Evangeline walked into the office with a little bit of a side-eyed look towards the new department head. She was getting a little tired of this pattern. As soon as she got used to a new boss, they left without warning and a new bafoon leader was hired. As such, she was not necessarily please that morning. She would see how this fellow would do. As for herself, she would act as usual.

The auror gave the man a slight nod and left her greeting silent as she chose a seat at the table. As usual, she had a file with her to review during the meeting because the beginning of term meetings tended to be... boring. But she was present.

Was it completely obvious how nervous he was? Maybe. Maybe not. By the time Gidwyn Grimshaw actually walked through the door and into the conference room, he'd taken a moment to compose himself, so hopefully not... but he just couldn't be sure. He hadn't even been sure he'd be allowed his cup of coffee inside, but was relieved when he spotted quite a few others in the room who had brought some with them.

"Morning Mr. Muir." He hoped he was pronouncing that right, though his thick Australian accent might have made that impossible. "Morning, everyone." he cast smiles around to everyone present. This was his first job since moving to the United Kingdom, and he was feeling the pressure. It seemed there was a slight air of unease in the room, and having never known the previous Department Head, Gidwyn had no idea why. Without rushing too much, he picked an available seat and did his best to get comfortable.

Juno walked into the conference room, boots clacking against the floor, two coffee's in hand; she was really starting to enjoy it more now that she was living with Leon and he drank it all the time. She had a small smile on her face, and said a calm, "Good morning," to everyone in the room. She was interested to find out what happened to their previous Department head. He just up and left out of nowhere.

When she entered the conference room there were some conversations going on between the new department head and various employees. She didn't want to interrupt so she headed straight for her seat next to Leon. She handed him a coffee and pulled out a pack of cookies from her jacket pocket for them to share. They already had breakfast, but lord knows they could eat their weight in food and still be hungry. She gave him a wink and sat down, bumping his elbow with her own.

This would be an interesting meeting...

Ethan stood his ground, and did a little turn of his head when a new person addressed him and the...whoever the guy was. "Looks like it, mate. Around here in MLE, interrogation can happen anywhere and everywhere," he said, still staring at the new man before him. "My take on constant vigilance." And Merlin, was he tired of that?

And here they go judge him NOT doing his homework? Well, suck it up people because the man who claimed to be their new department head, Isaac Muir, didn't do his homework either. "Unbelievable..." Ethan naturally deadpanned. Excuse you, Mr. Muir, Leon may be stockier but he's better looking...according to himself.

"Constant vigilance my feet," he muttered under his breath as he shook his head and scratched the back of his neck. How could they possibly address him as the bossman? Where's the proof? Surely, the man before him got all their records, but how about this Isaac Muir? How come they don't get to read his record?

"Right. Until I hear from Gidyun, you're not off the hook, Mr Muir." Still skeptical, Ethan moved to the side and leaned on the wall crossing his arms across his chest. He'd rather keep an eye on this guy, "Maybe we can try again with my name........................sir."

Oh wow this was so much better than the game room.

It was a shame that the new department head had no snacks in the room because he would have loved some popcorn while watching the "interrogation" of Mordaunt towards the new Head and.... Kevin could not help it, he let out a laugh that he quickly disguised as a cough when Ethan was called Leon. At least the man had gotten his name right..

"This is gold" he mumbled to himself with a grin on his face as more employees entered. He nodded at them in greeting and turned back to watch the scene as the real Leon had entered.

Kevin had to give it to the man that he had done his best to hide his surprise but not much could escape him. Merlin's beard, it was his job to analyze moments in detail down at the pensieve chamber. Although, a crime was not the same as hiding discomfort but still...it amused him to no end.

Simon couldn’t all-together fight the amusement as Isaac tried to speak to each of the employees by name. At least the department head had gotten his right…and Ava’s. Briony and Lex’s had been close. It appeared the guys were more of a struggle to him and Leon had taken out the fun by introducing himself. Unlike Evangeline who had simply acknowledged them and remained silent.

