Brazil strode back into the office with her hair all poofed out like she had stuck her finger in a muggle electrical socket. Her last job assignment had been tougher than she anticipated and her blown out hair was the result. She heard a few snickers as she walked down toward her little desk. She wasn't a full curse-breaker with her won office just yet so all she had was a small desk in the common area with the other low level breakers.

They told her it was a easy assignment. A nasty spell on some old lady's family safe in the house. Well it turned out to be more than the run of the mill little family curse. She sat at her desk and took a deep breath.

Leon had a habit of glancing in on the apprentice and journey level breakers every time he walked past. So it was that as he was heading to his own office, he glanced in to see Brazil. He knew she'd been sent on a local job but wasn't quite sure which she'd pulled.

"Interesting look, I'm not sure that the Goblins would approve, but they need to be kept on their toes, so you just keep on with that one, Brazil." He said by way of greeting. He was joking of course.

"You've been out on a job?" He asked. It was his way of enquiring after the more important question. Did she do it well?

Kayla sauntered into the Cursebreakers office carrying a pot in each hand. She only hoped they were still hot seeing how she had taken the long way to get up here.

The head goblin had been in the main hall and Kayla couldn't stand the way he looked at her with those accusing eyes. Okay so she'd had a stint in Azkaban a few years ago, he didn't need to hold it against her for the rest of her life, did he?

Spotting her boss and Brazil, she gave them both a cheery smile. "I have coffee and tea" she announced holding up the pots. "Get it while it's hot." Mmmhmm...she was in a good mood today.

She was shifting through the paperwork on her last job to make sure she wasn't getting upset over nothing when she heard someone's voice and she nearly jumped out of her chair. "Oh Merlin sir, you scared me," her hair crackled with tension. "I...um.....well this isn't my normal hair," she said haughtily.

She shuffled through the paperwork and found what she was looking for, she quickly scanned it before returning her eyes back to her boss. "Yes sir. I just got back. That woman..." she started when another co-worker sauntered up. Brazil stopped talking.

Brazil was uneasy around most women, but Kayla made her extra uneasy. It was her confident air and the swish in her hips that made Brazil's skin crawl. Women were scary creatures if you asked her. "No thanks," she said quickly. Brazil was much more comfortable around guys.

Ooookay.

Placing the pots down onto her desk and removing the knife from its spine sheath and also placing it onto her desk, Kayla threw herself into the chair. She had no idea what Brazil's problem was with her, it wasn't like she hadn't been nice to the woman.

She shrugged her shoulders and decided to just ignore the woman's unease around her. "So how did the job at the old lady's house go?" By the looks of her hair, not that well but Kayla was tactful enough not to say that out loud.

Brazil blanched at the knife that Kayla removed from her back. And it took her a minute to find her voice when Kayla spoke to her. "Oh well she said it was just some simple curses on there, but that was a lie." Brazil said slowly. She looked around to make sure she was close enough to witnesses other people in case she went missing.

Noticing the look on Brazil's face, Kayla slid the knife under some papers so that it was no longer visible. The woman would probably faint if she saw the rest of the weapons she had attached to her body. It had just become second nature now to carry them with her at all times.

"Oh yeah?" Kayla said sitting up a little straighter in her chair and fixing Brazil with a curious expression. "What kind of curses did she have?"

She tried not to squirm under Kayla's gaze as the other girl looked at her. She kept still and tried not to show how scared she was of Kayla. Brazil looked back at her. "Well she had some goblin curses on the thing. The bloody safe sucked me right on in there. It took me almost an hour to blast the door off the thing." she explained.

Leon took up the offer of coffee, pouring a cup and sipping it slowly as the two ladies spoke. "Don't feel too bad, I had the same thing happen to me when I first began working house calls. I was cocky after spending so much time on location in Egypt and Thailand that I expected a local job to be easy. Spent a week unconscious, so you did better than I." He smiled at Brazil.

"Anyway, I have some books in my office about scanning charms if you'd like to brush up. Its always worth double checking, and never take anyone's word for what they've got protecting their interests, yeah? And some of those Goblin curses in particular, well they don't register with dark detectors or probity probes, you've got to use a charm thats tuned to Goblin magical constructions."

