Quote:

Originally Posted by Hera

There was no doubt in her mind that if she didn't burn so much energy each day, she would surely be quite fat. Fat, and happy... because sugar did that to people, made them happy in ways that other things couldn't. Alas, she rather liked her body the way it was, perfectly functioning, fit and lean. It meant she could justify indulging more frequently, and there was no need for guilt.

And see this is what has become of her life now. Great mother of Circe, how? ... She was listening carefully to Tancred's input or... advice, with regard to the whole parenting thing. She was still too new at it to really know what she was doing. Frankly, she didn't have a clue. "So then... what would do you recommend? Surely there's something that might placate him..." how hard could it be? Then again, all she had to do was think of Ashley and Avery and their list making in order to get a picture of the worst case scenario. Avery was the worst, by far, and there was no way she was going to let Zeke indulge in the same habits. "... It does get much harder, right? This parenting thing?" She had to ask, it was a burning question, and nobody she'd spoken to thus far had been able to give her a response she had the patience to sit through.

Abandoning her pie, Emily timed her sip of coffee precisely so that she could hide her smile into her cup. There would be no more of that. By the time she set it down again, she managed to state quite simply, "Excellent."

Now that his meal was practically finished, all he had left to do was drink up his coffee and be on his merry way. But there was no big rush on his end. There was still plenty of time of his lunch break to continue talking with Emily. Maybe he could sneak in a refill of his coffee before heading back to Level Four. But, until it was time to go, he would be speaking with the department head.

Speaking of coffee, he brought the cup to his lips and took a sip. What would he recommend? Hmm. "All kids are different and will react differently. So the approach you take is your judgement call," Tancred started off, recollecting his experiences with his own children. "If there's something else that he really wants, in addition to the wand, you can say that he can only choose one. Or you could find something to distract him from his feelings and keep him occupied for the time being. In the end, it is important to set limits without ruling with an iron fist."

The next question was another that made him think back on his years as a parent. Did it get easier? Yes and no. "It depends. There will always be ups and downs. But you'll be alright as long as you build a solid relationship with your child and have people around who will be a positive influence." That was really all a parent could do without going completely mad.

"Thank you. I typically either pack my lunch and eat in the office or take a walk outside the ministry, so I wasn't aware that it was pretty busy at this time." Last time she had been down here it was pretty dead, so this was interesting. Pulling out her chair and sitting she set her things down so they'd be out the woman out of the way.

Taking a bite of her sandwich she looked around. "How very rude of me. Victoria Maroon." How could she have forgotten just to introduce herself. "My brain is so focused on work I think I forget my everyday manners at times. What department do you work in?" She had to work at the ministry if she was in the food court area, right?

Felix held on tightly to his tray, lest it fall, as he made his way through food court's seating area in search of a empty table. He had no interest in just plopping himself down with people he didn't know, and didn't care to know. Felix was used to eating alone, besides, it wasn't all that bad.. Maybe he could catch up on some reading while he finished off his pizza.

Grabbing a seat at a table near the main entrance, Felix comfortably nestled himself in for his first meal of the day (he'd skipped breakfast earlier, he wasn't much of a breakfast kind of guy).

Felix took a bite of the first of two slices of pepperoni pizza, cringing in annoyance as the hot cheese burned the roof of his sensitive mouth. Damn cheese, it had probably done that on purpose.

With a freshly made chicken caesar salad and a delicious cappuccino from the buffet carefully balanced on a blue tray, Emma headed into the cafeteria to look for a seat. Now where could she sit? Her warm hazel eyes scanned the room, searching for either a familiar face or an empty table. Her eyes stopped on a very familiar young man who was sitting at a table close to the entrance. Aha! Hadn't she seen him in the meeting earlier that day? Should she go sit next to him? The blonde didn't really wish to interrupt; however, she really didn't want to go sit alone either.

So she took a deep breath and approached her fellow colleague. "Um, excuse me. Mind if I join you? I promised that I won't be too disruptive," Emma said with a shy smile with a twinkle in her eye.

Felix had been about to perform a mouth cooling spell on himself, when his attention was grabbed by someone speaking to him, which was odd in itself, most people just left Felix to himself. Glancing up, Felix was met with the sight of an attractive blond young lady with familiar features... Where'd he seen her before? Oh that was right, he'd seen her during the conference for the department.

