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Tabitha knew they really shouldn't be eating out as much as they were, especially not when they were also trying to pay for university and a flat. But cooking at home just didn't appeal, not when they really only knew how to make three things, and none of them were particularly appetizing to eat seven days a week. So, unless they signed themself up for a cooking class, their chances of decreasing the number of times they ate out were slim to none. And Tabby had no real interest in learning to cook. Not when they had other studies to focus on. Mum kept saying she'd be happy to make freezer meals and things, and Tabby liked the idea, but part of them just felt like a freeloading bum if they took the offer. They were nearly thirty, after all, and letting their mother make them lunches again like she had when Tabby was going to school before Hogwarts felt...wrong, somehow. Tabby knew they had to get over that hold-up, because they knew Mum didn't actually mind and wouldn't have offered if she wasn't more than willing, but well...Mum had already given so much to raise Tabby that asking her to do more when Tabby was older than their mother had been when she had a child seemed a bit too dependent.

They slid into a booth seat to look over the menu, though they already had a good idea of what they wanted. Places like this always had good burgers and chips, and--of course--a milkshake. A waitress came by to take their drink order, and Tabby ordered a coffee--black and as strong as they could make it--and a glass of water because for all their unhealthy habits, if Dragon Keeping had drilled nothing else into their head, it was the importance of staying hydrated. The waitress returned a few minutes later with their drinks, and Tabby gladly put in their order, "Thanks, luv." Because their confidence was slowly coming back, and the waitress wasn't exactly bad to look at, they threw in a wink and a grin.

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Murphy enjoyed going out, it allowed him to feel like a regular wizard and he didn’t feel so out of place this way simply because he was here to do one job. He was here to protect the rest of the international confederation and he was proud to do that job. However, he knew if he had a regular kind of desk job or he just stuck to a job where he would work as an interpreter, he would be back in Switzerland and he wouldn’t have to leave his wife on her own. Sure, they spoke on the phone because despite being a wizard and a witch they appreciated the functionality that muggle technology offered them. But he was here and he was here to do a job.

He enjoyed being here in the UK. While he partially felt like he fit in here, he also felt like he didn’t. His only connection here was his mother and she hadn’t lived here since she had married his father. The family had holidayed here sometimes when Murphy was growing up but that was the limit of his exposure to English culture to date. Maybe when he got home and before they started their family he would treat his wife to a longer holiday here

But for now he was out getting a meal and he was famished, he had spent a lot of time at the ministry today in a number of meetings and he was looking to get out of London for his dinner tonight. Murphy had heard about Ottery St Catchpole but hadn't visited the place, until now at least. It was a larger village then he expected. There weren’t any places like this in Switzerland, Poland yes but not in Switzerland. He supposed the overall neutrality of the country meant they didn’t like to mix muggles and magicals in the same vicinity if they could help it. Murphy didn’t understand that logic but he didn’t question it.

Walking into the eatery, he started to follow a waiter to a table before he noticed something not he floor, it was some muggle money, he picked it up quickly before someone would try and swipe it. ”Excuse me, is this your twenty pound note?” he asked the dark haired woman. He hadn’t meant to interrupt her but he wanted to return the money to her if it was hers.

Tabby used to be a social creature, if a little...hard to crack, but after the incident they'd become a bit of a recluse. Keeping to themself as Groundskeeper of Hogwarts for a while, and then only going between home, work, and classes once they started at Lufkin. They added a few bars and pubs to their roster, but still rarely interacted with actual people beyond asking the bartender for another drink. Interactions with their mother didn't really count as social, because, well...it was Mum. So, Tabby's depressive spell likely hadn't been helped by their antisocial tendencies, the two compounding each other with the belief that nobody wanted to interact with a screw up like them. There really hadn't been some grand moment that pushed them out of that mindset, so much as they just decided that they weren't going to let their depression get the better of them yet again. And Mum might have had a few words to say about it. Something about being young and sowing wild oats, nevermind that 'sowing her wild oats' had resulted in Tabitha for Agatha and Tabby wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility, if they ever would be. Pregnancy was bound to play hell on their self-perception at least half the time.

So basically, Tabitha hadn't had met anyone new or had a real conversation in what felt like months and they missed it. Missed making that connection, however brief it sometimes was. It was in the middle of these musings, the middle of Tabby debating the merits of slipping the waitress their number just to see what would happen, when someone asked them if a pound note was actually theirs. It was not, and Tabby had every intention of saying so, but a small part of them wanted to take it. Someone was bound to be missing it, though, and Tabby was not the sort to go taking someone else's money. "Ah, no it's not. I'm sure somebody is missing it though. I'd sure be, if it were mine." Mum would be proud, being honest about money like that. "Not sure if you wanna go around the whole place asking everyone if they dropped a 20 pound note, though. Not everyone's gonna be as honest as I was."

Working in the UK meant that Murphy got to see some of what his mother would have experienced growing up here, just with a more modern outlook. Switzerland was special to him though, he loved to be there and the people there. The rope of that list was, of course, his wife. Murphy was missing Katja a lot right now. He had taken up this role and both of them didn’t know how long he would be here. At least they had phones at their disposal but it wasn't the same as the two of them being together.

Murphy wasn’t far from being shy but coming here and not knowing what to expect, he had been a little apprehensive about the people he would meet here. He saw nothing wrong with that because, at the end of the day, he was here to protect the contingent for the federation before he was here to make friends. He didn’t see anything wrong with that but it wasn’t his priority. At least he had formed a cordial relationship with Davis and he knew the man had had a rough history and it troubled him. Murphy hoped he knew he was here if he wanted to talk at any time.

He supposed that his work here was going well and soon enough he would be heading home. It was going to be nice going back home to very familiar surroundings but never knew where he sat with them He looked forward to seeing Katja again and holding her in his arms. Protecting others is what Murphy did for a living and he was happy. He knew that was all of what his parents wanted for his siblings, to be happy and to not get upset over the small things. The last one, Murphy had tried his hardest over the past few months preparing himself.

When he had some downtime, he took the opportunity to get around, to see places out of London. There was so much to see in the English Capital. Today, however, he was able to get out to one of the many villages that were littered across the country, He knew there was some special about Ottery St Catchpole.

He nodded when the woman said the money he had picked up of the floor was not theirs. ”Frankly, I don’t want to g around asking anyone here about their money. Your mother taught you honesty, which is an important lesson these days” he smiled as he curled the notes in his hand. ”Have you eaten here before? I wonder what’s good on the menu..” he said, hoping she would inform him of what was good on the menu here.

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