Penny quickly snatched up her broken bracelet, and was just lifting her head up when she made eye contact with a woman Penny hadn't seen before. In one glance Penny decided that she seemed nice.

"Hello," she replied with a smile. "Yep. This is my first day here. I'm Penny Clearwater." Penny always made sure proper introductions were made, in order to make sure nothing was left out. "Did you say it is your first day, too?"

Then, moving her broken bracelet to her other hand, she added, "Can't trust these bracelets half the time. Always breaking." She said this with a shrug, not quite caring about her bracelet, simply its imperfection. Immediately, she regretted mentioning this, thinking that such small talk was not ideal in this situation.

Alex chuckled. "So, what level are you on?" he asked. So far he hadn't met many people on the same level as him...hopefully he would soon!

Alex walked back to Elizabeth, his face slightly red. Well, that had been...quite embarrassing. "I'm terribly sorry about that." he said.

Kensi lay there, for a few seconds, on her face, still...and then, with the sound of someone taking a deeeeeep breath, she seemed to come to. Her eyes blinked...

*BLINK*

Floor...she was...lying...on the...floor!??! The redhead rolled over and saw stars...MErlin..."I-what- whaa?" she asked, grumbling a bit, covering her face with her arm...and then it happened AGAIN....her eyes went blank, her expression blank, and the drool persisted...a LOT...She sat up, rather mechanically...her arms held out...eerily...She was muttering words that sounded jumbled...and some weren't even words. actually, there WERE no actual words being said..just a load of wiffffle. She then stood up, still in a trance almost, and just stared ahead...droooooling....she bared her teeth...they looked a LOT sharper than usual teeth?

Weird..?

Kensi took a step forward, and then another, only moving one foot at a time...as if walking was stiff and unnatural for her...it was the longest she had ever been in one of these fits...

Having had to duck to avoid being smacked down by the lazy man's giant waving arms. Saul popped back up and was now none-to-pleased with the guy. He crossed his arms and put a stern look of disgust on his face, only for a moment until the man...Wes, introduced himself!

HE WAS HIS BOSS! LEAPING LETHIFOLDS! his arms dropped to his sides and his eyes widened in shock! No words were coming to mind at all as he stood frozen staring at the man he mindfully believed to be a no-good-for-nothing lazy brute.

"I think you'd do better then you think you would." Honestly, there were some people in the department that she wondered how they had even gotten there. But, she wasn't going to push the issue. Besides, part of her loved having someone outside of the department to talk to. Oddly, it made some of the stresses the MLE brought with it easier to deal with somehow. But then again, it could be a huge pain when things had to be kept quiet.

Roxanne gave Konrad a quick peck on the lips back before answering. "Nope. Then again, I haven't been here all that long. Ten minutes at most. I actually just figured I would meet the newbies from my department at our table and the rest could wait until the Ministry actually reopened." Yep, sounded like a good plan to her. After all, when would she actually interact with the other departments anyway? Well, present company excluded.

-Different timeline from above (obviously) -



Roxanne was technically supposed to be figuring out the names of the people that were in the food court that day just before vacation. But since she was pretty sure she had heard Dacs say that she already had those, she taken to walking around the orientation looking for fellow MLEers. Or the ones that hadn't been around when Wes found out about the sick people, anyway. To warn them that the Bossman wasn't very pleased with them and had called a department-wide meeting for when this whole thing was over. Anything to get away from there and avoid being teased about her description of what she had seen. Merlin, that had been humiliating.


As luck would have it, the first person she ran into, Kensi had run into first (and boy, was that girl fast. Or maybe Roxanne had just been roaming longer than she thought?). Saved her a lot of explaination at the very least. Didn't want to have to go there again. Who knew what amusing-but-not spin she might accidentally put on it this time. "Dorian, could I speak with you and Kensi for a minute? Alone." she asked, sending a pointed look at anyone else that was around. Yep, that was her not so subtle hint that this was departmental business that no one else needed to hear. So shoo.

Seriously, she was going to look at her dress and act all suprised that there was now a spilt alcohol on her? That's what happens when you run into a man and his drink. Boredly Armen pointed his wand at her and sent a quick drying spell on her dress. There, was she happy now? Notice he didn't say sorry.

