A nice warm butterbeer[Penny]

Todd stepped into the pub, taking a deep breath as he glanced around. He hadn't been here since that night with Brie, but it hadn't changed much. The same bartender wiping down the counter and one waitress flicking her beady eyes toward the patrons as they entered. There was a fire going and he led Penelope towards it, away from the chilly outside air. "This table okay?" he asked her with a jovial grin, shrugging out of his coat and draping it across the back of his chair. His craving for the butterbeer was heightened by their surroundings, and he was anxious to get his hands on one.

((Crappy starter, but it's the thought that counts, right?))

Penelope followed close behind, thankful for the warmth of the pub. She tried to shake as much of the snow as she could from her hair as she followed Todd to one of the tables toward the fireplace. A smile crossed her face. "Perfect," she said, taking her scarf off and letting it hang off the back of the chair to dry before sitting down. She shivered a bit, thinking perhaps that she should have worn more than her sweater, but being close to the fire was nice. Plus, once she had a warm butterbeer, everything would be much better.

[It wasn't that bad~ I always suck at intros, haha.]

Todd noticed her shiver and raised an eyebrow. "You want my coat? It's super fuzzy and stuff on the inside - probably has my alluring scent on it, too," he added before flagging down a passing waitress. "A warm butterbeer for me, please, ma'am," he chirped. He figured he knew what Penny wanted, but thought ordering for her might be a bit possessive. He was trying to be a little more careful about how he let himself act around her - wouldn't want to suffocate her with his boyfriend-ish feelings, as he no longer was one.

Penelope blushed. His coat? "O-oh, no, I'm g-good, thank you," she smiled softly. She was warming up already, but the gesture was incredibly nice. She bit her lip slightly, remembering the night so long ago when Todd offered her his robe... his scent... it had smelled... good and very familiar. She continued to blush, but was glad for the distraction of the waitress. "Oh, yes, if I could please have one as well, thank you." She smiled softly.

Penelope leaned forward on the table, resting her chin in her hands. "Despite the cold, I love winter. It's so pretty," Penny commented, smiling. She loved snow, quite a lot actually. She loved watching it fall and being the first person to step in it.

Todd nodded in agreement as the waitress left to fill their order. "Oh, ditto! My brothers are all summer or fall guys, but that's because they're all sports buffs," he said, rolling his eyes. "Winter is the best. Snow, 70% of universal holidays, and even the temperature. Because no matter how cold it gets, you can always put on more clothes. If it's hot, you can take off your clothes, but then what? You can't just take off your skin." He shook his head, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. He needed to work on his rambling, too. "Ah, I could rant on about that topic all day. You sure know how to get me wound up, B.G. I agree that it is extremely pretty."

Penelope giggled a bit as Todd rambled on. She didn't mind it all so much; she actually quite enjoyed listening to him talk. "Well, I do try, Sir Schmucksalot. It's quite fun to see you rant." She blushed a bit, leaning back and mindlessly straightening her sweater. She looked back up at him and smiled once more. "I agree; summer's too warm and sticky. Winter... is I don't know... just beautiful, I suppose. Plus, coming in and warming up after a long day in the snow... it's my favorite. Curl up with a blanket in front of the fire with a nice warm cocoa and a good book. Nothing better," She smiled.

Todd grinned, tilting his head appreciatively as the waitress arrived with their drinks. "Well, that's quite a relief, because I dare say you'll be seeing Ranting Todd quite a lot," he said, pulling his glass toward him. He took a sip and pursed his lips as if trying to trap the warm taste inside him.

"Ooh, yes, hot cocoa and a good book. Short days that change to night just like that. You are speaking directly to my soul here, Penny," he said, shaking his head. "And you can't forget the stop-motion Christmas classics." Ah, yes, there were quite some advantages to growing up in a half-muggle household.

Penelope was very grateful when her nice warm Butterbeer came. The mug was warm to the touch and she loved it. She brought it to her lips and took a long sip, warming her to the core. She double checked that she didn't have any foam on her upper lip - she could only imagine how embarrassing that would be. "Good," she chuckled.

"Oh yes!" Penny exclaimed, those Christmas specials! She had completely forgotten about them. "Santa Claus is Coming to Town might be my favorite one. With Burgermeister Miesterburger... and the One Foot in Front of the Other Song," Penny laughed. She always enjoyed watching those movies, even now. Those sorts of traditions would never go away. She'd probably force her children to sit down and watch them every Christmas.

[ehehehe. you see what I did there? >3]

Todd chuckled, feeling a wave of nostalgia at the mention of them. "Oh, the one with the elf who was terrible at his job is probably my favorite," he said, a wide smile on his face. "I think he became a carpenter or something?" He could never remember the names of these things, but his family would gather from all ends of the country for at least one night to have a marathon of them. "Rudolph will always be a classic, of course."


