Magical Creatures Work Area
 

There is no dirt tracking across the floor, no puffs of humidity rolling through the room, and portraits of magical plants don't cover the walls. The smell is a stark contrast to that of the Environmental work rooms on the other side of the wall, more of creatures than plants. The expansive room has desk scattered all about, clustered together by teams under each division. Those with larger more worn desks mostly work from the office and can be seen with more comfy chairs. While those that work solely from the field and never spend more than a few hours in the office have smaller desks though equally as comfortable chairs for them and for assisting the public.

All workers have lockers against the walls for storing personal belongings and a needed extra set of work robes. There's a large enchanted window to provide some semblance of sunlight along with portraits of magical creatures, the occasional informative poster of dangerous creature can be found on the walls as well.

The Department Head's office can be accessed through this room, as well as the creature holding room. Up the short hall is the Registration and Support Offices as well as the shared areas with the Environmental Department. Don't mind all the barking echoing down the hall, that's just the pack of albino bloodhounds kept by the department.

Ren'Ai walked into the room, eyes flicking back and forth nervously. Thank Kami that only one other person was in the room. She searched for a good cubcle in her division section and sat down quietly. Her cubicle was rather close the only other occupied cubicle at the moment. She began digging through the small handbag she had brought. She pulled out a pictureframe set with four pictures. Sh smiled and set it to the side. A larger photograph of her god sister was next. Finally she pulled out anold black and white wedding photograph. Her parents. Ren'Ai sighed contentedly and smiled.

Katalin walked into the work cubicles which looked better than the last time she saw it, she saw some other people looking for their desks. She walked towards them and said "Hello, I am Katalin Starr, I am a junior pest advisor!"

Ren'Ai looked up when two women came in and spoke. She blinked and glanced around. All seemed well. It's just the paranoia she thought to herself. She stood up to address them. "Hello. I am Ren'Ai Kirai, and I am a Spirit Liaison Junior Officer. Pleased to meet you" she sat down and looked at her cubicle and realized what was missing. She sighed heavily and dug through her bag to pull out a picture of her god-sister, her boyfriend, his step-brother, and Ren'Ai. Ren'Ai smiled and waited for directions.

Lucy stood up and reached out a hand. "Lucy Parrish. Officer for Import and Export of Magical Creatures." She smiled and after shaking the woman's hand she sat back down and sighed. 'Junior Pest advisor?' Lucy thought as she smiled at Katalin Starr. 'How odd...Eh. Maybe when houses get infested they go to her?' Lu sat back down. Her cubicle was so bare but she really had nothing to put in it. One woman was putting up pictures but Lu didn't have any pictures. Ah well. She gave a small sigh. Maybe she could quickly go to the Breakroom and get a coffée then go to Ms. Radley about her first case? Mmmm....yes, a mocha would be great to get her going.

Erik strolled towards his Department. He reached a huge majestic old wooden door with intricate designs, depicting various creatures that could be found in the wizarding world.

This is it, he thought. First day of work at the Ministry. Hope it will go well. He breathed deeply, pushed the great oak door open and walked through.

Once inside, his eyes couldn't believe what he was seeing. A big office with several small compartments intended for employees. Someone like me. The thought gave him an adrenaline rush. The long-awaited anxiety and excitement, perhaps. He then realized the office was... sort of deserted, except a group of ladies huddled together. He checked his watch. He was very early.

Knowing there was still so much time to spare, Erik strode to the bevy thinking it wise to make a few friends before starting out his work hours. Feeling slightly hungry, he took out an apple from his jacket, wiped it clean with his handkerchief and said in his most gentleman voice,

"Hello, ladies. Mind if I join you?" Erik gave them his award-winning smile. "I'm Erik Sophronia, by the way."

Ren'Ai looked up in shock. She blinked, and sat down, putting her head down slightly, taking out her ponytail to let her hair cover her face. She looked up at this Erik person through thick lashes. "Ren'Ai Kirai. You can join them. I was never really a part of it. But nice to meet you, anyways" she said softly, looking at her photographs.

Erik chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Ren' Ai."

The moment she talked, he realized that she was the shy type. He decided to give her a few more moments before talking to her again. It would be much better to take things slowly with Ren' Ai. After all, he wanted to gain her friendship. All these ladies here seemed swell and nice people.

Holding his apple, he took a bite from it and averted his gaze to the beauty of his office. Dee-licious!

**after a few moments**

Erik thought it was the right time to approach the shy girl again.

"What's your job here, Ren' Ai?"

Ren'Ai looked up, silvery eyes covered by dark hair. She watched him eat that apple, and realized she was hungry as well she picked up the bottomless bag and found a small bag full of sushi. She popped one into her mouth and swallowed.

(after a few)

Ren looked up as Erik approached again. "Spirit Liaison Junior Officer. You?" she asked, looking up.

"People call me when they need information on pests" she told Lucy, she had pictures of her husband and children.

Pest advisor?

Clarissa smiled at the younger woman who walked over. "Pleased to meet you Kaitlin. What creatures are categorized as pests?" Was it garden creatures that you worked every day to prevent from taking over your bushes and vegetable patches or was it some other creatures. The red headed woman figured it was a good to know what the other employees did if she needed to work alongside them or if she would need advice.

"Pleased to meet you too Ren! I'm Clarissa and i work as a senior officer for the disposal of dangerous creatures." Spirits that meant Ren worked with ghosts, ghouls and other earth bound spirits who hadn't let earth when they died right? She doubted that their job assignments would cross paths but it could happen if every employee was needed to take care of something important. The red headed woman watched as Ren pulled several picture frames and put them on the desk in front of her. It seemed mostly likely to be her family but Clarissa didn't feel like being nosy.

Import and export of magical creatures?

Finally someone she would work alongside Clarissa mused as she shook the other womans. "Pleased to meet you Lucy! I'm Clarissa Stimpson, Senior officer for the disposal of dangerous creatures." Gazing over the cubicle desks she thought she spotted one with her name not too far from Lucy's desk. Changing the postion of her handbag Clarissa walked over and checked it out noting that her intray already had a few files that needed attending to. Going back to Lucy she asked curiously "What does and import and export officer do? Do you oversee the creatures that come into the country and those that leave?" It sounded logical but she could have it all backwards it happened.

The doors to the work cubicles opened and a man slipped in. The first one so far. Hopefully there would be more coming since it was better to have an even amount of both genders in a department than just ladies for instance. Pulling back some red locks that had escaped her knot Clarissa shot the man a bright smile as he asked if they would mind if he joined them. "Not at all. We are just getting to know each other. I'm Clarissa Stimpson. Senior officer for the disposal of dangerous creatures." The man introduced himself as Erik. "Pleased to meet you Erik! What will you be working with?"

Lucy fiddled with the eagle feather of her quill and looked up at the newest guy. "Sure." She shrugged. It wouldn't matter if they did mind, would it? He worked there and they couldn't stop that. "I'm Lucy. Parrish. Lucy Parrish." Lucy said awkwardly and nodded. Lu sat back in her swivel chair and spun around a couple of times.

...'Cause it wasn't her cubicle till she did that...

"Oh riiight." Lu nodded, eyes wide. 'Interesting..'

