Pizza My Mind

This old fashioned pizza parlor, complete with checked tablecloths and white paper placemats that are perfect for coloring, is filled with the delicious scent of fresh garlic, baking bread, and a spicy homemade sauce with a secret recipe. Feel free to seat yourself at one of the tables scattered throughout the restaurant.

Pizza My Mind is a favorite of Wizarding families all over London. Owned by a Muggleborn wizard and his pureblood wife, the pizza parlor offers the perfect combination of Muggle and wizarding taste sensations. Order a traditional hand tossed pizza with mozzarella and pepperoni, or be bold and add fried pickles and squid ink! The list of possible ingredients covers boards lining a full wall of the restaurant, and the chef boasts over a million combinations are possible.

The arcade in the back is fully Muggle, although the machines now take knuts as well. They are usually in tip-top condition, if not a bit magically enhanced to go completely berserk when you win at your game.

Now that Dmitry had gotten his apartment sorted out he'd decided to wander around London, near where he'd be working. He'd already taken a good look around Diagon Alley, but as there were other places to explore he did so. After all he wouldn't spend all his time in Diagon. He'd need to know about other places as well. However, discovering places came at a cost, the cost being his energy, and as it was around lunch time he'd decided to go in look of a place to eat.

He'd chosen the Pizza place on a whim. The scents coming out of the place were divine and Dmitry hadn't had Pizza since he'd last been in Italy, about six months ago. He'd been watching his weight recently, and had managed to lose some kilos so he was back to a healthy weight again. However, now that he was back on track, and had managed to find places to take up his hobbies over here, Dmitry figured a treat now and again wouldn't do him any harm.

He ended up ordering a simple Pepperoni Pizza and a spring water before taking a seat in a booth and preparing to chow down.

He stopped by the counter and ordered a large cheese pizza for everyone to share before heading towards the seating area. He was supposed to meet a few a few people from the ministry, and was just passing a table when he recognized D'mitry, one of his new employees on level 5. "Hello." he said brightly pausing at his table. Would it be rude to ask to join him? Especially when there were two others planning on joining them as well?

He figured that it'd be the perfect time, for Lawrence to meet the person who'd be showing him around, so had invited Charles and him both to come to the Pizza Parlor. It wasn't as if they could just go to the ministry.

...

Yeah, he was hoping he'd not have to explain that one.

Entering the establishment, Charles looked around with complete and utter disapproval. Really. They couldn't have met somewhere with... class? He approached Gidyun when he saw him and stood stiffly by his side. "Gidyun." Why weren't they at the Ministry again? Or hadn't he been told yet? "Would you mind explaining why we're... here?" he asked, looking around at the tables. He hadn't had pizza in many, many years. Why would he start now?

Muggle Pizza Parlor. Not that Lawrence really minded, but this place had muggles, and he felt really uncomfortable with that. He wished to use magic for every single thing, which as his sister says is a bad thing. Why? He was a wizard after all, why not use his power?

Anyway, back to the topic, Lawrence had an appointment with the Head of the Department of International Cooperation (and boy was he excited?!!). The scent of cheese and pizza made Lawrence (nearly) drool. He looked around the place. He had heard that the shop was owned by wizards, and sure enough, it was niiiiiice.

He spotted Gidyun and another guy quickly. He strolled over to them, trying to act like a muggle. "Hello, Mr. Yenorin." And a quick nod to the other man. "Hmm, cheese pizza." Wonderful.

SPOILER!!: Y'all

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lizasaurus

He stopped by the counter and ordered a large cheese pizza for everyone to share before heading towards the seating area. He was supposed to meet a few a few people from the ministry, and was just passing a table when he recognized D'mitry, one of his new employees on level 5. "Hello." he said brightly pausing at his table. Would it be rude to ask to join him? Especially when there were two others planning on joining them as well?

He figured that it'd be the perfect time, for Lawrence to meet the person who'd be showing him around, so had invited Charles and him both to come to the Pizza Parlor. It wasn't as if they could just go to the ministry.

...

Yeah, he was hoping he'd not have to explain that one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Becky

Entering the establishment, Charles looked around with complete and utter disapproval. Really. They couldn't have met somewhere with... class? He approached Gidyun when he saw him and stood stiffly by his side. "Gidyun." Why weren't they at the Ministry again? Or hadn't he been told yet? "Would you mind explaining why we're... here?" he asked, looking around at the tables. He hadn't had pizza in many, many years. Why would he start now?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nanyjj

Muggle Pizza Parlor. Not that Lawrence really minded, but this place had muggles, and he felt really uncomfortable with that. He wished to use magic for every single thing, which as his sister says is a bad thing. Why? He was a wizard after all, why not use his power?

