A Birth day

Aria looked at Marcus as he spoke " fine James, you take right I like to sleep near the window, its cooler" she said " and it might be fun to go out on an air boat" she said picking up her bag and starting to put her things in draws.

Ruby chuckled and loked to Angus " oh the restaraunt sounds good , we can get one and scope out the local are at the same time , I always wanted to try gumbo." she smiled at Angus as she looked over at the place Marcus and Aria were. " you think they will kill each other tonight?" she asked chuklaing" or will they actually get along, and by the way Aria and I have know each other for a while , I shared a room with ehr for a while when I first joined the ministry infact she was the only one who took me under their wing and trained me." Ruby said as she moved to the bed room and placed their bags down " do you think Aria and Marcus will want to join us, or would that be out of characture?"

"I think you'll like gumbo," Angus said. "Everyone has their own little variation of it, like all good traditional dishes do, but it's almost always served in a wide shallow bowl with rice on the bottom or on one side of the bowl and the gumbo on top or on the other side of the bowl. Knowing you, one bowl and you'll be hooked. I want to get some really good chicory coffee while we're here. Chicory coffee is actually made by taking and roasting the root of the chicory plant. It's an herb that grows here and when it blooms it has blue flowers. Anyway, they mince the root, roast it, and then grind it in a coffee grinder. Sometimes they mix it with regular coffee, but it has a really nice woody and nutty flavor. I think you'll like it too."

He listened to Ruby ask about Aria and Marcus.

"I've seen Marcus's effect on women," Angus laughed. "She sounds all tough but I believe under all that crusty exterior is someone who probably enjoys some companionship from time to time. Under the right circumstances, I can see those two hooking up. I don't think either of them are the kind to want a real relationship, but finding a regular hookup partner? I can completely see that happening for both of them. After all, there is something to be said for a good hookup." He flashed her a grin of amusement since that was how the two of them had started. "I think we should let them be tonight so they can settle in and either figure out how to get along or kill each other. Besides, we rarely have any real alone time as it is."

Ruby heard him describe gumbo and she smiled it was now he spoke of chicory coffee and she chuckled "It does sound nice and I agree I probably would be hooked " She paused listening to him talk about Marcus and Aria this made her chuckle "Yeah we did and now look at us" she said grinning at him as she walked over to him and kissed him gently " happy together and fighting together." she chuckled as he said they would probably hook up " oh so true, shes all about work, she needs to mellow out and relax, he will do her good" Ruby said to Angus.

" okay Im grabbing a shower" Aria said as she picked up a light sun dress and towel and headed to the bathroom " You chose what we'll have to eat I'm good with whatever ever" she said closing the door and turning on the cool water to wash away the heat and sweat. Returning once dressed she looked at him. " so whats for lunch?"

"Let's go take the truck out. You take either the map or bring up the map on the phone and navigate us, and I'll drive. Next time, if you want to drive, that's fine. I presume you can drive a manual shift?" He motioned to her, heading for the truck. As he got near the truck, he pointed to the lake bank. "Look. Lee was right. There's our first glance at one of the locals." He was pointing to a large alligator that was slowly crawling up out of the water. "Get in the truck, Ru," he said, standing deliberately at the back of the truck to keep watch on the gator to be sure that the gator wasn't hungry enough to try to run at them to try to get either Ruby or him.

While Aria was showering, Marcus was looking over the information on local restaurants that Stella had put into their phones.

"You want cajun food or French or a seafood or what?" Marcus asked her. "What do you eat or what don't you eat? I suppose, since you're supposed to be working on researching Southern foods, we should consider American southern comfort food places, I suppose. Generally, I'm not picky. I will eat just about anything that will lay still on my plate.

"Oh, while we talking about going out," Marcus said. "You should probably know. One of Angus and Ruby's daughters--Anise--is a seer. The kids are spending a couple weeks in Colorado with Khaat's brother in law--Brian's brother and sister. Anise called Angus by floo this morning, and she was quite upset. She saw a clear image of this Marie Laveau imposter in her sleep, and she knows Marie is going after Angus. Anise was insistent that she didn't want Angus coming here on this mission because she believes that Angus is not supposed to be coming back from this one. Just so you know. I know I'm here to work the mission, and I will. I'm probably the most experienced espionage agent Robert has. However, that aside, I am now, first and foremost, a protections specialist. That's what I'm actually hired as. Angus is usually my missions partner, and he's also my friend. If I need to make a choice, I will choose to try to make sure he gets home to his kids."