"Hello," He blankly replied, blinking up at the young woman. She wanted to sit with him? Well, he had been hoping to sit alone, but something about the kindness of her hazel eyes made Felix reluctant to wave her off. "Um.. Not at all, have a seat," the young man said, adjusting his round glasses.

"We.. Work together, don't we?" Felix stiffly said. He wasn't very good at interacting with people.

And then the handsome man said he could join her. Well wasn't he rather kind. She could see that he was only a couple years older than her. He was probably around Brae's age. Twenty six or twenty seven... He looked that age but he could be younger or older than that too.

Anyway, Emma gave him a kind smile and placed her lunch tray down on the table. She was glad that she wasn't going to be sitting along at lunch and she hoped that her co-worked wouldn't mind too too much. She took a seat and unfolded her napkin. Then he had asked her a sort of question or was it a statement? The blonde didn't know.. Uhhh.... "Yes, we do work together. Same department. I'm Emma. Emma Malfoy. I work in the Ever-Locked Room," she explained as she nodded.

Felix tried not to watch the young witch's movements too closely, he'd found that people didn't exactly enjoy his hobby of careful observation, in fact some people seemed to think it rather creepy. Still, he couldn't help making a quick study of the blonde. Yes, there was the kindness he had seen earlier, but there was also a cleverness there that he had missed, this girl seemed like much more than a pretty face.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Malfoy," Felix said, giving Emma a small smile as she introduced herself. Hmm, Malfoy, that was a rather famous last name she had there, it belonged to one of the oldest Wizarding families of all Britain and Felix found himself rather intrigued. "Felix Metei, I've just started in the Space Room, which... I've learned is rather sparse on employees," Felix added, his smile becoming ironic, showing his amusement.

"The Ever-locked room... It's the love room isn't it? Rather curious thing to study," Felix added, with that same, cool amusement.

She blinked a couple of times when he called her Miss Malfoy. Goodness, she wasn't used to people calling her that yet. Despite having a couple of years at the Ministry of Magic under her belt, she was unsure wether or not she'd ever get used to being called Miss Malfoy. She didn't mind being called Miss Malfoy- it was just that she was not used to it yet.

Felix? That was a nice name. It reminded her of liquid luck. She grinned. "It's wonderful to meet you as well, Mr. Metei. Also, welcome to the Department of Mysteries." The Department was a fun one to be involved in. She raised her eyebrows curiously when he informed her that the Space Room was low on employees. He'd have plenty of room in there. "Indeed. We have a couple of people in the Ever-Locked room; however, its not nearly the same amount of people that we used to have," she explained as she thought back about her first year in this very department. There had been so many new names to learn back then. Then with a wicked grin, she leaned forward and added, "You can always come spend time with the Ever-Locked people!" Yes, she'd be glad to have a friendly face around the room. She took a sip of her cappuccino. Ooh. That was good. The food here was much better than the food over at the American Ministry.

Emma raised both of her eyebrows when he enquired about the love room. Oh yes, she had gotten quite an interesting number of questions about her position so she often told people that she was an Unspeakable. She grinned. "Mhmm.. I'm a Love Specialist. It's pretty interesting," she explained, winking at him.

Caroline smiled. "I've never been down here. I usually pack leftovers from home and eat down in the department." Because Merlin knows as soon as she would set down to get she would get called for one of the kids who bumped their head. Or something along those lines.

"Oh I'm Caroline Delgado. Nursery Healer in the specialty area department. It's nice to meet you." She said poking around the slices of cucumbers in her salad. "What department do you work in?" Caroline didn't know many people out side of her department. It was sad she really needed to get out more.

She had never been down here? Well Vic could relate to being busy and not having the chance. "I know what you mean. I get so caught up working some days it's either to just skip lunch or eat at my desk. " Taking a bite of her sandwich she chewed quietly for a moment.
Though it is nice to come down once in awhile. They do have pretty good food here."

