As you stand outside the office of Harmony Skylark, you'll notice a handmade crocheted sign that reads Check your harsh vibes at the door. It is wise to follow this advise before knocking as the department head will no doubt be checking your aura before you enter.

When you step inside, you are overcome with the feeling that you've entered a giant blanket fort. Colorful fabrics cover most of the walls and where there is empty space, pictures of creatures magical and mundane are featured in over-sized bamboo frames. Please take a seat on one of the comfy couches that may remind you of your grandparents in both how they smell and feel, all the furniture here is second hand. And as the scent of incense fills your nostrils, your eyes will wander over to where Ms. Skylark is seated, cross-legged on a pillow right in front of her desk. Best not to ask questions.

Feel free to come play! Visitors are always welcome!

After what had been a very emotionally exhausting day in the field, Harmony stepped into her office and closed her eyes, taking in the scent of incense. She heaved a deep breath and let it out slowly, her eyes fluttering open and landing on the pillow that was seated on the floor in front of her desk. Ah yes, she definitely had time for some meditation.

Slipping off her hemp shoes, the red head wandered across her faux-fur carpet to the billowy pillow and sat down, legs crisscrossed in front of her. She then centered herself and after closing her eyes, let out a rather loud and over-dramatic, "Ooooooooooommmmmmmmmm!"

...

...

"Oooooooooooommmmmmmmm!"

An eagle circled around the room and landed on the desk and unfolded itself.

Finally free from its imprisonment, the creature left the holding area and scurried along the floor until it found new resting grounds by squeezing itself under a door. The beady-eyed creature clicked its large teeth and scurried as quickly as its legs could carry it towards the sofa where it began gnawing and nomming on the fabric of one of the cushions.

*RIIIIIIIIIIP*

Teeth tore through the fabric like butter.

Oh! Didn't this seem like a nice place to build a home! Ripping through more fabric and flinging stuffing all about the floor, it began to make a nest-like home in the sofa cushion.

After retrieving her unicorn thermos filled with wheatgrass, the creatures department head made her way swiftly back to her office. She had some paper work to take care of and some memos to send, all of which she had to do before she could indulge in the green liquid heaven.

As soon as she entered the space, Harmony could tell that something was off. It was the vibe of the room, it was all wrong. The energy was different than when she'd left and there was an aura in the room that was not her own. Clear red, powerful and energetic. Very different than her current royal blue.

Now what had entered her sp-

O__________________________O

"MY SOFA!"

Stuffing. everywhere. Noises. Creature. What...?!

AHEM.

She needed to breathe. She needed...a sip...of wheatgrass.

SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP.

"What in the name of Odin's raven is going on in here?!"

As if whatever was now NESTING in her cushions could talk, yeah?

Wand out, she placed her unicorn thermos down and approached the damaged sofa slowly, taking deep, calming breaths as she did. This situation called for calm. Oh yes.

WARM WARM WARM SO WAAAAAAAAAAARM!

The creature had now completely buried itself within the cushion, marked its territory a few times over, and was now curling up in a ball to catch some much needed sleep....until it HEARD something.

"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Teeth clattering once again, the creature began nomming its way out the other end of the cushion until it was out, scurried along the sofa, and LEAPED across until it landed on the desk and onto one of the fabrics covering the walls where it began scaling it.

Up up up it went while looking for another escape route.

That screeching was unnerving and as soon as Harmony saw what she was dealing with, she took a few steps back and put a protective shield between herself and the unknown creature. As far as she knew, the Accidents and Catastrophes team was still awaiting results on tests they'd done on this particular specimen so she knew little of what it was capable of. All she did know was that its teeth were incredibly powerful and it was unexpectedly fast. Merlin.

O_______O

The red head's eyes widened as the creature began scaling the fabric on the wall, impressed by its ability to climb like that. Pity she couldn't take notes right now. Instead she watched and tried to stay out of the creature's way. As long as it was in her office, it was contained.

