work for you?"

Aurors had much more unpredictable schedules so she was happy to change things around to suit her date.

Fauna chuckled back, making a mental list. Pester someone to figure out how to flirt. Pester someone to figure out what type of drink would match seafood sauce.

"I should be free," she dug in her purse, nudging aside her mobile, a dozen hair clips, and her sketchbook to find two more notebooks, one titled 'Do Not Forget to Take Notes' in bold, black ink, procured after Pratt lost his cool about Musgrave, and another titled 'Social Life?' in happy yellow ink.

Fauna set two of the notebooks on the little table next to her coffee cup. The sketchbook and the 'Do Not Forget to Take Notes' book were tiny in size, but the 'social life' book was tinier still, and she flipped through its pages, nodding at the expanse of white space starting next week and stretching all the way to Friday. No upcoming slumber parties, Spellpunk outings, or family obligations yet.

"Yeah, I'm free," she looked up with a smile. She drew a ridiculous smiley face inside the little Friday evening box. "I was about to ask you where you live. Then I realized, I already know. Sort of!"

Oh Merlin, did that sound creepy? "I mean, with Raine's party and all. I'm glad I ran into you that night."

She'd never been so glad to suffer through an embarrassing phone conversation with her sister since it had delayed her long enough to meet Tia.

Oh my Merlin. Those notebooks!  Adrestia glanced at them and then glanced away, trying her best not to tell the other witch how bloody adorable she was. Fauna had cute little notebooks. That was both the sweetest and sexiest way to be organised. She busied herself with a pretzel, dipping it absently into her coffee cup.

"Cool!" Tia was thrilled, mind already racing ahead to the evening itself, thinking about how to make it both fun and comfortable for Fauna. "I think half past six is a good time, if that's alright."

Early enough for them to chat a bit before food.... and to change plans if food turned out to be a disaster. She grinned as Fauna brought up the eventful August sleepover, that cloudy night with the strange boys and girls. Her memory of it was layered with alcohol and gillyweed but she could clearly remember all the funny moments with Fauna.

            "I'm glad I ran into you that night."

"Yeah," Adrestia blushed just a tiny bit and nudged at the other girl's ankle emphatically. "Me too."