Gavin wasn't paying much attention to his words anymore. He was much too distracted trying to make sure he didn't get back into another situation that had her close and touching him. Once was enough for this encounter if you asked him. It actually never occurred to him that he'd used the word 'we' until she was talking about not being done work on time. "That's fine." He gave a casual shrug. "I have no rush on a Friday. You could even meet me there if you're not done in time." He could get in some people watching while he waited, before all the amusing people went home.

"And I suppose that could be the reason behind it." He mused, taking what she'd said into serious consideration. There had to be a logical reason. People didn't just wake up and want strange potions tested on them. "It's only 20 galleons, we can rule out the money. I can't say I can see why anyone would want love that badly that they'd get it from a stranger." The thought of a random someone, being all close to him, touching seemed horrible--oh WAIT, didn't that JUST happen? "I'll stick with attention." Though he wouldn't admit that was his reason for volunteering. Ahem. 'Specially not since it backfired.

Her next sentence had him scowling. Why couldn't she promise that? How hard was it to keep her hands to herself? It wouldn't have killed her. The idea was troubling. "I don't know if I have the right clearance to tell you that." More like he wasn't paying attention because he didn't really care who they were so long as the potion got tested. Same difference really. "Sorry." Though his tone didn't seem very apologetic. "I'm sure you'll be able to handle yourself just fine."

Oh good, so they could just meet there. Because chances were she'd end up making him wait... which, didn't bother her, but figured it might bother him. "No worries, I'll let you know when I'm finishing up and we can figure something out from there." Easy. Done. And so she had plans, official plans, plants to socialise and all that jazz. Brilliant.

Only 20 galleons, for potentially dying or becoming severely ill? That was ridiculous. Still, it would be an incentive for some, surely. "People are crazy," Emily pointed out, ergo, love from a stranger was highly desirable for some. "And besides, desperate times call for desperate measures... if you couldn't find love like a normal person, then amortentia is the next best thing, no?" Love, and strangers, were two words that should never be considered in the same sentence. Nope. Emily couldn't even fathom loving a stranger. It was ridiculous. You could lust for a stranger, yes, but love was... well different. Deeper. More established.

Ugh.

Snapping out of her thoughts of love, Emily frowned. Dammit. She wanted to know who these people were, maybe she'd visit Izzy and beg the blonde to tell her. Yup. "I'm sure I will... I'd just rather not." Especially if other people were going to see things.

Noticing the time, and considering that she was still on the lift, Emily figured it was about time she got off. Level four wasn't far off from her own anyway, and she couldn't be bothered going down and back up again. "I should be getting back," she mused, nodding at the levels indicator above the lift door. "I'll be in touch?" Touchtouchtouchtouchtouching.

She had things all figured out so there wasn't much of anything he needed to add. All that really needed to happen was him going for his usual drink and her showing up whenever she could. Nothing too complicated in that so he simply nodded. Now all that concerned him was having his Friday intruded on by company but it was really an intrusion because he'd asked. Eh.

It seemed even she was rethinking the idea of doing it for money. If he were to put his health on the line for the research they needed then he would have need far more incentive than that. Her next suggestion seemed to fit better. Desperateness. He could see that but promptly shook his head at her question. When there was no love his next thought wasn't amortentia, it was simply getting over it, sucking it up and accepting solitude, welcoming it really. But he would let that go. No need to go saying something that like. She might have gotten the wrong idea, or maybe the right one, which would have been worse.

See that right there? Even she knew she would have been able to take care of herself. She had nothing to worry about...except maybe two people's amortentias leading to her in which case...he'd make himself scarce in case she did coming looking for him.

Unlike others, she gave no regard for his face, he didn't want her breaking it.

But now she was leaving. He was amazed by the change in conversation they'd had since the lift started and would have probably said 'bye' or 'see you later', something along those lines but then she said that and he knew for a fact that every pun was intended. It brought a scowl to his face as she left the lift. He'd really rather she keep her hands to herself.

Gavin's sudden silence amused her, considering he was the chatty one. Emily took a chance and paused to consider what may have been on his mind, but she gave up quickly. It wasn't for her to know, and she wasn't phased by his silence.

Elbowing a few people in the ribs on her way out, Emily turned back in time to get one last look at Gavin before the lift doors closed. Oh lookit! He looked... annoyed. Was that her doing? It wasn't her intention, but she was somewhat amused.

