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Office of Department Head Roxanne Carter Towards the front of the workroom, behind a pair of French doors with panels made of frosted glass, lies the office of the Ministry's newest Department Head. It's best to knock and wait to be granted entry, as although this is the Enviromental department and therefore not as dangerous as her former one, Roxanne has had the same network of charms, hexes, jinxes, curses, and advanced spells placed in the walls as are in the office of the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement. |
Roxanne was sitting on one of the couches in her office. In front of her was the file cabinet of her predecessor in this department, Rafael Belmonte, the middle drawer of which she was trying to open. Of course, it wouldn't budge, oh no. She'd tried every spell, every muggle method known to her. And what was she looking for? Any clue as to why he'd suddenly quit, or anything he might've known about the plants in the food court. The ones that had released a dangerous spore, leading to the MLE halting their investigation into De Talone to hunt/cure zombies. Which had NOT been a good time for her. Not at all. Nope. Anyway, it was obvious to her that he had known something, otherwise why lock this cabinet as well as he had? Er, maybe she shouldn't have asked that. But then again, she had been MLE until recently, so she had an excuse. And that was when a lightbulb went off in her head. She grabbed her wand and sent a patronus up to level two. DUH. Get their help. After all, they had to be just as curious about this as she was. |
Wes was crazy. Dorian still had clear memories of how his former housemate had been in school, but this was even more ridiculous than usual. About all he could hope for was that this was going to be professional and not completely awkward and, well, insane. He already had the sneaking suspicion that he’d somehow had some part in Roxanne having accepted the department transfer, even if he also figured the blonde wouldn’t have turned down a department head position even if the other things hadn’t happened. Namely, the discovery during the investigation in Hogsmeade, and then his relationship with Natasha, which was still very much present. About the only thing he’d been able to be thankful for was that whatever was going to happen wouldn’t be in the A&C offices. That, and he was still hoping they could treat this as merely a matter of DERP and MLE working together on a few last details of the zombie case before dealing with their own separate jobs. He’d strode onto Level Four rather calmly, though. If anything, he knew how to hide anything going through his head after his years in MLE, let alone dealing with the aftermath of what had brought him to Level Two in the first place. Nothing was going to happen, and there wasn’t anything to be concerned about. Aside from the possibility that the tall CMEC chief supervisor being down on this floor would make people curious, since Aron was the plant guy in his division. Somehow, this had come down to his concern, though, and he still felt that it was entirely just to amuse Wes. He wasn’t going to fold, and as he reached the door, he knocked on it as calmly as he’d entered the level. At the very least, he shouldn’t have to fall eight feet down in order to solve whatever mystery had been signified by the Patronus. |
E-gads. This thing was harder to open than a jar of pickles. And that was saying something. Where had Belmonte learned this spell, anyway? Timbuktu? Time to try a different tactic. Roxanne got up from her couch, placed one foot firmly on the side of the cabinet (out of the way of the drawer, of course) and was just reaching for the handle when she heard the knock on the door. "Come in!" she called, removing her foot from the infuriating storage device and straightening herself up a bit. Wouldn't do for one of her employees to see her unkempt and trying to force open a drawer, not when she was trying Or it could just be the someone that Wes had sent. Which was probably actually it. In which case......... ......she put her foot back where it was, and reached for the handle. Once she had a good grip on it, she started tugging while pushing the file cabinet away with her foot. |
The patronus from Wes had been massively lacking in details, which had been yet another reason why Dorian had thought the man had been possibly insane or in a mood to play a prank on him with this summons. He wouldn’t have been surprised to hear the DMLE head creeping up behind him at any minute, as he’d continued standing there waiting outside of Roxanne’s new office for entry. The blurred sight through the glass in the office doors certainly wasn’t helping any, given his lack of information and entirely non-professional thoughts toward his department head and his motives. At the very least, he could hope that this wasn’t all some evil plot to bring back the awkwardness, and he could always laugh about his thoughts with Natasha later. They really were ridiculous thoughts. He’d opened the door rather soundlessly as he’d heard her invite him in, or at least invite whoever it was that had knocked in her office. If he hadn’t been able to decipher much through the glass, odds were it worked both ways and she wouldn’t have expected him. Either way, the sight he revealed was rather odd, and he’d raised an eyebrow slightly before closing the door behind him. The DERP employees didn’t need to think their new head was crazy. “And what exactly has the file cabinet done to receive that type of treatment?,” he asked, once again reminded of how little he knew of why he was here. That and the fact he probably should have said something else before he’d said that, but none of this was normal. She’d just have to excuse him later if she was bothered by it. Obviously there was some reason she was fighting with a file cabinet. He’d just have to find out in due time, since he was assuming it had something to do with why he’d been asked to check things out. If it hadn’t been just Wes playing some sort of game |