“Morning…” the security head greeted simply to Alexa as she sat down beside him at the table. She was a good egg that had come into her own, even if she occasionally had her struggles. “Good morning, Ava,” Simon greeted the YATI he had met at the retreat with a friendly smile. “Hope you’re finding everything alright.”

“Good morning,” he returned to both Juno and the new man he pegged as Gidwyn. He offered a polite smile to the man knowing it could be a bit..awkward and full of uncertainty on one’s first day. Especially in this department.

Speaking of awkward…Ethan was still not letting up and Isaac and Simon’s attentive hearing heard what was muttered. “It’s legit.” He said calmly to the other man, trying to defuse the situation. “I have the proof…Gid is fine and approves.” As for the name game, Isaac could try again…he had purposefully caught himself from giving it for him.

................wow.

Could this meeting be adjourned already? He had literally only just stepped through the door, heard the juvenile exchanges, and was already quite done. He had much more important thing to take care of than go over rudimentary Ministry Minutes and not enough coffee coax his restless spirit into a patient one. He did cut Alexa a quick glance, though her flanks were occupied by others and instead tipped his mug in her direction before sliding into a seat beside Evangeline. "Maybe we all should have invested in some name tags," he muttered under his breath to her before taking a sip from his black brew and glancing over at the vacant seat beside her. "And where is your arm candy?" he asked with a nudge.

Heh.

Not. Enough. Coffee.

The relief of being back to work was definitely short-lived when Jake remembered they'd be immediately pulled into a meeting. He wasn't fond of just... sitting in a room with all the other MLE employees. He wasn't fond of sitting in a room with other people at all. Action was preferable to talking, especially when the talking was all that idle chit-chat. That was why he'd taken to long to actually appear at the meeting, hoping he'd manage to get there just as the thing commenced.

It was quite important that he actually be there, as it happened, other than because he didn't want to lose his job. There was one very pressing issue that he would have liked to see resolved sooner rather than later, given that the break had sort of incredibly inconveniently got in the way of said resolution. Best place to bring that up was in the conference room, in front of everyone else, so that there was some sort of accountability from those in charge in terms of getting the whole issue put to bed.

Slipping into the meeting room, Jake saw that he had judged his timing well enough that he didn't seem to be late, but people were still talking amongst themselves. Hopefully not for much longer, and hopefully not with the expectation that he join in; it really did make him feel incredibly awkward at times, because of who he was as a person.

Jake nodded his greeting to those around the room, before resting his gaze upon the man who was clearly the new boss. It hadn't taken much deducing; he was a new face (though there were plenty of those in the department this year), was definitely old enough to be the new boss (though the same could be said for most of the other new faces too), and Jake had also seen him come out of the Department Head's office a little earlier. And also at the Ministry orientation, where he'd been pointed out to Jake as the new head of MLE by someone else. Sort of gave the game away a bit.

He wanted to raise that important point to him now, before things could get fully underway, but Jake suddenly got the impression he'd arrived in the middle of some sort of... scene. Exercising a little (shock-horror) common sense and self-restraint, he kept his silence and glanced between everyone present, wishing he'd had the foresight to prepare for this meeting with three cups of coffee.

As if she needed further indication this meeting was pointless. The Senior Auror sank a little further down into her seat, nodding her greeting to both Jake and Ryu as they entered but otherwise keeping her eyes on the boss man. The fact he'd called her 'Alex' was of little consequence and the fact some in the room were trying to figure out the situation even now was of even less consequence.

Of course, by now, she knew better than to voice half the opinions floating around in her head so Alexa simply remained silent as she waited for something to happen or the man to overcome the bout of nerves that had surely overtaken him.

Had to be nerves. Why else would he have gone through all those pleasantries while forgetting the most important part--the part that told them why they were all now gathered here.

She would wait. Currently there was nothing too pressing that demanded her attention.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

................wow.

