The Frenchman had no reason to worry, because after circling it’s conjurer the silvery wolf slipped out of the lift and sped off to find it’s intended target. The two men were left alone again in the small confines of the lift as other lifts zoomed around them.

SPOILER!!: Valentin! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krel Ansell

Touchy touchy! Valentin’s twitched as he tried not to smile. Oh how he loved seeing people get flustered. In fact, he didn’t think he’d ever seen Singh express so many emotions. ” Ai am alwais 'elpful,” he said simply shrugging his shoulders. When the occasion called for it, Valentin really could be helpful. He just didn’t feel like this occasion really warranted his efforts. ” But eet 'as not been zat long and zo ai am not abut to go crazy when timé mai vairy well sulve our problaims.” Besides, he was enjoying seeing Singh so un-Singh like. Granted, Valentin didn’t know Singh outside of a work setting. Which was something he really needed to change, because he was certainly proving to Valentin that he was more amusing and interesting than Valentin had first thought.

The lift was suddenly filled with a blinding dazzling light. His hand shot up to cover his eyes. ”Bte comme ses pieds,” he called out in French. ” Ai 'ad meent a mémo, not zis monstrositay!” Because what if the Patronus couldn’t leave the lift?

Valentin was always helpful?

Sachin almost snorted at the ridiculousness of the comment. Really, he was loosing all of his patience with this man quite rapidly. So many things ticked him off about this Frenchman. If he had to guess, Valentin was quite entertained seeing Sachin in this manner. “Maybe you don’t have a life and would rather be stuck in here but I have one.’’ And so he wanted out; he would have wanted out even more if he knew that Valentin was scheming to get to know him better.

The Indian Ambassador turned to shoot a look of daggers at the French Ambassador. “So sorry I didn’t act on your expectations,’’ he said rather sarcastically. He faced the doors to the lift in time to see his wolf squeeze out of the lift. Excellent. They would be free of this box soon.

As for Valentin? Sach went about ignoring his existence.

While the lifts look just about the same as any day, the next employees to take a ride will be in for a bit of a surprise. Just when you think the lift is taking you to your level, the machine stops for a moment... and then proceeds to go in the opposite direction.

Want to go to level four? Well, you're going to level six instead. Meant to end up in the Atrium? Not today! Level one for you!

Yasmina was just trying to get home to her husband after a long day at work. She'd had to make a quick stop at the Department of Magical Environment Regulation and Protection (she refused to call it DERP, that looked like a ridiculous acronym) to leave a note for the department head there. Usually she would have sent it via interdepartmental flying memo but ever since they'd been exchanged for owls, she had started to take the notes directly to whomever she'd addressed them to. This way, she hoped, there would be fewer owls flying around the Ministry.

So far it seemed like her plan hadn't quite worked out, however.

Be that as it may, she'd managed to get on a lift WITHOUT any owls above her head and had successfully avoided the owl droppings lining the floor. Smiling at the other employees already inside the lift, Yasmina pushed the button for the Atrium and took out her wand to non-verbally remove some of the owl droppings. Maybe they should do a workshop about what the most efficient spells for owl dropping removal was (those that also got rid of the smell!) so that everyone could-

DING! 'Department of Magical International Cooperation'

She looked up from her wand to look at the other employees. She was quite sure nobody had pressed THAT button and there was nobody waiting for the lift either it seemed. Very strange. But then they were off again, a bit faster than normal (or was that just her imagination?) and she quickly held onto one of the handles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lislchen

Yasmina was just trying to get home to her husband after a long day at work. She'd had to make a quick stop at the Department of Magical Environment Regulation and Protection (she refused to call it DERP, that looked like a ridiculous acronym) to leave a note for the department head there. Usually she would have sent it via interdepartmental flying memo but ever since they'd been exchanged for owls, she had started to take the notes directly to whomever she'd addressed them to. This way, she hoped, there would be fewer owls flying around the Ministry.

So far it seemed like her plan hadn't quite worked out, however.

