Who: Samantha Cadwallader and Thomas McCormack
What: Cupcake Date
When: Before the raffle!
Where: A delicious cupcake store in an undetermined location


Samantha Cadwallader was extremely nervous at the moment. She really didn’t think it would be such a big deal because he seems somewhat non-chalant about the idea of getting cupcakes together, but she really enjoyed the time that she spent with him in Hogsmeade. Thomas was a really nice guy, she decided, and obviously she wanted things to go well with him. He worked with her sister and if something awkward were to happen, she would hate for that to affect Victoria’s relationship with him.

She fidgeted with her clothing as she did a few last minute touch ups and making sure that everything looked okay before she left the apartment. This was going to be okay...it’s not as if he were a terrible person right? Victoria would never suggest that she spend time with a terrible person. Everything was going to be fine...she just had to remember to breathe.

Thomas would not put it above Odette to have followed him to see if he was going against their enforced diet. He was usually very good at eating healthy and not having any issues with that, but he’d just offered to take Samantha to this bakery, and what could he do? Just sit there and look at them? He knew his captain was going to be annoyed at him and probably have the beaters take target practice at him, but she didn’t need to put her foot down like this when she hadn’t all season.

Plus, it wasn’t every day that he actually wanted to impress a girl. It wasn’t every day there was a girl that was interested in him in that didn’t have him hyperventilating because they were overwhelming or they had issues that dominated any sort of sexual desire he had toward them and---yes. He had called this everything but a date to anyone he bothered to talk to, but Thomas wasn’t dumb and he knew what this was and--what he wanted from it.

Maybe. The thought was terrifying, but. Maybe.

“Hello,” he called, jogging up from behind Samantha, “Sorry--sorry, practice ran late.” Thomas stopped and took a few breaths, smiling widely, “You look very pretty,” he said before he could think about it. But, he didn’t falter and continued to smile.

Sam could feel a light blush creeping onto her cheeks at the compliment. She felt like she was past the age where she should be getting all those ridiculous reactions to these sorts of things but it’d been some time since anyone of worth had popped into her life and--well, she was attempting to put forth some effort here. It was refreshing that he would notice that at all. “I--thank you,” she said softly, offering him a smile.

“How are things?” she asked curiously. “Haven’t seen much of Victoria lately. The team must be keeping everyone busy, eh?” Things at Gringotts were slowly picking up for Samantha as well, so she understood the rushed feeling that Thomas and her sister no doubt went through with things. She had just one week more of training and paperwork to complete before she got to go out in the field, something she was quite excited about. Most of her experience from Canada was in Central America, so it would be interesting to see the different ruins in this part of the world.

She turned her gaze to the display of cupcakes in front of them, still not sure what all the flavors were, but every single one looked delicious. The tiniest detail was thought out and planned, making the display quite impressive to behold. She hoped that they were as good as he said, the place seemed convenient enough to fix any future sweet tooth cravings.

“I’m probably going to be strung up by my ankles if I’m caught out here,” Thomas admitted, running a hand through his hair (and also taking a look around to see if Odette was hiding behind a bush or something), “But---I couldn’t just put the idea of a delicious cupcake in your head and then not treat you to one.”

Though, the true scenario, one he did not think was appropriate to bring up on a first date of sorts, was that not only had he won the woman that he had believed to have been in love with all these years until it was too late (it was a friendly ticket!), but he had been won by the teammate he had been shagging at random intervals because----because they were just bloody---oy, he couldn’t even explain it in his head. Seeing the results made Thomas’ stomach twist and lurch, but seeing Samantha’s comment made him think that maybe she’d put a ticket under his name and he didn’t want to miss out on a chance and---

All these luck and random things did not sit well with Thomas so he had taken things into his own hands. He pulled the door open for Sam and followed her into the bakery, the smell of overwhelmingly good cupcakes filling his nose.

Samantha took in a deep breath when they entered the bakery, and a smile spread across her face. “If these taste as good as they smell, I think I’m going to enjoy this,” she commented as she looked at the descriptions of each cupcake on the wall, trying to scope out what she was going to go with. If Thomas were to ask, Samantha would probably share that she had bought tickets under his name, but she would have been terribly shy over it. She was unable to put her finger on it, but there was something alluring about him.