Anyway, back to the topic, Lawrence had an appointment with the Head of the Department of International Cooperation (and boy was he excited?!!). The scent of cheese and pizza made Lawrence (nearly) drool. He looked around the place. He had heard that the shop was owned by wizards, and sure enough, it was niiiiiice.

He spotted Gidyun and another guy quickly. He strolled over to them, trying to act like a muggle. "Hello, Mr. Yenorin." And a quick nod to the other man. "Hmm, cheese pizza." Wonderful.

This pizza tasted as divine as it smelt. Not as good as what he'd had in Italy but not too bad. Besides, having room for improvement wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Using his knife and fork Dmitry cut up another piece and had just started chewing when he heard someone say hello.

Swallowing his bite he looked up slightly and was about to offer a polite, but firm, leave me alone when he noticed who had interrupted him. "Hello boss..." he offered, slightly hesitantly. The man seemed to be in a good mood but he wasn't meant to be working today and so hadn't expected to see the man around. Oh well. He was just about to ask him if he wanted to join him, to be polite, when an older man came in. As he only acknowledged Gidyun Dmitry didn't bother to acknowledge him, instead deciding to take a sip of his drink. Obviously those two were meeting up which meant there was no need for him to attempt sociability today.

He was half ignoring the men when he heard a voice that he recognised, looking up and taking in Lawrence. He actually didn't look too bad in the clothes he'd chosen. "Hello Lawrence," Dmitry said, hopefully getting the other mans attention, and also hoping that he wouldn't call him Mr Konstantinov again.

Seeing Charles appear he gave him a small smile and "Thank you for coming Charles." he said not letting his smile fade. The two of them worked as colleagues and that was the extent of their acquaintance really. There was no friendship, nothing more than colleagues. And he doubted that would change! "Well, I figured somewhere more casual, and pizza's not too bad for you. Just be happy you don't have to pay. You get a free meal out of the deal." So basically hush and be well not happy but hush.

"Gidyun. Please, call me Gid or Gidyun" he said to both of the other two gentlemen with a kind smile. "We're just meeting for a lunch date, and I noticed you here and thought I'd say hi, just talking about work and all." And how it would be nice to be able to get into work? Hmph, yeah that wasn't working all that well. He'd prefer to have the meeting in level 5.

"Lawrence, this is Charles. He's the one I told you about that would like to introduce you around London, and help you out a bit. Charles, this is Lawrence and Dmitry our new Security Council member."

Lawrence was casually looking around the parlor when he heard a familiar voice near the booth. Ooh, the fahionista guy! He gave him a smile. "Hello to you too, Mr - I mean, Dmitry." He caught himself in mid-sentence. "What a place to meet, a pizza parlor indeed." He looked around again. Coming to think of it, this was a great place to hang around.

"Thanks to your advice, I have learnt a great deal about clothes." Lawrence said to Dmitry, looking pointedly down at himself. "Though I wonder if it is a good idea to wear robes in the muggle world?" Not that there were any muggles to be seen right now.

Just when Lawrence was wondering again what they were doing here, Gidyun spoke. "Oh, okay." He should have figured by now that most people liked being called by their first name. Lunch date! How exciting.

Oh. This was another thing Lawrence should have known. Gidyun was going to introduce him to his guide... no, 'person to introduce him around London'. "Hi, Charles, uh.. nice to meet you." He looked like a strict type of person. Lawrence should get on his good side.

Giving the man a nod too, he looked down his nose at the pizza that was in front of him. He'd not eaten pizza in years. He wasn't planning on starting now, either. Who wanted cardboard with cow curdle on it? He gave a nod at the thanks he received and somehow, Charles managed not to roll his eyes at Gidyun's response, which was basically 'shut up and deal with it'. It wasn't like he was short of money to pay for his own food. He didn't have snot bags to waste it on or a female who felt the need to spend all of his money in his life.

When he was introduced to the man he'd be showing around London, Charles turned to look at him and gave him a bow of the head. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Lawrence." Then he looked back to Dmitry and bowed his head to him too. "Pleased to meet you too, Dmitry. I sincerely hope we'll work well together." He turned back to Lawrence when he spoke and almost, almost smiled at him. "Shall we sit? Then we can determine how I can best help you." Like, did he have a place to stay? Did he have enough money to pay for that? London could be expensive. Did he have an apparation license that was valid in the UK? Did he know how to use the muggle machines to pay for things in the muggle world? That sort of thing.