A nursery healer, well that sounded fun. "You know Jamie then?" She just loved Jamie, he was certainly one of her closest friends.
He is such a sweet man." She beamed thinking about him. Always there for her. "Nursery Healer, no wonder you don't have time to eat. If they are like any of my children." There had to be plenty of work for her.

"Oh I'm the Quidditch Division Manager in Games and Sports." Silly her for not saying that earlier, but Vic wasn't one to really say her department unless someone asked. She was super proud of her job, but never wanted to be one that bragged either.

Deciding not to eat a packed lunch in her office for a change, Mariel ventured out of Level Seven to the Food Court. She really had to force herself not to take her work with her, she had been doing enough of that at home, but some of the names were starting to blur together from looking at the same parchments for so long so she knew she needed to give her eyes a rest from Quidditch, even if only for 30 minutes. But she still had this morning's copy of the Daily Prophet with her so her mind wasn't too idle and began wandering through a Quidditch Pitch anyway.

Once she selected the Fettuccine from the main buffet area, the brunette carried that and her coffee over to an empty table. It was a bit more hearty than the lunches she normally had at work, but she did need an actual break today instead of trying to work through while eating half a sandwich. Taking a seat, she laid the paper open at the table, green eyes cast over it while she started in on her lunch.

SPOILER!!: Mariel

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjay

Deciding not to eat a packed lunch in her office for a change, Mariel ventured out of Level Seven to the Food Court. She really had to force herself not to take her work with her, she had been doing enough of that at home, but some of the names were starting to blur together from looking at the same parchments for so long so she knew she needed to give her eyes a rest from Quidditch, even if only for 30 minutes. But she still had this morning's copy of the Daily Prophet with her so her mind wasn't too idle and began wandering through a Quidditch Pitch anyway.

Once she selected the Fettuccine from the main buffet area, the brunette carried that and her coffee over to an empty table. It was a bit more hearty than the lunches she normally had at work, but she did need an actual break today instead of trying to work through while eating half a sandwich. Taking a seat, she laid the paper open at the table, green eyes cast over it while she started in on her lunch.

Today hadn't actually been all that stressful, Dmitry hadn't really had anything that needed seeing to right away, besides the employee information form which hadn't taken as long as he thought it would, but he was still quite hungry. Probably because he hadn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday. Oops. He'd gotten in too late for dinner though and then hadn't had time in the morning because he overslept. Travel always had worn him out. Now his body was demanding sustenance and so he was actually taking his lunch break. In the ministry, which seemed well kitted out. The food even smelled delicious.

Walking into the seating area he balanced a heavy tray. It was weighted down with Dragon's Breath Stew, which sounded strange but interesting, Pomegranate Juice, Pumpkin and Cherry Pies and a Chocolate Fudge Brownie. He might have gone overboard when ordering his food but Dmitry could probably pack away most of it. He'd just need to hit the gym this weekend and he had the dance class tomorrow night to help him work off all the empty calories.

Spotting a familiar face at one of the tables Dmitry made his way over, placing the tray down across from the first woman he'd met after making the move to London. "Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked Mariel. He'd find somewhere else if she wanted to be left alone, he could even head back to his desk and eat there if he had to, although Dmitry would prefer not to. Eating at ones desk was a guaranteed way to get people to ask you to do something for them.

Green eyes skimmed over the opened paper in search of the familiar byline as she distractedly worked through her fettuccine. Mariel knew what he had been working on lately so nothing would really come as surprise but she enjoyed seeing his articles in print. Nothing in there today though, so she once again turned to the front page headlines to see if there was anything else of interest.

An article about a poorly controlled magical fire had just caught her attention when a voice and request caused her to glance up. "Oh.. Dmitry, hello," she said with a smile as recognition quickly set in. It had been quite some time since she had seen the not-so-new-anymore Ministry worker. "Not at all, I certainly don't mind the company," she added, folding up the paper again to allow him more room for his tray. She couldn't help but to allow her eyes to rest on the amount of food that he had there. "Nice to see a healthy appetite, you must be working hard," she said with a grin. At least that was often the way with her, hard work made her hungry, as was the case today.

"So how are things on Level Five?" As much as she dearly loved her department, it was all Quidditch all the time lately with the event planning and she was actually welcoming the chance to talk about someone else's work for a few minutes to break up her day.