"You too," Lucy smiled. "Yup, that's basically it." Grin. "Cool - so we might be working more together, then?" It seemed like they would anyway, right?

ooc: crap post - sorry

Magical Creatures were a very unlucky department.

Not only had her shower broken that morning, but Alyss had discovered that she'd run out of milk, therefore wasn't able to have cereal and therefore ruining her morning schedule. Pushing the door to her new workplace open, she took a sour look around. There were an awful lot of women. Not that she would prefer to be around men. Men were useless and... Loyal. Like dogs. But that meant they'd always be around. Pushing a piece of stray hair out of her face, Alyss moved fully into the room and let the door shut - rather loudly - behind her.

Attempting a friendly face, she moved to the cubicle that had her name attached to, and dumped her things inside of it. Throughout the day/week/month/all the time she worked there, the cubicle would probably become like a second home to her, there would even be blankets appearing at some time, betraying the fact that she worked late into the nights. Sitting down in the chair, she attempted to subtly lower the height. She couldn't work in a chair that didn't let her feet touch the floor now, could she?!

"Creatures like doxys or gnomes" Katalin told Clarissa, "Do you want to see pictures of my family?" she asked her.

Erik smiled, impressed. "Just a Dragon Research Head Officer..." he shrugged. "Ever been to the Ministry? It's just my first time. I immediately journeyed southeast after I graduated. Speaking of it, where did you study before landing here, at the Ministry?" he chuckled.

"My apologies, would you want an apple? I have an extra one if you'd like." He brandished a shiny red apple from his bag.

"Dragons," His eyes twinkled for a second.

Erik nodded and smiled back, again. "Nice to meet you too, Clarissa. I'll be part of the Beast Division, I believe. I'm a Dragon Research Head Officer." he shrugged as he took another bite of his apple. "It would be nice to work with different magical creatures, but they assigned me to dragons," noticing he said something quite mean, he added quickly, "Not that I don't like my job! I am totally happy with it! Dragons are my favorite above all..."

"I'm really quite new with the Ministry way, so is it alright if I get some advice from you from time to time? You seem to have a lot of experience here. But no worries, I won't bug you when you're busy," he chuckled.

Erik took one last bite from his apple, placed it inside a plastic bag and put it back into his bag. "I'm Erik Sophronia, pleased to meet you Lucy."

"What's your business here at the Ministry? I mean, apart from being part of this Department, I suppose," he shook his head and smiled, laughing at his own vague question.

She saw someone else walk into the cubicles, she was glad that she was making new friends. She walked towards him "I am Katalin Starr!"

After straightening her cream dress, Miss Radley, or Erica as she would much prefer to be called walked into the work cubicles, eyeing the room as she walked through, taking note of anything that had found itself in somewhere where it shouldn't be. Not much had changed since she had left it, there were a few minor changes, well one absolutely massive one if you asked Erica. A new department had found its way into level four, HER level as she liked to call it. She clearly disliked the fact that she had to work in close proximity to another department, one that she felt her creature employees could actually manage without the need for a whole new department dedicated to it.

The Blonde smiled what could only be described as a professional smile, appropriate for the time and the place. "Good morning" she nodded curtly towards her employees that seemed to be engrossed in conversation. "Before we proceed to our days work there are a few things I would like to go through with you" she stated, placing one of her folders that were in her arms onto a random work cubicle, no idea who's, and putting her hands on her hips. "Due to a lot of hard work and effort the Ministry has decided that our humble department shall be receiving a pay rise. Over the past few weeks we have been experiencing a lot of trouble from these protests that have been propping up all over the country. The minister thought that we handled the issues carefully, accurately and without trouble and so your pay will be going up shortly" and that was good news for everyone. It felt good to be starting off the day with a good note. And that included the people that had only just arrived into the department.

"For those who don't know me as well yet, my name is Ms Radley, however please call me Erica, I'm not so into the whole formal issues" even though she was a complete and utter organisation bird. "This here is my Phoenix Amadeus. No he's not dangerous, he won't peck you and if you don't fuss him too much he may actually get to like you" Yes that meant dont constantly harrass him with 'wow your pretty' and 'can I pet you?' "You may notice our larger creature holding room. This is NOT a room to randomly explore, you may only go in here with MY permission. There are goodness knows how many dangerous creatures in there and we can NOT afford for them to go missing. Understood?" slightly stern but fair.

"Now. It may have come to your attention.." Or id it hadn't you were a complete and utter dingbat "..That we now share our level with another department. Being the highly respected, far more important and older Department that WE are, I'd like you to show your new neighbours how it is done" Clearly that meant be better than them. "Our tree hugging" Freaks "New neighbours aren't quite so acquainted to the ways of the Ministry, if you find one wandering, shove them in the right direction for me." Yes. Creatures was for her employees eyes only. It was bad enough they had to share a conference room .

"Are there any further questions before we continue?" she asked.

Katalin raised her hand and asked "Erica, I am Katalin Starr I use to work in the control of centaur department, what would my new job as a junior pet advisor include?"

Lucy seemed like a woman that Clarissa could grew quite fond of and develop a close friendship with whilst the worked on different cases together. If it happened it would be the first one in many years. With a slight nod she said "Yes, it looks like it. How long have you worked for the ministry?" If Lucy had ministry job experience then maybe Clarissa could get advice from her if she got herself into a situation with a grim outlook for a creature.

Clarissa was going to go over and settle into her cubicle and make it less impersonal when the door to the work place shut rather loudly. Turning to look at the newcomer it took no genius to see that the brown haired woman wasn't enjoying a good morning. It was evident by the sour line that was her mouth. Pulling back her big red hair with a clam Clarissa shot the woman a friendly smile asking "Rough morning? I'm Clarissa. Disposal of dangerous creatures senior officer." Hopefully the brown haired woman wouldn't snap at her for making polite conversation it was too early in the day for it.

Doxys and gnomes?

Right, generic house pests that every home all over the plant had met and battled at least once or twice. Not wanting to be rude Clarissa nodded in answer to Kaitlins offer "Sure, I'd like to see your family." As long as the tree isn't as large as the Weasley's of old. Then it would take all morning and she had files waiting for her attention.

A dragon enthusiast? Perfect just like my cousin Patric. *sigh* Hopefully this guy didn't eat and sleep dragons. He was a Head officer which meant he had an equal position in the department to her own. "If i ever need an extra hand with a creature case I'll be sure to ask you for your help." Beam, so far there was only one man in the department and Clarissa knew that it would only work in her favour to be friends with Erik.

Nodding she smiled "That would be okay yes. I don't mind giving out advice to those who seek it. If it's important and can't wait then feel free to bug me even if i'm in the middle of something." Clarissa sucked up the compliments about being an experienced ministry employee without a second thought.

The work area door shut again but this time no man or woman came over to them. It made Clarissa think that a ghost had been meddling with the door but when a woman appeared in a cubicle that she hadn't met before she just took it as another employee. She didn't think more of it. The woman would probably come over to the rest of them when she had decorated her cubicle.


Ms Radley their department head looked in on them some minutes later to give some news and information before they began their days. Sitting down on the edge of her desk Clarissa listed to what Erica had to say. It was a bit of a surprise but a welcome one that everyone in the department would get a pay rise. Clarissa had worked hard all the pervious week handling protests and rescuing creatures from being caught in the middle. It was nice to see that the higher up bosses saw their efforts and gave them something for it.