She turned to look at him, smiling. “Well, I hope it’s worth being strung up by your ankles. Have you ever had the....hot fudge cupcake?” she asked curiously as she looked at the menu. It was between that and a banana split based concoction. There were many times when it was difficult for Samantha to make a finite decision; this was one of them.

He startled as she turned back to him, having been watching her with a smile as she examined all the baked goods. Thomas felt as if Victoria must have been slipping some strange potion into his drinks ever since she came up with the idea of him showing her sister around her new home, as he hadn’t felt this compelled to be around someone like this in ages. Not even just be around, he wanted to...impress Samantha, and as he spent so much of his time feeling unimpressive, it was taking a lot to accomplish this.

But she had such nice looking hair, how could he not stare? Thomas gulped and leaned toward the display, mentally noting how many laps he was going to have to run around the pitch to burn off just the one cupcake. He didn’t want to restrict himself like Odette was trying to force him to do, but he wasn’t going to completely ruin his regiment, either.

“I don’t think you can go wrong with chocolate,” he said with a nod, hoping that the girl behind the counter did not voice any surprise about his different choice of cupcakes. Thomas reached into his pocket to pull out the necessary coins, waiting for Samantha to make her final decision. His pockets were charmed; he hadn’t known what he should really be spending, though he figured he had enough to buy two of each kind in the bakery.

Samantha mulled the thought over in her head for just a bit longer. “Hmmm...I’m feeling a bit adventurous today. I’ll try a banana split cupcake,” she said, smiling kindly at the girl helping them. She tucked a piece of stray hair behind her ear nervously. She watched as the girl carefully boxed their cupcakes up and waited for Thomas to square everything away before they left the shop with him.

They started to walk down the street, sorting out the cupcakes as they went. She absent-mindedly stared around her as they walked, taking in the store fronts of the shops they passed. It was an interesting location, to be sure. She looked over at Thomas, waiting until he finished the last bite of cupcake he had taken in (she hated being asked something while her mouth was full, after all). “So do you have any brothers or sisters?” She carefully set to pulling the paper wrapper on her cupcake away before taking a small bite. Goodness, she had to admit, this was really fantastic...

“I have one crazy sister that tries to control my career and life,” Thomas admitted easily, knowing all too well that if it became Catriona’s public knowledge that he might be sort of seeing someone after the debacle of his last real relationship, she would most likely hire private investigators to make sure that Samantha wasn’t a complete nutter like his ex. Which he was severely doubting anyone could reach Regina’s level of madness, but Thomas did not particularly want Samantha to be scrutinized in that way. Not that they were even sort of maybe seeing each other, but. “Do you have any crazies in the Cadwallader brood?”

He felt guilty for a few seconds before taking his first bite of the cupcake, but the incredible flavor and the oozing chocolate completely washed those thoughts away. He would simply run two, three extra laps around the pitch; hopefully Odette would just see it as he was more enthused about working out than actually trying to burn off any calories from this date------outing. Thing.

“This is amazing,” he started to say, putting his hand up to catch the crumbs. Thomas grinned sheepishly as they dropped down to a bench. “This is absolutely worth the extra hour of training I’ll have to do tonight.”

"Oh, not really. I mean, I've got an uncle who's a little odd, but I wouldn't call him crazy. I'm sure we do things that seem odd over here, but that's just differences in culture, eh," she said, smiling as she watched him catch crumbs. "Things are a bit different here than back home, that's for sure. I'm still adjusting to the lack of quodpot over here."

He was very handsome, she thought. He was soft spoken, but it didn't seem like he was shy. She appreciated that; a lot of the professional players she read about had a reputation for being mouthy and full of themselves. That definitely wasn't attractive to Samantha. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before taking another bite.

"It must take a lot of dedication to keep up with a training schedule like that. I think I would end up indulging just for the sake of rebellion!" she replied with a laugh. While it was true that she had to keep up with things a bit just to ensure that she didn't die in a catacomb or tomb, it was a bit different. A cupcake here or there was not going to hurt in the long run.