Coffee was needed. Badly. Kade was behind on his sleep lately and it was definite catching up with him. So he was using his break as an opportunity to ingest some caffeine and wake up a bit.

He glanced around the seating area, shaking his head slightly at all the colors.It both lightened the place up and made him feel like he was in a kid's playroom, but he wasn't going to complain. Not that there was anything to complain to.

He took a seat on a red chair and leaned back, settling down to enjoy his break and his coffee.

SPOILER!!: Mariel

QUOTE=emjay;11633563]Green eyes skimmed over the opened paper in search of the familiar byline as she distractedly worked through her fettuccine. Mariel knew what he had been working on lately so nothing would really come as surprise but she enjoyed seeing his articles in print. Nothing in there today though, so she once again turned to the front page headlines to see if there was anything else of interest.

An article about a poorly controlled magical fire had just caught her attention when a voice and request caused her to glance up. "Oh.. Dmitry, hello," she said with a smile as recognition quickly set in. It had been quite some time since she had seen the not-so-new-anymore Ministry worker. "Not at all, I certainly don't mind the company," she added, folding up the paper again to allow him more room for his tray. She couldn't help but to allow her eyes to rest on the amount of food that he had there. "Nice to see a healthy appetite, you must be working hard," she said with a grin. At least that was often the way with her, hard work made her hungry, as was the case today.

"So how are things on Level Five?" As much as she dearly loved her department, it was all Quidditch all the time lately with the event planning and she was actually welcoming the chance to talk about someone else's work for a few minutes to break up her day.[/QUOTE]

Oh good. He wasn't interrupting her. He had been slightly worried about that since she'd been reading the paper. It was nice to hear that the company was appreciated though. "Hello Mariel, anything interesting in the paper?" he returned her smile as he took the blue seat across from her own and began picking at his stew, gesturing to the Daily Prophet with his other hand. It was spicy but tasted divine. Good to see a hearty appetite? He couldn't help but chuckle slightly at her comment about his appetite meaning he was working hard. "I believe the saying goes hardly working," while he was fluent in English sometimes, especially after being back home, he didn't get sayings exactly right. Dmitry was confident however that this time he had. "It's really more that I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon. I only actually got back to London late last night," he told her with a shrug, digging into the stew in earnest now that he knew it tasted good. "What about you, did you have a good holiday?" he asked her, not merely to be polite but also because he was interested. While he wouldn't call Mariel a friend, they didn't see enough of each other for that, she was an acquaintance and from what he saw of her he liked her.

How were things on level five? She wanted to talk about work? Well, Dmitry would oblige. Taking a sip of his juice Dmitry thought about what he could actually say about work on level five. "Well right now not much is going on. We had a meeting earlier today and we're apparently going to be hosting the Council Meeting this year and there are some people that will be visiting over the course of the year as well according to Gidyun that security might be needed for. He hasn't given us all the details yet, but I'm thinking if we do need security I'll have to liaise with the MLE," he told her with a wry grin, recalling Mariel's dislike of that Department from when they'd first met. "Other than that we've really been trying to get the paperwork back in order. Most of the employee records were destroyed by the Chizpurfle's, including mine so I've spent time this morning filling it in and getting acquainted with new and returning employees," Nikki seemed nice and like someone he could get along with easily and although he hadn't talked much to Bhuvana he did hope that she settled in well. "Other than that I'm now the level five liaison so I'm going to have to try and familiarise myself with the Ministers Office in greater detail. What about you?"

Vic had a bunch of doughnuts set in his plate as he made his way, happily, to the seating area with the intention to enjoy those heavenly pastries in private. January apparently had something to work on, a ghost was harassing a kid or something, Vic forgot. He strolled into the cheerfully themed seating area only to find none other than Kade Fuller (yes, he remembered names perfectly and from the first encounter) in one of them tables.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Vic's legs moved on their own accord, and he found himself standing behind the chairs opposite of Kade. "Uhh." Well?? "Mind if I join you?" They needed to have a small... talk. A good talk, a better one now that Vic knew things.

Kade had kind of zoned out of his surroundings at some point, so when he saw a man standing in front of him he couldn't honestly remember seeing him walk up. Now that he was here, though, Kaden sat up and tried to look a bit more professional.

