Meeting new people, blah, blah, blah. There was only one person that Roxanne was interested in seeing in this area of the orientation. Her fiancé (and Merlin, was she still getting used to that word). She could meet the MLEers both new and old at their table, but there was no way she was going to able to talk to Konrad over there (unless they met up at the buffet table), so over here it was.

Scanning the crowd for that familiar shock of blond hair, she thought back over their vacation and the surprise (for her, at least) proposal. The whole thing had been beautiful, being in Italy, the bridge, the water in the background. Definitely something to tell the kids about one day. If they had any, of course. Which she kind of hoped they did. Two, one boy, one girl, just like her parents had had. Anyway, now wasn't the time to think of such things. Nope, now was the time to get back on a 'work' schedule and get ready for all that entailed. All that paper work and stuff.....

Could they just go back to Italy, please?

He shook his head a bit "I had no idea, but maybe I am starting to gain that skill." he chuckled a little "Well it does help in my job to be able to read people" cause you needed to be able to know who was lying to you and who wasnt. He nodded "I am rubbish at that too! I mean I walked into this room today and I felt like.. where do I start with all these people. So like you I stood off to the side and waited for a few people to come to me. " he smiled at how they had started off very similar "Then I got the hang of it and decided to talk to others who felt a little lost. " hence why he had come to her in the first place. He smiled "Thats good that you have, wouldnt want to be stuck doing something that you dont love." yeah it was just not a good thing to be in a situation like that. "Ah ok thats good that they have pikced up" cause it was nice not to have to just sit there doing nothing for a department that you enjoyed working for. "Ah ok, thats a cool department. Does it keep you on your toes?" he asked wondering what kinda of job she did in Accidents. He smiled and nodded "Yeah so I see.. I guess that means you are great too since you said the people here.. and you are one of them so that means that you are great" he smiled as he noticed that she had said everyone there and that included her right? he smiled "Thanks.. I wasnt doing too good at first.. but I got the hang of it after a while" and he was glad that he wasnt as nervous as when he first got here, he was actually meeting a few good people here like Ashley here. "I work in MLE, always have done. At first it was Muggle Law Enforcement and now its Magical.. so always MLE" he chuckled realising that both were MLEs whether the 'M' stood for Muggle or Magical.

"Sounds like a fun time! You're so lucky. I couldn't even go on a cruise if I wanted to. I'm so busy," she said. Victoria always dreamed of going to Hawaii but never got the chance yet. "Is the pineapple as good as they say," she questioned with a small laugh.

"What lovely places though," they really were. She hasn't been herself but they do sound like nice places. "I'm from the north west of America," she said with a proud smile.

Victoria laughed with a nod. "That may be why. And no, we have an every large space with so many rooms." It was a little private in level 1, which can be nice, so she wasn't complaining. "In the ministry,'she questioned, "Not often. There will be little problems in each department, but nothing major for the whole place."

He was back at work.

Technically, he wasn't working right then, but the problem was... he was back at the Ministry. Even if he'd had an amazing time on their winter holiday, he sort of hated ever going to Italy. Of course, there were obvious reasons for which he adored the country, and even one more after his last trip there, but he got so used to spending time with Roxanne that he started missing her the moment they parted. It was not a good feeling.

So, there he was, making his way through the crowd of new and old employees in the hope of finding a more peaceful corner. Also, this holiday made him forget how uncomfortable he sometimes felt in suits and shirts, rather than t-shirts and his favourite jeans. Nevertheless, he was back in a dark suit and a white shirt, but no tie. Maybe he could also get rid of his coat later, and then he could feel a bit more comfortable.

Soon enough, Konrad forgot all about the suit when he spotted Roxanne, his feet instantly walking by themselves towards her, a wide grin back on his face. "Hi, gorgeous," he said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. And... surprise! There was no stubble! Heheee.

She smiled, "Yeah, they are lovely places... I actually got married in Hawaii." Elizabeth blushed at the memory. "North west? Oh what is it like?" She laughed and looked at the girl.

Elizabeth glanced at the lady and nodded, "Yeah... you didnt bite me too hard... are you okay though? Maybe you need to rest... or something?" She looked at the lady, a little worried.

"Oh, thank you." He replied appreciatively, making a note by all of the sections she mentioned so he could somehow fill the sheet up. "Greatly appreciated, Ms. Summit." He was still waiting to be asked by a non-IMC person how many languages he spoke, seeing that was on the list too.