Be that as it may, she'd managed to get on a lift WITHOUT any owls above her head and had successfully avoided the owl droppings lining the floor. Smiling at the other employees already inside the lift, Yasmina pushed the button for the Atrium and took out her wand to non-verbally remove some of the owl droppings. Maybe they should do a workshop about what the most efficient spells for owl dropping removal was (those that also got rid of the smell!) so that everyone could-

DING! 'Department of Magical International Cooperation'

She looked up from her wand to look at the other employees. She was quite sure nobody had pressed THAT button and there was nobody waiting for the lift either it seemed. Very strange. But then they were off again, a bit faster than normal (or was that just her imagination?) and she quickly held onto one of the handles.

Well Fletcher had wanted to go down to level one to take this plant to his office yes, he was still collecting and moving plants from DERP to the Minister's Office, but apparently the lift had other ideas for the contents of this box.

"Hmm." The junior undersecretary muttered, exchanging a glance with the woman near the front of the lift. He shifted his potted plant to his other arm and leaned forward to hit the button for Level One again, since it had seemingly gone out, when the lift started up again with another sudden jerk.

Ooof! Fletcher was pushed to the back of the lift as it took off, faster than ever. "Is-- is someone doing this on purpose?" he muttered, looking around at the others on this ride too. Was there some prankster on here?

When the man spoke, Yasmina turned her head a little to look at him. "I don't believe so." That would be a very childish (and also dangerous!) prank, wouldn't it? Not that she would necessarily put it past an adult to do such a thing but after a quick glance around the lift, she decided that none of the other people in here looked like they were joking around.

Most of them looked somewhere between wary and scared.

DING! 'Department of Magical International Cooperation'

"We....that's exactly it stopped a moment ago." What was happening? She could have sworn the lift had LEFT the level and went up. "Maybe it's broken." Should they get off? That seemed like the logical thing to do, no?

Conley was passing through the Lift Lobby on his way back to his department when the doors of a lift dinged. He paused to glance inside. "Fletcher?" he asked seeing the Junior Undersecretary inside the lift with a young lady. Conley glanced at the potted plant in his arms. "Unusual for you to visit. Are you moving?" He motioned to the plant.

Had the lady said something about the lifts being broken? "Broken?" he asked her. He would have addressed her by name, but Conley was quite certain he had never seen her before. In as big a place as the Ministry, that wasn't surprising. "What's broken?" he asked looking between the two as his feet remained firmly planted on the lobby ground outside of the lift. After two of his ambassadors had gotten stuck inside of one of the lift last year, Conley hadn't set foot inside of one again.

Fletcher eyed the others in the elevator anyway, as though on of THEM were responsible for this. He sighed as the elevator came to a stop on a floor he'd already been on?

"Yeah. I think it's time to take the stairs," Fletcher decided, gesturing for the lady who'd spoken to get off first. IF they COULD even get off the lift. Obviously it was broken, "like everything else here," he muttered to himself. First the memos, now the lifts... what was next, all magic in the Ministry??

At least the doors seemed to be opening. Fletcher peeked out into the corridor beyond and recognized a guy who actually belonged on this floor. Didn't remember his name, though he was pretty sure it started with a C. "Yeah, no, I mean, I'm just moving some plants around." He lifted the trailing vine in his arm as though to show it off. "We need some green on Level One." He glanced again at the lady, who was now being questioned by... Con...Conley, wasn't it? "The lift is acting up. I didn't intend to stop on this floor."

Come on, lady, get off so the rest of them can, before the lift takes off again.

"Yeess...." He said in tone that implied he wasn't surprised. "I had a few amabassadors get stuck in a lift last year." The French Ambassador had not been happy and much drama had ensued from the incident. Roux did enjoy making his scenes. As a result, taking the stairs was something Conley whole-heartedly endorsed. He wasn’t surprised that the Junior Undersecretary hadn’t intended to stop by. DIMC rarely got visitors unless someone was applying for a travel visa or needed an international translator. Speaking of…”Well, the lifts aren’t the only thing on this level that hasn’t been working in a while. The translation spells are still acting up.” The other day it took Conley a few minutes to realize that one of his staffers hadn’t purposefully been speaking in Mandarin. ”So if you suddenly start hearing Spanish, it’s not intentional.”