He held his coffee mug up in salute to Kayla.

"Good coffee. Did you make this?"

She hadn't meant to complain in front of the boss. And she held her breath waiting for him to scold on her on her major screw up, but he didn't and she started to relax as he talked. "I've never worked in Thailand, but I've been to South America. Got locked in a nasty little finger trap from the Mayan's for 2 months before my cousin could get the thing off." she told him. She wasn't sure why she told him that, it was embarrassing, but he had told her he spent a week unconscious.

Brazil nodded at his offer, "Oh yes sir I will do that then. I don't think my hair could stand another explosion," or rather she didn't want to get blown up again. Or sucked in a a tiny little wall safe again either. She never knew how scared she was of small spaces till then. She was not keen to experience that feeling again.

Seriously, she was not that scary was she? Kayla glanced at her desk again to make sure that her weapons were not visible before returning her gaze to Brazil. "You should have charged her double for not informing you exactly what protection she had guarding the safe."

She hoped something like that never happened to her, Kayla didn't think she would be as nice as Brazil was being about it.

Kayla inclined her head at her boss while she poured herself some tea. She was not really a coffee drinker, only after a hard night would she drink it for a quick pick me up.

"Yeah. One of my many talents." She joked, as she took a sip of her tea. She might not drink coffee very often but she certainly knew how to make it.

Brazil stand up to another woman. Yeah right, like that would ever happen. She was scared to death of other females. "No its ok. She was really old she might have forgotten what she had put on the safe in the first place," she told Kayla. It would be just her luck to try to stand up to an old lady and have her butt handed to her on a silver platter. It was best to just leave that alone and learn from her mistake on that one.

"Such is the life of a curse-breaker." Leon answered Brazil, with a small smile. He was quite sure they all had stories of that variety, and while most people only knew about the more exciting and supposedly glamourous side of the job, and even then only in a vague sense.

"A good talent to have, Kayla." Leon answered, sipping his coffee again.

He nodded at Brazil. "You just come and see me when you want those books. I'll see you ladies in a little while with your new assignments." He nodded at them both and then left, heading up the hall to his own office.

She nodded and moved aside so he could squeeze out of their little cubicle space. "Yes sir," she told him as he made his way back to his office. She really hoped that they would be getting proper assignments and not all the grunt work just because they were junior curse-breakers and not fully licensed curse breakers. She was itching to prove herself. Even if she did get trapped in an old lady's safe for most of the day.

She picked up her bag and headed down to her vault to tuck away the curse she had found for safe keeping. She wanted to study it further but it was too volatile to keep lying around the office.

Unsure of where to report for his FIRST DAY AS AN INTERN, (he was still so excited by that title), Fletcher purposefully avoided any security goblins and sneakily made his way up the to the balcony where he knew the curse-breaker headquarters were.

The door was unlocked to the general office area and naturally, Fletcher had to take a peek in. Awesomeeee. This was where he wanted to work someday. Just look at the place. It was humming with the scent of treasure and adventure and sweet, sweet Circe is that a locked box just chilling on somebody's desk?

Not even bothering to look around for someone in charge, Fletcher quietly ho-hummed his way over to the desk and reached one longer finger out to give its lid a poke. Heh. Had it been rid of its curses already? Where was it from? What was inside it?

Well there were several ways to go about discovering the answers to such questions....

Brazil came back into the office from a hastily eaten lunch. And thankfully today she didn't get trapped in anyone safe nor did her hair explode either. So if you asked her it was a very good day.

She was about to walk over to her desk when she stopped. A frown skipped across her face. A boy was snooping around her desk. Well he didn't look like a little kid boy, but he was younger than Brazil anyways and that was a kid to her. Since she wasn't wearing her heels her movements were silent as she walked up behind him. "You know snooping around in this bank might get you into trouble," she said causally as she came around to the chair at her desk.

She sat down on her desk and peered at him. "Was there something I could help you with? Or did you want to keep poking at this and maybe get trapped in for I don't know. However long it took me to open it?" she asked. he was lucky all he did was touch it not tried to open it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomasina Riddle

Brazil came back into the office from a hastily eaten lunch. And thankfully today she didn't get trapped in anyone safe nor did her hair explode either. So if you asked her it was a very good day.

