Yvonne glared at the opposite wall of the lift. Did it have to be so LOUD? The cling and the clang and the cling, again, was thoroughly annoying her. No, it wasn't the hormones of a six month pregnant woman. It was this stupid lift. Cling. Clang. Cling...She was going to hex it...right after she got off. It needed a good hexing. Pffft.

She doesn't remember it being SO loud. Okay. Maybe it was a tiny biiit due to hormones, but she's been on edge lately. Well, more since she found out she was pregnant five months ago. Yeah. Mellow. Between being a new wife and soon-to-be mother, Yvonne had spaced out a bit. That wasn't normally her, but...things happen.

No.

Life happened. THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED.

She was happy though. Well, not so much right now because of the CLINGING and CLANGING. Finally, the lift stopped and she stepped off. Grumble. If she didn't need it she would have blown it to bits. Unfortunately, she'd rather take the lift than stairs. Boo.

Yvonne adjusted her bag over her shoulders and in the process dropped several quills and papers...

.....

GRUMBLE. SIGH. WIBBLE. SIGH. SIIIIGH.

Stepping into the elevator, Victoria smiled at Huyn reassuringly and said, " Just don't think about it too much. You won't even notice." Well, that was the best kind of advise she could think of right now. Hopefully, it was useful. The blond stood, clutching her bag and waited until Huyn stepped in. He wasn't going to be afraid and hesitant right? He was mature enough. So she wasn't that worried. "Come on in," She said with a warm smile.

Victoria's arm reached over and her fingers hovered over the buttons as she waited for Huyn so that she'd press the button to go to Level-one.

She also waited to see if anyone was going to get in the elevator with them. Though there were a lot but so many people were at the ministry whether they were employees or visitors. So even the tremendous number of elevators, mostly all of them are used at the same time.

Okay, take a deep breath and keep calm, this is you now work so behave! he spoke firmly to himself and straightened his shoulders and followed Victoria to the elevator. He sometimes wondered why he hated small places so much, he had never experienced something bad in a small space but as long as he could remember it he had disliked it and when he had been younger he even had feared them. But now, when he was older he didn’t feared it anymore, but he still didn’t liked it and if he had the chance he would avoid small spaces, like this elevator.

But when he stepped inside the elevator he tried to concentrate on something else than the doors who would close at any moment. “I will be fine” he nodded to Victoria. He dabbed his forehead when he stood there and was more than relieved when the doors opened again and he could leave the elevator.

Standing in the open again he took a deep breath and realized that he had hold his breath while he had been in the elevator. He dabbed his forehead one last time with his handkerchief and looked around him, wondering where they were.

Victoria smiled reassuringly again at Huyn when he stepped in and finally pressed the button after having been sure that no one was going to step into the elevator with them. She did wait a couple of minutes for any last joiners. She was used to be surprised by those. She herself had to race for an elevator which door was about to slid shut. So she knew the feeling very much. Though now she was sure so down on the button she pressed.

Then the cling and clung started. Also the shifting and swaying. But the blond was used to it by now. When she first came to work here, it was hard for her since she always wore high-heels. The balance was kinda tricky but now she doesn't even need to steady herself. She stole one glance at Huyn to make sure he was alright and was glad that he looked so. No need to stare at the man.

Then the elevator made a ding, Victoria turned to Hyun and smiled at him as she stepped out. "Here we go.. She announced.

Derek was making his way back to his Department after being on level 2 handing out more pesticides. He was carrying his own bottle around and every now and then would stop and spray at chizpurfles he saw here and there.

When he got to the lifts, though, he reckoned a more thorough procedure was in order, because that was more magic involved in making them work than in other areas of the Ministry.

So he forced one of the doors open and sprayed the pesticide away.

There was no stopping her once she got started, and she was very much that... started. After stalking through level two and ignoring any and all voices that called behind her, Emily pushed her way to the front of the queue for the lift and helped herself to the space when it opened. Normally she would opt for the stairs, which gave her breathing room and time to think as she walked, but right now she enjoyed fantasising about wrapping her hands around Cresswell's throat. She wanted answers, and she would get them by any means necessary... if he didn't oblige her.