Now... to trek it back to level two. Fun.

Jory was amazed at all the employees lining the walls waiting for the lifts. He had not realised there were so many persons employed at the Ministry. As he stood waiting for the life, he did one of his favourite things. People watching. Just watching people's body language or the way they dressed told him a lot of things. For example, the witch just opposite him had what looked like baby food smeared on her left sleeve of her robe telling him she had a kid and she probably used the sleeve to wipe it's face.

Finally, the lift arrived and Jory boarded it along with about 100 others. Okay, that was exaggeration but it sure felt like that many. Thankfully, he was squashed near to the pad with the buttons so he quickly jabbed the button for Level 2.

Yep. Here he came Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

He was heading back from the lunch break and he was a little hungry. They didn't have much in the way of seafood and he ended up trying some soup that he found entirely too hot on the tongue. Actually, they didn't have any seafood whatsoever on the main eating area's menu. Not that he'd seen at least. He should've brought his own lunch. He knew it. But he had been so determined to arrive on time that he'd hesitated too long and before he knew it it was time to leave.

Jasper Mitterbill stepped into the lifts area and tried to replay the ride in his head. Up & backwards or forwards, was it? It would be announced anyway, his stop would.

Lunch break over and now time to fix the climate in the Greenhouses, which it felt like she just fixed last week. Why was it always breaking anyway? Did those Horticulturists not have a CLUE what they were doing? Shaking her head dismissively, Alexandria stepped into the lifts as she were muttering to herself mostly about the lack of proper Italian food. She could just have easily gone for some spaghetti and meatballs, but NO, the one served in the cafeteria - the pasta looked undercooked and the meatballs, well, they just didn't look right. LIKE how do you mess that up?

"Seriously?" Alex said, raising an eyebrow as she nearly collided with someone else stepping into the lift areas. "Doesn't anyone pay attention around here?" The horticulturists certainly didn't.

To his surprise he heard a small voice, like that of a lady make a sarcastic remark. Jasper looked down and behind to try to get a glimpse of who else could've been in the tiny lift space with them, but when he did he saw plain and clear that she was speaking to him. His expression morphed quickly into one of curious attention to one of sheepish embarrassment. "I'm sorry, miss. Did I...are you hurt?" Maybe just her pride, and he'd felt no collision or brush up, but he thought he'd check anyway. He'd done a lot of things that he bore no recollection of.

Well then, judging from his quickness to apologize, either this fellow was a gentlemen OR she misjudged him. Possibly the latter, seeing as she'd been misjudging quite a bit lately, particularly involving the opposite gender. Not to mention the sheepish expression.

Quickly pulling a small smile on her expression, Alex shrugged it off. "I'll live... So no, not physically hurt. Just my sense of judgement, for that I apologize though." She paused, hesitating a moment. "Unless of course you're a horticulturist, in which case I'm in deep agony." Yes, she was still bitter over their lack of care in regards to the greenhouses.

The man's feelings of embarrassment quickly vanished seeing that the lady was alright and even smiling. A contagious smile which eventually gave way to a peel of laughter from the man at her remark, which he found witty. Although he was unaware of the goings on in her department, her remark had been loaded with enough information to give him a solid understanding that she had what was possibly a very long standing rivalry with the horticulturists.
Once he laughter subsided, he ventured on, "Not a horticulturist. Not by far. And judging by your remark I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it pleases me to not be a horticulturist right now." Was she domineering? He found that endearing somehow. Perhaps she was the head of her department.

"Other than the horticulturists, how are you liking your department?" Or maybe she had been there for quite some time already. She did look rather on the young side, however so Jasper felt confident in his assumption that she would've been reasonably new.

She had seen the two step onto the lifts from the other end of the corridor as she headed that way. Not that either of the people had been anything out of the ordinary, Mariel had just happened to notice them a good bit ahead of her and she had found being observant beneficial anymore. The last time she was preoccupied stepping onto or off the lifts, she was accosted by that nut job from MLE and the brunette did need that kind of bizarre drama interjected into her day. Not when she had QWC business to tend to.

And because two people had boarded the lifts quite a distance in front of her, the 27 year old fully expected the lifts to close and do its job, taking people here and there, before she got to it. Even though she was in a bit of a hurry, she figured she'd get the next one. It would probably be faster than walking to Level Five. So it was a bit surprising to her when, once she finally got to the lifts, that they still were there in front of her.