The creature holding room had been extended but it was not a room to carelessly explore which Clarissa understood without question. The only buisness you had in the creature holding room was to feed and care for the creatures in there or if you needed to move them. Erica had a pheonix called Amadeus on her shoulder which Clarissa assumed they all would see more of in the next coming days. It was clearly the department heads messenger bird.

Oh, so the department they were charing a floor with were tree huggers? Beaming the redhed commented "Of course Erica, I will help our neighbours out if they look lost or accidentally end up in our part of the floor." Tree huggers and environment researchers. Clarissa didn't know what they worked with and really didn't care. Creatures were of bigger importance. "I have some questions but i'll come by your office later and bring them up." The red headed didn't want to prolong the meeting more than neccessary since everyone had work to do.

She pulled out a family photograph and said "this is my husband J.J. Starr he works in the games and sports department! This is our eldest daugthers Joanna and Joey I was still at Hogwarts when they was born! This is Willam and Amelia who has just started hogwarts and our babies Marlena and Aiden"

Ren'Ai smiled. "Dragons, eh? Interesting" she said quietly. She smiled shyly. "No, not my first time. I had to become a citizen. Twice. I'm from Japan" she said, blushing a little. "I studied at a school in Japan after I graduated from Hogwarts" she said.

Ren looked up. "Uh, if you don't mind, thank you..." she took the apple from him. Then her parinioa kicked in. She subtly brought the apple to her nose and sniffed. After detecting no poison, she took a large bite. "What kind of apple is this? Fiji? I'd know the taste of Fiji apples blindfolded she said, closing her eyes in delight.

When the doors opened and closed with a soft thud, Erik turned his head from his co-workers and saw a lady much older than him who was walking toward them. He immediately took out his pad and quill from his bag, readied his bag and muttered, "Good morning." He knew he was facing his boss, the Head of the Magical Creatures Department.

She began speaking in a friendly, casual tone talking about reminders, some rules and to show the other Department on the other side that theirs was better. He scribbled them all down just in case he forgot some notes. He smiled at the part where Erica said not to disturb his Phoenix. He loved creatures, but never annoyed them once.

Erik nodded once after Miss Radley finished. "Of course," he murmured. His eyes searched around the whole room and just realized that he was the only man in a room full of women. Eyes growing extremely wide with surprise, he shook those thoughts away. Now was not the time to be fussing about minute problems.

He listened carefully at the others' questions just in case Miss Radley had already answered his doubts. His hand was ready for another speed writing attack.

"Of course, it would be my pleasure to help you in your future cases," he said with a smile and a slight bow. "And thank you for you kindness, Clarissa,"

"You know... it's quite funny that I'm the only man in this Department," he laughed. Maybe the others were sick? Busy in other cases? Late?! But seeing something in Clarissa's face, he added quickly, "It's not that I'm complaining about me being the sole male here," Erik chuckled and shook his hands in front of him. But he wondered whether any other guys would show up...

"Thank you, Ren' Ai," he smiled as she said that his job was interesting.

"That must be pretty bothersome, to come here twice from Japan. That's a lot of money, isn't it?" His bluish grey eyes were wider than usual. But he wanted to change the subject. He didn't like dwelling on financial matters. Erik disliked the idea of someone telling him that they were tight on money or something like that, it was embarrassing for him.

"It's a pleasure to have you here at the Ministry and I would look forward to working with you," he beamed. "Go ahead and eat it! It's really juicy and the skin is extra crispy! But unfortunately, it's not Fiji. It's a Pacific Rose Apple, fresh from my garden," he said joyfully as he took another bite of his own fruit. He was glad she was warming up with him around. In a matter of days, they'll be good friends.

Not counting the muggles she'd worked for, Erica had to be Alyss' third favorite boss. Just the way she held herself and the way that she talked about the Environment Department, or whatever it was, was just... Amazing. Whut. No hero worship going on here at all. Not even in the slightest. Glancing at the bird that Miss Radley referred to, Alyss rolled her eyes. Phoenix's and her didn't get on. She didn't consider them as proper creatures. Buuuuuut. She wasn't going to mention that or anything.

Pfft. Had that actually happened before? Someone let one of the creatures loose? Merlin's beard. There really were some thick people about. Rolling her eyes under her fringe, Alyss gave another sneaky look around the room as Erica called for any questions. No-one better ask one. If they did... She'd.....................

Get bored.

Blinking herself out of the state that she'd began to settle in to, Alyss glance up in the direction of where the voice was originating from, and smiled thinly. "To put it mildly." She responded whilst running a small hand through her hair. Disposal of dangerous creatures senior officer? Jeeeez, that sounded important. Far more important than the job she'd been assigned... SHUTUP. Centaur's were boss. Allowing her smile to become a little more friendly, Alyss nodded, "Alyss, Centaur Liaison." Pushing her bag a little farther under the desk than it originally was, she dropped her gaze from the woman and her lovely hair. She felt so littleeee ): Not in height. She'd got used to that, but the fact that everyone else just seemed so much more grown up.

Now, Alyss usually prided herself on her good eyesight, but when a frantic movement happened to the corner of her eye, she snapped her head sideways.. And nearly screamed. Just in the glance, she'd seen someone from her previous work. IT HAD TO BE HIM. OMG. Looking back up and seeing the back of hiiiis head, she grinned. It would be so much fun working with Quentan again. He just made things SO much better. Placing both hands on the side of her desk, she moved to stand up...

When the blonde turned to look at Miss Radley.

OHKAY. HIIDE. Dropping back down into her seat again, Alyss turned it so that her back was to him. She'd just grinned wildly at a total stranger. And a bizarre looking stranger at that. But she'd done it stealthily. He'd never of seen her. ehehehehe.

Ren'AI smiled. "You're very welcome" she said, nodding. Erik had been able to start gaining her trust quickly.

"It wasn't, really. It did cost much, but my god-sister helped me out financially. She has too much money that she doesnn't know what to do with. So she gave me some" Ren'Ai smiled. Adrianna was very helpful when it came to stuff like that. "She's in Hogwarts, in her second year" Ren'Ai added.

"Thank you" she said, biting into the juicy apple. "Hm. Well, it might be related. It tastes exactly like a Fiji. You grew it? Wow. The only thing I grow is rice, and that was back in Japan. I also raised fish for sushi" she said, opening up a bit. She had grown rice and raised fish for her favourite dish: sushi!

Goodness me, who was that woman who was smiling like a long lost friend? James had a good memory, but he was quite certain he had never seen the woman before in his life!

How frightfully awkward.

But instead of averting his eyes like he normally would, James racked his brain for tips he had read in his self help book: 'Hermit: How to Live Like a Normal Human Being.', and he recalled the following:

'Chapter Four: Smile! And the world will smile with you!

If you catch someone's eye, be sure to give them a little smile. It will make you appear more confident, approachable and friendly.'

Sound advice? James wasn't convinced. Smiling at complete strangers could also make you appear a bit creepy. ..But if that was what literature was telling him to do, he wasn't going to debate it.

So smile he did... rather awkwardly... and just as he did so, the woman turned her back on him..

People could be so strange.

Now what to do..?

