No one can say HOW the large Muggle Foosball table was smuggled through the Atrium and down to Level 10, but there it is in the corner. It's practically new, with the little players only slightly scuffed and the green turf practically glowing in the half-light. Find a partner and challenge him/her to a match!


Note: If you would like to add anything to this little room, please PM a Ministry DH or the MoM admin with your idea.

Sure they could have easily had just met up in their shared breakroom, but that was common. That was familiar. And this ... hole in the wall down behind the tapestry on level ten that she'd stumbled upon and heard rumours about was different. Besides they had officially been together again for three months so she was pretty sure that deserved more than just the normal level four cookies and coffee and tea.

"Don't look so nervous," Alex glanced up at the dragonologist, amused by his expression, as she tugged at his arm. "You're gonna love it!" Well she did when she first saw it and if she did than he would because it was her.

Lawson was gone for the weekend to meet up with his girlfriend, so Cole had been taking care of Harper. Well, not technically. Technically, Rosa was doing everything but he helped. And tried to be the best uncle he could be. It was a lot of work. Rosa made it so easy, but Cole struggled - even though it had been three years since the child was born. Nevertheless, he never regretted anything. Taking Lawson in, making sure Harper was taken care of.

When Alex had asked him to meet him for a game of foosball, Cole had accepted immediately, even though he had no idea how to play. He had accepted, because he had barely seen her the whole weekend - so in office hours it was.

"Hah. I am not nervous, I am just wondering how would you feel when I understand what I have to do and beat you," he teased with a grin. The place was deserted, and that was good. He could flirt with Alex openly. So far, the getting back together had been a breeze and Cole really really liked it. Making sure no one was coming in or anything, he stepped closer to her: "But wait ..." he added, and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on her lips. It had been a whole weekend without a kiss, you see. Pulling back, he smiled and said "Now tell me how do we play this thing?"

She could tell he was preoccupied, which was why taking him down to this secret hideaway would definitely lighten his mood and his stress. Besides, they hadn't been spending too much time together between work and Cole looking after his niece.

Alex smiled amused at Cole's flirtatiousness. He missed her. She totally could tell and was totally okay with that. It wasn't as if it was anyone there besides them. Well there were some people over on the mismatched couches, but they weren't anywhere near them and were focused on their own lives. Though when he stepped closer and kissed her gently, she was taken aback slightly but felt herself warm. "Is this part of your game plan? Distract the opponent with romance?" she whispered curiously, a gleam in her eyes, as she took a step toward the table. "It's quite simple. You stand on one side, me on the other, and we use these handles to control the players on the field. To try and get this little ball in the goal that our players our facing." Alex demonstrated, moving the handle in and out from the table and turning it as well.

"It might be," Cole grinned, stepping away to go stand across her. Cole listened to her, eyes on her instead of the table.

He nodded when she finished, and replicated what she had been doing with the handles. "Like this?" he asked, trying to hit the ball. "So how about we make this a little interesting. If you win, you stay over at my place for the weekend, if I win, you stay over at my place for the weekend," he said, grinning and successfully hit the ball straight into the goal area.

It seemed like a fair deal, didn't it? Besides, he was sure Lawson would be back by then.

As Jasmine left her table, she led Ronnie towards the foosball table. She loved a friendly competition just one on one. As she approached her side she realized how long it has been since she played this game. As Ronnie approached her she smiled slyly and admitted, "It has been a while since I have played this game so bear with me. I maybe a little rusty.." I mean if Ronnie kicked her butt then she would be impressed.

She couldn't get over how adorable their conversation was. "I mean I guess love at first sight is a true thing.." she commented as she rolled her knob to get her foosball player in motion. "I wondered if it happened to me with Alex..." she wondered out loud to herself. Ronnie didn't have to answer but it was more her thoughts. "You better invite me to your party at your new house.." she told her with an arched brow. "I mean I can help you plan out and make it the best party.." she winked. Jazz knew a thing or two about parties especially since she hosted a great one back in her university days.

Ronnie followed Jazz to the foosball table, smiling. She was totally pumped for this game, especially against her good friend Jazz. She hoped Jazz wouldn't mind how competitive Ronnie would get.