((Alix, oh my lawd. You also referenced the foam on lip thing. You are killing me so sweetly tonight, I love it.~))

"Oh yes, what did he want to become... wasn't it... was it the dentist one?" Penny bit her lip in thought. She hadn't seen that one in a long time. They had a remake of it, but it wasn't as good. She then laughed. "Well, of course, you can't go without Rudolph. There are so many of them too. Like... the new years one, with the baby. That one was kind of cute." She shrugged before taking another sip of her butterbeer. She smiled as she remembered them, watching them all with her mother and the rest of her family. Those were some of her best memories... and she was glad to have them back.

[>D Just you wait until you see the manips I've been working on. Just. You. Wait.]

"Dentist!" he exclaimed, really just happy to know that little detail. "Oh, wow, how very many of those were there? Misfit toys were my homies - kind of depressing to me when I was little, though, because I was a weird little kid." He shrugged with a smirk. "Man, I wish VHS worked here. I'd be watching those things every single night for the rest of the semester. Though, now that I think about it, I'd probably just end up missing every class. My Hogwarts career would plummet all because of cherished childhood specials."

Penelope giggled. "I really did like that movie, but then, I suppose I loved them all almost equally," she shrugged. She bit her lip in thought. "You know what, I'm not sure if I remember how many... I just know there were a few. I love the original one, though." She nodded before laughing once more. "I'd have to admit... I'd probably lose hours watching those myself. Perhaps it's a good thing that muggle technology doesn't work here."

Penelope let out a breath, having warmed up considerably thanks to the fire and the butterbeer. She leaned back a bit and tucked her hair behind her ear, as it kept falling in front of her face when she laughed.

Todd grinned, resting his elbows on the table. "Pretty sure the origonal always wins out in these things," he said, taking a swig of his butterbeer. He watched her laugh and glanced down at the table. Boy, how he loved that laugh. "Your grades are so very important to you, I should hope that doesn't happen. Maybe I should write to Mikey and tell him to hide all your tapes so you can spend every minute at home studying," he teased.

"Oh, that they are," Penny gave a grave nod. She then laughed, cover her mouth with both hands. "Oh, no, don't do that! He would to! And he'd probably refuse to tell me where they were ever again," she shook her head, laughing still. Though, Michael did actually like the movies almost as much as Penny did, but he'd do it just to be annoying.

Penny was still laughing silently as she took another sip of her butterbeer, nearly half way done with it already. She sighed. Today was proving to be a very good day. It was very rare being able to talk about Muggle things, as there were loads of kids here that did not understand them.

"I know he would, which is exactly why I say it! We are in cahoots now, me and him, and he is obligated to do whatever schemes I manage to cook up!" Todd said, chuckling from deep in his chest. "And when you complain about it to the wizards here at Hogwarts, they're going to look at you like a lunatic. They're going to tell you VHS was never even invented. You will slowly lose your sanity, all thanks to me. But, hey, your grades will be up and that is all that matters! Ever." He forced his face into a grim expression.

"Oh, you," Penelope pointed at him. "You are very cruel. I can definitely see why you are the villain; however, your plans to defeat me shall not work. This is because even though Mikey will hide them... I have the Accio spell to bring them to me. Your plan has failed, Sir Schmucksalot; I am very, very sorry." She smirked at him, leaning forward once more, resting her chin in her hand. "And my grades will never slip, I promise." She laughed a bit.

Todd pouted, brow furrowed. "I seem to have forgotten all about magic with all this Muggle talk. Have you spiked my drink?" he mused, smirking. "I never could have been so easily defeated if I were completely sober. I call interference. And the authorities." He nodded, bringing his glass briefly to his lips. "Oh, I don't doubt that, Book Girl. You don't need any help from me on that front. Says so in your title."

Penelope held her hands up defensively. "I did nothing to your drink," she chuckled. "I'm Book Girl, as you so remember, I don't do things like that. I must abide by the rules." She grinned, her blue eyes sparkling. She blushed a bit, smiling a bit softer now as she looked down. She almost said something about maybe needing his help in potions, but figured she didn't want to ruin the mood. No, she was happy at this moment. No need to screw that up. "Well, Sir Schmucksalot, since we both love winter so incredibly much... I challenge you to a friendly snow ball match on the grounds. I have a feeling that I may win." She changed the subject, smirking as she took another sip of her drink.

