Heh. He was being smart, it didn't even wane his good looks, which she so shamelessly admired with a straight face of her own. Emily was oh so curious.

Downing the rest of her cup, Emily placed the empty styrofoam on the plate with the left over greens. Casually observing Rusty observe her, Emily waited to hear his thoughts, and they didn't come as a surprise. Go figure.
"You make me sound like a control freak," she chuckled. Which she was, to a small extent. No denying it.

"Not the words I'd choose." He remarked, putting his cup aside and sitting back comfortably in his chair.

Somehow Emily seemed like the sort that felt she had both everything and nothing to prove, all at once. It was as if she wanted to be above reproach and be the best, but also had a healthy dislike for the idea of anyone trying to paint her into a corner or lambast her with their expectations of who and what she should be. She didn't come across like the sort of person who accepted other people inflicting limitations on her, and that was admirable, but Rusty reckoned she was likely her own worst enemy, which was interesting enough to be sure.

She was tough, but Rusty hadn't worked out how much of it was legitimate and how much of it was an act. Likely he'd never find out for sure, but it was a good way to pass the time to wonder just a bit. She was good company after all.

So far anyway.

Not the words he'd choose? Yet he hadn't specified which words he would use. How curious.

Seeing Rusty relax in his seat, Emily held her position, her mind still considering what he might have meant. It wasn't a criticism, at least she didn't think it was. On the off chance it was, then she didn't care, it was weak. Though control, in her opinion, wasn't something to be ashamed of. She had to show a lot of restraint in her line of work, and Rusty did too no doubt.

Emily wasn't perturbed by the sudden silence. It was a gift. It wasn't uncomfortable in the least, if anything she favoured it over conversation... most times. This, was not quite one of those times.
"It just occurred to me," she started, ending the silence. "That you seem to know me so well, yet I don't feel as though I know you."

Truth. Every observation he'd made about her, struck a chord. But she didn't know much about him aside from the details he'd willingly provided. He was a closed book. Or maybe she losing her touch?

"Its sort of my job to be able to get a read on people." He said, shrugging one shoulder inelegantly. "And you spend enough time mucking about in people's minds, you start picking up on things to the point where you don't even need to get mired down in the bog of a brain to make those sorts of connections about a person." He was observant and picked things up easily because he was familiar with how people thought, essentially. "It sort of works the opposite way too I suppose; maybe I show less of myself because of it." Something the folk in the Brain Room might know more about than a mere Obliviator did though.

"And besides, you haven't really asked me much." He added with a genial and somewhat lopsided grin. He was hardly to blame.

It was sort of her job too. The reading thing, though there were other factors to take into consideration, and she supposed Rusty had a point. He did meddle with brains more than she ever did. She played games. He... well.. that was different. "I guess..." she concluded.

And he was right, she didn't ask questions. Asking questions is what she did for work... not what she did to people she might socialise with. People she might like. "Alright then..."
Emily quickly considered what questions she might ask him. On the one hand, she wanted to ensure she got a sense of who he was, what he did, his philosophies, likes, dislikes... pastimes, but without prying too much. She respected privacy, perhaps because she felt so strongly about her own.
"... tell me three things I don't know about you." There. Shoot. It wasn't as if he had to think about that one, she didn't know much of anything.

Three things? Alright, that was easy enough. He picked some at random.

"I have three brothers, I like to restore retro arcade machines, and I'm currently homeless." Or did she know that last part? He tipped his head to one side consideringly.

Siblings... Emily never had the joys of that. Arcade machines? Were they those muggle things that had lights and sounds?... "Still?!" she asked, eyebrows arched at the last bit. Heck, she'd upgraded her own apartment since they met. Didn't like staying in the one place too long, perhaps that was one area of her life she could learn to control less. "You're not sleeping in the office are you?" she asked, half joking, half serious. She'd have offered her couch.. but people didn't see her place. Well, only those she truly trusted were invited to share her space. That list was limited.

He nodded. "We haven't found the right place. I've been looking but so far no luck." Not on his budget anyway and not close enough to suitable schools, and he really preferred a place where there was a wizarding community, though he didn't mind muggles as well.

"Not in the office." He smiled a bit at that. It'd be comfortable enough if it was just him. "The room we have at the Leaky is nice enough, and I worked out a deal with the owner so its not draining my vault too quickly. I've the budget for a few more weeks at least."