"Of course we were going to be here," had to check out the new merchandise/fresh meat/catttle "who else would be running the place and showing all you new employees where to go and who to talk to." Yes it was a meet and great but still wouldn't you want to meet your future boss? Armen cleared his throat and took another drink of the little bit left in his glass before speaking again. "And what department are you in Ms....?"
Oh so a person who actually worked on the first floor? How...curious. From Recard's time up there all he remembered the lot of them doing was a whole lot of nothing and gulping down damned cappachinos. "Well that's noble of you, I'm sure Alexander cherishes your work." He said dryly not really noticing her tone or the implications her facial features suggested.

"Yes I've thankfully returned to my rightful place in Transportation--the department had gone bloody mad in my absence but it was back under control in no time." That German woman who had been his replacement had basically vanished so the Minister was practically forced to give him his job back due to a lack of qualified replacements but still she had done a horrible job running the place. Now she brought up the Hogwarts Express. "Funny? Miss Scamander surely you wouldn't want any of our esteemed collegues to hear that you think that a train full of stranded and frightened children, the Headmistress of the school herself, AND the members of the Hogwarts Board of Governors is funny. It's bad business, it is. You never know when a Prophet worker is nearby or someone might let something slip." He eyed her calmly over his drink.

Her husband was who? Oh that...was interesting. "Oh was he now?" He knew exactly what she was getting at and he wasn't going to stand for this little NOBODY to try and threaten him with old news. He was just about to tell her that too when she grabbed his drink and drank the rest of it as if nothing was wrong with that rude gesture. He suddenly wished he had spit in it.
"Details, details." He said waving a hand in the air as if to wave away the fact that they weren't 'date official' or whatever Gabi had said the other night. They were dating regardless of going out to some fancy resturant, at least in Armen Recard's opinion. Work got in the way but they still liked each other and let the other one know about their feelings. That equaled dating. Point of the matter--he would give her money if needed, regardless if she wanted it. "You wouldn't be taking the money for yourself, it would be for Tucker." he added matter-of-factly.

Her girlish laugh at his kiss made him smile, as big as he used to so many years ago. He was happy again. Those who spent much time with the man recently wouldn't really categorize Recard as being happy, unless you counted the politcal and ambitious Armen during the Uprising of the Cult of Walpurgis and the Borr year, but this, his life wif Gabi, was real happiness. As she talked more about the situation with her son and his unforatunate sorting, the department head smiled, happy to know he was with the perfect girl tonight. "I agree, homeschooling would be best. Who else better to teach him than you?"

When Gabi brought up the turnover rate of employees at the Ministy, paritularly her department of Accidents he had to agree. "I was thinking with Althea taking on the Head spot that would stop but perhaps she needs some more time?" She was definately a good boss so it must be her just weeding out the slackers. He didn't have any problem with that in his department and, let's face it, if he did he would fire them quietly. "Transportation is good, I have a few big things planned in the upcoming months."

Manolo was going in circles, not sure what he was looking for. That is until he spotted her from afar. He looked away, feeling weird for staring at her. He paced back and forth. This a stupid idea! We just met! Don't do it, don't do it, Manolo!

The moment she finished talking, his legs immediately went towards her. No! No! What are you doing?! Before he could turn away, he found himself right in front of her. He felt his cheeks grow hot, so he looked down to hide them. "Uhh...er..." He ran his hand through his hair in a nervous manner, "IDon'tKnowIfYouRememberMeWeMetEarlier..."

He cleared his throat, "I'm Manolo, we, uh, met earlier. Uh, I know we just met, but I thought we could, uh, get to know each other over some ice cream?" Smooth. He looked at her slightly with one eye open, afraid of what she'll say next.

Click. Click. Click. Click.

Stupid heels! the woman thought, but her heels will not put her down. It was going to be a special day for Lulu today. As she walked inside the room, Lulu grinned. Putting on her smile, she saw a number of people. Some were old, based on the way they presented themselves, and some were new. Quiet and all those stuff.

Oh right, she was the new Department Head for Games and Sports. So she had to present herself as confident but she didn't have to since she was already self-confident. She was excited to see the people she'll be working with for this year. Probably she'll also keep the job next year but well...

She didn't know anyone, but she was feeling great that she was here. Yep.

Victoria wasn't going to be all paranoid and all. But wasn't Kyle one of the people who were having those symptoms..drooling and such. The blonde wondered how come she always get bond up with the sick people. Was she a magnet for them. Hmm...Could be. And Thankth..What more symptoms were showing, lisping? Because she doesn't remember that Kyle lisps.