Todd smiled, nodding relentingly. "Alright, alright," he sighed. "I also forgot about your little list of rules you heroes have." His eyes lit up at the mention of a snowball fight. "Oh, I solemnly swear that you will be legitimately defeated when we go to the snow battles! I must fear for your pride now. I mean, yes, you have your super strength to aid you, but I have pure skill and accuracy. You're going down." Quite the opposite was true, actually. He didn't have any hand-eye coordination whatsoever, but she could find that out on the battlefield, couldn't she?

((And again I must go to bed! Or write drabbles if I can't get to sleep..))

"Exactly, you must never forget that," Penny told him with as much of a stern face as she could possibly muster... which didn't last long. "Oh, I don't know about that. Going against Mikey means I've trained very hard. I doubt you'll be able to beat me. Plus..." she gave him a very sweet look. "You wouldn't hurt a girl, now, would you?" She couldn't help but grin and let out a small laugh. She only ever really found herself acting like this around Todd and she mentally wondered why? Perhaps she just felt somewhat comfortable around him.

"Okay, so I say, when we finish our butterbeers, we go back to the school and have ourselves a friendly snow ball battle... Good always triumphs over evil, but you can always try," She laughed before bringing her mug back to her lips.

[haha, okay, I should probably be doing the same. Which probably means I'll be creating stories in my head of their beautiful future until I pass out. xD NIGHT DARLING! <3]

Todd bit his lip, letting out a huff to disguise his grin. "Are you trying to use gender roles to defeat me? Because I know that this can't possibly be the extent of your trash talking abilities," he said, narrowing his eyes at her. "I will do whatever is necessary to win the snow battle of the century. And if running and hiding becomes necessary, I will be very willing to."

He allowed his smile a reappearance and took a sip of butterbeer. "Alright. You best be prepared, B.G., because you are going to be begging for mercy by the end of this," he said, though he was fairly sure she'd win. Sure, he'd had snowball fights with his brothers and that one at Jim's house over break, but he always had dreadful aim. It was best to talk big and cling to his dignity while he could.

Penelope bit back a smile. "Maybe," she told him with a light shrug before giving a small laugh. "Running and hiding wouldn't help you win, it would only make you forfeit... meaning I win. You have to fight like a man." She told him, resting her arms on the table. Thinking back, now, she hadn't had a snow ball fight in a while. The last time she remembered was four years ago, though, there could have been one sometime within the three year black out that she had... she just didn't know.

Penelope shook her head, a small smile appearing on her face. "Oh, I highly doubt that Sir Schmucksalot," Penny told him, wrapping her hands around the warm mug. She was thankful that she had packed a think of gloves in her never ending bag. She was actually really excited for this now. It was like the child in her was emerging and she was quite alright with this.

"But Book Girl will try to hurt me with snow," he whined, pressing his hands to his warm glass. "And fighting like a man is hard. I mean, yeah, I'm all strong and wonderful, but sometimes you just wanna be cowardly. Is that so terrible for a villain?" He'd probably be missing this warm pub when he had snow down his shirt, but he was excited for it nonetheless.

"So do I, slightly," he admitted under his breath. "But you've got superstrength and other powers to help you. All I've got is my natural charisma to try and charm the snowballs away from me." Oh, he was certainly looking forward to this now. Throwing snowballs at the girl he loved would be oodles of fun.

Penelope giggled. "Well, I do suppose that is a villains trademark. Running and hiding," she teased him lightly. She brought her cup to her lips and took a long sip, her eyes never really leaving him. To be honest, she'd probably be the one running away from all the snowballs and hiding behind trees and stuff.

"Well, I fear that may work. Snowballs are easily charmed, of course... I fear I may have already lost before the battle has begun," Penny huffed slightly, placing her chin in her hand. The ends of her lips tugged up slightly. Penny glanced down at her butterbeer. She was close to finishing and she honestly couldn't wait. First she couldn't wait to get a butterbeer to warm her up... now she couldn't wait to finish it to go back out into the wintry air and play in the snow.

["Throwing snowballs at the girl he loved would be oodles of fun." <--- feels, man, feels.]

((I kno[Only admins are allowed to see this link] I just can't help myself with these things. And the drabbles I'm creating don't make that any more manageable.

On an entirely different note, every time I go to click on this topic it says 'A nice warm butt..' because the whole title doesn't fit and I have been giggling like a two-year-old every time.))

Todd smirked over at her and nodded. "See? I only do what I'm expected to do. If you all expected me to be a kind gentleman, maybe I'd be that, too," he said, watching her with playful eyes.

"Now, now! No need to count yourself out quite yet! You're quite the charmer yourself - plus, there's the fact that being charming might actually make the snowballs want to come toward us. Hadn't quite thought of that..." he trailed off, grinning as he took his last swig of butterbeer.