If she didn't know he was having money issues, she'd have thought he was looking to buy a palace, or something like it. Was his lady friend high maintenance? Or just lazy? Emily was irked by lazy people, work ethic was something she admired and for this reason, she almost pitied Rusty.
"What is it that your missus does?" she asked, prying.

It was a relief to know he wasn't actually sleeping at the Ministry, though, the Leaky couldn't be too much better, and two weeks, didn't offer much security. She'd considered offering him a loan of sorts, she had the money... but she recalled the day they met, with the kebab attack. He'd made a point of being awkward accepting her change. Noble. But stupid.
"If you need anything..." she shrugged, unsure of how she could help.

What was that? He raised his eyebrows and looked at her curiously. Had he said something to indicate that he was in some sort of relationship? Rustin reconsidered his words, but he'd not said anything about a girlfriend, not once. And he clearly had no ring on his finger and wasn't married.

"My missus..." He repeated, surprised at the line of questioning.

"Thank you, but I'll be getting my first check soon enough." That was the problem with starting a new job, it took a while for the money to flow but once it did it was worth it.

"Your little lady," Emily clarified, remember word for word how he had mentioned her that day in DA. She'd made assumptions, based on her contextual understanding... wrong again? Not that is was a bad thing, if he didn't have a missus. Made him slightly more interesting.

Nodding, she figured as much. "Offers there." Just cause. And it was what friends were for? No? Whether or not Rusty considered her as a friend was yet to be seen, but frankly, he was a good egg, not annoying in the least... so he was home and hosed in that department.

Ah.

Rusty clicked and his expression grew slightly wary, speculative even. After a moment he smiled ruefully and reached into his pocket for his wallet. He brought it out and opened it, glancing at Emily before handing her a small picture from within.

"That's my Lola." His little lady.

At first, Emily thought she may have said something to offend him. That, or his food wasn’t agreeing with him?... At any rate, she wondered if he was about to take his leave or not.

... Apparently not.

Merlin.

She hadn’t left him? Or worse, died? Emily thought as he handed her a small photograph.

Upon inspection however, Emily realised the case, at least... not as she had imagined.
“She’s lovely,” she said in a low voice, conscious of the fact that she was intruding on something personal. She would never have guessed that Rusty was a father, especially to one so... grown up. But a few pieces started to click into place, forming an impression. “You’re a good father....” it was easy to tell. The markers were there.

Emily handed back the photo, happy she had asked.

And calling Lola lovely made him smile. Big smile, flooding his whole face. He was proud of her, she was precocious and meant the world to him.

"I try to be." He took the picture back and slipped it back into his wallet, which in turn went safely into his pocket. "She's six. I have to find the right place for her, somewhere good for her to grow up. Somewhere safe and nice." He had to be fussy about it in a way that he wouldn't if it was just himself.

"The Leaky isn't ideal, but the owner has a daughter her age, and is taking care of Lola when I'm working and looking at houses, which helps tremendously."

It was infectious, that look on Rusty’s face, she’d seen it before, with Izzy and Wes... Emily couldn’t help but smile too.

“You are.” It was so very clear. The look on his face said it all, that tenderness, the care. Emily wasn’t an expert when it came to children, to parenthood, but she’d had parents of her own, and that was enough of an experience. “Lola’s lucky to have you,” and she was certain he felt the same way. She’d have said something along the line of being sure that Lola would be happy wherever they settled, because that’s what she knew love to be like... but it wasn’t her place to say such things. She had no right.

“Well that’s convenient.... hopefully you’ll find something soon.”

"I'm sorry, I try not to go on about her. Its sort of obnoxious sometimes, you know? When parents won't shut up about their offspring." He shrugged one shoulder and sat up. Not just that but you couldn't really be too careful and sometimes people overshared to their detriment.

"I've been lucky with the people at the Leaky, but I really have to find a place soon. There's only so long the money will last." And he didn't want to get himself in debt. "Anyways, I had best get back to work, I'm supposed to see the Transportation head about this Floo business, take some precautions to prevent statute breaches, the usual."

“It’s fine, really,” she replied. It wasn’t as if he was going on about her at all. It was nice when parents were proud of their children, but she agreed, sometimes it was taken too far. Bragging wasn’t a good look on anyone.

