Kai had been minding her own business, crowd watching and observing as she was often prone to doing. She picked at her food and suddenly a tray had been placed before her. Upon noticing, she lifted her soft brown orbs up to the owner. He appeared to be a man around her age, and a being of few words. He had an accent that she was not perfectly certain of its origin so she didn't attempt to peg it down. His introduction and expression had piqued her curiosity and she smiled gently at him. "It does seem as though that is their intent doesn't it?" She politely offered him her hand in greeting. "A pleasure, I'm sure. I'm Annette K. Fern, also new to the DMAC." Perhaps a friendly response would lighten up his expression.



Barely a moment after this fellow Charles sat down, a rather tall, lovely looking blonde woman sat near as well. She seemed as though she would like to engage in conversation as well and Kai offered her a welcoming smile in response to her own. Before she could say anything, Mr. Demetri spoke up and introduced himself.



Kai waved at the girl for a greeting and waited for her turn in introductions. She wondered what it would be like to be that tall, the pretty blonde had about 4" or so on Kai herself. Did she have to worry about doorways and things like that? It seemed like it might be nice to be able to look down at or level with most of the men around.



Before she could blink again, another young woman appeared. Attractive people were coming out of the wood work to come and sit by her and Kai wasn't quite sure what to think about it. Was the nerdy eco scientist randomly popular? She straightened out her flowing multi colored dress that could potentially make her look akin to a butterfly or a fairy. "Not at all." She offered the new woman a friendly smile and patted the bench beside herself. The Hawaiian born witch was surprised that her choice to sit quietly had earned her a table full of people. Who knew?

Honoria looked up at the young woman who stood next to where she was seated. She quickly chewed her bite of salad, and said: "Oh do, please!" She smiled. "My name is Honoria, what is yours?" Honoria asked the new stranger. "This is all very exciting to me, so I apologize in advance if I talk too much. Sometimes I go off on a tangent... Not purposely. I just get.... carried away. What level will you be working on?" Honoria knew if she continued, there was a possibility that the young woman would be scared off and find another place to sit.

After going through the security desk and seeing his, Greg wasn't even sure what they were called anymore. Girlfriend didn't seem like an important enough word but...he didn't know what other word to call them. They weren't engaged and he was pretty sure she'd run away if he did propose now considering the massive surprises over the last month. But...hmmm...something to think about.

Greg was so caught up in his thoughts he almost ran into someone with a full plate of food. Shaking his head he went to the line to load up on some himself and then found a table no one was sitting at. He was still half thinking about that last part of his previous thoughts a bit. No...really that was too soon. Right?

Another orientation, another year at the ministry. Victoria had gotten ready and left the house reluctantly. Spending time off was usually fun for most people and they were always happy to be back, Vic on the other hand worked through her holiday break because of Quidditch Season and never wanted to fully come back because of spending time home with her children. Having her husband and all four kids under the same roof was something she wasn't ready to give up just yet, but alas she had to it seemed.

From the front Victoria looked very put together and one might not notice she even had a trace of children, but from the back one might notice the small little girly sock clinging to the back of her dress that was missed on the way out.

As she looked around for a familiar face Vic noticed the food. Making her way over she decided she'd start there. The training just sounded like work she really wasn't sure she needed. There wasn't much to go with Games and Sports when it came to training and she felt she was pretty good with her spells. So grabbing a plate she finally looked around and spotted a familiar face.

"Hello Mariel, had a nice Christmas I hope."

Ronnie made her way to the lunch tables first, she was eager to meet some new people. Even though she had been at the Ministry for a few years now, there was still so many faces she still didn't know.

As she reached the tables, she glanced around, seeing that most of them were already filled up until she spotted one where a man sat alone. She walked up and smiled at him. "Mind if I join you?" She asked.

Greg was still thinking intently about the whole possible proposal thing when someone came up. "Huh?" he said trying to focus back on the current situation and looked at the empty table. "Oh..sure go ahead."

He pulled his plate closer to him and looked around to see if Amethyst was in here yet. Not spotting her he smiled at the lady who was now at his table, "I'm Greg."

The Belgian-Luxembourg raised man,Charles,reached and shook her offered hand as well, his expression didn't change at all when he did so though...pleasantries were something he could do without, it was less time consuming that way. But he guessed it would be impolite if he didn't return her greeting,"Nice to meet you Annete,oh...then we will be working together soon,I think.. if you don't mind me asking,what is your position in the department?"he asked, his curiousity perked. He would need to know of course, especially if she too was involved in his line of work.


Another one he needed to give 'pleasantries' to...hmm...well he supposed he must. Charles shook her hand as well and replied,"Yes, I am too....I am in Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, as a Curse Reversal Specialist."

Ah...International Cooperation, interesting...she must be a smart one definitely."Oh really, what position you are offered in there?"he asked.

Charles turned his head to the voice. Seemed like their table would soon be fill with more attractive-looking women...well accept for this one peculiar one who was sitting in front of him. Well...she could be attractive too, he supposed...she just needed to lose that weird looking dress piece.

He nodded rigidly to the new woman who arrived at their table and let the others greeted her while he continued to eat his sandwich.Hmm more people means more...'pleasantries' he had to show to people which he rather not. It was not in his nature to be 'pleasant'. It was probably why not many want to socialise with him.

If Alexandria was being honest, she'd lost track of the number of orientations she'd attended. After a couple years they all started to blur together, although one thing was different about tonight's which was that instead of simply being engaged, or in a relationship, she was married. And even though it'd been like six months, it still felt like the first night. Every night was the first.

Fiddling with the ring, because she could and it felt nice, Alex perused the area for what sort of activities were at this year's orientation. Well training exercises were definitely out, given that she'd assumed it'd be a formal affair like previous ones and had opted for dress and high heels. Though she was sure she'd be able to do the training regardless in heels because she was that awesome, but just playing it safe she figured she better not show off for the new hires just yet.