Somehow, Victoria imagined that all this sickness would be gone once the vacation ended. Guess not. But she wasn't yet sure. Kyle might just be feeling about tired for an entire different reason. Ehh...Hopefully. Clearing her throat, Victoria decided to start a conversation. It wasn't polite to turn her back after speaking to her colleague. "So how've you been? Did you have an interesting holiday?" She asked trying to ignore how Kyle was looking at a woman standing a couple of paces away. Why was she staring like that?

Dorian had turned his head toward Natasha rather sharply at the sound of her cough, only because he hadn't quite expected the response. Not after their previous almost banter, but he relaxed again (as much as was possible for him) as she'd spoken. At least it didn't seem like she'd taken offense to the comment, especially since he was fairly certain Isobel was still around as well. Offending the department head's sister likely would have gotten back to Wes, and that could make things difficult. Not to mention he hadn't wanted to offend. "Perhaps it's one of those things you need a clear mind for," he replied, matter-of-factly. "Or a second outlook." That second idea sounded better, even if it really wasn't any different from the former. Essentially he was suggesting that she was too close to the situation to be expected to come up with ideas to fix it all.

Just like how he was trying to get a clear outlook on what exactly had been going on here at the Ministry, now that he'd gotten to see it first hand in the form of Ms. Whitworth. But first was dealing with what seemed to be sympathy, and he shrugged slightly. "It depends on the definition of work. I wasn't dealing with paperwork or anything like that," he clarified. Besides the letters to Italy, but those weren't official work. They had nothing to do with CMEC, at least, and he hadn't done much related to that over the holiday.

Those thoughts had paused when he'd witnessed his colleague's crash to the floor, and he'd approached with Natasha. He wasn't exactly going to be getting too close, just in case Ms. Whitworth decided to revive and act odd again, but he was still concerned. This was all just not exactly what he'd expected to witness at the Ministry-wide event, even if he'd been curious as to if that was still occurring. He'd nodded at Natasha's suggestion, though. Getting assistance was advisable, before the redhead had flipped over and seemed normal for a few seconds. He wasn't holding his breath, and that seemed to have been a good idea as she'd snapped back into the zombie-like behavior seconds after she'd first spoken. And he contemplated trying for her arm again as she'd begun moving.

Only to be pulled up short by the arrival of Roxanne, and he gave the Wizengamot worker a bland look as she seemed to act as if there was nothing odd about Ms. Whitworth. He wouldn't act as if he was concerned if nobody else did, though, either. Only Natasha seemed concerned about Ms. Whitworth's situation, even if she also didn't seem to know how different it was from normal. Not to mention it seemed the blonde was receiving a look from Roxanne, but Dorian shrugged again. "Of course. We can continue our conversation later, can't we Natasha," he replied, keeping one eye on Ms. Whitworth as he put his attention back on the Accidents and Catastrophes employee. Even if Roxanne felt the need to be rude, he wasn't going to be, and that meant she'd have to wait a few moments.

However, then he took a few steps away from her, allowing Roxanne to have her privacy she'd requested even as he tried to direct Ms. Whitworth in the same direction. He was still prepared to use his wand if he needed, but he'd hear Roxanne out first.

That was a good question. A REALLY good question. For the first time that day, Charles paused to think about it. "I'm not sure either of them is fun. But being an interpreter is fulfilling and being an ambassador gives me a sense of importance." He wasn't going to make any excuses about it. "I mean, I'm talking to other countries and giving them information, exchanging policies, making sure they understand them, I could go on..." But he wouldn't, he didn't want to bore her.

It seemed he'd been wrong about her job. She wasn't cleaning up after snotbags who didn't know how to use their wands! It sounded like her job was more important than that, and from her explanation, he knew it was. "So you're one of the people behind keeping our mass gatherings a secret." That was impressive. "Surely having a job that can affect several people can be stressful...?"



His eyes turned back to bitey lady when she started zombie walking again. He looked at the other guy with a questioning expression. What were they meant to do? Follow her around and make sure she didn't bite people? O_o Staying back because it seemed they knew what they were doing more than he did, he observed bitey, wondering how long she'd been acting like this. It was strange for sure, so why hadn't anyone caught it before today and before his shoes suffered the consequences?