Of course, her exterior did not match her internal thoughts and struggles, she wore her unusually calm facade. But as calm as she appeared to be, standing with purpose and focusing intently on the closing doors, her eyes were sharper than ever. Her fist unclenched now, Emily smoothed out the blasted letter and folded it into her pocket. Ridiculous.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hera

There was no stopping her once she got started, and she was very much that... started. After stalking through level two and ignoring any and all voices that called behind her, Emily pushed her way to the front of the queue for the lift and helped herself to the space when it opened. Normally she would opt for the stairs, which gave her breathing room and time to think as she walked, but right now she enjoyed fantasising about wrapping her hands around Cresswell's throat. She wanted answers, and she would get them by any means necessary... if he didn't oblige her.

Of course, her exterior did not match her internal thoughts and struggles, she wore her unusually calm facade. But as calm as she appeared to be, standing with purpose and focusing intently on the closing doors, her eyes were sharper than ever. Her fist unclenched now, Emily smoothed out the blasted letter and folded it into her pocket. Ridiculous.

The dramatic storming out of his office and thumping through the waiting area to level 3 had actually helped burn off some of his annoyance. Not all of it, but some. He could really go for yanking some fangs out of Biting Toadstool right about now. Or twisting off some caps. Better yet...de-gnoming a garden. Nothing like seeing those pest go flying off into the distance all dizzy-like.

Tapping his food against the ground as he waited for the elevator to arrive, he grumbled as the doors parted and he quickly stepped inside without looking at who else was inside. "Bloody honking daffodils."

Maybe he should get his Obliviators on Cresswell. Make him forget he ever agreed to this. On the Mungo's people too. Give them new memories that they needed to relocate to Antarctica to do health inspections on penguins or something.

She had words, but not in any coherent form as of yet, and she wasn't the type to rehearse, so Emily trusted that they would come when the moment came. Of course, often she didn't need to use her words, and if Cresswell was half as smart as he was supposed to be, he'd figure out the gist of her visit the second he hears her footsteps. Of course, one could only hope.

Taking the smallest of measured steps to make room for someones exit as the lift doors opened again, Emily was conscious of Aron's somewhat flustered entrance. Honking daffodils were a sure-fire sign that he disliked something, bloody honking daffodils could only be worse, and she was willing to bet her paycheck she knew what it was about.

"Health Evals?" she asked, cocking her head slightly in his direction, though her eyes were still trained on the door as they closed again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hera

She had words, but not in any coherent form as of yet, and she wasn't the type to rehearse, so Emily trusted that they would come when the moment came. Of course, often she didn't need to use her words, and if Cresswell was half as smart as he was supposed to be, he'd figure out the gist of her visit the second he hears her footsteps. Of course, one could only hope.

Taking the smallest of measured steps to make room for someones exit as the lift doors opened again, Emily was conscious of Aron's somewhat flustered entrance. Honking daffodils were a sure-fire sign that he disliked something, bloody honking daffodils could only be worse, and she was willing to bet her paycheck she knew what it was about.

"Health Evals?" she asked, cocking her head slightly in his direction, though her eyes were still trained on the door as they closed again.

Slouching against the back wall, both hands in his jeans' pockets, he thankfully caught Emily out of the corner of his eye before she spoke or else he would have given her the satisfaction of startling him.

"Bingo," he grunted, deciding to kick off the wall so he could stand even with Emily as the elevator began to move once more. "Going to give Cresswell a piece of your mind?" Rhetorical question, because he was positive he already knew what her response would be.

Aron was usually one for a fair fight, so two against one seemed like a bit of a slaughter. Then again, even one on one would have been a verbal slaughter when it came to this particular topic. "Why didn't we receive a notice from the Minister about this? Are they seriously about to invade our work space?" Rubbish. Who gave them the right to make all these demands and not allow the Minister himself to brief his employees. RUBBISH.

She was right, of course she was right and as little as it did to benefit them, it amused her that she wasn't the only one with a mind to pay Cresswell a visit. She had briefly considered going straight to the top, Gavin and the Minister himself, but since Cresswell was the mastermind behind this, it seemed only fitting she take it out on him. She nodded in response to Aron's remark, "Something like that." A piece of her mind, a fist to the face, a crushed larynx.. it was all the same, was it not?

Shifting her position slightly to bridge the gap between them, Emily shrugged a shoulder. "I'm honestly surprised Gavin hasn't given us a heads up," or maybe he did, and she was too preoccupied to hear it... the man had mentioned something about wasted time and office invasions, she simply figured that was part of his job description. "I'm insulted that they seem to be making this a compulsory initiative." As if she didn't know the status of her own health, or the status of her employees ability to work and function like able-bodied human beings.