Anise brushed her hair as Marcus spoke " Im good with anything , I ushaly try new foods when Im in a new country" she said then heard him talk about what he did and still did around Angus and Ruby" wow, wow, slow down there James bond, Im Ruby's friend, have been since she joined the ministry and if your job is to get Angus home, then mine is to get her home to her family, nothing and no one will harm her, besides I expected you to do that with your background, yes I admit when I learned I was being teamed with you I looked you up. " she said standing in front of him a she looked at him again " besides were not to diferent" she said her voice now softer as she quickly moved to look at the restaraunt list. " this one sounds good, Olde Nola Cookery." she showed him where it was.

Ruby enjoed the truck ride when Angus stopped and showed her the lake she looked and saw something on the lakes edge it was now she saw it was an aligator and she marveled at it" wow , its a big one" she said but then saw it move towards them she chuckled as she moved to the truck and climbed in " thats one native Im leaving alone" she said and chuckled as she looked at Angus " hes cool to look at though." she smiled at Angus. " so did you spot the area that might be where she took you?" she asked softy ashe lent closer to him.

"Yeah, well, Bond isn't always so smart. He orders his martinis shaken, not stirred. The dunce. You can do that with a vodka martini, but if you do that with a gin martini, you'll ruin it because you'll bruise the gin. Vodka doesn't bruise. I'd rather drink firewhiskey anyway," Marcus flashed a grin at her. "Olde Nola Cookery sounds good to me. Shall we drive or apparate into a alley nearby? And since its right on Bourbon Street, we can take a walk through the French quarter while we're there."

"No, not yet," Angus said. "Iya said she has an idea where it is, though. Maybe we can get her or Beau to take us there tomorrow in the daylight. There is a shack there. I think I would recognize it. It's pretty ramshackle, but there are always lights inside it at night. I don't generally see anyone going in or out but the lights in the shack and the bonfire out front are just about the only lights there are. There are enormous cypress trees around, and they're almost dripping with spanish moss. It doesn't ever feel like its back in that far from the bayou waterway. I seem to think I've seen some little boats pulled up on shore--like little row boats that have motors. I think that's how most of the dancers get there. So we might need to take to the water to find the place..."

As they drove further, he was intrigued by what looked for all the world like a little ramshackle shack on the side of the road but there were cars crowded all around it. There was a sign that said it was a cajun restaurant.

"Any restaurant with that many cars can't have bad food," he said. He looked at her. "Feeling adventurous? Shall we try it?" He found a place to park the truck, right beside a vintage cadillac convertible. "Lets check it out."

They walked in, and a blonde waitress dressed in jeans and a tee shirt with her hair pulled back in a ponytail welcomed them. The place was crowded, and Angus didn't see an empty table in the place.

"Hey, Y'all, welcome to the River Road," she told them. "There's a table over there near the window that just came open. If that's okay, just seat yourselves and I'll be right over to clear it off for ya. Here's a couple menus, and the specials are up there on the chalkboard." She pointed to a large chalkboard at the other side of the room. "Make yourselves at home. I'll be right with you as soon as I drop off these beers."

"Thanks," Angus said, taking the menus she offered. "That'll be just fine." Angus led the way to the table, knowing that the last customers' dishes needed to be cleared from the table, but he noticed that the last customers had cleaned their plates. That was another good sign, he thought.

Aria laughed and looked at him "So you know your martini" she said "let's drive" she said slipping on some flats that matched the dress as she headed to the door " By the way Im more a fire whisky gal" she told him with a smirk.

Ruby looked where he was looking and smiled "Im game if you are," she said smiling as they made their way to the shack. Entering she smiled at how warm and welcoming the place was and at how everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves "Wow this place is great" she said as a waitress walked over to them and spoke to Angus before they moved to a table. She picked up a menu and looked at the dishes on it "Wow okay I know what I'd like to try, seafood gumbo followed by crawfish etouffee and after Aunt Terri's pecan pie." she said and looked at him " I like to get the full experience while I'm here." she said and chuckled with a smile to him.