Mariel gave the man and woman a curious look, then stepped inside, looking around a bit. "Lifts broken or something?" she asked, first glancing at the two people, then at the space around her. Because if they were it would be a bit fruitless to just stand here, no? She might have to walk after all.

Still in an uplifted mood, the man, a tall wizard with salt 'n peppery hair chuckled at the younger witch who'd entered the lifts with he and the other witch. She had a look about her which Jasper had interpreted as curious. He refrained, however from making any kind of remark on her question for he could not think of a way to make it sound as though it weren't at her expense. Something he would've have minded doing if he knew someone well, but that otherwise might have seemed impolite.

"Perhaps a bit slow, but still in working order." He said warmly. No attendants? Alright. "Which level are you on, Miss?" He said reaching down and preparing to hit the pad for her.

Had she interrupted something between the two? Mariel gave the man a sidelong glance as she was sure she heard a bit of laughter from his direction. But she had gotten the sense that it was nothing more than trivial banter so she did not give it much more thought.

Slow. Right. Or maybe she was a tad impatient? But she didn't think so, she had expected those lifts to be gone and nearly back in the time that had transpired. Whatever though, as long as it got her to where she was going and sooner rather than later. Well, wasn't that gentlemanly? Mariel gave the older man a light smile as he reached towards the pad. "Level Five for now, thank you. Quidditch World Cup business to tend to," she added with a slight air of importance. It was quite exciting, no?

Had he taken her serious resentment as a joke? Alex had been completely serious when she said if he was a horticulturist, she was in pain. But oh, he seemed to get that she was against them right now.

"I think that would be a wise assumption. Horticulturists might deal with deadly plants, but they don't have a clue how to manage the atmospheric pressures properly in the greenhouses." Alex fought the urge to roll her eyes, as a younger woman stepped into the lift to join them. "Seriously. They think just because it's freezing outside, they need to hijack the temperatures up in the greenhouses, to be stifling. But jacking the temperatures up like that..." Really. She could go on and on, but they probably didn't care. "Other than them, my new department seems alright."

Turning her attention onto the younger woman now, she blinked. Level five was international cooperation BUT she mentioned Quidditch World Cup? So it was being held abroad this year? "Level four for me. Off to fix the greenhouse climate. Again." And then maybe she'd check on random offices throughout the Ministry, make sure nothing wonky is going on with their climate settings.

"So where's the Quidditch World Cup being held this year? You play?"

Jasper listened as the witch with the vendetta against Horticulturalists explained the situation at her department. He found that he could relate, but to the wrong side of the argument as he had difficulty keeping his place in Hackney just the right temperature and often had to call the maintenance fellow up to readjust it for hot and cold spots. He was glad to be moving soon. The lift gates shut as he decided to not disclose that to Miss Vendetta.

The older wizard reached down to the pad and chose levels 4 & 5 for the ladies, in the process quite forgetting to enter his own level. Yes, Miss Vendetta was definitely dominant. "Perhaps after you've been there for a while, the natural affect of your work ethic will see to the changes to make it better than alright?" No? He hadn't meant it to come out so...fortune cookiesque. A happy accident of a lifetime in the noble arts, maybe. And it was only a little bit rhetorical. Something that could've waited, because Miss Vendetta had questions for the witch who had stepped into the lift with them and they were good ones. Better than Jasper's own upon hearing her order of the day, he thought.

Mariel lifted her eyes from the number pad to the woman occupying the lifts as she continued the conversation that had possibly been interrupted. Not that she was eavesdropping exactly, the voice in a closed space just naturally drew her attention. And it wasn't like she was talking about anything interesting either. Plants and the regulation of their temperature or something like that. She'd probably get on with her nephew quite well.

The brunette nodded to the man who pushed the button for her. Oh, wait.. was he the new attendant? Oops, she had probably offended him with the broken remark.. that was probably what the chuckling was about. "Thank you," she said, offering him a small, grateful smile.

Green eyes wandered back to the woman again at her question. "Yes, I do play.. or, well, I did. I work for Magical Games and Sports now." Not nearly as much fun, but certainly a respectable job and one she enjoyed with the perks and all. Allowing a faint smile to lay on her lips, she added, "I'm afraid the location must be left unsaid for now.." Some things she just wasn't at liberty to discuss.. yet.