He couldn't remember ever reading anything about what to do in this situation. He pondered his options for a moment, and then shuffled over, claiming the desk next to her. “G-g-good day.” He managed before his cheeks, which had just cooled down after the rush here, coloured a pale shade of pink. “Beautiful morning, isn't it?”

Erk. This was totally how you made friends in the work-place. And OF COURSE he was going to smile back. That was just what happened. That was just what normal people did. Glancing back in the direction that the guy who wasn't Quentan was, Alyss nearly joined her bag on the floor. HE TOOK THE DESK NEXT TO HERS. What the heck were you meant to do in situations like this?! Smiling awkwardly at him again, she looked straight at the wood in front of her. There was nothing irregular in this. Just two coworkers making friends.

Flinching slightly as he spoke, Alyss turned her dark brown eyes onto him, biting her bottom lip shyly and swinging her legs below the chair. Beautiful morning? No. Gosh. It really wasn't a "beautiful morning". "Always." What? Um. Always would of been a fine answer if it hadn't come out more like "arwars". "Uh, yeah. Yes. It's lovely." But... Yooouu'ree lying, Alyss Glass.

Oh. Wait. Wasn't she meant to ask a question back? "Um, how's... Your morning been?" Articulate. AR-TIC-YOU-LATE.

Did she want a job description? Well she certainly didn't have time to give out these to all her employees, she expected them to know this information already. "The description was Owled to you along with your acceptance letter, I trust that you read this through thoroughly. If you want a completely detailed description research it, or come by my office later. Your job is basically what the title says." Advising people about pests. Yep.

Ah Clarissa.

A wonderful application she had recieved from her. An older member of the team, much like herself, most of the employees were under 25 which made the department head slightly self conscious. To be surrounded by so many younger people, Erica was thankful for the red headed wonder to be with her. "Are you sure? If there something the whole team would like to know, I'm sure it would be much more efficient to let ask now" Because then she wouldn't have to go repeating herself all the time.

"If not my office door will be open.." Well not exactly. The Blonde woman's office had been protected by a plethora of spells. Not one who liked her privacy being intruded, Ms Radley had performed her own charms to stop nosey neighbours and peeking eyes into her space. Yes that was referring to her 'fellow' Department Head. "..I'll be happy to answer them in there." It surprised her no one had made a comment about their pay rise yet, she was sure that would have sparked at least a little bit of happiness across the department.




Oh she saw him.

Without even having to LOOK at him, Erica had eyes in the back of her head that could spot late arrivals at any time. Yes, tardiness was something she despised at certain times.

"Nice of you to join us James" she turned to the blonde haired man with an eyebrow raised. "As one of my longest serving employees I'd at least expect you to have the DECENCY to turn up on time and show an example to our newer employees" the Department Head told him with a serious expression. "Tomorrow I expect you here bright and EARLY." Or there would be trouble.

Mhmm...

*Smirk*

"I'm kidding with you James" she smiled softly, encouragingly, the thirty two year old knew how unsociable and nervous the young man could be, she didn't want to give him a complex. "How is your err.. Tomato Plant?" she asked. It was a tomato right? Unusual thing to bring to work with you but eh, everyone was different.

That was another thing Ms Radley despised, not being spoken to. At least one of them had actually made an acknowledgment, knew that they were paying her attention, but the other hadn't even noticed she was there.

Well, if they didn't want a pay rise that was totally up to them.

Someone had wished her a good morning. She liked this person already. With a gentle smile, the Department Head nodded once back at the male. The gender balance was a little awkward within this department, the majority of roles had been taken by the females which left only two guys to even out the work. Poor blokes.

Ah well... They'd just have to get used to it wouldn't they?

Though in some mens eyes that could be a good thing. She was sure James wouldn't be so keen, but Erik looked perfectly happy here. Maybe..

"I am sorry, i will read it again!" she said as she blushed, she had asked a stupid question. She stayed quiet and waited for more instructions.

Ren'Ai looked up nervously, biting her lip as she looked at Ms. Radley. She had just realized she was here. Ren'Ai bowed her head respectively, her eyes slightly wider than normal. "Hello, Ms. Radley" she said, her voice extremely quiet. Her paranoia kicking in again. 'Put it behind you, Ren. No one here killed your family. Get over it' she said mentally. SHe took a deep breath and blinked slowly.

"Ahh... you have a nice god-sister," Erik said with a gentle smile.

"Oh yes, I have a garden back home where I grow an apple tree. I like tending to my plants so that creatures of all kind, injured or not, can easily adapt to the place for a while before they set off with their journey," he chuckled. "Rice and fish? Interesting. May I ask some questions? Just out of curiosity... What sort of fish do you need to care for to have good sushi? And how come your rice is always so delicious? Do you guys put spices in them?" he cleared his throat. He had been talking too much and asking a lot of questions. "Sorry, I never had a Japanese friend who could tell me these..." Erik beamed and shrugged.

Ren Ai was good company for his first day of work. She seemed nice and warm, but she was a shy girl. Erik knew that he had to take things slowly so that their friendship could blossom. Anyway, there was a lot of time in the world to spare!

When Miss Radley entered their Department, Erik noticed someone else slip inside and smiled. He excused himself from his friends and walked over to the guy who seemed years younger than he was. Looking around, he also realized something else. They were the only men. In the whole department.

Oh, well. The newcomer looked quite nervous and perplexed. He wanted to help this guy. Maybe he wasn't that comfortable speaking with ladies? Maybe a man-to-man talk would help him get through his first day of work...

"Hey there, need some help?" clearly, he did not. But Erik wanted to make sure he was alright. "I'm Erik Sophronia, Dragon Research Head Officer," he stretched his hand out and smiled.

James was utterly MORTIFIED.

He stood there on the spot, looking at Erica as she reprimanded him.. IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. He wanted the ground to just open up and swallow him. His porcelain complexion flushed bright pink, contrasting against his white blonde hair. “I-I-I-I-I-I-I..” Oh, this was a nightmare. He took a deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep breath and attempted to form a sentence in his head before speaking aloud. “...apologise.” Was all he managed. He swallowed thickly, totally taken aback that Erica would embarrass him in this manner in front of his colleagues.

He missed the subtly that was Erica's smirk and just stood glued to the spot and not sure what to do but look at the floor.

But her voice changed and he looked up at her.

Kidding?

Oh, thank MERLIN!

His hand went up to his heart which he could feel fluttering away in his chest. His cheeks began to cool. “Y-y-you really had me fooled th-there.” He replied, attempting a small, awkward, embarrassed smile. His plant? The mere sentiment of Erica's enquiry calmed him further. He went to his desk (which was next to the woman who had smiled at him), and waved his wand, summoning the VERY healthy looking plant, now complete with prize winning looking tomatoes growing away happily. “She's marvellous.” He replied, clearly happier. “...And I have something for you. I'll come and see you in your office later if I may?” He gave her a shy smile.

James did not recognise that accent. He gave the woman another small smile and looked at her face, not noticing her awkwardness. It didn't ever occur to him that anyone could be as uncomfortable as he felt most of the time. Anyway, always seemed an odd answer when it came to the topic of British weather. Beautiful morning's were a rare occurrence. He nodded, unsure as to what to say next. That book didn't really give you tips on everyday small talk.

