Naoke knocked softly on the door, pushing it open enough to poke her head in. "Ano--" She stopped at seeing Crystal there, then continued.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" she said. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything, please forgive me if I did," she added, bowing in apology. Her nervous mind wandered back and forth and she thought that maybe taking a break had been a bad idea! Perhaps he was firing her for being lazy.

"Well!" She was ready to start complaining thinking that he was disregarding her and her opinions when the word 'promotion' sprang in big fat red letters right before her eyes. "Promotion," she grinned, "You aren't giving this to me because you fancy me?" She had to go through life with boys falling for her, she supposed that Elijah was hardly going to be an exception. "I accept!"

She smiled chuffed at her new power, "So Mr Wright do you have anything else to discuss with me because I have a division to run and I am very very busy as you must understand."

Just at that moment Uwa entered, "Uwa! Sweetie! Guess whose just got a promotion," she sprung towards her colleague and enveloped her into her a hug.

Elijah choked when the woman mentioned that he possibly actually fancied her. "That is definitely not the case, though I'm glad to see you're on board. Return to your Division and make the annoucment - nicely - and we'll meet soon so I can give you instructions. For now, carry on what you've been doing."

As soon as she began apologizing, he chuckled and waved his hand. "In fact, quite the opposite. I've heard through several employees and other sources that you're a great worker within the Department, and I'd like to know if you'd be interested in taking over the Planet Room. I know it's not your normal Division, but I believe you could lead it to it's full potential. Interested?"

Crystal saluted Elijah, "Right you are." She headed out of the door without any further word.

Naoke squeaked in surprise. "Oh, how wonderful for you!" she said smiling. She watched her co-worker leave, curious about what had happened to her previous head of division.

On the verge of asking, she was stopped short by Mr. Wright speaking.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BossMan

As soon as she began apologizing, he chuckled and waved his hand. "In fact, quite the opposite. I've heard through several employees and other sources that you're a great worker within the Department, and I'd like to know if you'd be interested in taking over the Planet Room. I know it's not your normal Division, but I believe you could lead it to it's full potential. Interested?"

Naoke was speechless. She made an odd noise in her throat, trying to find her voice.

Finally after much staring and squeaking, she bowed deeply and swiftly. "Ari--I mean, thank you very much, sir! I promise to do my best and uphold the honor of my position. I deeply honored." She stood up, straightening her robes. "Ano... Is there anything I need to know? Er... which room is the Planet Room, actually?"

"Not really, I just need you to go in there and introduce yourself. Begin studies on the planets - the Division needs to get moving," Elijah nodded seriously. "Besides that, the Planet Room is, most obviously, the one with all of the planets in it. Go to the revolving doors and try the one on your left first. It should be somewhere around there."

He nodded as a sign of dismissal and went back to his book, tapping his foot impatiently. He needed the last person he'd owled to hurry and come to his office so he could continue on with the days work.

Naoke nodded and bowed. "Thank you, Wright-san." She bowed and quickly left the office, heading to the Planet Room to get started.

Aidon reached Elijah's office and he knocked softly.
"I got your owl..." he said as he walked in and sat down in a vacant chair. He smiled to Naoke and Crystal.

"Yes, Aidon, I wanted to talk to you about your job within the Department of Mysteries," he started off, not wanting to reveal anything too soon. "After some monitoring ... you've proven to be a reliable and hard worker. Therefore ... I'd like to offer you a promotion, to be the Hall of Prophecies Division Head. Are you interested?"

He smiled brightly, a rare occurrence. Hopefully he would accept - to sooner Elijah got to leave his office, the better.

Aidon smiled brightly.
"I-of-yes!" he said jubilantly. He walked forward to shake Elijah's hand.

Elijah nodded, shaking the man's hand. I can't wait to see you at work. I'm sure you'll do an excellent job."

With that, he headed to the door with his newest Division Head, and they left together so Elijah could check on the other going-ons within the Department.

Reagan made her way out of the lifts into the corridor of Level Nine. This was one area of the Ministry she very rarely visited as Senior Undersecretary, though she knew a bit about what went on there. Not much, granted. Afterall, they're a Department full of Unspeakables! But there has been some information that was shared with her by the Minister himself and it was on such information that Reagan was in their Department today.

She arrived before the Department Head's door and knocked firmly. It was only he that she dare share this task with. It was most secret and most important.

Elijah was heading towards the Brain Room when he saw a woman standing outside his office door. She looked oddly familiar, and very out of place. He was walking closer, squinting, trying to get a better view, when it clicked. She was the woman from the Minister's office! Of course! The one that nearly panicked when he entered before consulting with her. In his defense, a Division Head had just completely disappeared before several employee's eyes... but he was back now. That was over... or so Elijah tried to remind himself.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat when he crept up to her side. "Are you looking for me? If so, it's all right to enter my office."