Because when it came to games like this, Ronnie could get pretty competitive.

She waved a hand. "Oh, I gotcha. Perhaps for our first game I'll go a little easy on ya." she teased with a laugh as she got on her side. She then nodded when Jazz picked up from where they had left of on their conversation. "Yeah, I didn't believe in it at all for the longest time..." she said with a laugh, shaking her head as she put the ball in and watched it begin rolling towards her own goal. The red head glanced up for a second at Jazz and shrugged. "You never know. See where it goes, take things slow...then you'll know..." she trailed off as she got distracted by the game again, twisting her knob to block the ball from going into her goal. Phew! That was a close one... right. Back to the conversation. "Yeah totally! I'd love as much help as I can get. I'll owl you when I know when we'll officially have the party."

Jasmine smiled and nodded. "I would appreciate it if you could go easy one me.." she grinned sheepishly. She was noticing Ronnie was getting pretty good at this game. She let a ball into the goal and Ronnie got a point. She needed to get used to using all the knobs. It was quite hard to multi task. "You didn't believe in love at first sight? Oh I did since I always saw it on the disney princess films.." she admitted to that. She wished she could have been a disney princess and some prince would take her away. If only that could happen. "I mean me being the girly girl I am, I always believed I would find my prince charming." Anyways back to the game!

She wanted to kick Ronnie's butt not that she was competitive or anything. Jazz heard her advice about going slow and nodded. She took her advice to heart and thought why not slow things down? Everything was happening sort of fast. She didn't know what to do but maybe she could ask Alex to go easy on her. Jazz saw her ball almost go to her goal but she saved it. GAH! Soo close. "Aww man I was soo close.." she grinned and tried to block her goal scoring skills. "You better owl me the information or I will just crash your party anyways if I don't get one." she winked. "Then I will finally meet Jory and we shall talk and such." she smiled and nodded. She really wanted to meet her boyfriend and see if he was cute or anything.

In all his years at the Ministry, and all the coffee runs of a young YATI, Sabel had never recalled a foosball table being down here. Perhaps he had been too nose-to-the-ground on his coffee missions back in the day to have noticed. But today, simply strolling through and getting an afternoon pick-me-up, it was hard to miss.

As it was hard to keep the boyish grin off his face as he moved over to the contraption, running his fingers along the edge. He gave one of the poles a flick, satisfied to find it spun very, very well. A search around the edges proved fruitful when he found the ball. It seemed that the game was fully operational and ready to be played.

It didn't matter that he didn't have a partner, the coffee went on the ledge of the table and he dropped the ball in the center, giving one of the poles a quick flick to send the plastic feet of one of the linesmen square into the ball. Even if it was an unfair, straight shot to goal allowing the ball to tumble in easily, it made him grin. The memories were worth it.

SPOILER!!: SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABEL <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tazenhani

In all his years at the Ministry, and all the coffee runs of a young YATI, Sabel had never recalled a foosball table being down here. Perhaps he had been too nose-to-the-ground on his coffee missions back in the day to have noticed. But today, simply strolling through and getting an afternoon pick-me-up, it was hard to miss.

As it was hard to keep the boyish grin off his face as he moved over to the contraption, running his fingers along the edge. He gave one of the poles a flick, satisfied to find it spun very, very well. A search around the edges proved fruitful when he found the ball. It seemed that the game was fully operational and ready to be played.

It didn't matter that he didn't have a partner, the coffee went on the ledge of the table and he dropped the ball in the center, giving one of the poles a quick flick to send the plastic feet of one of the linesmen square into the ball. Even if it was an unfair, straight shot to goal allowing the ball to tumble in easily, it made him grin. The memories were worth it.

Aron rarely had the need to wander down to level 10, especially not for coffee means since his department still boasted the best brew in the Ministry, but for one reason or another...here he was. Perhaps he just needed to get out and stretch his legs? Or maybe it was more he needed to do something out of the ordinary to shake his glorified babysitter? The reason really was not important in the grand scheme of things and there was no harm in a bit of modest Ministry exploration during those few moments during the day where he had a break.

With his mug still in his hand - the mug from his office with the coveted level 3 coffee - he strolled into this...whatever this place's official title was and took a long sip of his beverage. Ace! It was still warm despite the long trek here.

