henlo frond
 

Maybe it was a naive question, but Tomasz had no idea. He hadn't worked here long enough to recognize all the faces yet and he did not yet know enough to assume. "Ah," Tomas nodded, he understood. "You are very busy there?" He did not know how busy everyone's jobs were, but his was very tiring lately. There were a lot of reported incidents. He did not expect to be pulled in so many directions all the time. His sleep was suffering as a result. Hence, coffee.

He tried to take a sip, testing whether or not it had properly cooled off enough to do so. "Yyy... Same as I do here," he explained, only to realize that maybe he ought to elaborate. "I keep watch for suspicious activity and dangerous persons. Guard and patrol the areas of... yy.. ministry interest." He rubbed the back of his neck, as he thought through what he shared before taking a sip of the coffee. "It tastes strongly of chocolate."

Kodee was about to reach out to touch the mark, wondering if it may have been magical or a muggle implement used to put it there. The appearance of the auror made him no less inclined to do so but the question did give him pause. "I haven't." He admitted. MLE was a busy department. Most times, he only really saw the security officers and only because they were working in the ministry.

If he was asking for the head, this could be serious. "Why? Is this a crime scene now?" Because if it was...he...probably wouldn't touch it, but now he definitely wanted a picture to show Kenzie. Preferably one with him in it. "Saw some blokes from maintenance over by the food court, though. They might still be there. Lunch break or something. Don't reckon they'll wanna be pulled away for some light cleaning."

Just a stain on the fountain, no big deal.

"Reckon we could probably knock this off ourselves--but, uh, hey, not just yet. I wanna get in a pic or two. Not every day you find something neat enough to take home to your girlfriend, y'know?" Not when you worked up in the office of paperwork, memos and more paperwork.

Sometimes, it was the little things that kept you excited. In this case, it was random writing on the wall.

Jake nodded. It was a long shot, really; people from Level Two could be notoriously hard to track down (there was some kind of irony in that) at the best of times, even to those in the same department. This really wasn't patronus-message worthy either, so... he'd have to just file a report and catch Toussaint when he saw her.

"I would hope it's just someone messing around," Jake said with a grimace. "But you never know. Didn't you study this 'greater good' stuff in school?" Sure, even though someone inside the ministry putting up these messages for a laugh did not make for a very pleasant thought - that phrase and symbol were hardly the kind of thing to be joked about - it was certainly better than the alternative.

Maybe it was all those years in Magical Law Enforcement, or just his pre-existing disposition, but the worst alternative always seemed to be the more likely one.

... "You want to get a..." Merlin alive. "Hard no. We-" ... "Actually, MLES will want a few in case this stuff does come off. For a report." Not for sharing with girlfriends. Jake still had the sheet hovering in the air; he flicked his wand and it folded itself up and settled at his feet. "Happen to have a camera on you?" he asked Chosen. Another long shot before he made the trek up to Level Two to grab one of theirs, and maybe a co-worker or two along the way.

Bain had made his way down to the Atrium. Despite his suggestion that he be there when he handed Kendra her walking papers, Charles had insisted he did not want an audience. Still, he felt that he should be nearby in case there were any sort of problems. Which was one of the reasons he was walking around the Atrium at the moment.

Another reason? To make sure his staff was properly doing their jobs.
As he circumnavigated the fountain, he noticed the visitor’s badge on the young lady’s shirt. He stopped next to her, eyes looking up on the Fountain Statue. ”Fascinating piece of art, don’t you think?” he asked. ”The use of positive and negative space is quite alluring.”

Dear Merlin's pointy hat. Where had this man come from?!

Winnie visibly startled at the the question about the statues, a small "eep" escaping from her lips as she placed a hand on her chest as if to steady her rapidly beating heart. She turned, gray eyes landing on gentleman she had never seen before. That wasn't what shocked her, though. She met new people in the ministry all the time. What did shock her was the dark brown, almost black aura that surrounded the man. She blinked, twice at him before answering.