Aron let out a noise that was somewhere between a snort and a chuckle at Emily's reply. Clearly, this was going to be the more 'spirited' side of the Law Enforcement Head than he saw the most often and that was exciting. He had been around her enough in Knockturn Alley and other locations while on assignment, seen the way she could skillfully weave her words and utilize her feminine charm while holding fill authority over a conversation. No need for that charm now, however. Now he was going to get to see more of Emily, the interrogator. "I'll hold him down," he joked.

Hmmm...he hadn't actually spoken to Gavin recently on any Ministry matters, so he hadn't heard about any grumbling or whatnot. "If he had, probably thought it was too absurd to believe it was actually going to happen," he shrugged in reply. He knew that he was perfectly fit, and had the body to prove it, so he did not need someone outside of his usual Healer poking and prodding at him telling otherwise. "Didn't even give a bloody reason why. Rather unprofessional."

Emily raised a brow at her fellow Department Head, but couldn't refrain from smirking. They had a mutual understanding, and that was nice.. no need for her to sugar coat things and make out that everything was amicable. Of course, there were few people she liked in the world. So few in fact that she was certain she could count them on her fingers and still have some to spare. Aron, was one of those people the liked, and did not simply tolerate. He was a good egg. "We make a good team," she acknowledged, having operated with Aron for some time. Even with her lone-wolf mentality she could appreciate his presence. "Though I'm not sure I want witnesses," she continued, clearly joking - or at least, she knew she was joking.

And he had a point on that matter. It really was absurd, it was the most ridiculous thing to come through her office in some time, and that was saying something. "I still think it's too absurd for it to actually happen." As for the lack of reason, yeah, well... that was another thing. "I'd like to know where this is coming from, there'll be a reason for it, but I'm guessing it's weak." There was no viable reason why the Ministry would need such comprehensive screening. "Knee-jerk reaction perhaps?" But to what, who knew? Either way, it was sudden and irrelevant, which clearly indicated that it was a waste of their time.

Wearing a smug expression, Aron rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. He didn't need to respond to that, did he? It was already obviously the truth. "Are you calling me a loose end?" he chuckled as he played along. "It's like you don't trust me." Then again, just a little slip of a certain potion and anyone would be a loose end.

He let out another heavy sigh and pulled his hands out of his jeans so he could fold his arms across his chest. "Weaker than a wilting watsonia I bet. As long as they are just in and out with these health evaluations. Suppose Accidents and Catastrophes can afford two days of low productivity," he grumbled some more as his fingers dug into his skin. Was the elevator there yet? He was getting antsy and ready to get out of this confined space. You know what else was confining? A bunch of Healers sticking their noise where it didn't belong and taking employees away from their work unnecessarily. "I'd like to tell them where they can put that knee-jerk reaction."

The elevator came to a halt and he tapped his foot while waiting for the doors to open.

"Wonder how many others will be stopping by."

If he hadn't been chuckling, she'd have been certain he didn't understand her, but as it was all was well. "Your words, not mine," she replied in jest. Trust though, that was another matter. "If I didn't trust you, do you think I'd have said this much?" A serious question diluted by the nature of 'banter'.

The only times in which she questioned Aron's sanity and personality, was when he went on about plant related things... herbologists... it must be their thing. "In and out would be preferable, if it has to happen at all..." but no, she wasn't looking forward to lesser productive MLE days. Crime didn't sleep, and having her troops examined was not conducive to catching bad guys. She smirked at the thought of Aron giving them a go of it, "By all means, don't hold back.. it's good to get things out in the open, healthy even."

The decent to the lower levels always seemed to take so long, even if it didn't really. Emily stood casually, staring until the door opened.

"I'm sure we can't be the only ones," was her response and she nod her head toward the door, already moving past another to exit.

Snort. Right, sure. And your unspoken thoughts, Miss Browne. She could deny it if she wanted to, but he knew he was right. "Well, I certainly can't see you having this conversation with just anyone," he winked in reply. She knew what he was getting at, yeah? Same went for him too.

If it happened at all. Yeah. That. Could they still negotiate and get these people sent away. "And let's not mention that joint's credibility either," he muttered. Yeah, still raging about everything Seren had gone through the year prior - even if she did age very gracefully. "Indeed." Which meant if his fist connected with anyone then he had the approval of Law Enforcement. Perhaps not the approval, but rather the blind eye to the deed. He would take either.

Following as the doors open, he left the lift with one last comment. "Brought it on himself." So it was the man's own fault that he was going to get bombarded in his office.