"I reckon muggles didn't design this game to be played by yourself," the Australian knowingly mused as he strolled over to where the Auror stood. That was about all he could recall about the MLE employee, that he was an Auror. Other details, like his age, escaped Aron for the time being.

Setting his mug on the rim of the table, he casually twirled one of the row of plastic feet with an easy flex of his strong arms. Eh, he had a few minutes. Would be fun beating an Auror in a little friendly match.

He hadn't been expecting any company, but company was more than welcome. The comment made him chuckle as he glanced over at the man, a vague recollection tickling the back of his mind.

"No, they sure didn't." Straightening, he spared the man a grin as he took up his coffee for a sip. "But I'm sure many a wizard has tried."

But then, where was the fun in playing solo? His grin said it all.

Putting his coffee safely to the side, Sabel moved around to stand across from the Department Head, Aron was it? The man who Rainey had nearly broken the hand of? From the looks of it, said hand had healed quite well and he knew his way around a foosball table.

"What do you say? Game of five rounds?" It had been an age since Sabel had even ventured near a foosball and Aron looked like he was going to be a good match.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tazenhani

He hadn't been expecting any company, but company was more than welcome. The comment made him chuckle as he glanced over at the man, a vague recollection tickling the back of his mind.

"No, they sure didn't." Straightening, he spared the man a grin as he took up his coffee for a sip. "But I'm sure many a wizard has tried."

But then, where was the fun in playing solo? His grin said it all.

Putting his coffee safely to the side, Sabel moved around to stand across from the Department Head, Aron was it? The man who Rainey had nearly broken the hand of? From the looks of it, said hand had healed quite well and he knew his way around a foosball table.

"What do you say? Game of five rounds?" It had been an age since Sabel had even ventured near a foosball and Aron looked like he was going to be a good match.

Wondering for a moment if the Auror was about to get all stuffy and formal in his presence - something people seemed to do whenever there was a department head around despite his casual appearance of jeans and a tshirt - Aron was relieved when that proved not to be the case. Even was courteous enough to take the bait and challenge him to a few rounds.

Grabbing his mug and gulping down the remaining liquid, Aron set the mug off to the side beside the Auror's. "I'm down," he smirked while glancing towards the table. "Pick your poison, red or blue."

The smirk was returned in kind as Sabel examined the pieces for a moment. "Red's always been a better color on me."

Shifting over to the goal that he had knocked the ball into, Sabel pulled it out, turned it between his fingers for a moment. So far, the man didn't seem half bad. Heck, he wasn't really sure why there had been such a big issue at the Orientation. Man looked and talked like he could hold his own.

Then again, Sabel has so far refrained from shaking Rainey's hand. Maybe the man did have an iron grip. Or maybe the Department Head was a sore looser. Either way, he was about to learn a thing or two about the man's character.

He tossed the ball to the Department Head. "Batter up."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tazenhani

The smirk was returned in kind as Sabel examined the pieces for a moment. "Red's always been a better color on me."

Shifting over to the goal that he had knocked the ball into, Sabel pulled it out, turned it between his fingers for a moment. So far, the man didn't seem half bad. Heck, he wasn't really sure why there had been such a big issue at the Orientation. Man looked and talked like he could hold his own.

Then again, Sabel has so far refrained from shaking Rainey's hand. Maybe the man did have an iron grip. Or maybe the Department Head was a sore looser. Either way, he was about to learn a thing or two about the man's character.

He tossed the ball to the Department Head. "Batter up."

"Take it you were one of those Gryffindors then, mate?" he asked as he strolled around to the blue side of the table. "My wife used to teach at Hogwarts," he said, as if doing so would entirely explain his inquiry. Thanks to Seren's lengthy retellings of things that happened at that school it had become almost second nature to make that assumption.

Catching the ball, Aron leaned forward and readied himself for pushing it through the small hole on the side of the table to begin play. "Hear that Rainey has you lot on a short leash these days," he mused, ball falling on to the table with a dull clink and rolling towards one of the Auror's forward most players. "Who he assign you to babysit?"