Either he was a good listener or he just didn't care about her vendetta against Horticulturists. It was probably the latter. Either that or he didn't understand the whole adjusting temperature thing, but neither did the majority of wizards, so he wasn't alone.

She did notice, however, that either he was going to level four or five, OR he just didn't want them to know where he was going. She smiled though at his comment about making it better than alright. "With a little warmth and a whole lot of smarts, I've no doubts about that. But pardon me, do you also work on level four?" She inclined her head towards the buttons, showing only two levels lit up. Watch he turned out to be one of them greenhouse people.

Hmm. What did the younger woman say now? Oh, she played, but not anymore. She just works for the Magical Games and Sports Department now, which explained why she was going to Level Five. "Portrees fan, myself, nowadays. But I did play a few years during my Hogwarts years. Chaser mostly." Which was ages ago. Secrecy though? She was used to that. "Of course it must. Ah well, looking forward to the location being revealed in due time."

Jasper gave the world cup witch a polite nod. Of course it was no trouble for him to select her level. No easier job. No easier job in the...

Uh-oh! The inevitable question. He had until that point been returning the warm smiles towards the witches. Jasper's attention refocused on the button pad as the vendetta witch seemed to be indicating. He looked down to see that he had not selected his level. Think fast, Jas!

He was a bit uncomfortable lying about such things and he was not terribly good at it, although he felt that he understood the reasoning behind it. "I don't, Miss. But, I shall get off after you ladies." Ugh! It felt terribly duplicitous to Jasper. More so than he had expected once he'd actually spoke the words, but he willed himself to familiarize with the feeling.

So the world cup witch had played before, yes? "Which team did you play for, Miss? You mentioned you had played Quidditch before." Although, he had assumed it to be a professional league team all on his own. He found himself grateful that she too lacked the liberty of disclosure. He thought that it might make her more sympathetic if she herself would ask what he did at the Ministry.

She didn't quite know why, but when the other woman questioned the man about Level Four, Mariel's eyes first went to the number pad then to the man. Only two numbers were lit, four and five, which she knew from observation belonged to her and the other woman. Not that it mattered either way, just interacting with the conversation, she supposed. But his answer struck her as slightly odd.. or just extremely polite.. she wasn't sure which. So, he wasn't the new attendant.. or was he? "Might I ask where you do work? Just curious.." Since they were all making small talk, wouldn't hurt to ask, right?

And then the conversation turned to her or, more specifically her Quidditch career, which she was more than happy to discuss. "I played for the Moutohora Macaws a few years back," she told them both with just the hint of a proud smile. "Keeper.." No need to mention the reserve bit, she was still part of the team no matter how much she played. She turned to the woman as she spoke of her own Quidditch experiences. "Oh, did you? What house were you in?" The brunette looked at her a bit appraisingly. She appeared to be a little older than her, but perhaps they went to Hogwarts at the same time. Or even played against each other.

She smiled lightly as it seemed they understood her need for concealment in regards to this portion of her job. "Oh, I'm certain it will," she said in a light conversational tone. "It is quite exciting to plan it.." It was, but that was probably all she should say on it for now.

It was days like this that Roxanne could see why a Floo was a good idea. That is, if they didn't cause her to upchuck, which they did. Anyway, she'd overslept thanks too her alarm clock and hadn't had the time to do anything with it except pull it back into a messy ponytail. Nor had she had time for breakfast, which explained the unopened Pop-Tart and still hot coffee in her hand. She sighed as she stepped into the elevator, hoping that she didn't into any of Kettlebum's lackeys, who would surely report her to their boss.

Gavin wasn't running late for work, that was ridiculous to even think of. No. He'd already been up to his office, already had his morning coffee with Emily, already did all that routine stuff but he'd had something to see to down in the Atrium--which he wished he could have been told about before walking up all those stairs in the first place but it wasn't something he would fuss about. The lifts would get him back to his level soon enough. The man wouldn't scowl or complain....that is....until he saw all those people in the lifts. Merlin. In that crowd (because anything exceeding three was a crowd) he only knew Alex, and recognized the Head of Environmental Protection....carrying her breakfast?

Surpressing a sigh he walked into the lifts, nodded toward Alex, not wanting to interrupt her current conversation, muttered a quick 'morning' to the others out of courtesy then settled somewhere near Roxanne. "Late morning." He commented casually before eyeing her pop tart and coffee. "Nothing good in the food court?" He may not have liked the place but he'd assume most everyone else did.