Could this meeting be adjourned already? He had literally only just stepped through the door, heard the juvenile exchanges, and was already quite done. He had much more important thing to take care of than go over rudimentary Ministry Minutes and not enough coffee coax his restless spirit into a patient one. He did cut Alexa a quick glance, though her flanks were occupied by others and instead tipped his mug in her direction before sliding into a seat beside Evangeline. "Maybe we all should have invested in some name tags," he muttered under his breath to her before taking a sip from his black brew and glancing over at the vacant seat beside her. "And where is your arm candy?" he asked with a nudge.

Heh.

Not. Enough. Coffee.

So far, Evangeline was neither impressed or amused. She was doing her best at this point to just ignore whatever else was happening in the meeting and focused on the file in her hands. She was attending the meeting more out of respect, giving their new department head the benefit of the doubt, but she did have work to do... Did he know?

Her eyes scanned over the file as her friend, coworker and occasional fitness trainer sat beside her. The corner of her mouth twitched, threatening to smile at his light jest. Perhaps he was right. She made no response, though... Until he mentioned some "arm candy", to which Evangeline played dumb. She had nothing or no one she referred to as arm candy. She did, however, have someone she truly, deeply cared for that was usually at her side.

"I don't know who you mean," she responded coolly, her eyes moving to the next page of her file. Could this meeting begin already?

Security rounds were second nature to Simon.

Even as division head, the security man still kept up with his own work besides what his various employees got into. It kept his senses sharp when he wasn’t on the streets anymore with joint work with the auror division. Occasionally members from the other divisions helped out, especially during any slower than normal times and sometimes to his chagrin when drama was caused with his carefully cultivated relationships with other departments.

But this project was to be orchestrated. With EVERYONE. No spot unturned…for the most part...no chance that something was wrong right under their noses. Something Simon both looked forward too and dreaded. He headed into the conference room to stretch out, prepping still needing to be done and he was taking it personally for sure. He’d rather not have a mess to clean up when it was all said and done. This was supposed to help not hinder after all.

Isaac was grateful that this was finally happening. He'd wanted to do a sweep of the ministry since he'd become department head, and with the funny things that had been happening as of late, it was definitely becoming a necessity! He had his plans laid out in a folder that he had tucked under his arm. Entering the conference room he spotted Simon there already and shot him a smile as he approached the table.

"Morning" he said as he set his mug of tea down "I think I have the layout of each of the departments here with me, where do you think we should begin?" Simon had definitely been at the British ministry long before Isaac had, he trusted the man to know more of the specifics.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nymphadoraliz

Isaac was grateful that this was finally happening. He'd wanted to do a sweep of the ministry since he'd become department head, and with the funny things that had been happening as of late, it was definitely becoming a necessity! He had his plans laid out in a folder that he had tucked under his arm. Entering the conference room he spotted Simon there already and shot him a smile as he approached the table.

"Morning" he said as he set his mug of tea down "I think I have the layout of each of the departments here with me, where do you think we should begin?" Simon had definitely been at the British ministry long before Isaac had, he trusted the man to know more of the specifics.

Simon took a sip of his tea as he looked over the papers he had, glancing up over his mug as the door to the conference room opened. “Morning…” he echoed after swallowing, his own tea joining the one on the table. His eyes flickering briefly at the folder in the department head’s possession before back at Isaac himself as he gathered his thoughts.

“Well that would depend on how you want to approach things,” he answered, not having any one way to go about beginning. “Either start with areas that are by their nature secure such as this level, the courtrooms, Level 1 and Mysteries…or the areas that tend to have the most possibilities for trouble…such as atrium and food court or Level 4.” The security man had to fight the urge to shiver at the various issues he’d had to tend to in those areas over the year, Kyle’s poisoning being one.

Isaac started flipping through his folder and drawing out the maps one at a time and setting them along the table in order of floor in the ministry. Nodding as Simon spoke "I think the easiest would likely be te start with the easiest and work from there" his eyes went to his division head to see if he agreed or not. Sometimes leaving the more difficult areas was best right? He'd been doing this longer than Isaac had though.