He nodded again, “Very good! A stroll in the sunshine before you begin work is a marvellous way to start the day.” ..Except that was an outright lie, wasn't it? Shame on you, James! His morning had been dreadful, hence his lateness to work this morning.


James shuffled through the papers on his desk. He was terribly nervous about his new job and he was sure Erica had placed him there (despite obvious reasons) because he would be forced to converse with the general public. Up his confidence, that sort of thing.. he wasn't sure HER confidence in him was well advised.

He looked up from the papers when someone approached him. A man. The only other in the department. He shook his head to the question, a little confused. “No.. no. I'm fine thank you.”

The gangly blonde man stood, extending his hand towards his co-worker when he introduced himself. “W-working with dragons? How interesting!” He said genuinely. “I'm James Greenwood. Werewolf adviser.”

Jack entered the work cubicles on time like any other day but that was the problem. One day was no different then the next. He was in wereworlf registry and recapture and had not recieved a new assignment since the refurbishing was complete about a month ago now. As he walked toward his cubicle he saw the head of the department. Perhaps something interesting would happen today. In the meantime he got to work on the usual large stackof paper work on his desk.

Ren'Ai smiled slightly, some of her paranoia slipping away. "Sorry, I was thinking about something that happened when I was young. I was...lost in my own little world" she said, her smile faltering. She would definately talk to Miss Radley later about her past expiriences.

Ren'Ai gained a bit more courage. "what will be my first assignment as Spirit Liasion Junior Officer? I've been pretty anxious" she smiled more gracefully.

Katalin was wondering what she was going to be doing for her first job and she was excited about starting her new job, she had been reading up on all the different types of pests.

Sorry been busy...but i'll promise to be more active from now on.
 

Clarissa wasn't aware of the current number of females versus males in the Creatures department, but she doubted that Eric would be the only man. Smiling she said reassuringly "I don't think you will need to worry about being the only male. From my experience Department head's usually try to employ both genders." But if Eric were the only male in the department then he would get a lot of FEMALE attention. The 35 year old red head had to admit to herself that the man didn't look half bad and if looks were any hint then the man was probably in his 30's or something.


Clarissa wasn't the one to pry into another woman's buisness but Alyss response peeked her interest. "What ruined your morning? You look impecable from head to toe." So the 35 year old ruled out bad hair or clothes day. It could be a tiff with a boyfriend but somehow Clarissa got the feeling that it was more trivial than that.

The next employee to arrive was the guy whom she vaguely remembered meeting in Diagon Alley. He had talked in a very old english way and even stammered a bit if her memory served her right. The man has inquired about her health when she had broken the heel of her shoe and sprained her ankle. Beaming at him as he passed she said "Morning, James! I didn't know you worked here. I'm Clarissa. We met in Diagon Alley, you healed my ankle." The red head quited down as he walked over to greet their department head Ms Radley.

Turning her attention to Ms Radley she cleared her throat "Well i was wondering. With all recent changes to the Ministry as a whole do we still work in divisions?" Pulling her lush red hair she added "Also, since we share a level with the environment folk do we share any common areas with them?" It they did it might be nice to socialize with the other level 4 inhabitants to get a break from the department.

Ms Radley spoke to them again ordering them to take handle the important and most pressing matter's first and then do the paper work. Raising her voice Clarissa volunteered her services "I can keep an extra eye on the filing cabinet it is not that far from my work cubicle unless nobody else want's the job?" the red head looked around at the other level employees to see if anyone would speak up.

"Ahh..." he contemplated on his co-worker's job and swayed back and forth on his feet. This guy sure has a pretty cool job, he thought. Erik was just about to open his mouth to say something when Miss Radley caught everyone's attention.

After their Head of the Department made an announcement, he stuck his hands into his pockets and said, "Seems like we have work to do! Let's talk more later... Well, it was nice meeting you James," Erik half-smiled and trotted over to his compartment and began browsing through his paperwork, checking any alarming reports about dragon accidents or incidents.

OOC: By the way, Erik has light brown hair, not blonde.^_^

Erik was just on his way to his compartment when another man entered the Hall, found his seat and began shuffling about in his job. He grinned at the sight of yet another man. The third one in this department. He walked over to the guy and said in a low voice, "Hey, I'm Erik Sophronia. Welcome to the Department of Magical Creatures. I'd like to chat more with you, but you seem to be busy at the moment, plus I've got loads to do. Anyway, see you later, sir!" Erik slowly trotted over to his own desk and began scanning through some paperwork.


Erik stopped conversing with his co-workers and listened intently on Miss Radley's announcement. It was time for real work. He nodded once in her direction, said good-bye to his friends and walked over to his working area.


Erik gave a small sigh of relief. "Well then that's nice to hear," he said with a smile. He was glad to have an experienced colleague in the department. He could confide in her once in a while. After all, he was quite new at the Ministry, having spent a third of his life in Romania, studying and working with dragons.

-----------For Misses Radley and Clarissa-----------------

Just then, Miss Radley interrupted them with an announcement. Erik grinned and said, "It'd be my pleasure to keep an eye on the filing cabinet, if you allow it, Miss Radley," he said courteously as he stepped forward. Just then, he also heard Clarissa say that she wanted to volunteer too. Erik took a small step backward and looked at his boss. "Miss Clarissa can have the job instead of me, Miss Radley. It's fine with me," he gave her a genuine half-smile.

Jack nodded to head as she acknowledged him but it was not long before she got to buisness. He was hoping she would give them some rough a tough out in the field assignment. Nope, all she did was say do the most important paperwork firstand keep everything in order. Like he did not already know that. This job could get so boring at times. But he kept a straight face smiled athis head as he turned back to wonderful paperwork.

Jack then noticed an employee approach him and introduce himself. There ware so many female faces around here but he was glad to there were atleast some males. Too bad they were not in charge. Surely paperwork would not be the first thing on their agenda. He turned to the person who said hi who had a cubicle not far from his. "Hey, I'm Jack, I am in the werewolf registry and recapture unit. And I am never to busy to meet a fellow collegue (Especiallywhen easy paper work like this would only take him about an hour to do regardless how high the stack)

PM me if you have any plot ideas, I'd love to hear them x
 

Katalin watched her boss walking into the holding room and then started to walk back to her desk but she noticed something small and green escaping from the room.

Jack soon saw his head leave and go into one of the most dangerous rooms on the floor. He was sure she could handle it just fine but as she walked in he noticed she did not close the door. Thankfully the most dangerous creatures were locked up in cages, but still. He was pretty sure he should close the door but he knew if he did not atleast there would be some action around here. He saw a tiny little green type thing lizard he had handled he had handled before, no danger really. Thus jack turned his back on the crature holding room and turned back to his paper work with a slight smile on his face, fun was definitely soon to come, he just hoped the head would not be so absent minded to let anything truly dangerous outside of it's cage.

-le gasp-
 

Jack noticed that a co-worker noticed he ignored the open the doorwith creatures escaping by the look on her face. He tuned around and responed, "This is no big deal. All the dangerous creatures are locked in magically reinforced cages. You can close the door if you want, I just wanted a little action around here so I won't be doing it. But you can, the door does not lock itself, that would be stupid considering we would have creatures escaping all the time since we would never close the door", wow newbies really were stupid at times.