Having never been one to speak poorly of his colleagues while at work, Aron was more than willing to make an exception for that bloke. Didn't need the man dirtying up his talk with the boys down at the pub.

The man was quick. Sabel's grin was reserved until he revealed how he had come to such a conclusion. So not a former classmate. Good. He would have thought he would have remembered. And he had little concern about degrees of separation. From what he could tell, they were close enough in age that his wife likely hadn't been a Professor of his.

"I was, but even before then, red has always been a better color. Goes with my eyes." Or something like that. He wasn't really sure, but he did prefer it.

Resting his fingers lightly on the poles for his color, Sabel carefully watched the mans hand and the ball .... and almost missed the simple fact that it was headed towards his row thanks to the man's distracting words. Babysit? It took everything in him to keep from starting, and the moment he afforded to silence, to concentrate on the ball, allowed him a moment to process.

Babysit? Was that really something Rainey was assigning the MLE to do? Sure there was the investigations, but those exact words....

He flicked his wrist, sending his forward players spinning and kicking the ball into full gear. "My seniority allows me to select my own charge and I was going to choose you, but it seems someone beat me to it." No sense in missing the opportunity to glean some information of his own. And admittedly, it was somewhat humorous, and as such his grin had transformed into an amused smirk. "Who is my competitor?"

SPOILER!!: Sabel <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tazenhani

The man was quick. Sabel's grin was reserved until he revealed how he had come to such a conclusion. So not a former classmate. Good. He would have thought he would have remembered. And he had little concern about degrees of separation. From what he could tell, they were close enough in age that his wife likely hadn't been a Professor of his.

"I was, but even before then, red has always been a better color. Goes with my eyes." Or something like that. He wasn't really sure, but he did prefer it.

Resting his fingers lightly on the poles for his color, Sabel carefully watched the mans hand and the ball .... and almost missed the simple fact that it was headed towards his row thanks to the man's distracting words. Babysit? It took everything in him to keep from starting, and the moment he afforded to silence, to concentrate on the ball, allowed him a moment to process.

Babysit? Was that really something Rainey was assigning the MLE to do? Sure there was the investigations, but those exact words....

He flicked his wrist, sending his forward players spinning and kicking the ball into full gear. "My seniority allows me to select my own charge and I was going to choose you, but it seems someone beat me to it." No sense in missing the opportunity to glean some information of his own. And admittedly, it was somewhat humorous, and as such his grin had transformed into an amused smirk. "Who is my competitor?"

Chuckling to himself, Aron shrugged his shoulders and flexed his fingers. "I'll just have to take your word on that, mate," he mused, taking some extra care to stretch his medicine fingers specifically. "My wife always tells me I have no sense for such things." Although she may have been mostly referring to his overly casual appearance in the workplace.

Noticing the hesitation in the man's movements, Aron figured he had just struck distraction gold. Seemed Cambridge wasn't the only one who was not a fan of the term babysitter. Made him almost regret the words he had shared with that shady Daily Prophet reporter, wasn't their fault their department head was....whatever Rainey was.

"Pity," he replied with a calm confidence as he turned his forward players to send the ball back towards one of his back row plastic players. "Alexa Cambridge, one of the new YATI. Quite the firecracker, really." And speaking of firecrackers...the deparment head flicked his wrist suddenly, sending the ball shooting down the wooden pitch towards the Auror's goal.

He spared the man a wide grin. "Mine tells me the exact same thing. It was her that said it, not me." It seemed like they had some common ground to stand on, even if it just consisted of married life and foosball.

And Alexa Cambridge. He should have known. Or at least been able to guess. But then the question now stood, if Rainey had 'assigned' Alexa, as Aron suggested, had he done the same for the other Aurors and YATIs? If so, who were their charges? It would certainly take their overarching responsibility of watching the ministry to a new level. But, as far as he knew, no one else had been given such a task. Or at least, as was proper within their ranks, no one had spoken of such a thing. Could it have been part of their closed door meeting, that first day?

Sabel watched the ball regress back, his attention flaring. It was hard to miss that the man was lining himself up for a good shot, gaining distance and thus speed. It almost looked like a rookie fluke, but from the familiarity Aron had first addressed the game with, Sabel knew not to mistake it as such.