Bloody honking daffodil.

Ember thought it was a glasses kind of day. She rarely wore hers anymore, but when she DID--well, she felt coooool. Yeah. Her hair was swept back in a messy pony-tail--which only meant that she was having a LAZY DAY. No time to get all dressed up and stuff--and hopefully she didn't see Dmitry anywhere. YIKES. She looked too messy today for all that nonsense.

She stepped into the lift,..level FOUR please--but of course the lift would wait for any other bodies that might piiiiile into it. She leaned back against the wall and crossed her eyes, closing her eyes. Time for some QUICK meditation. Then her work day would go by very smoothly.

Today would be a wonderful day. She cleared her mind of any negativity and just...smiiiiiiled lazily to herself. Her little dears were at home--her parrot had been SO sweet to her today--she always said she didn't pick favorites--but she loved her bird. He was her best little friend! HEH.

WOOORRKK TIIIIIME WHOOOOH!! Ember bounced a little in EXCITEMENT.

Pressing the button for the lifts, Aria looked over her inventory list one more time. The only thing that was missing was broth. Since the cold weather was just around the corner, it was pretty much an essential. Nonetheless, the blonde midget kept looking over the list a few times. After the mess of spoiled inventory, she couldn't trust anyone with it anymore. Poor house elves had a very little to work with. She even took one of their big metal spoons and smacked one of her employees with it.

Hearing the ring from the lifts, Aria looked up and waited for the door to slide open. Once that happened, she stepped in and noticed a girl with her favorite color hair. The blonde pressed the button to the floor she was heading for and gave the girl a smile. "I like your hair color a lot,"

Ember watched the woman come in---oh this one was model material YEP. She smirked and waved. "Hi! Good morning to YOU!" she said, TOO cheerfully, bouncing and twirling a piece of her hair around in her finger. "How is your day so far? Oh I hope it's just BEAUTIFUL!" she said, and she beaaaaamed and waited to see if anyone else would get into the elevator. No? yes? HEEH.

She then bluuuushed and was ECSTATIC. "Oh, I know! It's my FAVORITE color! I love it! And it brings out my eyes--" and she widened her eyes so that the other woman could see their color: Lavender. She then broke into giggles and bounced a little more, withdrawing a little zippy of crackers from her bag. She always had snacks with her...YEP. "Want any?" she asked, holding out the bag to her. "I've had my morning cuppa'!" she said. Coffee, that is. So yeah, the bouncy made sense. Then again, Ember was usually always BOUNCY. "I'm Ember, by the way--" Aka, the COOLEST PERSON EVER. Only not really. She beamed and held out her hand. "Level Four, Creatures!" she said, nibbling on her crackers and leaning her back against the wall once more.

Maybe she was chatting too much. OH WELL. It was better than a really quiet AWKWARD lift ride. "Who are you? And what Level?" she asked, smiling pleasantly.

Oh she was a cheerful one. Aria grinned and greeted her good morning too. Would be completely rude not to. Her day? Aria giggled. "It's been pretty smooth so far. Just checking the food court inventory and getting it confirmed," Nothing new really. This was basically a weekly thing and the blonde midget was already used to it.

Whoa.

Purplish eyes? Lavender to be exact. Aria had never seen that color on someone's eyes before. Sure, her nephew had those really light, jade colored eyes, but nothing like this. "Are you mixed blood?" Was that rude to ask? Hopefully not. Just a curious question about the girl. And she was offering crackers now? This girl was definitely fast paced. Not that Aria minded since she has hyper twins back home. "No thanks, I'm alright," The midget smiled with a nod. She had already eaten about two apple from the food court. No need to add more food to her belly until later. "Nice to meet you, Ember. I'm Aria," Yup, yup. Food court supervisor, yo. Oh, and Ember worked with creature. Amazing. Her daughter would definitely love this hear this story.

"I work in the specialty area. I'm the food court supervisor," Y'know, she makes sure all the food you eat there is top notch. Or else people would be smacked with the new clipboard her boyfriend bought her. Bless his soul.

Ember thought the woman must be in charge of the food. OH SHE WAS A SAINT. She giggled and nodded, nomming on her crackers. She would need drink soon, though, because saaaalt. "Good. Glad to hear it. Days seem to go by muuuch better when mornings are smooth, you know?" she grinned an wondered where the woman was off to now?