He eyed the plant. ”I was promised a fancy tea plant from Botany on Level 4 a few years ago…still waiting for it to be delivered.” It was likely he was never going to get the plant. Perhaps he should invest in a few for the lobby. But once this owl memo delivery system was eliminated. He didn’t need more owls nesting his office spaces. ”Stairs are this way,” he said stepping off towards the stairs which were also in the same direction as his department’s office doors.

Why were they asked HER what exactly was broken?

While the man - Fletcher, apparently - answered instead, Yasmina finally stepped out of the lift and onto the International Cooperation level. At least they lift hadn't got stuck somewhere in between levels. She was not familiar with the specific spells in place here so it would have taken them quite some time to rescue themselves.

"Have you made a list of everything that seems to be malfunctioning?" She enquired of the department head (she HAD paid attention) as she had a quick glance around the corridor. Nothing looked out of the ordinary but the rumors going around the Ministry were hard to miss. Also the owls were a constant reminder of the fact that the memos had stopped working.

Once he had indicated the direction of the stairs, Yasmina started walking towards them, using her wand to stay clear of any sort of owl droppings that were seemingly everywhere these days. Fortunately, she worked inside most of the day, away from the owls.

Ah, yes, sure, Fletcher knew how it was. As he stepped out of the lift, he realized belatedly that this really WAS Conley's floor, as in, he was in charge of it, and wondered why the department chair or an assistant didn't just mosey on down to level four to pick up his plant? It was only a floor away? Here Fletcher was just killing time hustling himself back and forth between floors to ferry plants around, which was really a job quite beneath him, and yet one he had volunteered himself for to get out of the cubicles.

Ah, anyway. Now he was forced to walk down the corridor and he'd left his umbrella in his the office.

He decided to follow the woman at a pace that was slightly behind yet slightly with her, since they were both headed for the stairs now. "You'd think Accidents & Catastrophes would have this sorted by now," he pointed out to both of them. "Owls are a terrible solution to the memo problem." In case anyone was wondering, it hadn't been his harebrained idea.

Conley hadn’t gone down or sent an assistant to go get his plant because he wasn’t even sure what kind of plant he was supposed to be getting. One of the Level 4 Botanists had appeared one day in his office and said she’d deliver it. Which had never happened. And so…Conley assumed the offer had fallen through. It was fine. He had never been blessed with a green thumb.

Ah the lady had decided to join them, well for the walk across the lift lobby. Conley was on his way back to his office after a long morning in the courtrooms. ”Yes, I reported the malfunctions last year. I think maintenance has their hands full. A faulty translation spells is bound to be the least of their worries.” As if on cue, an owl flew over their heads and Conley ducked covering his head with his hands instinctively. He’d had enough owl poop in his hair lately to last a lifetime. He coughed as he straightened up. ”I agree.” He eyed the owl that flew past suspiciously as if Conley expected that it was just biding it’s time to come back and poop all over the three in the lobby. ”But at least memos are getting misplaced or lost,” His mind drifted back to the last meeting he had been in with the Minister and the head of Law Enforcement. A frown formed on his face.

Another day, another to-do list of things to accomplish around the Ministry! It was a good thing you have the lifts to carry you from place to place, making your travel times within the Ministry walls much faster than if you were to go by foot.

As you approach the lift and press the button to send the lift to the doors you stand before, the button doesn't light up. If you happen to try it again and again, it still doesn't light up. And even if you wait around for a few minutes to see if the lift appears, it... does not.

The lift seems to be quite broken, doesn't it? I suppose that to-do list is going to take a bit longer today, isn't it?

Oh, and if you happen to be IN one of the lifts while it suddenly stops working... Well, good luck getting out.