Could she get Wesley to collect the twins? He probably could. He did actually get along with Louisa, so it did help. If it had been her mother she would've said no straight away. Not that she would trust her mother with the boys anyway. But would she want to leave him alone with them? Sure she trusted her husband, but their twins were a handful, and after today she didn't need him becoming stressed. "Maybe not tonight..." She mused, thinking about it. They'd both be tired, today was a big day. "He'll be tired, and you know how the twins are." They were little rascals. "Maybe at the weekend Tash." She didn't have any plans, so that could work.


"Yup." Isobel nodded with a smile on her lips. Her boys might have been troublesome but she did love them unconditionally. "I just had them last month." She explained with a nod. It probably explained why she was concerned with leaving them on their home. She'd probably pop out to check on them during the day to just make sure that they were okay. "Boys." She was blessed with having a houseful of boys. Isobel had a feeling that would be interesting when the boys were older. "Thank you." She smiled. Well wasn't this man polite. "So are you looking forward to starting in the department?"

Oh? He'd heard? But then Dorian did work on the same level of her husband so she figured news probably travelled fast. The whole ministry would probably know at some point or other. "Thank you." She'd have to remember to bring the twins up to level two at some point. Maybe when things weren't so busy and had settled down. She'd write herself a reminder when she got to her office. Ahh. Isobel grinned a little. "Not when you work in law enforcement." She mused with a shrug. She'd worked within the department enough to realize how much you couldn't switch off from the job. It was a nice change working in the mysteries. There was new demands, but not as much stresses. As much as she did miss getting the bad guys, she did have a soft spot for her department.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MyPatronusIsaMoose

Having had to duck to avoid being smacked down by the lazy man's giant waving arms. Saul popped back up and was now none-to-pleased with the guy. He crossed his arms and put a stern look of disgust on his face, only for a moment until the man...Wes, introduced himself!

HE WAS HIS BOSS! LEAPING LETHIFOLDS! his arms dropped to his sides and his eyes widened in shock! No words were coming to mind at all as he stood frozen staring at the man he mindfully believed to be a no-good-for-nothing lazy brute.

Well this was different. Wesley had just asked the guy he THOUGHT was his new employee a few questions... and the man just stared at him. Oh crap, was this another zombie?!

"Mate," Wes leaned toward his face and put one of his thick hands on the guy's shoulder, "you all right? Ya look like you've just seen a ghost!"

Kensi moved and even talked.

Tasha had thought the younger woman was down and out for the count but evidently not. She scrambled out of the way as Kensi sat up and eventually got to her feet and started to walk forwards, staring straight ahead and with drool dropping from her mouth.

"Are you okay?" Tasha asked once more. If she had stumbled over a chair and smacked her face in the floor she wouldn’t be up and walking just as quickly but everyone was different.



From out of nowhere another blond woman appeared that demanded attention and for her wishes to be followed promptly. She didn’t even seem to care that everyone around Kensi were trying to come up with a way to help the very sick woman. The blond seemed to have her own ideas and the look she shot Tasha's way was both RUDE and disrespectful.

Shooting a long STARE back in return Tasha didn’t bother saying anything because clearly this woman didn’t deserve her kindness.




Her good mood changed into something that could only be described as neutral. Trying to shrug off the rude look Tasha focused her attention on Dorian that was suggesting that she’d get a second neutral opinion about her possible stationary troubles. Nodding she replied. "I will ask Ms Schrimer about it. She might have heard of other employees on level 3 with the same problem." Or Althea could at least put an end to her little worry by some logical reasoning, she was good at that.

When Dorian seemed to want to leave their conversation and focus his full attention on Kensi and the rude blond Tasha complied with a shrug. "Of course Dorian, we can continue our conversation some other time or day." It didn’t matter. Kensi should be the priority since she was sick. But it was a little weird. Why hadn’t Dorian apologized for his colleague’s rudeness since he had picked up on it and clearly disapproved? Was it because he had thought he had offended her earlier?



Turning her attention to Charles once more she was slightly baffled. He didn’t seem to enjoy his two jobs as much as he saw their value and importance. It was a little peculiar but everyone had different driving forces for going to work and putting down the work each day. "What languages do you speak?" Tasha asked curiously. It might prove of use in her work since she sometimes had dealings with other countries where she didn’t speak the language and they in turn couldn’t speak any English.