Oh,itseemed he right peaved one ofus co-workers, wonderful, he turned to the person addressing him and responded, "There is no need to lock the door, just to close it cause none of the creatures in free reign can open it. The door locks from the outside, not the inside, just in case something happens where one of us looses our wand or forgets to take it in with us. No one wants anyone to end up stuck in a room like that while handling dangerous creature for whatever reason, I hope that clarifies things a bit for you.", Jack responded trying not to sound too belittling.

Oh dear....:P
 

It was interesting Clarissa couldn't help but muse to herself how Erica's leaving the door to holding rooms open could cause so much commotion amongst the employees. Maybe their head should do that more often. The blond woman whom Clarissa vivdly remembered was called Aila and Jack got into a bit of a tiff. Jack wasn't exactly being nice as he explained the routine for the creatures holding room in an almost belittling tone. Sensing the tension and possible quarrel hanging in the air Clarissa got up from her seat and closed the door to the holding room saying to the room at large in a neutral tone "There, now i've closed it! Can we reamin civil amongst ourselves Aila and Jack? We all have work to do let's get on with it."

Clarissa oblvious to the fact that the door to the creature holding room hadn't closed itself fully since a creature of unknown description had sent out and tentacle to stop it.

Ren'Ai mentally shook her head and smiled attentively at Miss Radley. "You. Are. An. Idiot, Ren'Ai. Sakura. Kirai. her "inner" screamed mentally. "I understand. Thank you" she said, and muttered "Arigato" in her mind. She couldn't just forget her first language, now could she? Exactly. She smiled a bit wider at the playful wink Miss Radley gave her.

Ren nodded. She did have a few papers from the Japanese government she had to deal with. But she could fill that out later, alone. "Yes, Arigato--I mean, thank you, Miss Radley" she said, nervously chuckling. "What did I just say? You're an idiot, Ren! Pull. Yourself. Together!" Her "inner" shouted at her in her head.

Like she would listen to her true self. Psssh.

---

Ren watched from the corner of her eye as a green lizard-type thing ran out. She shifted her feet a little, glancing back at the floor. O dear. Great, now she sounded like Callum. Or Justin. Or both.

sorry I haven't been active at all. Will be better from now on.
 

for Nordic Witch; Herminny & Snape'sGirlThr&Thru

Her temper was dangerously high as she listened to Jack. She said in a calm but firm voice. "I'd consider it a big deal. What if, now maybe I'm being paranoid, but didn't we recently get a pay rise? I don't feel like that getting lower once again because some magical creatures escaped." She dug her nails into the palms of her hands.

The Alia was telling him off...kinda. She sent an apprietive flash of a smile at her. As they bickered she stood a little off, listening intentively as she twirled her small braid around her forefinger. Then Clarissa had decided to put an end to it. The door was closed. That was a good thing right? What if Ms. Radley had left it open on purpose. She relaxed her fists and sighed as she stared at the the moon shaped bright red marks on her skin.

With a small glare at Jack, she walked back to her cubicle and sat down, taking a deep breath. Lucy's temper had been boiling. If Alia hadn't interupted that couldn't have ended well. She'd have to learn to control that as well as magical creatures...hehe. She opened her cabinet and ran her fingers through files and pulled out her case. Someone had tipped her off that some jerk was trying to import a chimera. A CHIMERA! She ran her long, delicate fingers through her dark hair as she re-read the letter. "...Would've been helpful to say where he's meeting the guy sellin' em..." she mumbled as she began to write back to him.

Erik smiled and bowed graciously. "Of course, Miss Radley. Thank you." He raised his head up again and watched his boss leave the room to another one. Erica didn't close the door and he wondered why. He knew it was the holding room, where creatures were kept... Surely, she knew what she was thinking, entering alone and leaving the door ajar... right? After all, she was the Head of their department.

After a while of going about his work, Erik stood up from his desk and checked the other people. Clarrisa, Jack and some others were speaking in constrained voices. What was happening, he did not know. But clearly one of them tried to close the door where their Head just entered because of the thud he heard from his place.

But... there was something else there. A plastic sort of thing keeping the door from closing fully. Erik squinted and slowly walked to the door. It was as if the object was growing in size, pushing the door ever so slowly. How can a piece of plastic grow and have a mind of its own? It couldn't be enchanted-

"Petrificus Totalus!" he said in a firm voice with his wand pointed at the object as he split-secondly realized that it was a tentacle of a creature. Must have escaped from its confinement or something. Hm.. he better check the whole holding room first, even if it wasn't really his job.. as Dragon Research Head Officer. But it would mean the safety of the whole Wizarding world.

Ren tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear and thought hard. "Well, we could get stautes of different magical animals. My twelve-year-old godsister makes them in her free time" Ren dug in her bag and pulled out a palm-sized figurine of a wolf running. She offered it to Miss Radley. "I could ask her to make some larger ones" she said.

Erica nodded and smiled. See. Her Employees could come up with some FANTASTIC ideas compared to the infestations that were going on next door. A full forest as a Department, she didn't think so. There was no way she was allowing the place to be covered completely in vines and block out the very little natural sunlight that they had.

The Head stepped forward to look at the intricate detail of the wolf, glancing momentarily over at one of her employees and then back at the figurine. "I think that would be a lovely idea, however the smaller the better I think" she stated.

------------------------------------------

She then turned to everyone to talk. "I heard an idea next door, about a windchime, perhaps we could decide on a few creatures that could be mounted on top of these, more friendly ones maybe, something quite welcoming. But we might want to add a little excitement as well. Outline the dangers that we in this Department face" she paced back and forth once, allowing herself to be seen by everyone, despite her very small size. "We want to let everyone know how important and how skilled everyone is here but we also want to make it a lot better environment to be working within. Make you all feel comfortable and certainly improve the hard work you have all put in for me" she leant back onto the desk once again. "So has anyone else got any ideas? Elaborate on the ones already said?" she asked, scanning her eyes over her employees.

"What about painting on the wall all the different types of magical creatures" Katalin said as she put hand up.

Ren smiled and nodded, setting the wolf beside the picture of her godsister. "Next time I see her, I'll ask. She'll be quite glad to help" Ren said.

Ren tapped her desk lightly in thought. There were many ideas running through her mind. Then it hit her. "A small fishtank-slash-aquarium, and put safe, small marine creatures in it? she offered, hoping that wasn't too much to ask for.

Ren sighed and turned to Katalin. "But if we painted it directly on the wall, a lot of furniture would have to be moved and it would take forever and a day. It would also distract us from the work we're supposed to do" she countered.

Katalin smiled when someone agreed with her and was defending her, she waited for Mrs Radley reply.

Moving to another day...

Clarissa strolled into the cubicle area, dripping of rain water. Outside the rain had been dropping heavily ever since she had dropped Rebecca off at pre-school. Hanging up her rain coat on a pin in her little cubicle Clarissa bound her big furry red hair back with the use of a hair pin. The waiting memos in her inbox tray looked to be implying a long day's work. *Sigh* It would have to wait till later though since she needed to fix the paperwork for her latest case. Why did people think that breeding fire crabs and crossing them with another creature was okay? Just moving all the fire crabs to a better home was going to take the better part of her next day. Sitting down in her chair Clarissa took a report parchment and started working humming on a quiet tune as she got writing.