"Would ye agree or do ye think we should start from the trouble areas?" He wasn't too bothered with either way of starting but if Simon thought the trouble areas made more sense, then they'd do that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nymphadoraliz

Isaac started flipping through his folder and drawing out the maps one at a time and setting them along the table in order of floor in the ministry. Nodding as Simon spoke "I think the easiest would likely be te start with the easiest and work from there" his eyes went to his division head to see if he agreed or not. Sometimes leaving the more difficult areas was best right? He'd been doing this longer than Isaac had though.

"Would ye agree or do ye think we should start from the trouble areas?" He wasn't too bothered with either way of starting but if Simon thought the trouble areas made more sense, then they'd do that.

His attention drifted to each of the maps pulled out, the images roughly matching the one’s in his head after years of doing his job. Visualizations of the departments he was charged with making and keeping secure while others worked around him and his division. Each direction had its positives and Simon was good with either in all respects. He could just work each out differently as they went. Listening to Isaac’s thoughts, he was willing to go with the department head’s decision. “I can agree with that,” he said with a nod.

“It’ll give our group, especially the newer ones, a chance to see what they should be looking for in a working spell system.” The joys of making it department wide with members who didn’t necessarily specialize in work that fit security measures. He himself remembered how it had been when he first added to his training and made the crossover to security.

A meeting had been scheduled for today, hadn't it? At least, that's what had been on the bulletin board. Then why was he the only one here? He couldn't be early. Everyone else had to be late.

Either way, Ronan took a seat at the table occupying the room, setting his coffee (definitely not from the pot on this level, he had learned that lesson the hard way his first day) down in front of him, waiting for his fellow employees to join him.

Ryder headed for the conference room, his eyes drifting towards the work areas but sure he would see most of his employees in the meeting. Stepping inside he spotted one of his new employees and nodded "Morning." he said meeting his eyes before moving to sit at the top of the table.

Truth is, she considered skipping the meeting entirely. First official meeting of the year? More like a solid waste of at least half an hour of her life that she would never get back. Sit, exchange pleasantries (they did anyway), be asked for updates, no one gives updates, little actually discussed. Suffice to say the Head Auror got further while being out on the street.

At the very last minute, Lex did swing into the conference room with the coffee she'd gotten over in Level 3. Best coffee in the ministry since the days of that eye candy ex-department head. Ashburry-Hawthorne quitting was a crime to the ministry. She would gladly arrest him any day.

"Morning." She half mumbled before flopping into a chair to wait.

Alexa was already ready for it to be over. There was a suspect heading across town and she was hoping to intercept him. Could they get this over with?

At the ministry bright and early for some tasks he had to take care of, Simon was in and quite ready for the day's meeting. Just a quick stop and drop off at his desk before slipping into the conference room alert to those already there. One new department head and boss...Lex and the Carter boy. All was well so far so he would take that as a good sign. For now. He knew better than to think everything was good just because it appeared to be on the outside.

"Good morning," he greeted politely as he made his way to a vacant seat at the conference table. A quill and notepad retrieved from his pocket to be ready for anything that was better written down than just remembered.

If another department head was going to come and go as quickly as the last few, Evangeline swore she would just apply for the position herself. She wasn't going anywhere. Merlin knew they needed some consistency in this place. She'd actually prefer to have Ryu apply for the position, but the idiot decided to leave and go to Japan.

And he was not forgiven for it.

Stepping into the conference room by herself, Evangeline greeted the new department head with a small nod and then took her seat next to Alexa. She was hoping the new guy was a fan of short and sweet because she needed to find her partner after this. It would probably be time to switch positions when it was over.

Meetings in general were unbearable, but they were more so when Angelo wasn't there.

Another year, another meeting, another department head. It didn't much bother Benzi who sat in the DH chair, as long as they got things done and didn't get in his way. And truth be told, there was something to be said about new blood. With the right amount of persuasion, perhaps he could reopen his contract and talk about that raise he's been due. Merlin knows he spends far too much time here anyway, might as well be properly compensated for it.