"Yes I am. And it is very stressful and demanding if there are big events or gatherings taking place that we have to hide from muggles. Last time I think I went without pretty much no sleep while the event took place because you have to monitor so many people and keep them from revealing the magical world to muggles." Too much could go wrong or did go wrong when witches and wizards from different countries met.



"I understand. Owl me on Friday and we can arrange something, yes?" Tasha said with a smile and a squeeze of her sister’s arm. It was easy to see that Isobel was exhausted and from the dark rings under her eyes. Wesley probably sported the same ting rings all though she hadn’t seen him in a while.

"Did you manage to enjoy the vacation at all?" she queried. From what she had heard about the twins she had a feeling that’d kept both Izzy and Wesley quite busy from dawn to dusk.




Yet another blond woman entered the room on sky high greenish heels. When the woman passed by Tasha she couldn't keep herself from commenting with a thouch of envy in her voice. "Lovely heels, that green colour really fits your dress. But I couldn't for the life of me wear such high heels." She had tried and failed a number of times. It was her toes that took the most beating and as such Tasha settled for wearing low heels only.

When Lulu was about to leave, a woman had approached her. She was complementing Lulu about her heels. "Oh thank you," Lulu blushed and smiled at the woman in front of her. At least this woman gave her a positive aspect to her choice of heels today. Yes, lady, she can't live with these heels either. "I only use them on special occasions and I guess today is one of them. The Ministry Orientation is a special occasion, not just anything by the side.

"Oh right, I haven't introduced myself to you," Lulu straightened up and smiled at the woman. "I'm Lourdes Black, Lulu for short." Then Lulu offered her hand to the woman to shake. She's got to keep the formality in this event, yes.

Victoria watched the lady dry her hand on her skirt and she became self conscious on whether her hands were sweaty or not. That just wouldn't work if they were. Not at all, she had to meet way to many people today for that to be a problem.

Victoria then smiled towards the lady, "Well it's nice to know that the Department Head is nice. I will be looking forward to meeting him soon." She looked around not sure she could spot a department head from anyone else or if they were dressed a bit different. Looking back at Tam she wondered, "What exactly do you do in your position?" She was just curious as what others did.



Victoria returned her smile feeling a bit bad that she made the lady blush, "Well I wouldn't worry about it to much that you don't know that many people. I think that is why they are having this event, so maybe more people can get to know each other." She thought for a moment and then looked back to Melissa, "If you don't mind me asking, Why did you change departments, was there something wrong with your other or you just wanted a change?"



Victoria was walking back from the other room when she saw someone run into the wall. Looking at the man for a few moments she worried that he might have hurt himself, "Excuse me.. Are you alright?" She then figured well she started talking to him, maybe he would be someone nice, not like the other guy she had recently met. "Hello, my name is Victoria, I'm new around here." She tried to start the conversation as nicely as she could.



Victoria listened to Mariel as she talked about family traditions with names, yes there were many. "Well I think your name is very lovely, so it works well." She smiled at her new friend and listened as she spoke of sports. "Yes, I actually was at Hogwarts years and years ago. I played on the Quidditch team as well as Gobbstones there." She enjoyed talking with Mariel, she felt very comfortable around her, like she should have known her for years. This was nice to meet someone like that so quickly. "Professionally, well that sounds amazing. I actually married shortly after school, I know dumb mistake. Then we moved to Australia, and I helped with the Gobbstone matches at some of the wizarding schools around are home." She didn't feel her life was as exciting as some of the people around here, but she enjoyed hearing of others lives.



Victoria felt herself glare as he acted so smug about the spill, she didn't mind the spill as much as his attitude. "Thank you" she said very shortly for him drying her dress. She watched his body language a bit, he was pretty full of himself wasn't he. "Well it is nice to meet the department heads. I am hoping to meet mine soon." She still wasn't sure exactly what she was to do in her department, but she hoped to find out soon.

She then looked at him, had she not said her name or was he just that much of a dunderhead that he could care less to remember, "Ms. Maroon, but you are welcome to call me Victoria." She always emphasized the ms. now that she was no longer a mrs. She knew it was silly, but it was just for her own feelings that she did this. "I will be working in magical sports and games." she said to add to his question about where she was to work.