She was starting to get really irritated with whoever was on the other side of her door. Hadn't they heard her say come in? Of course, since she wasn't looking at the door and the person had entered noiselessly, she had no way of knowing that whoever it was had walked in already. Until he spoke, anyway. "It hasn't done anything. I just think it holds a clue as to how the zombie spore bearing plant got here in the fi-" Her voice trailed off when she finally looked up and laid eyes on the person that Wes had sent. Was her former boss serious?! He had to know that his friend was the entire reason she had taken this job in the first place. Hell, a door could've figured that out! This had to be some kind of sick, twisted, cruel joke. She just couldn't figure out rather it was on her, the man now standing in her office or the both of them. "Dorian," she eventually said in an almost weary tone, crossing her arms over her chest, rather for comfort or strength she couldn't tell. Yep, this had to be some kind of sick joke the MLE head was pulling on the both of them. "I guessing that Wes didn't bother explaining why exactly he sent you here?" Well, it had been rather obvious by his question, but it was better than all the other things she wanted to ask and say to the man. |
So far, Dorian was still of the impression that Wes was the one fully responsible for him having been sent down here. Obviously Roxanne hadn’t realized it was him yet, and in fact it had appeared like his almost silent entry had gone wholly unnoticed until he’d made his dry comment. At the very least, she hadn’t seemed to feel the need to act like he should have announced his arrival more noticeably, and he had gotten a bit more information as to what was going on. Not insofar as he knew why exactly it had been him that had been sent, but he knew that it had involved the zombie case. Somehow. He hadn’t particularly done much more than just supervise in the investigation of the food court, which had led to the fern theory. That and it had indirectly been his division that had been involved in the cure, along with A&C, since it had been Elinor and Aron who had done the work, and both of them were CMEC. “That would be a logical hypothesis,” he had said with a nod, in response to her explanation. At least, until she had finally looked up from said file cabinet and seen it was him, and the silent curses toward Wes’ sense of humor came back full force. Things hadn’t gone entirely awkward, however, so perhaps that meant there was an understanding of sorts. If anything, she likely had figured out that he hadn’t been involved in the summons just as much as likely she had been. “That would be correct,” he verified with a slight raise of an eyebrow, before he glanced at the offending piece of office furniture again. “I’m willing to make a guess that you’re having difficulty checking on some of the former DERP head’s files though.” He would also assume she had tried basic unlocking charms and Finite Incantatem as well, so if those hadn’t worked, Belmonte truly was hiding something. |
Letting the previous comment go, sure that he'd truly meant nothing by it (even though it had made her feel like some silly little girl instead the department head she was), she instead turned her focus back to the cabinet. Oh, how her friends back home would find this funny. Roxanne Carter, finally meeting a door she couldn't open. The thought actually made her chuckle a bit, before she remembered that the man in the room with her probably already thought her crazy enough as it was. "DERP Head's the perfect way to describe that man," she joked, trying to lighten the mood a little. "And, yeah, that's exactly what's going on." It wasn't exactly surprising that Dorian had figured that out. That fact made her miss the MLE a bit, as most of the people there would've figured that out and made some kind of joke or comment. The people on this level, well... let's just say they weren't quite as up on things as they should be. Anyway, her mind was wondering away from the problem at hand. Which was Belmonte's stupid file cabinet. "I've tried every spell I can think of, plus all the muggle tricks. I'm quite honestly ready to just bash the stupid thing with a shovel, but if he's gone to such great lengths to lock it......" Then who knew what other spells were on it. And she hadn't survived the MLE just to perish in the Enviro. department of all places. Nope, no sir-y. |
Dorian was just going to continue believing that he’d been called for this simply because CMEC had been so involved in the zombie case before now. He honestly didn’t want to think that Wes was truly that twisted to want to make things difficult for him and Natasha by playing a trick like this. Plus, he still felt like he had come to sort of an agreement with Roxanne anyhow, that the whole idea was just a mistake, or at least that she understood there wasn’t anything on his side other than that of a co-worker. So far nothing seemed to be disproving that theory, although there had been a moment where she’d seemed almost like she’d been about to take his comment the wrong way. However, then she’d returned her attention to the filing cabinet that was being difficult, so he’d assumed he’d just imagined the earlier moment. That was highly possible, even if generally he was rather calm and straightforward. He had raised an eyebrow at her rather flippant comment in regards to his title for Belmonte, however. Perhaps she’d forgotten the fact her new department had the unfortunate acronym, therefore making herself a DERP head as well, or she was just taking out her frustrations on the absent man by insulting him. “So, before we get into possibilities, why don’t we go over exactly what you’ve already tried? Just so we know we know everything before we end up destroying the cabinet and everything inside out of frustration,” he suggested. Of course, he had gotten the visual proof that she’d tried forcing the drawer, but there was the chance she’d missed trying a simple spell just because it had seemed like it wouldn’t work. Either way, they’d get further if they stayed calm. |