She was about to walk over to her desk when she stopped. A frown skipped across her face. A boy was snooping around her desk. Well he didn't look like a little kid boy, but he was younger than Brazil anyways and that was a kid to her. Since she wasn't wearing her heels her movements were silent as she walked up behind him. "You know snooping around in this bank might get you into trouble," she said causally as she came around to the chair at her desk.

She sat down on her desk and peered at him. "Was there something I could help you with? Or did you want to keep poking at this and maybe get trapped in for I don't know. However long it took me to open it?" she asked. he was lucky all he did was touch it not tried to open it.

Fletcher could have jumped a mile in the air when someone spoke from just behind him. Clearly startled, he remained frozen in place and didn't say anything as the woman came around her desk and took a seat, calm and cool as a cucumber.

"I'm not... well it was just sitting here.... 'snot snooping," the seventeen-year-old began, taking a step back from the box and shoving his hands in his pockets. He was NOT up to anything he wasn't supposed to be doing, not at all. He was just exploring his new workplace, that was all. And maybe just fangirling a little bit at all the curse-breaker-y stuff.

He looked up from still staring at the box to meet the woman's eyes. She didn't look that much older than him, but from her tone she certainly sounded like had more experience than him. "Yeah uh... I'm the new intern? Fletcher's me name..."

Inevitably, his gaze would slide back to the treasure-chest-looking thing and he would want to poke it again. Such was Fletcher's curiosity. "You were trapped in there?" he wondered out loud, a hint of disbelief coloring his tone. "For how long?!"

That would be an AWESOME story to brag about to his mates.... if it had happened to him.

Slipping into the office just behind Brazil, Kayla took in the scene before her and a small smirk formed on her lips.

New intern!

Fun times!

Stepping around Brazil, she moved over to the desk and threw herself into the chair and propped her feet up onto the desk. "I don't think she was talking about herself getting stuck in there."

Kayla looked the intern over for a moment before turning her gaze to Brazil and the amusement was clearly evident on her face. "No harm in curiosity. I hear it only kills cats. Besides only one way for him to learn, right?"

Her gaze shifted back to the intern and the smirk was back on her face just daring him to open the box.

Oh great...her favorite person. The psyco Kayla. Brazil still wasn't sure what Kayla had done to get a person wanding from Sturnik, but the goblin had enjoyed it and anything he enjoyed was enough for Brazil to stay away from.

She looked from thew new boy to Kayla. She never could hold her own up against strong female personalities. "I was talking about myself getting stuck." she said in a small voice not wanting to admit to Kayla that she had gotten stuck in a safe.

She would never live it down now.



She shook her head and blocked out Kayla so she could act least act like a normal person and hold a conversation.

Brazil crossed her long legs, well long to her, but she was still only 5 foot 4 as she looked at the boy. She wanted to giggle that she was able to startle him the way she had. "Snooping is alright when you have been trained, but a little lad like yourself. Fresh from Hogwarts will end up someone's tragic story." She wasn't trying to be cruel, but they were dealing with dangerous objects and an overeager kid could get himself and maybe someone else hurt. "Nice to meet you Fletcher. I'm Brazil Aziz," for once her Arabic accent didn't accentuate her R's. "Junior curse-breaker." Which meant she was higher up the food chain than he was but still hadn't taken her test to get her full license. "And this would be my desk." she pointed down with a smile on her face.

She poked the box with her wand. "Yes I was trapped inside for almost 5 hours. A rather nasty little goblin fail safe was on the lock and the owner failed to mention that to me. And since all goblin curses are are the property of the caster I brought this back to the bank so it can be returned to its rightful owner." she explained to him. If he was going to work here he might as well know how goblins did things.

But her gaze returned back to the boy, though he was looking all man standing over her. "Intern huh, well kid I hope you know what you are in for." she hopped over her desk and their height different became painfully apparent.

When another woman came sauntering into the room, naturally Fletcher's attention shifted away from the box and over to the blonde that had just entered the office. One, she was talking to him, and two, she was HOT, with some kind of fierce attitude thing going on.

It was kind of hard to pay attention to Brazil when the other one's nice legs were just sitting there, on display on the desk.