"That she is."

His hand shot to the furthest line of defense, flicking the pole around to send the men spinning just in time to connect with the oncoming ball.

"I trust she's been treating you well though." His other hand darted to the next row, twisting the men out of the way of the sharply reversed ball that had acquired a slight bounce.

SPOILER!!: Saaaaaaaaaaaable...kins....er...yes

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tazenhani

He spared the man a wide grin. "Mine tells me the exact same thing. It was her that said it, not me." It seemed like they had some common ground to stand on, even if it just consisted of married life and foosball.

And Alexa Cambridge. He should have known. Or at least been able to guess. But then the question now stood, if Rainey had 'assigned' Alexa, as Aron suggested, had he done the same for the other Aurors and YATIs? If so, who were their charges? It would certainly take their overarching responsibility of watching the ministry to a new level. But, as far as he knew, no one else had been given such a task. Or at least, as was proper within their ranks, no one had spoken of such a thing. Could it have been part of their closed door meeting, that first day?

Sabel watched the ball regress back, his attention flaring. It was hard to miss that the man was lining himself up for a good shot, gaining distance and thus speed. It almost looked like a rookie fluke, but from the familiarity Aron had first addressed the game with, Sabel knew not to mistake it as such.

"That she is."

His hand shot to the furthest line of defense, flicking the pole around to send the men spinning just in time to connect with the oncoming ball.

"I trust she's been treating you well though." His other hand darted to the next row, twisting the men out of the way of the sharply reversed ball that had acquired a slight bounce.

Aron matched the man's grin. Not half bad there, Auror. Not half bad. Not that he had really gotten to know many of the Aurors, save for Emily, and not even during his time he had worked in MLE... but he quite liked this one. Seemed to have similar sense of humor at least.

He was even more impressed that the Auror did not seem to take the bait. This could possibly take longer than his break after all. He supposed his paperwork could wait. Nothing that was terribly pressing and it had been a while since he had had a real moment to relax. Not with his son walking and talking now.

"Well enough, I suppose," he chuckled, his blue eyes watching the ball with a new intensity as his grip on the handles shifted ever so slightly to a more open-handed grip. The slight bounce hardly fazed him, rotating a few of his frontal players into a new position while quickly lining up his back-most players diagonally from his forwards. His middle row, well, he would be ready to shift those as necessary. "Was quite insistent that security in my office may not be sufficient enough and that she had had enough of the....quiet days around the Ministry." He leaned his head to the side to crack his neck.

The ball ricocheted off the left inside of one of his forward players, propelling itself backwards off the wall and towards Aron's keeper. His hands flew from their current handles, one pulling on his defensive line while the other rested with ease on the pole controlling his keeper.

While Aron lined up his players, Sabel rotated his and moved to the offensive line in the man's half. He kept his other hand on his last line of defense, leaving the forward's for that split second reaction he knew he was probably going to have to take.

"And you? Do you find it lacking?" He spun his offensive line and pushed it forward, intending to back-kick the ball at an angle towards Aron's goal. The player caught the tip, sending it spinning diagonally towards the keeper. "The security or the lack of quiet?"

SPOILER!!: you know, I have a hard enough time keeping track of my charrie's limbs XD now...ball plus however many plastic men...omg XD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tazenhani

While Aron lined up his players, Sabel rotated his and moved to the offensive line in the man's half. He kept his other hand on his last line of defense, leaving the forward's for that split second reaction he knew he was probably going to have to take.

"And you? Do you find it lacking?" He spun his offensive line and pushed it forward, intending to back-kick the ball at an angle towards Aron's goal. The player caught the tip, sending it spinning diagonally towards the keeper. "The security or the lack of quiet?"

His eye still on the ball, Aron kept a close watch on the way in which his opponent moved their players. Looking for a pattern or a hole in his lineup so he could capitalize on things. Quickly shifting and twirling his own defensive players to allow the shot to go through, Aron next moved his keeper and flicked his wrist to have its plastic foot connect with the ball, sending it towards the right hand wall in a clean pass towards his leftmost forward.

"Security is not lacking," he chuckled. Especially not NOW that even the ventilation shafts were monitored as well. Something good that came from the mutant fiasco at least. "As for the quiet...let's just say I do not share Rainey's view on the matter."