Charles offered Elizabeth a polite nod. "It's fine, I understand." Oh, so she'd picked up that he hated being called Charles? That was surprising since he thought he'd hidden it well. "Well I shall keep to 'Charles' due to Gavin's decision about formalities." Or the lack of them. He was about to ask if she was sure she was okay, but frowned instead. Had her husband just said zombie? His eyes turned back to the staring woman, everything was making sense now.

He hadn't really listened to the marital conversation because he'd been staring out the zombie, but when he heard 'ambassador', Charles looked over at the couple slightly blankly. What? Were they talking about him? O__O He was about to open his mouth, but zombie lady distracted him by shoving her money pouch in his direction. Surprised, Charles shook his head and pushed it back toward her. "It's fine, I can replace my shoes." Couldn't do it YET though. UGH. Melty shoes for the rest of the day. "Just... focus on getting better, Ma'am." And not throwing up on him again.

Demitria was ready to meet new people, she felt a little estranged from her social life. The past year has had so many events that turned her life upside down. Not to mention finally landing a job here at the Ministry! It was a lot to take it, yet her smile was a big as the building and as bright as the sun. It was a good day.

She smiled at the people around her, Demi's best friend happened to have worked in the Ministry. Also her best friend's father was the Sugarplum's shop owner.

"Oh so you're in the Magical Creatures department. I've never had a reason to go there so I honestly don't know what it is like. Are you new or just changing jobs?"

A Reminisciator modifies memories or implants new ones. I basically get called if there is a need to implant or modify memories especially on muggles who have a lot of contact with wizards." Jade said in one breath. She took a sip of her wine afterwards looking back into room.

"And you Hershey what does a Junior Dragon Researcher do?"

As she listened to Hershey explain about her job, Jade noticed a man just wandering around looking intently at people. She didn't know if he was affected by the odd behavior that all the infected zombies were but you couldn't take a chance.

"Excuse me." she said to Hershey. It was rude of her to be sure but that man seriously was up to no good.

"HEY! You okay there?" She yelled in the direction of the man hoping to get his attention

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

Upon entering the 'Meet and Greet' area Natasha picked up a Scavenger hunt sheet as she let her eyes drift over the people already mingling around. No Isobel in sight. Maybe her sister had been held up by the babies? Shrugging Tasha headed inside the spacious room trying to debate who to try and strike up a conversation with. There were so many people here already.

It didn't take long before she spotted two familiar faces among all the unfamiliar ones. Kensi looked even more terrible then the last time she had seen her in the food court before the vacation. Whereas Ella on the other looked as elegant as ever.

Approaching the pair Tasha greeted them both with a smile. "Hello Kensi! Hello Ella!" With a worried look she gave Kensi a second once over and asked concerned. "Are you still feeling under the weather Kensi? I thought the vacation would have cured you from what ever it was that was making you sick."

Turning to Ella she asked in cheerier tone. "How was your vacation Ella? Did you try the vacation packages TerrorTours advertised in the papers about?" Tasha hadn't but she had done her best to enjoy her vaction to the fullest.

Seeing another woman approach her, Ella smiled at the familiar face. It took her a moment, but she remembered that her name was Natasha, yes. "Hello, Natasha. Good to see you again." And it was almost the same experience as their first meeting, with Kensi seemingly quite... ill.

Ella sighed longingly when Natasha asked her about her vacation. "Yes, actually. I went to Qomalangma Peak and did some hiking. And Yeti watching, of course." What kind of magical creatures fanatic would she be if she didn't see the Yetis?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

The redhead took a step back from both women...Ella...she was familiar....her green eyes widened..."No..NO! I saw a Healer! They said they didn't know! I have to-to come to work, still! Let me be!" she cried, her voice hysterical.

Which wasn't good. Her emotions were already so raw, and her sister had just left...after dealing with a very ill Kensi for about a month, and still no help..well, Kensi had been feeling VERY dejected lately...she went to turn away from them but as soon as she did she overcome with a FIT of gagging...and convulsing...she doubled over, clutching her stomach, until she began to tremble and then when she straightened up she was gone. Her eyes were gone, and her mouth was open. She took a step forward and seemed to be walking without thinking. She reached out a hand, mindlessly, and took the woman(Elizabeth's) arm....and slowly brought the arm to her mouth...

CHOMP!

She tried to bit her arm..it wasn't a hard bit, for now, but as soon as Kensi felt the taste of her skin...she snapped out of it..and, horrified, through the lady's arm back at her..