Victoria had been looking around when she saw another person that seemed to be new, but maybe not. She wasn't sure. The lady seemed a bit out of place, but not really. Victoria decided to give it a shot and walked over to her. "Excuse me, I couldn't help but notice you walk in and wanted to introduce myself. My name is Victoria Maroon. I'm new around here, so just trying to meet some others." She smiled at the lady, hoping to not seem to desperate to meet people or to confident that she was over pushy.

As Lulu was finally feeling comfortable around the new environment of the Ministry, another woman had joined them. She was a tall woman with dirty-blonde or light brown hair. When the woman approached her, Lulu smiled. Well, that's nice of these people to make her feel welcome. "Oh, hello Victoria, lovely name by the way," Yes, Lulu found the name Victoria nice. "I'm Lourdes Black, Lulu for short, and I'll be the new Department Head for the Magical Games & Sports." Lulu smiled at the woman. She had to be confident, right? She shouldn't be feeling squirmy even if the previous Department Head, Rex, left. At least Lulu was up for the job.

Victoria smiled when the lady seemed nice, that was good. She had met some that seemed a bit full of themselves or didn't want to be bothered talking to the new people. Breathing a little easier she listened, "Oh thank you Lulu." Not many have ever said they liked her name, so that was nice to hear. Victoria then went wide eyes as she realized that she had just walked right up and introduced herself to her new boss. Not sure if she should say anything or not she decided it would be very rude not to. "Well then Miss Black, I am pleased to say that I am one of your employees. Someone else had said the department head was a man, but I guess they were mistaken. It is a pleasure to finally meet my boss." She was hoping that maybe she could tell her exactly what she would be doing since no one had told her that yet.

Obviously the first thing she noticed when she came in was the amount of people, which had the young woman clinging to the walls already. It was a bummer that Simon didn't want a drink though. A little procrastination before 'mingling' would have been nice. Nevertheless, Evelyn promised herself she'd be social and 'mingle' with people while being nice. Maybe. Perhaps make a few...friends.

Or enemies. Either or.

Waiting quietly as Dorian excused himself from.... wait a minute, was the woman trying to stare her down?! Really!? And not doing a very good job of it either, in Roxanne's opinion. She just arched an eyebrow at the other woman, as if she were amused by her stare. Which she was, kind of. Yep, still had her humor, even when it seemed that the Ministry was starting to unravel again. That was good, she was going to need it over the coming months it seemed. Sending a final smirk over her shoulder at the woman, she turned to follow Dorian over the few paces he'd moved.

Only to realize that he looked disapproving. Crap. This was going to make this conversation a little harder, not to mention making Roxanne feel like a wayward child or something. Her own fault, sure, but she didn't want to focus on that little inconvenient fact right then. She closed her eyes and sighed. Time to grovel. "I'm sorry about that, and I'll find her and apologize later. Right now, we've got bigger things to worry about, and when I say we, I mean the entire department." she spoke in a lowered tone, making completely sure that she wasn't overheard. Briefly glancing over at Kensi, she continued, "It seems that whatever is wrong with Kensi here, has been cropping up in people all over the Ministry and people in the department have noticed, but didn't bother telling Wes about it. Er, until today, when she showed up acting basically like she is now. He's not very happy and has called a department wide meeting for when this event is over." She didn't think she was exaggerating much with that. In fact, the 'not very happy' was probably a little bit of an understatement.

Next guess? Sure it was.. but Mariel was enjoying this as evident by her amused expression. Oh and yes.. Quidditch was awesome! The woman beamed at his sentiment. "Oh, yes.. I love Quidditch. I played quite a bit.. and the next best thing to playing it would be working in it's relevant department at the Ministry."

Not in Mysteries? Mariel gave Tyler a quizzical look until he told her where he did work.. "Oh, Law Enforcement.." she confirmed with an air of curiosity. "So, what do you do there? Interesting work?" The other woman she had spoken to made it sound rather dull.. but she'd tried picturing Tyler out in the streets catching all the bad guys and that was rather.. hmm. Decidedly not dull.

Oh and she seemed sweet, Mariel thought as she returned her smile. "Hi, Penny.. it's nice to meet you. I'm Mariel Morgan," she returned the greeting. "And yes, it's my first day as well," she confirmed with a nod. "Games and Sports, actually.. and where will you be working?"

The woman glanced down at Penny's bracelet as she mentioned its imperfection. Nodding, she smiled pleasantly. "Happens too often." When she wore jewelry, that is. "Nothing like breaking a heel, though." That was tragic.