Clarissa looked up slightly bewildered as Erica entered and started apologizing for a meeting that had taken longer than expected. What meeting? Shrugging she pushed back hair red curly hair and finished her last notes. Standing up Clarissa walked over to hear what Erica more had to say. New employees, fresh people. "New employees sounds good. Any estimate of how many we will get?" she asked her dept head. The creatures department could definitley use a whole batch of employees but unfortunatley there were a lot more departments who felt the same.

Plant a TREE??

Clarissa made big eyes and blurted out "What kind of tree and why a tree of all things?" It sounded like something which would have been an idea that emanated from their level partners in environment.

They needed to come up with ideas to make the air less stuffy...Hm "Maybe we could invent a machine run by magic of course that filters and changes the air in each work space and corridor..But i don't know how such a machince would look... Or maybe we could find a creature, harmless of course that helps to freshen the stuffy air."

Katalin was sitting at her desk, she had just come back from maternity leave. She was missing her little boy but she had a new picture of her family on her desk.

"I don't mind researching creatures that likes dark places" Katalin told her boss, she wanted to make up for her maternity leave.

"Brilliant" she smiled and nodded. "Thank you for offering" Well that was that looked into.

"I LIKE That idea" Erica smiled genuinely, contemplating it. "I shall ask our fellows next door for an oak and pass this idea on at our next meeting. It will definitely make our department tree original and interesting compared with our other departments" she jotted it on the parchment then moved on.

"Okay. I think your position will be beneficial when looking into this petting zoo. I'd like you to question the owner on where they got their animals from. Try to put it into conversation innocently, don't show them who you really are. We want to catch them off guard. Once you have discovered something, or noticed anything shifty please report it to us. I may be able to get MLE on our side" she stated shiftily.

Ah James. Nice of you to speak up for once.

"Thank you for offering" she smiled, jotting his name on the parchment too. "Once we have established for certain if this person is doing things illegally, I would like you to go in and enquire about their licenses. It's up to you if you put it casually into conversation or demand to see them. But without licenses for certain creatures, this person is looking into big fines or maybe even criminal punishment" Oh Erica loved getting justice.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Anyone else interested?" she asked glancing at everyone else. There were lots of things that needed to be checked. Questions to be asked. She needed a whole team that were dedicated for this. Plus it meant being PAID to go to a carnival. It was FUN! But strictly business for the Blonde anyway.

Um, yeah, going to a carnival sure beat sitting in a cubicle, in her books. Though to be fair, it was about on-par with doing creature examinations. Either way, Morrigan scooted over to where her department head was offering a field trip to fun and wave-wiggled her fingers, "I am, for sure. What can I do to help?"

A carnival, hmm? Aila had always loved going to those with her family when she was little; they were always a load of fun. She'd have to take Fae to this one some time during the summer...when she wasn't there for work, of course.

"I am," she said, standing. Merlin, she didn't like sitting down for too long. It always made her feel so stiff. "What do you need me to do?"

Interesting, going to the carnival for work, nice. "I would love to Ms. Radley, just tell me what you would like me to do and I will do my best to make it happen".

Erica nodded over at Morrigan as she spoke up. "We need to check up on how they are being kept. Whether their conditions are appropriate, if they are being fed, well looked after. We cannot stand for animal cruelty" she declared, also noticing Jack had spoken up too. "Perhaps if you two could work together on this? You can arrive seperately or together. Just try not to act too suspiciously. Write anything down you notice, enquire into how often they are fed, watered, cleaned out. Anything that may be of use and when we get back I shall hold a meeting to bring us all together" she commented.

Ah.

Her Junior Dangerous Creatures Officer. "Now I need you and perhaps if you can get the Senior Officer or the Specialist along with you, to remove any the creatures if necessary. You can do the same as everyone else, check up on conditions etc, but if you see something that SHOULDN'T be there. A creature that is unlicensed, considered dangerous to the public, acting like it shouldn't, we need to cease it straight away" she stated. A very important job.

Morrigan nodded, accepting her assignment... and Jack's. She looked over at him with a grin and joked, "Looks like we're going on a date!"

Who said working at the Ministry wasn't any fun?

Jack chuckled and blushed slightly as Morgan said they were going on a date. He always found her rather cute which was not helping right now. Atleast working with her he may get know her better. "Alright, Morri, lets just get going.".

Morri? For all the nicknames her siblings had bestowed on her, she couldn't say that had ever been one of them. Ah well, it would be her new thing for the day!

"Can do. We'll catch up with the rest of you later." Was it good to be that informal around her boss? She decided that if asked, she'd just say she was talking to the rest of them. With a wave at Jack, she headed for the door.

Sorry I haven 't posted yet!
 

Ren'Ai was a bit unsure. "Well, what about me? Anything that would deal with spirits? If not, then I don't know how I would help" she said. Being Spirit Liaison Junior Officer had its downsides.

Jack returned back to his office wih a mile like a kid on Christmas day. He had something big, or atleast he thought it was big, big enough to get this carnival shut down he hoped. He got the propr paperwork and began to fill it out. He would present his findings as soon as the ministrs lackie left, but that gave him time to get he mountain load of paper work that you need just for you're case.

Roxanne made her way silently to her new work space. It was small, but she supposed it would do.

Setting down her messenger bag she glanced around the room. Hmm... not bad, not bad. She would need to get used to this. Neither of her other jobs had a room like this that she ever used. When she had been working as a Healer in Ireland, she had simply attended to patients with that... thing that called itself a doctor (long story short, they didn't get along very well). And when she had worked as a Dragon Trainer in Romania, she had been outside all day, getting sunburn, developing freckles, and dodging raging dragons. She loved that job. If only it hadn't been in Romania. She simply hated the climate there. Not that the climate in England was always better.

Ah well, at least she still got to work with dragons. That had made her day, when she found out. Dragons! She adored them. It was pretty much her life's goal to work with dragons for a living. Best. Job. Ever.

She sat down in her chair, rummaging about in her duffel bag and pulling out one or two personal items. A photo of her and her boss from Romania, standing in front of her favorite dragon, Puff (whom, yes, she had named after 'Puff the Magic Dragon' in the old, old, old Muggle movie. In the picture, her boss had his arm around her shoulders, grinning and laughing at something Roxanne had apparently said, but denied afterwards; she had been grinning, almost mischievously, and every now and then looking up at the fast growing juvenile dragon; and Puff had been spurting a flame into the air and thrashing his tail, narrowly missing a few under-paid interns.

The second was simply a small, rather badly made sculpture of a dragon, given to her by the young son of a friend of hers in Ireland. Although the statue was lopsided and sort of hard to distinguish what it was, Roxanne loved it to tatters.

She leaned back in her seat and very nearly grinned. This place didn't seem so bad.

Roxanne blinked. She hadn't noticed anyone walking in, perhaps because she was reminiscing about her old life in Ireland and Romania. She needed to get in contact with her old friends. She was sure she had missed one or two of little Devon's birthdays.

Then, the woman was addressing her. "Hello, Felicity. I'm Roxanne Montgomery."

To be truthful she didn't mind being snapped out of her reverie. The office was as quiet as a morgue/

The woman looked surprised to hear a voice, perhaps she had interrupted her thoughts "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Roxanne." she paused for a moment.