"Yeah curiosity only kills cats. Not Triwizard Champions like me," Fletcher scoffed and puffed his chest out a bit, undeterred by her evil smirking. His ego only deflated when Junior Curse-Breaker Brazil Aziz spoke up again and called him a 'little lad.'

What about his 6'1'' frame had made her think he was little? Pffft he could even grow a BEARD these days! Real live man scruff! Speaking of said scruff, Fletcher scratched his cheek and frowned as he considered Brazil's warnings.

"So how d'ya go about getting trained then, eh?" He watched her move around the desk and now it was his turn to smirk down at the much shorter woman. She certainly seemed smart, so he stored the information about goblin curses in the back of his mind for later. "Er, Miss Aziz.... I mean...."

Reconsidering what he had just said, the Hufflepuff supposed the intern should be a little more respectful of the older workers. He stuck out his hand for Brazil to shake and turned his smirk into a polite smile. "Sorry for my curiosity regarding your desk. Won't let it happen again."

More like... won't get caught snooping again.

And she might as well be talking to a hippogriff for all the attention he was paying to her now with Kayla and all her wares on display.

She sighed and shook her head. She turned to get back to her work and let the two of them get on with their flirting and getting to know each other better. She was surprised when he spoke up again and the question was directed at her. Her brown eyes studied him for a minute. "You can call me Brazil," she waved away his 'Miss' with a flick of her wrist. "Hope you like reading. And well, field work. Its the only way to learn." she told him.

She gave his hand a strong shake and she gave him a smile. "Ahh its ok was more worried about you trying to open the box than my desk." she told him.

Kayla almost snorted at Brazil's confession about being stuck in a box but she managed to hold it back. Just barely.

"Oh right. Sorry about that."

Normally Kayla would be sympathetic towards her fellow worker but seeing how Brazil didn't seem to like her for whatever reason, she was prone not to be so nice either.

She tilted her head back and looked at the ceiling as Brazil went on and on about being a curse-breaker and the dangers. She almost fell asleep listening to her story.




Raising her eyebrows at the way this BOY was looking at her, Kayla rolled her eyes and dropped her legs from the desk. If he was going to be that easily distracted then this was not the job for him but she'd let him figure that out the hard way.

Kayla burst out laughing at the chest puffing but quickly covered it up with a coughing fit. Clearing her throat she looked at the intern. "Triwizard champion? How very impressive. Oh yes with those credentials, you've got all the makings of a curse-breaker."

Was that sarcasm in her voice?

And it was at that moment that Tumplin walked into the curse breaker headquarters. "Well Ms. Winters I am so glad you have enough downtime to prop yourself up. I will have to find more work for you to do." she said cheerfully. She pulled a stack of assignments out of her bag. "Why I have some work for you right here." She divided the stack in half and slapped one stack on Kayla's desk and the other on Brazil's desk.

She turned to the rather tall, very tall intern. "Ahh I see you are on time. Well that is a good thing. I have a few little chores to start you off." A wicked grin played at the corners of her mouth. Oh how she loved her job.

She turned to walk out of the office. With a crooked finger wagging in Fletcher's direction, "Follow me please." And she walked out of the office heading toward his first assignment.

"Oh I like field work all right," Fletcher assured Brazil, nodding happily at his own idea of what 'field work' consisted of. He liked playing in fields and getting paid to do work so... sure, he liked field work!

He was liking Brazil too, since she at least seemed nicer than the blonde LAUGHING at him. Fletcher dropped his excited little grin and shot her a cold look. "It's probably better credentials than whatever you had at my age. When was that, fifteen or twenty years ago for you?"

Yeah she had an attitude problem all right. Fletcher was prevented from making a snide comment or two about the veins on the blonde's legs when the manager goblin strolled right into their midst. The intern stood up a little straighter and bit the corner of his lip to keep from sniggering as Ms. Winters was given a pile of boring papers to go through. Brazil was given the same but Fletcher had a feeling she would be better able to deal with them.

"Yes ma'am," he answered the goblin, eying her little finger with apprehension. A few little chores? That didn't sound... too bad.... so he obediently trailed after Tumplin, pausing just outside the door as he gave the two women left in the room a small wave 'bye.

Now on to some real work!