Her eyes filled with tears...and she looked at Ella...she was so confused...SO CONFUSED. She just wanted to curl up and cry..she wanted to be better...she did...

The redhead couldn't even get out the words I'M SORRY to the poor Elizabeth woman...because if she opened her mouth, she might throw up..

Ella watched the woman's eyes widened and her own copied the motion as Kensi started crying and nearly shouting in hysteria. Merlin, she didn't mean to make her upset! She was just worried about Kensi and her... condition. Ella cautiously put her hand on the woman's arm and looked at her apologetically. "I didn't mean to upset you, Kensi, but-"

But then Kensi started... gagging and convulsing and clutching her stomach. "Kensi?" Ella asked worriedly. What in the world was going on with her? Nothing that the healers couldn't fix? Just as Ella was about to speak again, she saw Kensi stand up as if nothing happened and... almost zombie-like stepped towards another woman and- bit her?! Was Ella seeing correctly?! Her eyes widened and she took Kensi's arm again. "Kensi, I think you should go home." She was freaking out. Whatever this sickness was, she shouldn't be around people until it went away. "Why don't you talk to Mr. Ferguson about taking off some sick time until you get this illness sorted out." Because the Ministry didn't really need people biting each other.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colley ♥

Wandering away from the raffle and free stuff, Hershey stepped outside into the cool air. It was nice to have a chance to see things about the Ministry before she actually started working there and all, but there were a LOT of people inside and the air was fresh out here. She examined the box of Bertie Bott's beans and opened it carefully, choosing one. Botts made her think of her cousin, her cousin made her think of her family and her family made her think of home. Though this was an exciting experience, she couldn't help but feel a the teeniest bit homesick. The first thing to do in a new place was to make friends and that wasn't hard. She glanced around to see if she could spot anyone who wasn't already engaged in a conversation (it was rude to interrupt conversations) Perhaps someone would find her, even? She was totally polite and approachable looking, right? Of course! She'd even share her candy.

In all the hustle and bustle and chaos that was around her, Ella had taken a step back to catch a breath and ended up bumping into someone behind her. "Oh!" she exclaimed, turning around to see who she had bumped into. A young woman with every flavor beans. "Terribly sorry, dear. It's a bit... busy in here." And kind of crazy, but Ella was pleased at the large turn out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HazelStone101

"Nice to meet you as well, M'aam." Annalise smiled, happy to be on seemingly good terms with at least ONE Department Head. "I'm looking forward to starting my new job here. The other employees all seem very friendly." She added, beaming. Annalise loved nice people.

"I think you'll find that most everyone in the Ministry is rather friendly." That's how Ella felt, anyway. She had been welcomed quite nicely into this new job and she had great coworkers. Although, she hadn't really made a whole lot of friends... At least they were all nice, though. "Rafael, your department head is quite nice as well. And we share a level, so I'll be seeing you around." Ella liked sharing a level with someone else.

Ivee nodded. Good, he knew Amortentia. "So, you say you've got skills in Potions?" the woman asked. He can't be that bad in Potions now... Cause if he did, Ivee would have zapped him with a spell to know what the hell is wrong with him. Not knowing Potions and Herbology? Poo you.

"That, I am not so sure," Ivee answered. "It didn't state at the job description, but maybe we could make some different breeds of plants." That would make her whole job way more interesting if they experimented on some plants and such. Cooooooool.

Trying to keep her head cool Tasha kept mumbling soothing words to Kensi as she tried to get the younger woman from breaking into another hysterical burst and biting somebody else. With her focus on Kensi she at first didn’t see the other woman (Lights) that came up and tried to help with Kensi.

Exchanging a brief glance with the woman behind Kensi’s back was all Tasha had time for before Kensi sat fire to a man’s SHOES! The man was resourceful though and put the fire out before the fire spread. A PLUS in her book.

Blinking she turned to Kensi as she thanked her. "Uh, you’re welcome dear. You should really think about taking some time off from work. Mr Ferguson will surely not object to that.” Taking a step back from Kensi she looked over at Lights. "I think I heard someone say that Mr Ferguson is in the Food area. It might be wise if you escorted Kensi to him so that she requests some time off before something else happens." Tasha suggested of consideration only for the very sick woman.