"How on earth did you get out of your cage?" She said quietly, head tilted to the side. "No matter. You are safe in here, okay? No harm will come to you but you will need to return to a confined area where you will be looked after. It's not safe for you to run around like this." And not safe for her furniture either.

And now she was inching closer to the wall, wand at the ready.

It had been a fairly normal day. A spectre problem had been taken care of and January had just returned to her work area to fill some paperwork when she saw out of the corner of her eye her department head entering her office. She didn't think anything of it until she heard an exclamation about... her sofa?

January looked towards the woman's door before slowly making her way towards it. Was the woman talking to herself? She wouldn't put it past her, but she certainly sounded slightly... panicked.

Hesitantly, January knocked on Harmony's office door. "Miss Skylark? Is everything all right?"

Heyyyy-o, there was January. "Did you hear the sofa screeches TOO?" William wondered aloud as he came up on the door. Guess this was the right door to his boss' office, since she was knocking and all.

He stood slightly behind the redhead, a puzzled frown on his face as he wondered just what was going on in there, and whether or not they should force the door open? What if she was being attacked by something that had flown in through the window like a dragon?? Did they even HAVE real windows here???

Talking. The human was talking to it. Escape. Must. Escape from the talking human.

Pink drool oozed out of the creatures mouth and dripped all over the floor below. It's teeth chattered and it began to crawl around the room easily thanks to all of the fabrics hanging from the walls. Yes, so nice for its claws to grip. Oh so nice.

It eventually made its way back towards the door and began to try and squeeze its way back under it.

This place. Not safe. Must escape.

Oh Merlin's beard, this creature's aura was pulsating and Harmony wasn't making any headway with the soothing words. Not to mention that the drool was getting all over and she doubted it was good for the floors. She had this urge to vile the pink substance for further testing but that was quickly stifled. This poor thing was clearly petrified and acting out of fear. The only fair thing to do was to stun it so that it could be handled with care and put back into a safe environment.

Only Harmony could not get a clear shot what with the creature maneuvering around the walls like it was. Her only hope was that it would come down to ground level again so that she could corner it and then came her opportunity.

And the knocking...

What timing.

"The unidentified creature we have been keeping in the holding room has somehow escaped. It is currently trying to crawl under the door. Please have your wands at the ready and watch your toes, people. We need to contain this situation."

As for Harmony, she was going to give the stunning spell another go. Hold still, little guy. "Stupefy!"

Oh, good, there was William. Which meant she wasn't totally insane and that someone else had heard odd things coming from behind the door as well. "I did," she replied quietly. January leaned closer to the door, but didn't hear anything other than their department head speak up.

The unidentified creature escaped? The mutant Well. This was peachy. And it was now trying to get under the door..? January looked down. Wait. It was IN her office? January's eyes widened and she quickly leapt stepped back from the door, running into William as she pulled out her wand. "Sorry, dear," she said quickly before projecting her voice louder for Harmony to hear, "Miss Skylark, did it attack you?" January pointed her wand at the bottom of the door, waiting for the little critter to reveal itself. It was important to know if this little thing was hungry for human flesh, you know. Also, a damaged department head was less than good.

Dear? William tried not to be puzzled by the fact that January had just called him dear, and instead focused on working his wand out of his pocket. He got it out just in time, as SOMETHING appeared to be trying to squeeze out the door. Harmony sounded okay though. She was still giving orders and stuff.

"Should we stupefy it too?" he muttered out of the side of his mouth to January, though all his focus was on the bottom of the door.

The creature let out another ear piercing screech when the one human shot a bright light in its direction. BRIGHT LIGHTS, NO LIKEY THE BRIGHT LIGHTS!

Clawing its way further under the door, it began to nomomomomom on the wood in desperation to make its escape easier. As its giant teeth and pink saliva hit the wood, a low hissing sound could be heard as the acidity turned it to woody mush and allowed it to escape to the other side of the door.