Let's not waste time here lift. He had work to get back to.

Without any warning, the lift pauses, jolts, and then drops a few feet. It pauses again, the entire thing shuddering from the unexpected motion. When the lift doesn't start up again after a few moments, the magical light afixed to the ceiling sputters like a dying candle.

It goes out.

She had outright asked. Something he was expecting from someone at some point, but earlier on in the conversation. He thought he'd by-passed it and was in the clear. Jasper smiled at the woman, a smile that he hoped suggested he admired her forthcoming, but that nonetheless foretold his commitment to his secrecy. "I would tell you if I could, Miss, but I am not at liberty to say."

Yes. Back to Quidditch and exciting events for us all. Jasper waited for the World Cup Witch to finish her questions and comments towards the Vendetta Witch, before opening his mouth again. He got about as far as drawing in a breath, noticing a few new faces join them on the lift and motioning his mouth to prepare to discuss what New Zealand might've been like for the former Macaw, when...


His world fell into silence. Jasper couldn't so much as muster an eek of panic as the five of them rattled and plunged down the lift shaft. He heard nothing either. Not the sound of shuddering vessel which they were all in, nor the metallic screech it made as they plummeted and stopped only to rattle ever more.
In the dark no one could see it, but Jasper did shut his eyes in a fluttering and wincing manner in effort to try and calm his always fragile nerves. He wished he were in the muggle world right now. Something like this could've been explained as some sort of short and perhaps, something that could be fixed. A failure of magic, though, Jasper found he had never made time to explore exactly what spells kept the lifts at the Ministry of Magic in working order. The sounds slowly started to manifest again and realizing that his hand had been ever tightening around the railing, he loosened his death-grip slightly and took out his wand.

He drew in a ragged breath and spoke. "Everyone alright?" He had hoped it would've come more reassuringly, but he was certain it came across anxiety-ridden. "Lumos!" He lit his wand to check that the other lift passengers were not injured in any minor or major manner.

Mariel raised an eyebrow at the man's words, unable to help the smirk that was hinting at the corner of her lips. Was that a jab at her earlier response regarding secrecy? Or did his job really require confidentiality? She decided on the latter as it wouldn't be too far a reach given the nature of certain jobs in the ministry. "Ah, so it's a mystery," she said with near satire, though not in a mean-spirited way. She wondered if that was indeed his department.

She gave the doors a quizzical look as the lift stopped and they drew open. Odd. She hadn't realized that it would stop to allow more passengers unless they had indicated that floor. Possibly part of a new, effective (to someone) system? She didn't give it much thought, though she did nod politely to the new occupants.

The brunette became vaguely aware of the conversation around her, though she was doing her best not to eavesdrop. She wasn't nosy like that and wasn't all that interested unless someone was speaking directly to her. So she simply looked ahead, waiting for her stop until the sudden jolting and descent of the lift caused her to cry out a surprised, "OH!" Her slightly widened eyes glanced around, somewhat panicked, as the lift stayed still, then they were doused in sudden darkness. Oh she so did not want to die today!

Mariel took a couple deep breaths to calm herself. She knew panic would not do in a situation like this and she reached for her wand just before she saw an illumination. It wasn't surprising that someone had the same idea and she nodded to the man with the lit wand. "I'm fine.." Other than shaken up, but how was everyone else? "Has this.. happened before?" Certainly never when she had ridden them. And she hoped that they would not be stranded there or worse. See.. she knew the lifts had been broken.. she should have just taken the stairs.

What was meant to be a quick ride back to the office was now him plunging right back down. What in Merlin's beard.....? Gavin's hand immediately shot to the closest wall so he could maintain his balance. In all this, there was no need to be falling over each other. No. Everything would be fine and they could all keep their hands to themselves.

Once the lifts came to a stop, he glanced up at the flickering light. That...wasn't meant to happen. Neither was the light going out completely.

Blink O_O

Before he could conjure any light the man across from him did. "Yes, I'm alright." Because he'd asked. To the woman's question he gave a short shake of his head. "Not to my knowledge. Minor set back. We should have it up and running in no time." He hoped. Magic was a funny thing. Sometimes it was so unpredictable. Like now with this lift.

"For now let's all remain calm. Does anyone have an idea what spell makes this thing work?" Anyone who'd worked here longer than him would be helpful right about now. And just who did one send a patronus to when something broke down?