"Well," she began trying to formulate a response. Her eyes had been focused on the water, rather than the golden statues. Winnie glanced back at the statues. "I've always found the balance of the piece to be a bit off. Don't you think? Too much focus on the Wizard." It was also gaudy. She'd never understood why the Ministry hadn't replaced it.

He was quite aware that he had starled the young lady. He had that effect on many people, especially those who did not pay attention to their surroundings. ”Perhaps that was the artist’s intention?” he asked. His dark eyes remained on the statue, hands clasped behind his back. He was silent for a moment giving her a chance to contemplate the question. When he continued, his tone had an ardent energy. "The negative space invokes the importance and significance of the subject. While the possitive regresses some of the lesser figures into the background. Have you ever looked at it from above?”

He turned to face the young woman, catching her name on her visitor’s badge. Good, she had been checked in correctly. It appeared that the Security team was performing their jobs correctly. If only he could say the same about his Aurors. ”Phora. You aren’t perchance related to Conley Phora?” There seemed to be some sort of family resemblance. Something around the eyes.

”I’m not really an art critic,” she answered hesitantly. She didn’t know anything about the person(s) who had designed and built the fountain. It seemed this man did, however. She didn’t like his tone either. The tone, the words…she got the impression that he didn’t mind the wizard being the focal point. As if the wizard should be the focal point. And no, she hadn’t seen the fountain from above. She’d have to be the Minister’s offices to have that privileges and she didn’t go anywhere past the 5th floor if she could help it.

”My cousin,” she replied taking a step back. This man seemed to have a rather keen sense of awareness. It was rather creepy.

Winnie and Goldwasser
 

”I can see the family resemblance,” he said casually. His eyes lingered near her collar, or perhaps he was looking at her earrings. ”Your family used to be a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight am I correct?” He tapped his chest where her visitor’s badge was located. It was missing her destination. Perhaps his team wasn’t doing such a good job after all. ”May I ask what business you have here tonight Ms. Phora?"

”Healer Rastrick,” He turned to the man who had just approached them. If he remembered correctly, this was the healer he had run into at orientation. ”Not particularly. I enjoy more… rubicund beverages.” He smiled at the young man. It was a tight lipped smile, the type that didn't show teeth. ”But I'm afraid it's a little to early in the day for that sort of thing. I am glad you ran into you. I would like to say thank you for your help with the orientation debacle.” He feigned a sweep of the Atrium with his eyes. ”They did an exceptional job cleaning up the mess.”

First statues, now blood status? Where the heck was Oliver?! She was starting to worry that he wasn't coming and she was going to get stuck talking to this man until he got bored and wandered off. She fingered the collar of her blouse, feeling uncomfortable under the man's gaze. "Um...we did. But, well - my family hasn't cared about that in years." Her blood might be pure still, but most of her family's wasn't. Conley specifically wasn't. She wondered if she should be worried for him. Or perhaps even more for Sachin.

And then like a knight in shining Ministry Robes - Oliver appeared. She let out a breath. "Oliver!" she might have sounded a bit happier to see him than she had planned on sounding. She also might have a bigger smile than she should on her face. "Yes, coffee..." she might have said it in a tone of now- please - let's go. Still, she felt obligated to answer the creepy man's question. "I'm just here for a consultation and coffee with a friend," she said.

Rubicund beverages, eh? Oliver didn’t have the faintest idea what Mr Goldwasser was referring too, but he acted like he did. It was probably safer. "Of course, everyone has their own beverage preferences." He wasn’t going to get into a long speech about nutritious and healthy drinks. Mr Goldwasser didn’t seem like he was going to be very perceptive if he tried. Nodding Oliver blushed faintly as he accepted the praise. "It was all hands on deck. I’m glad I could be of assistance." Letting his eyes make his own sweep of the atrium Oliver commented. "Yes, it seems like all the dust and smoke is gone that covered practically everything that night." So the maintenance people had done a good job since they hadn’t gotten any additional patients with smoke inhalation problems over the last few days.

Turning his eyes to Winnie with a big smile Oliver added for Mr Goldwassers benefit. "The friend would be me. Winnie is here to see me and consult on a medical case that I’m working on over a cup of coffee." Extending his hand out for Winnie to take he motioned toward the coffee station."Shall we get going Winnie?"