"Oh, thank you, by the way," Marcus told her as he accio'd the keys to the jeep and they headed for the door. "Lovely dress, but thank you for not wearing stiletto heels. Robert's daughter has rather made stilettos a signature thing to her look. I appreciate that she always wants to look nice, but she has a real addiction to stiletto heels. Most of them have four or five inch heels but she also has a number of pairs that are sixes and sevens. And, in case you were wondering, yes. She can run in them and not fall on her face and break anything. I happen to hate them, though. So we have a constant contest. She buys them, and I break them. I can protect her far better if I don't have to worry about her getting her stupid spikey heels caught in a road grate someplace."

"The south prides itself on warm hospitality," Angus said. "You'll find people like that pretty much wherever we go here. I think I'm going to have cream of brie with crab as an appetizer, then the river road shrimp. The brandy sauce intrigues me. And then I think i'm going for the malted chocolate caramel pie."

The waitress cleared the table quickly and efficiently. Angus ordered for them when the waitress came, and he ordered them each a beer to go with their meals. They weren't sitting very long with their beers when a band came in and set up quickly at the far end of the room. There was an accordian player, a guitarist, a fiddle player, a bass guitar player, and a drummer. It only took them a few minutes to set up, and when they started to play, Angus figured out instantly that this was real cajun music. He liked it almost at once. It was lively, and it wasn't entirely unlike the sort of skiffle music he so often listened to in some of the pubs back home.

"I could like this," he told her. "It's simple and genuine and happy. It's a nice change."

Aria stopped and looked at him then chuckled as he explained his compliment "Wow realy? And she runs in those, I can barely walk in heels, besides flats make sense for easy running, if I need to," she said then chuckled as he said he keeps snapping them on her. "Nice, keep snapping those things before she breaks her neck in them and thanks for the compliment, not so bad yourself there." she said and smiled at him. " well James, shall we go to dinner?" she said and shook her head " your paying" she paused as she spoke again to him as she looked at him up and down" your so not a James , what was lee thinking, swave , safisticated, smooth, sexy as hell....um forget I said the last one, but a James? na not you," she said picking up her bag and placing it over her shoulder as she picked up the jeep keys and tossed them to him to catch " you can drive I want to admire the view." she smirked at him.

Ruby smiled as the watress took their order she gasped seeing an actual live band set up and begin to play, she could not help but tap her foot to the music untill she sang along as she heard his words and smiled broadly at him " I agree some times we forget the simple things in life." she said taking his hand in her own as she listened to the beat of the music and sang along as she sipped her beer next to him. it was now she paued and looked at Angus " I wonder if Aria and Marcus have killed each other yet" she chuckled " oh I mean James and his wife." she could not help laugh.

"Thank you," he smiled. "I don't know that I see you as a Libby either but I'll adjust." He caught the keys and walked with her out to the jeep and opened the door for her. He got in and started it up. "You get to navigate, unless you want me to try an enchantment on this muggle car. I did learn a tricky one for cases of emergency, but I'm good with you navigating."

"This might be one of the first times you and I have heard a live band together, except maybe for Edward's wedding. "James and Libby? Nah. My money says they're alive and by morning, they will have an entirely different relationship." The server brought the appetizers and offered to refill their beers for them. Angus immediately was in love with the brie and the crab.

"This is divine," he told her spooning some onto a cracker for her and handing it to her. "I might have to figure out how to make this. if we come here again, I'm going to start with this for an appetizer. Then I'm going to get an entree sized portion for the main course..." he teased and then he laughed.

When Marcus and Aria reached the Bourbon Street area, they had to park a block or so away, and as they walked down the street, he immediately saw the sign for Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo across the street.

"Come on," he told her. "Let's check it out. I wonder if it has any history to the real Marie Laveau--or to the one we're looking for. Let's try to look like a couple, shall we, Mrs. Smythe?" He reached for her hand, and he jaywalked across the street between the cars to get to the other side to check out the shop.