He looked her up and down, trying not to sound rude. It was over. It was done with, the man was back. So why should the Minister have his Undersecretary searching him out now?

Reagan turned when she heard a man clear his throat at her side. She wasn't sure she liked his tone much, clearly referencing the last time they had spoken. Well, it isn't as if she was the one who went against protocol! But no matter, despite his vague reference, Reagan was not going to address that matter now.

With her chin held high and her expression unaffected, Reagan replied a bit stiffly, "Yes, Mr. Wright, I am looking for you. I need to discuss something very important with you, something very important and very very secret. And I'm afraid it cannot wait." Reagan stared into his face as she waited for his reaction.

He looked her up and down. For some reason, he quite enjoyed her hostility. Something about it - maybe it was just the fact that she was trying not to seem so - was endearing.

Raising his eyebrows, he grinned slightly. "Like I said, it's all right to enter my office."

Sliding past her, brushing up against he slightly, he turned the knob on the door and let it fall open. "After you."

Reagan barely faught back a look of surprise as she watched the man's eyes. And then he grinned, albeit a somewhat awkward grin, but a grin nonetheless! She wasn't entirely sure how to process that interaction, because while Reagan was rather attractive, most people didn't seem to see it, either because they were too afraid to look at her, or they were so afraid of the power she held by working so closely with the Minister, that even when they saw her, they only saw someone who could get them fired. And because most people feared her, no one ever came that close to giving her any actual attention, platonic or not, which resulted in her not being at all aware of her own beauty, and hence never knowing how to interpret situations like this. So she wasn't sure if that look was merely him making an observation, or if he was checking her out, but either way, she was caught off guard a bit.

And then to top it all off, as he brushed up against her, Reagan's stomach knotted up ever so slightly. What on earth was wrong with her?! It clearly must have been all that contemplating about his look that made her react so ridiculously. With a slight flush to her cheek, Reagan replied somewhat slowly, "Thank you," as she entered his office through the open door.

He followed her closely, shutting the door once they were inside. Her reaction to the situation was priceless, and it made him smile just a little more, which was a rare occurrence for Elijah. He was so used to being stern and serious within his department; it was, after all, required. He was too old for his age.

Standing in the corner, he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to take his usual place behind his desk or sit in the chair next to her. Deciding to stick with routine, he slowly crossed the room and lowered himself into his rightful place. He shifted things around a little so he could get a better look at her. Something about her was different, different from most other women he encountered... he couldn't quite put his wand on it.

"All right, all right," he nodded, lacing his fingers together and setting them in his lap. "What's so urgent? You look as if the whole Ministry has caught on fire."

Reagan spotted the chair across from the desk and watched as Elijah took his seat. She was so not used to sitting in a position which made her feel inferior to the person she was speaking to, as the chairs in front of any large desk are subtly meant to do, and so she opted to stand in front of the desk.

She cleared her throat and responded to his comment, "No, no fires. Not yet anyway. But I do want to discuss," and she paused here because she knew these Unspeakable types never want to discuss much of anything when it comes to their work, "the Locked Room." She bit the corner of her lip, realized she was doing it, and immediately stopped. She didn't let anyone know if she was nervous and no one was allowed to think her anything less than 100% confident in her actions.

He pinched his lips together as soon as he noticed she wasn't sitting down. He had half a mind to stand up too, just to make he realize how uncomfortable it was for him, but he realized this wasn't a time for shenanigans. But then again, who was she to inquire about the inner workings of the Department of Mysteries? He was about to snap when he caught one of her nervous ticks.

"What about the Locked Room?" he questioned, looking harshly into her eyes. "I can understand if the Minister himself wants to come and address these matters with me, but if he thinks sending a woman, a woman like you, to come and break some bad news... what, are we loosing funding? He knows the things we've produced from there! He knows how vital that is, and you're what, here to soften the blow?"

He was strangely unsettled. This was the Minister's idea of funny. Send the pretty secretary lady, oh yes, that will make it easier. Aggravated, he leaned back in his chair, no longer amused by the situation.

Reagan sensed that he seemed very uncomfortable by her presence and so tried to make him more at ease by appearing more at ease herself. Instead of standing straight and stiff, she semi-sat on the arm of one of the chairs, more of a lean actually, bringing her down a bit to almost a seated level, but not quite as low. A happy medium at least. Sitting on the arm of that chair wasn't very comfortable though and she had to cross her legs and try to center herself to maintain her balance.