Emily nod her head in understanding, though she couldn’t begin imagine what it was like to have to budget so carefully. Never having had to do so before. “I’ll keep my eye out, if it’ll help.” She got around a bit, and had plenty of experience in the market. In the process of cracking her neck, Emily checked the time on her watch. Yep. She ought to head back too, see where they were at with the task and the like. “Sounds like fun, I’ll catch you later then,” she mused, rising to leave as well.

"I appreciate it." He did. Rusty grinned but part of him wondered if Emily would be as eager to talk to him now, if knowing he was a young father would make her feel distant or anything like that. It had happened before since it tended to change the way people viewed him, and made them wonder things, and count backward and judge him too...

"Lemme know about that viewing." He added, and got up. He gave her another smile and then headed off, on his way to whichever level had the Transportation department on it.

Emily returned Rusty’s grin, offering an additional bob of the head. “And hey, thanks for today...” what with the ninja thing, the company and .... sharing things with her. It was a good day. “I said I would,” she replied over her shoulder, just as she had turned away. Shoving her hands deep into her pockets, Emily departed for level two.

dare ;)
 

Zoe finished eating and decided it was time to announce her new award. She cleared the dishes and tray off of her table top and climbed up. Standing for all to see and hear "Excuse me. May I have your attention please!" She cleared her throat. "Good day, fellow Ministry workers. If you don't already know, I'm Zoe. Zoe Ladasha. Employee of the Month." She held up her certificate for everyone to see.

Turning to her left and right, so all had a chance to see her smiling face "Now, I want you all to know that you too could be chosen for Employee of the Month. Yes, you." She smiled and nodded to everyone in the seating area. "You all can achieve this award by simply doing your job. Yes. It really is that simple. Just do your job." Zoe paused a moment. She wanted to make sure those that wanted to take notes had time to catch up.

"Excuse me. You two. Yes, you." She directed her attention to the two who had been chatting the entire time she had been there.(Tegz and Hera) "I'm not sure which department you work for, but you may not be in the running. It's highly possible that your department heads have noticed you have been gone for some time now." Zoe stepped off the table and collected her things. She had said what she wanted and was available to anyone who wished to speak further.

for Kewe
 

Sky had seen Benjy a couple times the day and hopefully he would be eating now too. She couldn't get him out of her mind and she couldn't wait to see him. As she entered the seating area she heard a speech was going on. Employee of the month...Yada yada...You could be one. She stifled a little chuckle as she heard the last of what she said and took a seat at one of the tables.

Benjy was hungry to say it simply. He had been working nonstop since early that morning. He hadn't even gotten a chance to eat breakfast before he had rushed out the door. That being said, he hadn't actually seen his wife at all since he had been so engrossed in his work. There could have been a fire and Benjy wouldn't even have noticed.

While getting his food, he glanced around the seating part of the cafe, just in time to see his wife take a seat. Well, didn't she look happy.

Once he had paid, he walked over to the seat across from Sky and took a seat. "Hey, Sky." He said, grinning at her.

Sky smiled as she saw Benjy sit down, her heart gave a flutter like it did when she had her very first crush. "Benjy!!!" Pulling him into a hug she smiled. "I kept on seeing you but couldn't come over I was busy. You looked the same." She stared at him as she took a bite of her lunch. She was starving.

She wondered what the the love potion was doing in her body...Did she look different...Hmm she silently thought as she ate more of her lunch. "How has your day been so far?" She grabbed hold of his hand. And gave him another smile, this time more lovey.

Was it just him or was Sky uber excited to see him? Either way, Benjy hugged her back, though with a little less excitement than she had. As he saw her start to eat, he slowly started eating, watching her to make sure that everything was okay.

Was she staring at him? Did she look alright? Benjy pondered, looking at his wife. "My day's been busy. Big project that I'm working on today. Yours?" He responded and asked, glancing carefully at her.

Sky smiled uber happy to see him. Why she had no clue she had saw him earlier in the day but even then she hadn't wanted to leave him...When she should have been ready to go she had to go do her own work. But lately that wasn't on her mind. Work? Who actually did that? When they had someone as wonderful as Benjy to talk too!

She continued staring at him waiting for him to speak...His voice was so wonderful... "Thats good.." she said, not really hearing to what he had just said. What had he asked? She nodded maybe he had asked a question and her nod made sense?