It was with a feeling of déjà vu that Natasha turned her full attention to Ella. The creatures department head that she had met before the vacation. Nodding she replied enviously after Ella had shared where she had vacationed. "That sounds amazing even if I would have skipped the Yeti’s. I settled for going to the Spa, spending a lot of time with my family and just relaxing." The babysitting for Izzy and Wesley had been a challenge. Who knew that twins could be so loud?

Turning to the man with the now fully ruined shoes Tasha fired off an apologetic smile in his direction. "I’m sorry your shoes got ruined, were they new?"

Spotting her older sister come into the room Tasha waved to get her attention and come over. If Izzy was here then she had probably managed to find some to babysit the twins probably their mother. It was still a mystery that Izzy had decided to bury the hatchet with their mother when Tasha always thought she was just meddling too much and causing too much trouble for everyone but herself mostly.

This was possibly worse than the wedding. Although at least Dorian wasn't dealing with his memories this time around. Just the fact he was supposed to be meeting the newcomers at the Ministry, and not just those who were working for him, or in MLE in general. He knew most of the current MLE employees after the training several months earlier, at least by name. And he knew a few others outside of Level Two, although he wasn't about to wait to see if any of them were there. Odds were that they were. He'd managed to get convinced to attend, and he had to admit this was slightly better than what he'd done most of the holiday. Namely, reading at home with Lorelai, waiting for her to reach her burning period. Exciting stuff, but then at least nothing new had happened in Italy. He'd written for an update, which he'd gotten about a week ago. Gabriel wasn't back to his tricks of trying for a transfer, and he was still alive. Oddly enough both were facts that made him feel better, even though the latter probably should have been worrisome.

Glancing around the room, his height helping him slightly, he managed to locate at least one familiar blonde figure waving toward someone who proved to be Isobel, over with Ms. Whitworth, who looked a bit worse for wear, Lights, and another woman who he wasn't as familiar with. He'd headed over anyhow, listening to the discussion of Ms. Whitworth taking more time off and thinking back to his conversation with Roxanne before the holiday. Apparently that hadn't quite been resolved, but he dec ided it wasn't his business. Not right now, and possibly not at all unless it ended up another level-wide case. And the talk of yetis caught his attention anyhow, as he walked over to the women. Glancing toward the brunette (Ella). "Were the yetis doing anything out of character?," he asked, merely curious. Especially if the woman had been watching them on her own, since that could have proved dangerous. But then he nodded his head toward the women in general before glancing at Isobel's sister. "Natasha. No more inkwell incidents as of late?," he asked, a wry smile appearing briefly on his face. Then he turned toward the group again, introducing himself a bit awkwardly. "Excuse me if I'd interrupted anything. Dorian Tamerlane."

Elizabeth smiled, "You are sweet." She nodded, "Okay." She smiled at him as he looked over blankly at Jack and her when they were talking about the new ambassador aka him. She was, of course, not talking bad just that Jack kinda of already met him.

It might have taken Victoria a while until she joined the other employees at this orientation thing, which was awesome. But choosing which dress she had to wear was the reason. Well, she settled on one eventually and here she came to this meet and greet area. Her purse clutched with her hand she entered and stood taking in the faces of the people. She immediately noticed the faces of her friend and colleague Konrad who was with Roxanne,of course. She shot them a smile from where she stood. Let them enjoy each other's company before she intruded joined them.

She walked further and noticed Kensi. Just when Victoria was about to raise her hand to greet the woman she noticed spells being cast. Wait. Did she just burn that man's shoes? Victoria was wondering how the woman had been and if she had gotten better during this vacation. Was that the answer or was there a perfect explanation for what just happened. Not wanting to interfere as many people already did and not wanting to ignore. Victoria raised her hand and waved at the red-headed without getting so much nearer. You know her shoes were brand new. "Hey, Kensi." That should do it, right?

The secretary searched the faces and recognized a few more. Natacha, the head of department woman, Derek was there too. She managed nods and smiles towards them all. And probably towards people she didn't know as well. She just missed everyone at the ministry and was so glad that she had come back.


Then as she stood there she noticed someone….smacking into walls…? Victoria walked towards the woman her heels clicking against the floor. Looking closely she recognized the woman. A fellow Level-one employee. "Erm…Are you ok, Kyle?" That was her name, right? And only after asking this did Victoria notice that the woman's eyes were glazed. That only reminded Victoria of Kensi's eyes. GULP.

Man, this is getting seriously crowded. She detached herself from the crowd and observed the others those who were bonding. Whose idea was this orientation, anyway? She spotted Konrad, the ghost guy and Roxanne. She waved to him along with a loud "Hey" She'd talk with him in a moment, as she had spotted a woman, who looked stranded as her.