Then all of a sudden his eyes turned colder and his facial expression more stern as he began ranting and raving at her. She immediately stood up and defended herself with her hands scrunched into fists at her side, "A woman like me?! What do you mean by that? Last time I checked, there were plenty of women capable of discussing important and secretive matters. I didn't realize you were the type of man who was so against women in important positions!" Reagan couldn't believe the nerve of this man and his insults!

"And for your information, he's not cutting funding at all! The Department of Mysteries is getting an increase in funding with the start of the new fiscal year at MY recommendation, though perhaps I was mistaken in making that recommendation. If your employees are as presumptuous as you are, you might not actually be making the type of progress we want. Perhaps you're making it all up the same way you've just fabricated this incredibly ridiculous explanation for my presence without even letting me speak!" Reagan's eyes blazed with anger. This meeting was not going well and Reagan seriously contemplated storming out of the office, but decided against it for the time being as she really did have important matters to discuss.

Elijah jumped as the woman turned cold. She blew up at him, without hesitation. At the mention on an increase in funding, however, the majority of the anger he had immediately evaporated.

"Do not presume me to be a sexist man," he said, still glaring slightly. "I did not mean a woman like you in a negative way, in fact... quite the opposite. I assumed the Minister sent an attractive woman my way in hopes it at least make bad news better. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, I'm sorry." He nodded to her, meaning his words. "However, do not think I come from nowhere; things have been getting tighter around here. What else was I supposed to think?"

Noticing he shifting balance, he pointed towards the chair. "Why don't you just take a seat? We can start over. You and I never seem to start things off just right."

Reagan continued glaring at him and retorted, "Perhaps I wouldn't presume you to be a sexist man if you didn't seem to be making sexist comments." Reagan straighted out her sapphire colored robes and lucky enough for her she was looking down at herself when he called her an attractive woman, because if he had seen the look on her face, it would have made the situation that much more awkward. She didn't know if she should feel flattered that he found her to be so or offended that he even made a comment like that, as if her looks should have any relevancy to the manner in which she did her job.

She opted to not think about it either way and focused instead on his apology, which seemed sincere enough. "I'm sorry for losing my temper, as well. I'm normally much better at controlling myself, but this International Conference right after all the work I did for the wedding, it is wearing me very thin." She realized she'd just admitted a weakness and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. She added, "But that is not to leave this room. As an Unspeakable, I'm quite sure you can manage to keep that information to yourself." Reagan's cheeks pinkened ever so slightly as she brushed her hair from her face.

Using his gesture of a seat as a distraction from her slight embarrassment, Reagan ignored her pride and slid herself into the chair with fluidity. "No, we never do seem to get off on the right foot, do we?" She laughed ever so lightly and then added, "I came down here to discuss something I'd like for the Locked Room to look into."

"It is not a weakness to be overworked," he pointed out, relieved that she was letting the matter drop. It was nice not to argue, especially with the few lingering suspicions he had about the rest of the Department. Something just felt so odd about the Time Room...

Realizing he was losing his focus, he snapped back to attention. "The Locked Room, right, right, what about it?"

As he waited for her to answer, he sat and silently observed her. He was glad, really, she'd chosen to sit down. For some reason, with her standing, it almost felt like a bit of a power struggle; something Elijah not only disliked, but was not used to. He smiled inwardly, though... they were making progress... for once.

Reagan raised her brow weakly and replied, "Perhaps not, but even still, I'd rather the liaisons not realize how incredibly overworked I am because then they too will complain of being overworked and will be horribly unproductive when I need them to be just the opposite!" She sighed as she contemplated ways to inspire the liaisons to work quicker and harder than ever before.

Then she realized she was sitting there looking like a mute moron and cleared her throat, "Ah, well I think we are both rather aware of the powerful magic it holds... Do you remember the story of Harry Potter and how his mother's love was the greatest protection? Old magic. Well, I was wondering if it might be possible," and here she lowered her voice to such a soft whisper, you might think she was merely moving her lips and not producing any sound, but in fact she was whispering and she leaned in toward Elijah a bit so as not to be heard, "Could your department channel that magic and power into an inanimate object? Perhaps almost like an armor of some kind?" She looked up at him anxiously, waiting for him to either laugh or get very angry. Either way, she wasn't looking forward to the reaction she would probably get.

He stared at her blankly. Blinking a few times, he tried to process what she was asking him to do... and the reasons she was requesting it. "But that's all just a legend, is it not?" he asked, slowly rubbing his hands across the scruff on his face. He needed to shave. Reagan wasn't the only one overworked in the Ministry.

"Say it really happened, and it's possible ... this could take years upon years to develop. Not to mention, the magic within the Locked Room... it's so wild, and uncontrollable. What would you even want to harness that power into?"