With another flick of the wrist, Aron tried to capitalize on an opening and sent the ball diagonally across to the other wall where, hopefully, it would ricochet off the right hand side and towards the goal.

"Glad to hear it. Would hate for there to be a ... hole." He took the bait this time, and tried to get his men in position to block the advance of the ball. It didn't work. The line-men just didn't move the way he needed them too.

It was interesting how Aron took to the game though. What men he used and which ones he brought into play. Selective, attentive and resourceful. He let the ball through to his goal, abandoning the line of defense to his goalie.

"And what is Rainey's view?" A flick of the wrist and his goalie spun, a second too late. The ball clipped off the edge of the feet, cracked against the side of the goal-post and went in.

SPOILER!!: spoiler alert...I do that EVERY single post...and playing techniques...and XD also...SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABEL <33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tazenhani

"Glad to hear it. Would hate for there to be a ... hole." He took the bait this time, and tried to get his men in position to block the advance of the ball. It didn't work. The line-men just didn't move the way he needed them too.

It was interesting how Aron took to the game though. What men he used and which ones he brought into play. Selective, attentive and resourceful. He let the ball through to his goal, abandoning the line of defense to his goalie.

"And what is Rainey's view?" A flick of the wrist and his goalie spun, a second too late. The ball clipped off the edge of the feet, cracked against the side of the goal-post and went in.

A hole. Indeed.

"I can only speculate," he said, his hands shifting a bit on the poles in anticipation of the ball coming back his way. "But from what I can speculate...quiet days mean too much so-called crime is slipping through the department's fingers." He had figured it was more of an eager new YATI looking for a reason to assert herself. The sort of usual mistake he saw in his own field where someone new comes in and feels this urge to prove themselves despite that urge being unwarranted. More often than not, however, it made them look a bit foolish.

Aron's lips definitely curled up into a cocky smirk this time as his blue eyes followed the path of the ball and...

"ACE!" he exclaimed under his breath, not-so-subtle fist pump performed with his right hand.

Twisting his goalie this way and that, Sabel sighed at the plastic figure as if it was entirely his fault. It was a momentary disappointment, quelled as he leaned over and plucked the ball from the goal. He tested it's weight before moving back to the center of the table.

"An interesting speculation, as usually quiet means we are doing our jobs well." He spared a glance up at Aron before dropping the ball back into play. "Just as I assume it does in your department."

Or was Aron holding a double-standard here?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tazenhani

Twisting his goalie this way and that, Sabel sighed at the plastic figure as if it was entirely his fault. It was a momentary disappointment, quelled as he leaned over and plucked the ball from the goal. He tested it's weight before moving back to the center of the table.

"An interesting speculation, as usually quiet means we are doing our jobs well." He spared a glance up at Aron before dropping the ball back into play. "Just as I assume it does in your department."

Or was Aron holding a double-standard here?

Only half paying attention to things happening on the table now, Aron shook his head. Seemed that he and the Auror had had a few words lost in translation. Must hate losing as much as he did. Could hardly blame the bloke.

"I agree," he nodded, haphazardly twirling one of his defensive players mostly for something to distract his hands than set up a defensive line of any sort. "A day where I don't have to send a crew out to mess with muggle minds over a breach in the Statute is a pretty darn good day to me." Mostly because he felt bad for even having to do it in the first place. With great magic came great responsibility...or something.

And teenage stupidity was no excuse either. Although one he often heard from underage kids that got caught.

"Just the gist I got from my 'babysitter' seemed to be implying otherwise."

Have fun with all that, Mr. Auror.

Chuckling, Sabel shook his head. "It's not so different in our department. Quiet cells is a good thing, not a bad one." He glanced up briefly, giving the man a grin. "Means more room to lock up the loonies when they surface."

And a day when the MLE wasn't run off their feet, was a good day. The less apparently active they were, the better for the community. It was only when things got hairy, that they got noisy.

"As for your 'babysitter'," He watched as the ball rolled to his front line and gave it just enough of a tap to send it directly into the man's front line. A clean kick if he wanted it. "Auror's love to imply, when it suits their purpose."