Lawrence returned the bow, a short one though, as he did not really like exposing the back of his neck. And wow, the man could actually smile? He would have thought that impossible, but then he only knew Charles for about a minute. Lawrence tried his best not to look too amused.

"Ok, let's sit down." Lawrence sat down on a comfortable chair near the wall and grabbed a pizza. "So, about me..." he started, taking a bite. It was a wonderful taste, by the way. "I am Britain, grew up here, went to Hogwarts and all that, but I have been in France for the past two years." He paused, thinking a bit. "I have not kept in touch with my family members, and so I have absolutely no clue what happened in Britain over the years." He had tried some catching-ups, but did not get much information. He hoped nothing too bad happened.

Sitting down across from Lawrence, Charles ignored the pizza and just listened to the man. So he was British and knew the ways. "Okay, so you want updates on current events." He could do that much. "Do you have a place to stay and do you know your way around London?" he asked, gazing at the man. If he did, his job would be very, very easy.

Apparently Charles did not like pizza much. Lawrence took a mental note not to buy, or offer him pizza next time they meet.

He nodded as Charles continued."I'm currently living with my family. Aunt and uncle, siblings." Lawrence made the point clear that his parents were not in his definition of 'family'. "Though separating from them will be nice. My aunt is now kind of hinting that I am big enough to live on my own." What about his sister who is turning thirty in a few months, eh? "I don't really know the way around London. I live near Bristol and the only place in London I have visited is Diagon Alley." He shrugged. He did not need any trips to London, and he did not want any. Now the situation has changed.

Edward entered the pizza parlor and checked his clothes to make sure that he didn't have any soot or such on them. He normally apparated, but he didn't feel like the effort this evening after cleaning up and taking out some of his best clothes. He had asked Ainsley to meet him here and he wanted to be sure he looked presentable before she entered.

He glanced at the menu board and around the room, trying to decide what he might like and a nice, safe place to sit.

Glancing at her watch as she approached the pizza parlor, Ainsley was relieved that she was not late. She was always the one to be thirty minutes early for everything, but she made a fuss about what to wear. That caused her to not be running late, but she definitely wasn't as early as she would like. Although, this was most likely better. Ainsley didn't want to seem too available.

As she made her way in she spotted the charming gentleman that she had met at Malkin's. A smile instantly played across her face. She did a quick pat at her hair and all of her curls seemed to be in place. Ainsley moved closer to where Edward was. "Hello again."

Edward saw the door open and looked. He smiled as he saw the young lady enter and walked toward her. She looked very nice and she appeared to be adjusting her hair ever so slightly. He was glad he had an opportunity to dust himself off. Suddenly, he felt a little sel-concious but brushed off the feeling as he greeted her. And hello to you as well. I hope this place is ok. I haven't eaten here, but thought it might be a good place to spend some time. He preferred places that weren't too noisy and overcrowded like clubs seemed to be.

Ainsley tried to control her blush as she saw Edward walking toward her. She hated that her face always gave away her feelings. She would have to work on that. Ainsley looked around the place. "This is just fine. I've never been here either so we can be adventurous together." Ainsley secretly hoped that she didn't appear as nervous as she felt.

Not sure what to say or do next she bit her bottom lip... another bad habit that she needed to break. Focusing her attention back on Edward she decided a compliment was in order. "You look nice." Really he did.

Edward noted a slight bit of color in her cheeks and was flattered, but determined it was best not to point it out to her. He smiled more as she agreed on his choice of location. I'm glad you approve. I'm sure we can get something good here.

As he stepped up to her, he held out his hand and leaned in to give her a peck on the cheek. It was an unconcious move he made, not even concerned about it's propriety as he had really just met her recently. He enjoyed the compliment and returned one of his own. Thank you. You are lovely tonight. Makes me feel a little special. With that, he placed his hand in the small of her back and led her to a table.

Noticing his outstretched hand, Ainsley delicately placed hers into Edward's. She felt her face burn hot as he gave her a peck on the cheek. It was a nice gesture and she was glad that he done it. She only wished that her face would cooperate and never give her away at every turn. Maybe she would practice in the mirror sometime. That was lame, and Ainsley had a time focusing her attention back on the present. This was no time to worry about what her face may or may not look like.

"That's very sweet of you to say." She allowed Edward to guide her to a table. This was nice, this was very nice.