”Indeed they did.” He gave the area another look over, more for a Security sweep then to see the cleanup work. ”Pity about Ms. Jordan-Durand,” he said with a small frown. It didn't occur to him that the healer might not have heard the news yet. Nope... not at all...

”Consultation?” He raised an eyebrow. The Phoras weren’t known for the healing abilities. He glanced between the two. Surely if Winnie was here to help a healer with a case she must have a healing specialty. Or perhaps –Mr. Rastrick was attempting to make a love connection with another pure-blooded family? Ah yes, the second answer made much more sense. He smiled that tight lipped smile at the two of them. ”Well, I won’t keep you then.” Pause. ”But first, may I see your wand Ms. Phora?” He held out a long fingered hand. He had stopped her to make sure that his Security team had done their jobs and so fair, they were one for three. Had they properly weighed and tested her wand? He needed to find out.

for Zoe, continued from Level 3 ^___^
 

She didn't know who Ms. Jordan-Durand was, nor did she understand what the guys were talking about regarding the atrium and clean up crews or whatever else Oliver had helped Mr. Creeper with. She just wanted to get out of here. So when Oliver suggested coffee, Winnie let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. ”Yes, coffee!” she reached to grab Oliver’s elbow and let him lead her off when Bain asked for her wand.

”Eeerrr…..” she paused looking between the two men. This was starting to feel really really weird. All she had wanted to come here for today was a cup of coffee and to see Oliver(!) and maybe, just maybe see her cousin. Why did this guy need to see her wand? Why had he been asking about her blood status and why did he keep staring at her? ”Why do you want to see my wand?” she asked. It was sticking out of the top of her portfolio where she had tucked it after going through Security. Asking to inspect someone’s wand was rather personal and unless a wand maker or a security officer asked, Winnie had never ever handed her overs to someone. She looked to Oliver for clarification. He seemed to know who this was.

David was starting to feel anxious again as the minutes ticked away and there was no sign of the obliviator. See, this was why he normally kept his problems to himself. Why get help? Why rely on others? They would just let you d---

"Mister Zabini," he almost LOUDLY sighed in relief as the other man popped up with a simple greeting. Oh thank Merlin. David didn't show this relief on his face though, merely glancing at the obliviator for a moment as he exhaled to himself. "Let's walk and talk." David was feeling so relieved that he just needed to calm down a minute and, as his friend Jessica had taught him, the fresh air did wonders for clearing the mind and they were also less likely to be eavesdropped upon that way.

David led the way toward the doors to outside. "Are you opposed to walking to St. James's Park?" It was less than ten minutes away. Surely he wouldn't mind?

"Security check." His fingers twitched. If she wasn't going to have over the wand, he would just take it. It was, after all, sticking out from her portfolio and would be very easy to take. "Just making sure my employees are properly doing their jobs. If you would please, Ms. Phora. I would hate to keep you and Mr. Rastrick any longer. And..."

His eyes followed Truebridge and Zabini. Those two were certainly up to something. It was certainly unusual for an Unspeakable and an Obliviator to be together. He wondered if he should follow them. "I have other responsibilities I need to be tending to."

Oh? So news hadn't traveled yet. Interesting. Or perhaps Rastrick just wasn't the type to engage in idle conversation? Frankly, Bain didn't care. It was for the greater good that she was gone. "She is no longer working for the Ministry," he said lips pressed in a thin line. His dark eyes followed Truebridge and Zabini as they wandered off together.

”This won’t take but a moment.” He took the wand from the young lady, held it between two fingers as if weighing it. He spun the apple and cherry wand around and then pointed his own cypress wood wand to the tip of Phora’s. ”Prior Incantato.” The shadow of small heart-shaped bubbles erupted from the tip of Phora’s wand. Since that was the chosen inspection spell for today, he was satisfied. He spun the wand around in his fingers pointing the handle back towards Phora. His eyes lingered again near her collar. ”Thank you for your cooperation Ms. Phora. Enjoy your coffee.”

Sarah and her flower ranger !!!!