Squeaking and chattering its teeth, it scurried across the ground and up the man's pant leg where it latched onto his leg. Dark places were the best sort of hiding places.

Eyes on the creature, Harmony could't help but feel an overwhelming urge to save it from whatever panic it was currently feeling. It weighed terribly heavy on her creature-loving heart to see something behaving in such a frightened manner and in her presence, no less. Did the creature not sense her positive vibes? She frowned slightly at this, wishing she could magnify them for it.

Attack her? Was that what was asked? "Merlin, no. The creature seems to want to get as far away from me as possible. Poor thing had a bad experience with humans, no doubt."

O___O

The light her wand had produced seemed to be a trigger and Harmony raised an eyebrow, both startled and curious about the sudden desperation the creature was exhibiting. "It doesn't seem to like the light. We'll need to lure it into a cage by other means. I think you should summo-" ...one. Only she couldn't finish her sentence because now the creature was free and her door, her poor door, was ruined.

The red head quickly opened it just in time to see the creature scurry up William's pant leg. The man had handled dragons so surely he would be able to handle this, yes?

"Just seeking a dark place, is all." She said thoughtfully. "William, I need you not to panic."

Seeking a DARK PLACE? His pants were a DARK PLACE?!!!!!

William felt the hair on the back of his neck stand straight up as he tried not to say, or do, or move, anything. There. Was. A. Creature. With. Acidic. Breath. On. His. Leg.

"Um, Harmony?" His voice came out in a bit of a squeak. "Can I hug it or move it or tackle it or something?" Not panicking, not panicking, just asking questions, not panicking. After all, if he wrapped it up in a blanket and hug!squeezed it tight enough, maybe it would pass out. That would be a dark place for it. "Did you SEE what it DID to your DOOR?!"

NOT PANICKINGGGGG okay maybe he was panicking a little. BUT IT WAS LATCHED ON TO HIM. WHAT IF IT BIT HIM AND MELTED HIS THIGH THROUGH AND HE LOST THIS LEG?!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He'd never be able to ride dragons ever again!?

Also, what in Merlin's middle name WAS this creature?!!!!!!!

Tackle the creature? Harmony wrinkled her nose and held up her hands, as if stopping that train of thought right in its tracks. "I don't think that wise. My door was a result of my trying to contain the creature." And surely grabbing it would only cause it to react in a frightened manner, one which might result in a not-so-good endgame for William.

The red head crept forward, eyeing the man curiously as she assessed the situation. After a moment or two, she came up with the only solution she could think of. "William, I think you'll need to remove your pants." Perhaps she could use some of the ruined fabrics hanging on her walls to make a makeshift dressing room or something. In any case, at least these would get William's legs out of harms way and allow the creature to stay hidden within the material. Perhaps then they could maneuver it into a cage.

"I suggest you start by removing your shoes...slowly."

January had been sort of astounded by the fact that the creature's saliva was melting the door and she hadn't been prepared enough to stop it when it bolted out and scrambled up William's pant leg.

Oh dear. That was a problem.

His shouting was probably not helping, but January couldn't blame him. In fact, she probably would have whacked the thing on the head if it were her, but she assumed that her department head would not be okay with that.

"Try not to shout, Will," January said calmly, her wand pointed at his leg. It would only frighten the thing more, which could possibly cause it to sizzle his leg.

Wait.... what? Harmony wanted him to take his pants off? Right now? Really? And was that a completely innocent request? January gave her a curious look. "Perhaps... there is an alternative?" January wasn't quite sure she wanted to see William's underwear today.

January quietly summoned an empty cage from the holding room and caught it in her hands. She carefully set it on the ground near William's foot. "Maybe you could try immobilizing or stunning it from... inside your pants." Merlin. What a situation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Tackle the creature? Harmony wrinkled her nose and held up her hands, as if stopping that train of thought right in its tracks. "I don't think that wise. My door was a result of my trying to contain the creature." And surely grabbing it would only cause it to react in a frightened manner, one which might result in a not-so-good endgame for William.