Eventually, she'd had enough crackers, and she wondered when the lift was going to MOVE. Um HELLO--work here! But she was trying to be patience. Ember was good at being patient, uh huh. She shoved the bag back into her little bag and siiiighed. "Hi, Aria. What a beautiful name. it reminds me of the stars--" she said, in an very airy voice. And the stars reminded her of night time, which reminded her of her pets, and she just UGH. She missed her babies already, like she did every day, but that was okay. She'd get over it.

Oh my. Was she mixed blood?! What did she MEAN? Ember just smiled confusedly at her. "Wh-what? I mean--my dad's a muggle born--" is that what she was asking? Because if so, well..why did that matter, eh? And she felt like a muggle born a lot of times, since both her parents had muggle jobs and she had been raised in a very muggle way. Simple and stuff. Was Aria one of those crazy pureblood supremacists?! OH NO.

"I figured it had something to do with that--oh wow!" she nodded. "The food is just...SO good there--you do a LOVELY job, I tell you!" she said and she tilted her head a little and examined the woman some more. The lift could start moving now, yeah?

It was her first official work day at the ministry. Sophie had passed by the atrium and had gotten herself all the right security clearances, passes and even had her wand examined meticulously by an employee from the Magical Law Enforcement department. It had all gone smoothly until now. Eying the lifts that would take her to level 3 and her department Sophie couldn’t move an inch feeling how small beads of sweat started to form on her forehead.

She had arrived a good 10 minutes ago to take the lift down but going on an empty lift was just as scary as going on a lift that already held 8 or so people. So she was stuck. Hopefully somebody would come along and rescue her. Someone that could hold her hand and not let her succumb to her fears. The last thing Sophie wanted was to make a bad impression on Aron for being late on her first day.

Derek was actually in a good mood that day because he was going back to work after those very long holidays. At least they felt long because he never did anything interesting. Work was way more interesting than anything else, so he was glad to be back.

He noticed a woman just... standing there in front of the lifts and he would be suspicious if she didn't look like she was going to have a mental breakdown at any second. What... a strange sight. He was usually the one who was on the verge of have a nervous fit in most situations.

The lab technician slooowly walked past her without even taking a glance as he entered the lift. He actually felt for the woman because he could relate. Maybe that was her first day in the Ministry.

He could relate, but that didn't mean he would speak to her.

Sophie stood glued to the spot and watched as the lift travelled up and down, dropping off its passengers or taking up new ones. She had tried to walk in at one time but that had ended with her walking back out again before the lift doors closed. It had been too crowded.

She was debating to succumb and take the stairs when the guy that Aron had pointed out as another lab employee at the Garden Party walked by. Raising her hand to wave at him Sophie called out in a quiet tone. "Hello, can I take the lift with you? I don’t want to ride in the lift alone. Lifts scare me-"

Moving a little closer to the lift she asked curiously "Weren't you the guy that got a big bear hug from a woman at the Garden Party?

The 30 year-old wasn't expecting the woman to speak to him at all. She looked nervous and if he were in her shoes, he would never speak to anyone.

Not that he'd normally speak to anyone anyway...

Anyhow, she had spoken to him and asked if she could take the lift with him because lifts... oh. Lifts scared her? Derek wondered if she was a claustrophobic. He silently looked at her for a moment before answering. "Sure." He stepped aside to giev her plenty of room and so it wouldn't be awkward. Not that it would, since the lift wasn't small, but... just in case."What level?" Derek asked and looked away from her again. He was just being polite. But speaking made him feel... awkward.

Ugh.

The woman's next question made his whole face turn red and he blinked once as he stared straight at the corridor in front of him. She was probably referring to Amber and her odd way of greeting people. "Y- um... yes..."

.................................Awkward.

The man was silent for so long that Sophie feared that he was going to deny her request. It would be a disappointment to give in and take the stairs but there was no way that she was riding in any lift at any time alone. Sophie let out a small ragged breath as the man took a step aside to allow her to join him in the lift.

Closing her eyes for a moment the brunette took a long exaggerated breath before she stepped into the lift beside the man and heard how the door closed behind her. Chocolaty slightly wide eyed brown eyes trailed over to the man as she murmured. "Level 3,"

"I'm a new employee in Accidents & Catastrophes." Sophie supplied just to keep talking. If she stopped she might start thinking and thinking was never good.

She looked down at her feet politely as she saw how beat red the man had gotten at her mention of the woman at the party. "Sorry, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I just remembered the woman because Aron pointed you out to me when you got hugged." Hopefully that made sense and didn’t sound totally weird.