Edward smiled as she took the seat he held out for her and then took the seat opposite hers. He wondered what to say next and then went for the safe, easy topics. What type of pizza do you think you'd like? I'm not very picky about food so whatever suits your fancy would be fine by me. He watched her, to gauge her reactions to him and to see what type of food she was interested in. Then they could engage in small talk and find out more about each other.

Ainsley was definitely liking Edward's kindness. The pulled out chair was a nice touch. It was the little things that counted. Most men didn't even bother with those gestures anymore so it was definitely appreciated. She smiled as she took her seat. She could feel the sweat on her palms and nervously wiped them on her dress. Surely he would be none the wiser, she only hoped that it wouldn't leave a mark on the fabric. This was one of her favorite dresses after all.

Glad that he struck up the conversation first, she focused her attention back on her date. "I'm not too picky either. I do love fresh vegetables on my pizza though. As far as meat goes I am only opposed to pepperoni." Ainsley hoped that she wasn't coming across as being a picky eater, but she just didn't care much for those greasy slices of meat.

Ainsley provided her choices about toppings and he nodded. He wondered if perhaps a nice margherita pizza, or even a spinach and gouda one he saw. Edward looked at the menu board and scanned for the vegetarian choices and smiled as he came upon one with greek style toppings.

He smiled at here as he looked up and showed her the menu item. How about one with the greek style toppings? They've got one with kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, spinach and a white sauce as opposed to the tomato sauce. For a bit of added kick, they can also add a little bit of pepper flakes. He waited to see if she would be ok with that or if she wanted something different.

The blonde looked on while Edward scanned the menu. She was glad that he asked her opinion. Nothing irked her more than when somebody assumed what she would or would not like. It all came back to manners and the way that Ainsley was raised. Her mouth watered as he went over the choices available to them.

"That sounds delicious. Are you okay with that selection?" She didn't want him to feel like he had to eat something that he really didn't like in order to please her. "Pepper flakes sounds like a nice touch. I could always go for a little spice." Merlin, was she trying to flirt? She was so rusty it was a tad bit embarrassing for her.

Edward nodded. Absolutely. I love the flavors of the mediterranean. Greek food is some of my favorite. Not a big fan of the baklava though. I don't particularly care for sweets. Unless you're talking tiramasu. That is a weakness. Now his mouth was watering as he pondered biting into the pizza. He excused himself and went to order the pizza and some drinks. He returned with a couple of glasses of water until their food arrived with something more appropriate to drink with pizza.

So...he began. Why don't you tell me a little more about yourself. I'm not sure we were able to do it properly while I was being fitted for new robes. He was interested to learn more about Ainsley and what kinds of things she was interested in.

Ainsley beamed as he talked about his favorite kind of food. She was glad that they were on the same page so far when it came to their eating choices. Not that it really made much of a difference because they didn't have to like everything the same. It was always nice to have some diversity between two people. "You don't care for sweets eh?" Well, that was too bad because Ainsley had a knack for homemade baked goods. She too didn't have a major sweet tooth, but every once in awhile a cauldron cake would hit the spot. She did however enjoy baking sweet treats.

She watched as he went off to order the pizza. She was glad that she decided to this date. As he returned with the the glasses of water. "Thank you." She picked up her glass and took a sip. Water was very refreshing, and it gave her hands something to hold onto. "No, no, I guess not. Well, I work in the minister of magic's office as a media liaison." Her lit up as she spoke. She loved her job, and she loved talking to and meeting new people. "I also love to bake. Sometime in my lifetime I would love to open up a little bakery." "I'm pretty laid back and am a huge people person." Was she blabbing too much. "So what's your story? I'd love to know more about yourself as well."

Edward shook his head no. Never been something I had an exceptional desire for. I more or less eat them as they're offered, but I don't go out searching for them. He knew that the sugars tended to provide a quick energy boost to him, but later he was sluggish and a little worn out.

He listened to her talk about her self and she seemed pleased to do it. It was nice that she was proud of what she did. It was also interesting that she worked in the Minister's office. I'm sure that's an interesting job. He listened as she outlined her deams and some of the things she liked. Then she asked about him. He took a sip of water as he decided what to talk about.

He took a deep breath and began. Well, I've been traveling here and there for a while. Getting wizarding work as I could. I decided though that I'd like to come back to London. Traveling was wearing a bit thin. He hadn't thought to tell her, but he smiled as his news came to mind. Oh yes. I have a new job, by the way. I'll be working at the ministry. Just got the owl yesterday.