The red head crept forward, eyeing the man curiously as she assessed the situation. After a moment or two, she came up with the only solution she could think of. "William, I think you'll need to remove your pants." Perhaps she could use some of the ruined fabrics hanging on her walls to make a makeshift dressing room or something. In any case, at least these would get William's legs out of harms way and allow the creature to stay hidden within the material. Perhaps then they could maneuver it into a cage.

"I suggest you start by removing your shoes...slowly."

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahlooo

January had been sort of astounded by the fact that the creature's saliva was melting the door and she hadn't been prepared enough to stop it when it bolted out and scrambled up William's pant leg.

Oh dear. That was a problem.

His shouting was probably not helping, but January couldn't blame him. In fact, she probably would have whacked the thing on the head if it were her, but she assumed that her department head would not be okay with that.

"Try not to shout, Will," January said calmly, her wand pointed at his leg. It would only frighten the thing more, which could possibly cause it to sizzle his leg.

Wait.... what? Harmony wanted him to take his pants off? Right now? Really? And was that a completely innocent request? January gave her a curious look. "Perhaps... there is an alternative?" January wasn't quite sure she wanted to see William's underwear today.

January quietly summoned an empty cage from the holding room and caught it in her hands. She carefully set it on the ground near William's foot. "Maybe you could try immobilizing or stunning it from... inside your pants." Merlin. What a situation.

If they'd just let him tackle the thing, this whole situation could be over and done with. Brute force worked great on dragons; why not on.....er..... whateverthisthingywasmajig?

His mouth literally dropped open when his boss asked him to remove his pants. Wasn't there some kind of law against that in the uh workplace????? Not that he was complaining, exactly, except maybe he was. They were standing in the middle of a hallway, here. Hello.

"Yeah I'll try," he sarcastically remarked to January. At least she was trying something, with that cage there. "I don't," he awkwardly tried bending at the hip but was afraid of actually touching the creature with his bare skin. "I don't know how to do this."

Immobilize from inside his pants with WHAT?!??! He slowwwly moved his wand around to point at the creature. Harmony had said it liked dark spaces, right? What if he calmed it down by making it THINK everything had gone dark? Maybe it would just let go of his leg.

"Obscuro!" he whispered strongly, pointing his wand straight at the creature thingy's little face.

Harmony genuinely didn't understand the looks and so she just remained solemn, eyes on William's pants for any signs of movement. She hadn't meant to scandalize the man, only prevent his leg from being exposed to acidic saliva.

The red head was glad that the cage was now here and gave an approving nod to January though she knew that their struggle with this creature was probably far from finished. If it had been a fan of being in the cage, it probably would not have tried to escape in the first place. No matter, though. This was an excellent opportunity to see her employees working in a high stress environment. Wasn't the universe lovely in that it afforded you impromptu assessment opportunities like this one?

And hopefully William did not have a shaky wand hand because it was imperative his aim was true. If he did not hit the creature dead-on, he'd probably only cause it to go wild again and he wasn't exactly a safe distance away from it for something like that.

"Good thinking with the blindfold, William." Perhaps now the creature could be stunned without worry. Perhaps.

The combination of the body heat from the human and the darkness from the pant leg - which pleasantly became darker all of a sudden - not only soothed the creature, but also made it quite sleepy.

zzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZ

*SNOOOOOOOOOOOOORE*

So...... it was over just like that? The creature fell asleep? Erhrrrm. What was he supposed to do with a sleeping attachment on his leg?

"Should I put it in the cage?" he whispered back to Harmony. You know what, maybe her idea about taking off his pants was right. William gently shook his leg to see if it were really and truly sleeping.

It was. It was even snoring.

"Maybe if I just... sort of... wrap it up..." William mused, more to himself than to either of the ladies present. But what was he going to wrap it up in when it was still attached to his leg?? He had an idea, but... well... they were ladyfolk present....