"Hello there" she walked towards her "I'm Julia Smith from MLE" she stopped and extended her bony arm. "And you are?" Another MoM staff I don't know.

Yes. Yes she was. "I'm completely new. I actually just graduated from Hogwarts this past year." So, totally brand new! Yay!

Oh. So THAT was what she did. That was kind of COOL actually. "I guess that could get messy sometimes, altering memories like that." Hershey managed not to laugh when the woman asked what a Dragon Researcher did. She also managed not to have any smart comments. "Besides researching dragons? Not quite sure yet. I guess I'll find out soon."

"Oh, sure." Hershey nodded as the woman excused herself and called out to some random man.

Whoops.

Hershey took a step back to give the woman, who seemed to be surrounded by people, some more room, "No worries, it is quite crowded, and to think I came out here for a bit of room." She laughed, "I'm just glad you're not one of the zombies I heard about."

Yeah. Perhaps Ministry of Magic letters of employment should include pictures of the respective Department Heads....

Isobel looked up when someone stepped in front of her. Good thing she hadn't been walking that fast, she didn't exactly want to walk into anyone. Her auror senses had also told her that someone was approaching her. They all came in useful. She smiled at the man. Gavin Isaacs. She recognized that name. Isobel tried to go through her memory, thinking where she had seen the name. It took her a few moments but she got it. This man was one of her knew employees. Perfect.

"Hello." She smiled at the man. "I'm Isobel Ferugson." Surely her name would trigger his memory. Hopefully the man would know who his boss was. Or her name at least. "I'm department head for the Department of Mysteries." Which if her memory was correct was where this man had been placed.

Sensing someone trying to get her attention Isobel looked up just in time to see her sister waving at her. Ooh. Tasha. Izzy smiled, and made her way over to her sister. She hadn't seen Tasha that much since her twins had been born. The boys made her a very busy woman. "Hey Tash." It did seem forever since she had seen her. She'd have to get Tasha to come around more because now they were back at work she was bound to get even busier. "Having fun?" And. It seemed that one of her husband's employee's was here. Izzy hadn't really talked to Dorian that much when she had worked up on level 2. "Hello Dorian."

Maine picked up one of the scavenger hunt sheets as she made her way into the meet and greet area. It seemed interesting, and she might know some of the people that the list specified, but she thought it'd be good to mingle a little more, socialize and things like that. She'd have to get used to it.

Tripping a little on her way, she eventually found herself somewhere near the middle of the room. Maybe someone would say hi first so that Maine would be able to skip the awkwardness. Just maybe.

Jade laughed, "Yes. Sometimes I guess. I'm new at the job actually- just got promoted so I haven't been out yet altering memories."

Hershey was just out of Hogwarts? Well Jade could say for sure that Hershey was in for quite a rude awakening working at the MoM. It was vastly different from school in Jade's opinion. But she didn't have the heart to tell the girl that-- why make her nervous beforehand?

"I honestly don't think that it is just restricted to researching dragons. At least not what I've heard about it-- it does sound like an interesting job. I've heard that with experience you get to spend actual time with the dragons, cataloging different things about them and more of course. Obviously, don't take me by my word on this- I'm no expert.

So how are you finding being at MoM so far? Of course we just had the Christmas vacation which probably was welcomed wasn't it?"


A few minutes later after she was distracted by the man who was wandering the crowd inside and excused herself to yell out at him, Jade returned her attention back to Hershey.

"Sorry about that-- apparently there is a Zombie invasion of some sort of the MoM. So you can never be too careful with people acting out of sorts."

She shook her head as she spoke. "What do you know about the whole Zombie thing?"

Tamara Scamander was not impressed with most of the big affairs of the Ministry. Not really. It meant that people would likely speak to her with bad breath or something horrendous as such. SIGHS.

Seeing as she did work for the Minister's office she HAD to be a team player, though. Bah. Tam placed a lovely smile on and smoothed down the front of her pencil skirt as she stepped into the "meet and greet area". Hopefully she could find Althea pretty quickly and they could mill around together.

Armen Recard had been there the whole time he just had made a big show of examing the buffet tables stuffing his face with shrimp and other yummy treats and checking out the goodie bags and trying to decide whether or not to swipe one of the autioned off items for himself.