Good. It seemed that her chuckle attack had gone unnoticed. But the next thing had her feeling a bit disappointed. She really wanted to take a shovel Feeling her temper starting to get out of control, Roxanne took a deep breath and walked over to her desk while speaking. "Well, I tried a simple Alohomora, Deprimo, Diffindo, Defodio, Finite Incantatem, a Gripping Charm, don't ask," she had seriously thought that her hand hadn't had a good grip on the drawer handle at first "Reducto, Relashio, a bobby pin, a filed down key, and even a butter knife, so...." So basically everything. During that whole spiel, she lit two of the candles on her desk, carried them over to the coffee table beside where she had been working on the file cabinet and sat them down, taking a seat herself on the couch and plucking a mini candy bar from the bowl. "Unless you know some advanced spells that I don't....." And she had caught that raised eyebrow at her attempt to break the tension. And yes, she also realized that her new department had that acronym but seriously, he couldn't expect her to let anyone use it in her presence. Enviro. was fine, thank you. It really wouldn't hurt the CMEC chief to crack a smile every once in while. |
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*Blink blink* Roxanne jumped up suddenly, cursing her decision to wear shorts today when one of the flying sparks landed on her leg. "OUCH! Damn, did you have to spark?" She didn't really care right then that talking to an inanimate object was a sign of insanity. That had hurt! Was definitely going to leave a mark. And what had caused it to pop open anyway?! Was it the combination of spells she'd just rattled off or........ "I know you're not particularly fond of me, but you could've at least warned me that you were about to do something," she said to Dorian, glaring all the while. It wasn't her fault that Wes was twisted enough to send him down here, after all. Especially when Aron and Elinor had been more involved in the zombie thing than their superior officer, so by all rights the MLE head should've sent one of them. Unless her former boss had some kind of ulterior motive beyond a twisted sense of humor..... Once she found what she was looking for, Wes was going to find a very angry Enviro. head in his office. |
Roxanne definitely hadn’t changed simply through the change in surroundings. Dorian hadn’t necessarily expected her to act any different, as evidenced by his earlier silent disapproval of whatever game Wes might have been playing in sending him here to assist in the filing cabinet issue, but it was still interesting to see that she still had some sort of issue with him. It was almost like none of that discussion of having things understood hadn’t happened, but then he was intelligent enough to know that he’d never really believed that. If she’d been resigned to the fact he wasn’t about to see her as anything other than a coworker, there wouldn’t have been any need to abandon MLE. He’d nodded as she’d tried to calm herself down enough to list off what she’d attempted already on the cabinet, spell-wise, anyway. “Well, we’ve established that it is in fact magic securing the cabinet drawers, so the Muggle methods likely wouldn’t have…,” he began, choosing not to address any of the rest of the unsaid portion of the conversation. Until he trailed off as his grey eyes noticed a spark at the same time as a ‘whoosh’, and the drawer popped open. What is with strange things happening?, he wondered, remembering de Talone’s shop at the same time there was a faint twinge in his back. It couldn’t be worse than the sensation of the spark landing on himself, as had apparently happened to her, and he’d raised an eyebrow again at her inference. “This has nothing to do with me, or any personal opinions I may have of you,” he replied, his Scottish accent slipping in even more at the rise of irritation. That had been quite the immature assumption, so he figured he was entitled. Besides, the established fact that he felt nothing aside from professional regard for her did not mean there wasn’t respect. “In fact, the only action I had done was ask you what you’d tried already.” He hadn’t even taken either of his wands out as of yet. There hadn’t been any need to, before they had clarified what had already been tried. Therefore, the only involvement he had with the spark was that he witnessed it. Obviously she had unknowingly hit upon the combination that unlocked the cabinet on her own. |
One of Roxanne's eyebrows arched with amusement and try as she might, she couldn't keep the smirk of amusment from appearing with it when she heard the note of irritation in Dorian's voice, and with it the brogue. It had not been exactly the type of cracking in his usual calm, cool, collected demeanor she had originally been going for, but she'd take it. She had the sudden urge to ask 'why so serious?', but kept that to herself. After all, it was never a good idea to poke the bear when it was already angry. "Just checking," she replied with a wink and overplaying her own accent a little. Okay, so one more gentle poke. "Anyway, do you think there's any more spells on this thing, or is it safe to poke around in the drawer now?" Not that she wasn't completely enjoying making his armor crack |