"It's pretty exciting isn't it? First day of work at the ministry I mean." She said more to herself and glanced around at the room, they must be fairly early, no one else had arrived. Well better early than late. "So what position are you in?" She wasn't going to jump to conclusions just by seeing the dragon picture and sculpture on her desk. Felicity wasn't one to assume anything.

"Pleasure to meet you as well," she said, allowing herself a small smile. "Well, I think its exciting. I'm a Dragon Junior Officer."

She almost scowled but resisted the temptation because she thought it rude to take out annoyance on someone who had nothing to to with it. They had decided to make her a page boy just because of her age. She was fully qualified to work with dragons. She worked as a bloody dragon trainer for quite some time, for Merlin's sake! She was one of the best trainers out there, so said the head of her department back in Romania. And yet, as she applied here, they had discriminated against her for her age. How irritating. She swore, if she was made to deliver coffee to anyone, nice, cute, hunky, or not, she was quitting in the spot and reapplying at her old job.

"What about you? What do you do here?"

"I'm the Officer for Import and Export from European Countries." quite a long title in her opinion "basically I make sure no one brings in anything they're not suppose to, or anything too dangerous." Or so she had been told. She was actually really happy with it even if her job seemed rather boring in comparison to Roxanne's."Dragons, well I'd say that counts as exciting" she said with a laugh, nodding her head towards the picture on her desk "Is that where you use to work?" she asked a tone of aw in her voice. It looked dangerous. She loved dragons, reading about them that is, or admiring from a very safe distance.

"That sounds interesting," Roxanne stated, smiling again. "Does that mean you get to travel?" travel made everything more interesting. Even if she didn't travel, then she'd at least get to see a lot of interesting stuff. Which she still counted as pretty awesome.

She tilted her head, and nodded slowly, "Yes, I guess it is exciting." No complaining, Roxanne. You get to work with dragons. Simply work your way up the corporate ladder and you're good. It shouldn't be too hard.

She smiled at the photo Felicity nodded to. "Yes, I used to work as a Dragon Trainer in Romania. I loved that job... and that dragon, but I couldn't stand the climate over there." she shrugged."Not that I'm all that comfortable in this weather." what could she say? She was picky about that sort of thing. She smiled sheepishly, "Not exactly a decent reason to resign, I know."

Caitlyn walked into the cubical area and looked around warily at the other people. She would have expected there to be more but as she was coming in she saw some others leaving to start on a special case. Caitlyn smiled friendly at the others and quickly set her stuff down in one of the cubicles.

The first day at work . . . Caitlyn mused. She smiled to herself before leaning back in her chair.

This may really be the best thing that's happened to me since the break up. Just thinking of him made her cringe. How she hated him! How she hated herself for falling for his act. She came to England hoping for a better life away from America and she was adamant on getting it.

Katalin was sitting at her desk, she was doing some paperwork and was thinking that today was her niece's first day at her new job at the ministry.

"I hope so" she said said with a half smile, half sigh. Felicity had never even been out England. She was twenty-five years old and had never been out of the country. And to think it had been a dream of hers to travel the world, seeing exotic animals. Well maybe this was her chance.

Coming out of her thoughts, she brushed a piece of hair out of her face. "A dragon trainer in Romania? That's impressive." she said smiling at Roxanne. Moving because of climate.. well that wasn't too odd, sounded like something she would do. "Well I think it's a pretty decent reason." she assured her "If you aren't comfortable somewhere, there's no point staying. You'd just be miserable" even if it was an awesome job, like a dragon trainer.

She couldn't help glancing down at the picture of her son as she finished talking, she hated leaving him with a nanny. How was she suppose to know if he was alright while she was at work. She tried to shake it off looking back up at Roxanne, she was just going to have to get use to it.

Looking around she saw someone else had finally joined them. Good so they weren't the only ones in this department. The women had glanced towards them, so Felicity gave her a friendly smile. "Hello" she greeted her. Might as well meet everyone. She didn't want to be working with strangers.

Caitlyn didn't do well with strangers. To her there was always a reason to distrust someone, that always left a awkward presence. Since this was her first day she wanted to make a good impression on her 'co-workers' As positive as she could she responded to the woman.

"Hello." 'Darn, she thought. 'That still came out negative. I really need to work on that.'

Roxanne laughed, "Yes, I suppose it was pretty cool." she shrugged, she wasn't really one to brag. However, she had thought her job was pretty awesome. Why had she quit again? Oh yeah, because she was an idiot. However, it obviously wasn't a total loss. She still got to work with dragons and there were nice people like this Felicity person who she could talk with.

She followed the woman's gaze to the photo. Cute kid. Hers, she supposed. Her face softened, kids were just so adorable.

She brought her gaze back up to the woman's face, "Did you have a job before this?"

The women seemed a little unsure.. no that was the wrong word maybe reluctant? Maybe she just wasn't a people person. Not that Felicity was either, she tried to be, but sometimes she came off a little.. rude. I mean she just told people what she really thought, what was the harm in that? Anyways..

Giving the woman another small smile, "I'm Felicity Mcloughlin." she introduced herself, her slight British accent noticeable. "I'm the Officer for Import and Export" from European countries. But that was just a bit too much of a mouthful. "You?" she asked referring to both her name and her job she supposed.
"I did.." she replied uncertainly, of course she wanted to know the actual job. But well she found it a little embarrassing. Most people had at least gone off to some university to study but Felicity had just graduated from Hogwarts and jumped at the first job she could get.

"Well I worked.. at a pet store." Felicity let out a small chuckle. "I know, it's not exactly dragon taming, but there was a salamander that caught itself on fire." she said jokingly of course it was only about three inches long. "It was Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley actually, it doesn't sound like much, but it was a job."

She kind of missed the place really. Working with all the little creatures coming in and feeding them, she even missed the niflers. But most of all she missed Mr. Zurich the old owner of the place. He was amazing; she swore he knew everything there was to know about any animal. But she had needed a change, so here she was at the ministry. It was a little disappointing that there weren't any animals roaming or flying around the work cubicles though. (Because Felicity being herself that's what she had pictured.)

Roxanne grinned, "I don't know, that sounds like a pretty cool job to me." no dragons wasn't a crime. Of course, they made things more fun- for Roxanne anyway- but working with other magical creatures seemed pretty darn cool to her.

"Ah, the Magical Menagerie. I got my cat from there. Sir Lycander," she laughed softly, "I don't recall seeing you there, but perhaps you remember Lycander. He's a large, lanky black cat and he seems to think he owns the world."

It seemed to her that it would be impossible for anyone to forget that cat. He really made his precense known.

Caitlyn smiled slightly at Felicity. There was something about British accents that were so awesome. She really hoped it would rub off on her while she was here.

"Caitlyn Bergeron, Spirit Liaison. So what do you do with your job?" She asked politely more trying to start a conversation than anything. She should at least make an effort she figured.

Noah entered the area looking around cautiously, SO MANY PEOPLE. He would probably have to talk to some of them...

Noah scratched the back of his head awkwardly, hoping nobody would notice him, not sure whether he'd be able to talk. Creatures he liked, but the people that came with it was another thing.

'..hi.' Noah managed in barely more than a whisper.