William sighed to himself and gently slipped out of his shoes. Good thing he hadn't worn sneakers today. His face was already starting to turn red from what he was about to do. "Ladies, you might want to avert your eyes." Oh man. What boxers had he even worn today? Please not the red hot chili pepper ones... He really hoped January wasn't looking. He was going to be SO EMBARRASSED.

He hurried with the next part of his plan: undoing his pants and actually taking them off. He was very, very careful as he slid his trousers down with the clingy creature on them. Once they were off, and it was still sleeping, Merlin it was drafty in here William quickly swaddled the mutant creature all up in his pants and made sure to tie the legs together over the creature's chest so that it couldn't easily escape.

Then he placed it in the cage with a sigh and tried to decide what he was going to do down without pants. For now, though, he stood behind the cage and tried not to look too awkward.

Snoring. Such a lovely sound. It was the sound of a creature at ease and relaxed, one that she'd hoped to hear from this particularly active creature as soon as possible. This meant they could secure it without any further damage to the office, then. Her poor office. Such bad vibes in there now. She'd need to light some extra lilac incense after this little scene.

Eyes on William, Harmony raised her eyebrows and said airily, "Oh no, I think he's quite cozy where he is." Her smile gave away that she was joking, though. Everyone could relax now that the creature was pretty much pacified and humor was a good way to calm people down. At least Harmony thought so.

And look, William had decided that her pants idea wasn't so far-fetched after all. If Harmony was the type of person to gloat, she WOULD have given January a smug look right now, but Harmony was NOT that type. Ohhh no. So instead she simply gave her dragon enthusiast an approving nod and watched. Because she was the department head and because as the department head, it was her duty to aim her wand at the creature in case it woke up in the process of William removing his pants. This was purely for business purposes, you see. The red head could care less about William's pants or the fact that they were coming off.

...Mhm.

After the creature was securely in the cage, Harmony BEAMED at William and January, clearly pleased with how they'd handled themselves in such a chaotic situation. "Well done, the both of you. Now William, I've got an extra sarong in my office that you can wrap around yourself until we are able to retrieve your pants from our little sleepy-head." And without waiting to see if he'd even want that, Harmony hurried over to her desk and removed a dolphin print, aqua sarong from one of the larger drawers.

"Here you are. It'll go nicely with your skin tone." GRIN! "And January, I think we'd better get this cage back to the holding room. Do you think you could manage that?"

Alright. SOMEONE needed to take a look at the lifts as well. After stopping and jolting and literally getting no where for ten minutes, he and Gavin and given up on using the lifts and taken the stairs to Harmony's office. Thankfully, it was only the next level, so there wasn't roo much hustling involved. Not enough that he couldn't handle it anyway.

Only the lifts were not the strangest thing he encountered on this visit to Harmony's office. Aron stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a man with his pants off, Harmony standing there looking pleased with herself, and another woman standing nearby.

What in Merlin's name was this all about? Was the man's pants' aura off? That would just be the sort of thing Harmony would think up, right?

"Um...is this a bad time?" he asked while trying not to further attention to the bloke with his pants down. He didn't want to know. Really. Did NOT want to know.

That lift...he had had it with that lift. If he had to take the stairs for the rest of his time here then he would, but after nearly having a repeat of an earlier lift malfunctioning problem, the thought didn't even bother him.

He'd found the sign on the door a bit...off to say the least but before he could ask any questions Aron had opened the door and there was a man without his pants on.

...

......

Blink. There was an initial raise of his eyebrow, as if he was going to ask but then nope. He wasn't gonna. Today was a bundle of weird. Mutants running around cafes turning floors pink with acidic saliva and now...he didn't even know what this--all this was in front of him but he was willing to bet that he didn't want to know. Gavin fixed his gaze on the woman they'd come to speak with in the first place. "Should we...come back?" When everyone was properly pants-ed and not adding to the crazy that was his day. Quite frankly, the man was beginning to miss his office. Nothing bad ever happened there.