New Timeline, of course ;) After stalking out of the MLE: CMEC office, Roxanne went back to her own office to stew. How dare that stupid weasel start making demands and acting as if she was the one in the wrong! Seriously, the dude had forgotten both his manners and protocol! Not to mention, something still seemed off about the guy. At least he was surrounded by people who knew what the heck they doing. And Dorian had got what she meant with her look. She hadn't worked so hard on that case just to have it all go to hell the moment she left. Plus, |
What a nice Level this was Level 4. Must be cramped though to have 2 departments on 1 floor. Warfield was delighted to finally be moving around the other departments and checking out the whole of the Ministry of Magic. his first unannounced meeting with Roxanne Carter hopefully won't end with his Head stuffed and mounted on her wall. She was a scarey lady. He moved to her door and gave it five knocked. The thrill of meeting people was still in his veins, as he threw a gleefully doofy smile on his face |
Was the five knocks really necessary? Did the person on the other side of the door think she was deaf just because she was over forty? "Come in!" Roxanne called out, not even pausing in her process of introducing those letters whose writers had clearly decided to ignore her request to use recycled paper instead of parchment to her candles. Sure, it created smoke, but she didn't have a fireplace. And she wasn't going to waste her time reading the letters of those who were just going to ignore her anyway. "And be more careful with those doors, that's actual glass in those panels." You know, just in case they couldn't tell already. Though, she couldn't see how they could miss it, since it was rather obvious. |
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Ah, Warfield Rockefeller. She'd heard that he was the new Senior Undersecretary. Still overly jovial for her tastes. And did he just try to tell her what to do in her own office? Really? Roxanne cast a silent charm to clear the room with a raised brow. "I believe that takes care of the problem." Though, she did stop burning the parchments for the time being. And yeah, not even commenting on the joke. Because it wasn't a very good one. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your unexpected visit?" Stressing thanks to the sarcasm lacing her voice. |
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"And where were you during said "unexpected and unannounced" visit, hmm?" And yes, the air quotes were used. "One would think that if the Minister wanted people to go through a secretary, he would make sure said secretary was at his desk first, no? Besides, one, it was an emergency; and two, we're all busy people around here, yet we still manage to make time to actually speak to people ourselves. And you can tell him I said that, too." Because people had noticed that he just stayed stuffed in his office all the time. Basically, Roxanne thought this Minister had a lot to learn about this Ministry before he just sent his lackeys around handing out punishments. "Also, you can tell him that, while his punishment is extremely harsh for the so called "crime", I'll accept it, but only if the extra money goes to my department." Laura and Jasmine deserved a raise and that would certainly help that. Besides it wasn't like she needed the money anyway. |
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Where were people getting the idea that she was heartless, anyway? Her tough exterior? Well, that was a serious misconception. Sigh. Stuck under his desk? That earned him a raised brow from her. She had heard of accidentally bumping a head, knee, elbow and various other body parts against a desk but actually becoming stuck under one? That was new. She did shake his extended hand, though. "Just because I'm tough doesn't mean I'm heartless, you know." Roxanne just wasn't the type to roll over and let people step all over her, is all. "Have a nice rest of the day, 'k?" And yep, that was his cue to leave her office now. Very busy woman here. |
The Schultz said to pick any Department Head's office. Well then, Eliza has picked the Enviromental's one. She didn't know the Head here that much, but she heard that the woman was another Gabriela Schultz and so, Eliza deemed that the Head wouldn't mind much if she suddenly ram inside her office. Knock, knock, knock. She didn't really wait for anyone to the door up but took the initiative herself. She was in the hurry here. "Good day, Miss Carter." She held her Magical Transpo identification card. "Eliza Tohsaka....Magical Transportation. Do you mind if I test something on your fireplace? It's a little urgent." She hoped the woman didn't have a dozen questions before she could do what she came here to do. |
What in the.........?! Why were people just suddenly bursting into her office? Didn't they realize that she had spells and charms on this place to PREVENT this type of thing? Moreover, didn't they know that she was former MLE and therefore more jumpy and wand happy than the rest? Well, if they didn't, then they did now, since there was now a loud alarm blaring in the office She managed to get a silent disarming spell off before she heard what the person had said. "I'm going to need to see your badge before you test anything in here," she replied, muttering an indistinguishable charm to shut the alarm off. The room now quiet, Roxanne retrained her wand back on the intruder. Waiting for the badge, missy. |
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