Having arrived earlier to hit the gym, Benzi walked in and brought with him the pleasant aroma of his soap and aftershave. "Morning everyone," he greeted the room quickly, taking note of the people present. One new person, one new department head, mainly older people he knew and cared for. Good to see no one's died since the last time they all saw each other, which wasn't that long ago given that the Auror department hadn't just shut down simply because their previous Minister was a fool.

Anyways.

Sitting on the opposite end of the table to the one with Alexa and Evie, Benzi's mind went to the files on his desk, mentally beginning to review them from memory. Hopefully, this would not take long.

Or maybe he was early? It was something that was definitely a departure from his Hogwarts days when he'd get to class right on time. "Morning," he returned the boss' greeting casually. He honestly didn't know what to think of Mr. McCullough. He seemed to be a man of few words, which he couldn't decide whether that was good or bad. He was definitely going to have to use his newly budding Auror skills to crack that mystery.

The next to arrive was his direct (or indirect, he still wasn't quite clear on that) supervisor, Alexa. Whom was reminding him of her sister, Jessa, with how eager she seemed to be to get out of here. "Morning," Ronan returned her greeting.

And then there was Bennett, whom seemed to have already decided that he was going to be just like his mum without even bothering to get to know him. Which was just fine with him. "Morning," he returned, just as he had everyone else.

Okay, the next person was basically radio silence. And the next, not so much. "Morning." Had this dude had a rough night or something? Because that was the only reasonable excuse for that much aftershave and...soap? Not that he a problem with soap and aftershave. In fact, there might have been some razing from the Gryffindors back at Hogwarts for his rather sizable collection of toiletries....

What? A crimefighter still had to look good....

As more employees entered, including his head auror, he nodded and said "good morning" to each one individually. Each one he was naming in his head, just to remind himself of who each one was. "Let's go ahead and get started." Why waste anymore time? If others arrived, they would just need to catch up. "As you see I am now the department head here. Isaac's plans have been diverted back to France."

"Any questions anyone has? I cannot say I know much about as to why he left, all I am aware of is it was quite sudden." his eyes went around to each, trying to gauge how each one felt about that. He knew Isaac had not been there very long according to the paperwork in the cabinet.

Oh look, there was Simon. Lex nodded to the head of Ministry Security when he got into the conference room. She was sure he had a ton of things to do, too. They all did. Evie got something of a nod of greeting too but Benzi, well she kicked him under the table--as hello, obviously. No better way to greet a friend and co-dance parent. Hellos were too main stream.

Finally the meeting seemed to be starting. Lex spared the smallest glance at the clock on the wall, just to be sure she wasn't falling behind yet. Still some time before she excused herself. The man was her biggest lead in weeks. Like hell she'd give that up to play catch up and go over things that could've fit in a memo.

Questions? Yeah, she had them, but not the ones he was looking for so she kept her mouth shut--funny how the years had taught her when it was more beneficial to do that. In this case, her questions wouldn't change anything, just make them worse and waste more of her time.

So, no, no questions. Next item on the agenda please.

Another year, another meeting that Bryony was slipping into nearly at the same time the department head was beginning the discussion. This time, it had been due to the fact she’d gotten back from keeping an eye on a suspect to find the notice of the meeting. Not anything else, although she was well aware it was possible. With Braedon only a few levels away, but she was a professional. Her personal life wasn’t about to affect her job performance. Only her job could do that, as she was well aware it wasn’t all office work in the Auror office.

The slender blonde had slid into a seat at the table as it had been opened for questions, sending the slightest of nods in the direction of Alexa and her other fellow Aurors but otherwise staying silent. Obviously they weren’t getting any intel on their former department head’s absence, and that was the only topic introduced. Things rarely changed in her part of the level, on the administrative side, so questions didn’t seem necessary. Not until something that warranted questions came up.