Besides that he HADN'T been talking to the new employees like he was supposed to--but Alexander had told him to do that so obviously it wasn't too important, right? If there were any new Transportation employees here they would be smart enough to find him, he was practically famous these days. Only the MLE department newbies would be overly paranoid and talking/questioning every person they lay eyes on.

Victoria happened to see two people standing alone. Well she had a few comet o her, so it was now time to go to other people. she walked up to them and smiled, "Hello, My name is Victoria. I am new here and wanted to introduce myself." She felt her nerves jump, but tried to control them so she could get to know as many people as possible. It was time to branch out and meet the people she could be working next to as well as living near.

Mariel smiled in relief. Thankfully the woman was friendly and didn't just bite her head off for running into her. "Hi Elizabeth.. I'm Mariel," she answered in return. "Oh, African Ambassador.. that sounds really interesting." Mariel loved to travel to other countries, but had never been to Africa. She'd have to change that. "I'm in Games and Sports."

Mariel smiled pleasantly as the man turned towards her. Aww, and he seemed a bit nervous.. The woman couldn't blame him as she had felt the same way upon walking in.. but for some reason the fact that others were nervous as well put her a little more at ease. Perhaps talking to the man would do the same for him. "Yes.. something like that," she gave him a nod and friendly smile. "Learning together.. but separate." That was a kind of funny thought. "It's nice to meet you as well, Tyler."

She was about to open her mouth to answer his question, then the hint of a mischievous grin played on the corners of her lips at his next words. A guessing game might be fun.. "Why don't you go on and guess then?" she said as she smoothed down the pleats of her skirt and pushed back a few of her raven locks behind her shoulders. "Where do I look like I belong? ..and then I'll guess yours."

"Yes.. Games and Sports," she nodded. Mariel glanced over at Victoria and nodded again as she turned back to Melissa. "We were just discussing that.. Quite a coincidence." Mariel smiled over at her co-worker, glad that they got on well already. "Um.. I'm not sure yet.. I'm new and haven't gotten that detail of my assignment yet." Mariel thought for a moment. Hopefully it wouldn't be long until she found out. She hated being in the dark about things. "I suppose given my experience, it will most likely be Quidditch-related," she added.

Mariel leaned over to view Victoria's picture. "Oh, he's precious," she said with a smile. "Great age, isn't it? I don't have any myself, but my sisters have kids.." She offered a sympathetic smile. "I'm sure he'll be fine.. Kids are resilient. And I bet he'll love London... What's his name?"

Mariel nodded happily. "Me too.. I was a bit nervous, thinking I'd be the new kid at Games and Sports, but I guess we can share that title," she said with an amused smile. The woman furrowed her brow slightly. "You either? No.. I'm not sure what I'll be doing yet.. Hopefully something with Quidditch." Because gobstones really weren't her thing. "Maybe we'll find out today?" she added hopefully.

The apologetic smile was greatly appreciated in this moment of distress for his feet nearly being on fire. "Thank you. As it happens, they were." Charles answered the blonde snappy lady, thinking that maybe she'd just snapped because she was caught in the moment. He hoped so. When a man he didn't know approached (Dorian), Charles nodded to him politely. "Hello Mr. Tamerlane, Charles Taylor." Hopefully he'd help the poor woman who'd set him on fire.

Him? Sweet? Seriously? Had she taken notice of what he was like? Sweet was not a word he'd use when describing himself. Maybe they needed to talk more, she'd understand who he was soon enough.

Just like that day in Scribbulus Tasha didn’t see Dorian coming before he had already walked up to them. When he mentioned her inkwell she couldn’t help but burst out laughing warmly. With a wink at him she replied. "Good day Dorian! No more inkwell accidents of late no, but lots of painful parchment cuts I'm afraid." She held up several fingers with healing cuts to prove her point. Stationary equipment just didn’t like her it seemed.

When her sister came over Tasha immediately engulfed her in a big. "Hi Izzy." They saw each other too little these days. Maybe they could remedy that soon with a sister’s only weekend somewhere? Wesley could manage the kids on his own for a few days, couldn’t he? "What? Oh, yes I am! I’m glad the ministry decided to hold this bonding extravaganza." Or feast depending how you viewed it.

"Who did you persuade to babysit the twins?" Tasha wondered curiously. Had their mother pitched in?

"Oh then I’m doubly sorry for you. I’m Natasha Warrington by the way." She introduced herself awkwardly with a smile trying her best to not look at the painfully ruined shoes. "On what level do you work?" Tasha asked.