... It was Vic. Kade almost expected the worse, considering what he had done last time (and the only time) he had seen the man. But he would give the benefit of the doubt. A lot of time had passed between then and now. Maybe Vic wasn't here to cuss him out.

"Of course," he replied, gesturing to the seat across from him. He wanted to immediately jump into an apology, but he figured it might be better to wait and see what exactly Vic had in mind for this. So, he settled with a polite, "how are you?"

Vic expected a sarcastic comment, or a rude gesture in all honesty. And he was prepared to intrude on the man and join him even if that was his reaction. But no, Fuller seemed to be well collected and... polite. Good, this made things easier. "Thank you." Vic murmured, taking a seat and setting his doughnuts platter in front of him.

... "Would you like--" He started to talk but let his companion finish his sentence first. "I'm good, good. Ya know, work and life. You?" His mouth pulled to the side in a smile. "Would you like a doughnut with that coffee?" Sharing food was kind of a big peaceful gesture on Vic's part.

Kade watched silently as Vic sat himself and his doughnuts down, and did his best not to raise his eyebrows at the small mountain of food. He actually needed to talk to this guy, and that would probably be easier if he kept his attitude in check.

So he smiled. "About the same. Life and work," he said. He immediately tried to think of another topic to ask, but Vic was faster than him. And... offering a doughnut. It would be rude to decline, right? And Kaden actually did want a doughnut. They looked good. "Sure. Thank you."

Before taking a bite, though, Kade decided that he was going to get the apology thing over with. "Look," he said, "We didn't get off to a good start. And I realize that was my fault. I had no reason to... do what I did and I sincerely hope I didn't cause any trouble." Because he had very much wanted to cause trouble at the time of the... incident? Encounter?

And now, with his conscious clear, Kaden ate his doughnut.

He put life before work, Vic noticed that and wanted to smile at that but didn't. It could be misunderstood, they were walking on thin ice here. He pushed the doughnut plate closer to Fuller and watched him take one, and bit-- oh. No. He didn't take a bite, instead he started sort of apologizing.

Vic heard him out till the end, a peace dawning over him because Fuller was saying all the right things. Vic wasn't an illogical man, he was never blinded by his emotions. "Apology accepted. I think it was more of a bad timing than anything, but no, you didn't cause any troubles." In fact, it was quite the opposite. Vic tried not to show his grin by starting on a doughnut himself too. "January told me that you two are, or were, good friends." She said they weren't anymore, Vic didn't want to be the reason for that. They were adults, they could handle those things reasonably. No need to kill any friendships.

Oh. No trouble. That would have been disappointing at the time, but he was being honest now when he said that he hoped there was no trouble. So he was glad they were okay. Although now that he was thinking about it in the right state of mind, he figured that it probably hadn't been a big deal between Vic and January at all.

And Vic accepted his apology. So Kaden supposed all was forgiven.

Kade nodded slowly when Vic mentioned January. Were. "Are," Kade corrected. "As of recently, actually." It had kind of happened accidentally, which was probably why Vic wasn't aware of it yet. Kade was going to explain how it happened, but he realized that Vic might not care. So he just waited for the other man to say something else.

... are? Vic didn't hide his surprise, last time he talked with January she was so against getting back with Fuller as friends. Ironically, Vic had made it clear that it wouldn't bother him if she did. He trusted her, and if anything bad happened, he'd come for Fuller through the law. The man would get sent to Azkaban, and all would've been sorted. Hehhh. But yeah, that probably won't happen since Fuller seemed genuine now.

"Good." He finished his first doughnut and grabbed another. "Just like you don't like to cause troubles between us, I don't like to cause troubles between friends." Nice doughnuts, mmMMMmm.

So since he was Jan's friend, maybe it was time they tried to get to know each other more? Yes? "I don't know what you do around here in the ministry yet. I suppose January told you what I do...?" Vic remembered Kade introducing himself but he didn't hear him that time over the roaring of his angered temper.

It was obvious that Vic found that bit of information surprising. Which... didn't surprise Kade. He could imagine the things that January had said about him after what he had done. It probably wasn't pretty. And she had probably not even considered being friends with him again.