The meeting with Goldwasser had gone well. He made his way to the lifts since he had patrols to do, and he kept his tread steady. As soon as he stepped into the lift and the doors closed, he sliiiiiid down to his bottom, his heart quickening its pace as he thought he was going to pass out.

I bloody did it - oh my god -

His heavy breathing did not slow down. His heart began to hurt. Was he DYING?

It seemed like forever ago that he had received that patronus from his husband that informed Conley that he and Roux had been stuck in the lifts. Since then he hadn't bothered with them. But with Simone's insistence that they were indeed working with no problems Conley felt obligated to use them. At least once.

As the doors to the lifts parted to reveal a man slumped down and looking like he was about to pass out, Conley felt his stomach clench. "Alright there?" he asked, one leg in the lift and one still in the lobby as he waited to see if it was indeed safe to hop on.

OH GOSH OH GOSH.

Scottie had never scrambled up so quickly in his entire LIFE. "I am perfectly fine, sir!" he said quickly, heavy breathing still. Now, what was his excuse for being on the floor?! "I'm from the MLE - just got done working out VIGOROUSLY before my patrols. But I am all - " DEEP BREATH - "Good!" He even tacked on a Scottie Ferguson grin at the end of it.

"I assure you!"

The last thing he needed was this department head guy to go around saying he had found a sick MLE employee on the lifts. "What floor did you need?" he asked all caaaaasuallly.

"Errmm..." he said unconvinced that the man was alright. He continued to stand with one foot in the lift and one out until the lifts started to close on him and he had to make a choice. So into the lift he went. He took a deep breath and tried to convince himself that if something went wrong he still had his patronus... small comforts right?

"What?" he asked not having caught the man's question about floors. "Oh - Level 1. I have a meeting with the Senior Undersecretary." And as the doors closed he watched the man carefully out of the corner of his eye. "Sure you're alright?" he asked again. "You look like you're going to be sick. Maybe you should stop by the healer's station. I heard Healer Rastrick is quite good and discrete." Or at least his cousin Winnie thought highly of the man.

Scottie was going to try his best not to snap out of mere MENTAL EXHAUSTION at this man because he was his superior, and he also didn't need to be suspicious. So he merely shook his head. "No no! I'm fine," he smiled more and gave a thumbs up. He had NOT been about to have a panic attack..nope...not HIM. NOT SCOTTIE.

"Oh, Mr. Fletcher?" Fletchy. "That man!" he crossed his arms and puuuuursed his lips. "Not a fan. Not a fan at all." He tried to look DISGOOSTED. "You tell him he needs to be careful around here. Times are a-changing. And you should watch out, too, sir."

Being kinda' rude was fun, a little bit, when you didn't mean it. Was his pin on straight? He tried his best not to fiddle with it.

Conley gave the man the most confused look ever. Honestly how was he supposed to believe the man was alright when he was acting like a petulant two year old. But he wasn't the man's father or keeper and so he tried to just ignore him.

That was until he caught site of the pin the man was playing with on his lapel. A pin exactly like the one Conley himself was wearing. A lightbulb went on and his stomach suddenly wrapped itself up in a sailor's knot. "Yes, well. I'll be sure to pass along your advice." Was the man trying to tell him something? Did he know something? He was suddenly very eager to meet up with Fletcher. His fingers twitched and he shoved his hand into his pocket.

The lift stopped at his floor and he stepped out. He turned back like he was going to say something else, then paused. "The tea on Level 5 is quite good. If you ever find yourself in need of a cup." And with that. He walked off.

Scottie nodded at the man. "Thank you," he shrugged and crossed his arms, trying to look nonchalant. "I'll keep that in mind. If I'm ever down that way." He didn't look at Conley as he spoke.

Right.

He hadn't noticed the matching lapel pin, but he figured if the man was going to speak with Fletchy, he might be friendly and not a foe. No matter. He had needed that in order to feel caaaalm and in order again.

And now he really did have his actual job to do -_-