"Well, thank you," Mariel smiled graciously. She liked her name too.. thought it sounded so lovely, not that she was conceited enough to go around voicing that though. "Oh, you did? What house were you in? I don't think we were there at the same time." She didn't remember seeing her before today, at any rate. "I.. uh, graduated in '73." Sorta.

"Yes, it was quite fun, but I felt it was time I had a proper job," she told Victoria. Though it was more her father's sentiment, she figured she agreed to an extent. Mariel gave the woman a grim smile and nodded in understanding. She knew a bit about dumb mistakes. "I came pretty close to doing the same thing actually.. but it didn't work out."

Mariel whipped her head around to catch a glimpse of the person whose voice she just heard as she was sure she heard the words Department Head for Magical Games & Sports. Could this person be her new boss? Turning to fully face the woman, Mariel put on a winning smile and said, trying to catch the woman's eye, "Excuse me... I'm so sorry to interrupt, but did I hear you say you are the new Department Head for Games and Sports?" Might be nice to meet her new employer and find out exactly what she might be doing..

Demi continued her mingling, as she noticed somebody waving at her.

Whos is she? Demitria thought to herself, as she raised a brow, smiled and waved back.

She must admit to herself, there was a lot of looking 'people' in the room. She scanned the room, hoping she would spot the person she was eager to see!

"You're always welcome," Lulu returned the woman's smile. See? Someone was actually very welcoming in this whole Meet & Greet thing. Lulu felt even more relieved even with the responsibilities and pressure of being a Department Head was. Whoever said being one is just relaxing, no it's not. Period. Suddenly, the woman looked weirdly at Lulu? Wait, what? Is her hair messed up? Did her eyeliner scatter? Tell her. Oh, it's just an employee... in her own Department. Now that's fancy. "That's wonderful, Victoria," Lulu said. As for the old Department Head... "Actually, I took the position once Rex left. He was the previous Department Head." Lulu nodded. Well, she's going to have to settle things down because her Level seems to be a bit late in the sorting.



And then another woman had jumped in the conversation. What's with being a Department Head anyway? It's been dragging along attention, and Lulu didn't like it when she's the middle of the spotlight. Not really. She knows her limitations, alright. "Uhmm," Lulu started. She needed to give this woman an answer. Do not freeze, you lady. "Actually, yes, I'm the new Department Head for Games and Sports." She got that one right. Lulu didn't sound offending when she said that.

"Will you be working with me in the Department?" Maybe another Sports fanatic. Quidditch and Gobstones, they were Lulu's life. Now she's entered a life with responsibility.

He couldn't help but chuckle a little at what Roxanne told him. "Thank you for the vote of confidence." It was always good to know that there was someone supporting him, even if he lacked in self confidence most of the time. And, since that person was Roxanne... it couldn't have made him feel any better. Still, he might not be head over heels in love with his desk job, but he liked it enough not to drop it. Besides, he'd been doing it for quite a few years now; he didn't want to go back to being the one in serious need of a compass.

She thought she'd meet the new employees at their table... the Magical Law Enforcement table... Did that mean they actually needed to separate at one point? Oh, joy. Konrad wasn't really looking forward to that, to be honest, even if he knew it was ridiculous. "I see you've thought this all through. I just don't feel like sharing you right now." SMIRK. Possessive, much? Yes, he was.

When Mariel returned her smile, Penny visibly relaxed a bit. It was not like Penny anxiously awaited the approval of others. But secretly she did actually care how others viewed her.

"Mariel Morgan." Penny said out loud with a nod. Now that just rolled off the tongue, didn't it? Mariel Morgan. Penny made a mental note to remember this, but knew all too well she would not forget. She never forgot anything. Which was a problem sometimes.

Woah. Games and Sports? Definitely not something Penny cared much about, but no matter. "I'm in Magical Creatures." Penny couldn't wait to start work. Her smiled widened at Mariel's heels comment, and continued. "I just got here. Have you been here long? I barely know what to expect." Penny was anxious to get started, and she wanted to know everything already.

Penny noticed a woman looking around the room, and now that she was better acquainted and comfortable, she approached her to make eye contact. Might as well meet everyone early.

"Hello. I'm Penny," she said with a smile, extending a hand politely. She stood very straight and polished, but on the inside was very much hoping to get a friendship or at the very least acquaintance out of this. She looked at the woman, waiting patiently for a response.