He nodded, finishing his doughnut as he listened to Vic introduce himself. Kind of. "She probably did say, but I don't remember," Kade said. It was completely honest, and he wondered how Vic would respond. Hopefully not too badly, because he obviously didn't remember what Kade did, and Kade was fairly sure he had mentioned his job title when he had first introduced himself.

He wasn't going to mention that, though. "I'm a liaison in the Department of Specialties," he told him. And maybe he hadn't mentioned the fact that he was a liaison last time. So there was that.

Green eyes fell to the folded paper next to her at the mention of it and she gave a small shrug. "Not really," she said, looking up with a soft smile. "Certainly nothing that caught my attention at least. Slow day for the Prophet, perhaps." Nothing Jorge had written and nothing much more than fluff pieces, though she supposed that no news wasn't always a bad thing. Unless it was your profession, of course.

She gave him a curious but amused look at his next sentiment. "I'm certain that's not true.." she began, chuckling along with him as she was sure he was joking. But the next part made sense. She knew he wasn't originally from the area and it would be likely that he had visited family over the holiday. "Oh..?" Well, certainly going without eating wasn't a good thing.. "Do some traveling during the Ministry break?" She hadn't remembered seeing him at the Ministry Gala, but she had been otherwise occupied and hadn't seen much of anyone so it didn't necessarily mean he wasn't there. "I had quite a lovely break, yes," she answered, smiling as she looked down at the ring on her finger. "I got engaged.." She'd flaunt the ring a bit but she wasn't so sure men really got into that type of thing as much as her women friends did. Still, she was happy to share her news.

The 29 year old ate a bit of her fettuccine as she listened to Dmitry speak of his work and the current happenings of Level Five, nodding here and there. Thankfully her own level had taken enough care of the repercussions left by the chizpurfle mess last year that they didn't have to deal with that mess on top of the work they had now, but she certainly understood where he was coming from. "Oh a council meeting sounds interesting," she mused aloud over a sip of coffee. She did like meeting people from other countries and vaguely wondered what they'd be doing here. "Oh you've been given the liaison position? Congratulations," she gave him an approving smile. Always nice to be given recognition at work. "I held that position on Level Seven for a time.." Of course that was before she had been promoted to Department Head and she really needed to hire another though she wasn't sure the size of her department or the current restructuring allowed for it. So for now, it was still her or one of her managers when something was needed.

And of course, he had turned the question back to her. Something she was happy to oblige. "We have quite a bit going on in Games and Sports right now. We're planning a community event with some of the professional Quidditch players in the area, so that has our main focus. But it's certain to be a good time.. you should come out and see for yourself." He was a Quidditch fan, right? She thought he mentioned that he was.. but really, who wasn't? And she was sure the community at large would enjoy themselves there.

Did she seem a little bemused or was that Felix's imagination? Had the Romanian said something odd? Probably, he tended to be rude, or to speak strangely without realizing it. "Have I... Said something wrong?" Felix asked, tilting his head.

The look of confused concern on Felix's face vanished and was replaced by a small smile as Emma very warmly welcomed him to the Department Of Mysteries, before going on to comment on the lack of people in her own sub division. Hmm, strange, Felix had always assumed that the DOM was one of the more populated areas of the Ministry, he had clearly been wrong. "Thank you," Felix said, before taking a rather large bite of his pepperoni pizza. "Why is that? Are they downsizing the department or have there just been less applicants lately?" Felix asked, managing to sound perfectly normal even with his mouth full of dough and cheese. "I can? That's allowed?" Felix said, his dark eyebrows raised in surprise. He hadn't thought he would be allowed to wander into the other rooms. He was definitely going to take advantage of this.

Felix had never been the romantic type, he believed himself too logical to get swept away by emotions like love and lust, but that didn't mean he wasn't curious about their natures, and he was actually rather eager to learn them mysteries behind the Ever-Locked Room. "A love specialist? If you don't mind my asking, what exactly does that entail?" Felix said, flushing slightly as Emma winked at him. Was she flirting with him? She wasn't showing any of the tell-take signs of physical attraction so maybe it was intended as a friendly gesture. He would file this little moment away for further inspection.