Which left communication exercises; she could handle that one. She liked meeting new people (most of the time).

Or familiar faces were cool too; like Perwyn from her own department who she hadn't seen in awhile. And the Games and Sports Department head who was . . . PREGNANT?!? And Victoria was there too!

And look how neat-o that was with an envelope of conversation starters; something she didn't particularly need since she was seated with those familiar faces. "Hello dears! How was your holidays?" Alex beamed widely. "And Mariel! Congratulations! When are you due?"

Yoona could not help but look at the woman's dress for a moment longer than necessary. As a person with no fashion knowledge at all, she could not exactly judge the clothing, but personally, she thought it was COOL. Well, it was colorful. That was all that mattered. "Thank you," she nodded and took the seat next to the woman. "I like your dress," the forty-year-old added. It was good to be nice.

She then turned her attention to the other young - and rather tall - woman. "Great to meet you, Honoria. My name is Yoona," she returned the smile. "Nope, I don't mind at all. In fact, I am a Newbie too, so I believe we share the same excitement. I am placed on Level Seven - Magical Games and Sports." And she got her dream job too. The Ministry Staff did a wonderful job in Sorting employees. "What about you?" Yoona took a sip of her Gillywater as she spoke.

Well, this one was quiet, wasn't he? Or maybe he did not want to speak to her because as she just noticed, she had intruded a group of young people. And she knew from experience that this was not pleasant. Of course, she would leave if they showed any sign of annoyance. Seeing none for now, Yoona's dark brown eyes landed instead on the little envelope in the center of the table. Setting her glass down, she grabbed said envelope and inspected it. Conversation Starters… how generous of the Ministry to provide conversation topics for their employees. Yoona read the prompt in the envelope out loud, "Why work for the Ministry of Magic?" Hmmm. This one was worth thinking about. "Well, what do you think?" she asked the table. Any opinions?

Ezra strode through the orientation with his hands in his pockets and his usual winning smile all ready to go on his face. What a bloody waste of time. A man of his position didn't need to be oriented, thank you very much. Of course that hadn't stopped him from showing up. One didn't simply pass up an opportunity to dress nicely where everybody could see, Merlin no. That'd be ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as the fact that he'd been here already for a good ten minutes and still hadn't seen Tiffany or received any compliments. Or received compliments from Tiffany.

His smile showed no sign of wavering as he eyed the available seats, not bothering with the food just to avoid the risk of spilling on his new jacket. An unfamiliar woman sat next to one of them, and he felt his eyebrows instinctively shoot up in the direction of his carefully styled hair, before reminding himself to put them back down again. Ahem. Where was Tiffany, again? The Media Liaison adjusted his bow tie and checked the state of his hair in the face of his watch before sliding into the seat beside the mysterious woman and picking a card of the table. Why work for the Ministry of Magic? Merlin, how creative. Ezra drummed his fingers on the table and checked around for Tiffany once more, before turning his pearly whites in the woman's direction. "Anything good on your card?"

He had to do something while he waited for somebody worthy to show up, no? Hi. Hello. Ezra Bellamy here, ready to be better than you.

While the Senior Undersecretary had every intention to take part in as many of the exercises as possible, she also had a great need to feed her tumtum which was why she made a beeline for the long tables first. Her kitten heels click-clacked as she sauntered her way towards a particularly delicious looking tray of sandwiches. Mmmmmm! Mmmm mmmmm mmMMMMMMM! SURELY, the greeting employees part can wait, yes?

Of COURSE it can!

This delicious looking chicken sandwich was hers. HERS. That went ONTO the plate with a PLOP and a jingle from the huuuuuuuge bangle on her right wrist. Another chicken sandwich went onto the plate and she took hold of a cup of coffee before heading over to that table over THERE and taking a seat.

And the conversation starter? Ignored for now. There was no one TO have a conversation with and she needed to be the person LISTENING to people's opinions. Not to mention that she was having a bit of a moment with this sandwich here.

MUNCH MUNCH.

Merlin no. More talking? He was not prepared for this. The people back in Russia didn’t talk much, did they know? And not much socializing which worked really well, with the junior dragonologist, but then again, he was in their lair, and he had to play the good employee card. “During my university years, I spent my free time as a volunteer in the local dragon reserve of Russia. I eventually worked for them for a year.” Was there a shortcut to his story? Mordred was rather getting tired with all the socializing and talking. “I have experience with dragon hatchlings, its retrieval from illegal smugglers, as well as supervised the dragons growth until it is ready to join the main reserve.” He’s got other experiences of course, but he’d probably need a nap first before continuing. Talking was exhausting.

And then they were back to the bloody topic about status. “I didn’t say anything about blood purity. I actually don’t care about it.” Mordred scratched the stubble on his cheek and nodded to himself. Well, even if he hadn’t mentioned about being a pureblood, he was already stereotyped to be in Slytherin. He’s not complaining, however. In fact, he felt proud that Hadley had assumed it. It simply means that after all those years, he still is living up to its name. “But for the record, yes I was a former Slytherin. Is a pureblood, and recently married a half-blood.” Since Hadley is a Ravenclaw, she ought to figure out that he isn’t bothered with blood purity and its nonsense.

Mordred adjusted his wedding ring as he listened to Hadley explaining her job to him. Well, it didn’t sound so bad, given that she gets to travel and all. But...introducing a spirit to another? That is rather peculiar. The dragonologist tilted his head in wonder. “That’s odd, don’t you think? Having to introduce another spirit to its kind? Do they think like...the living?” With that in mind...could she...could she summon his mother’s soul and let him talk to her?




...and who is this person? Mordred simply turned his head and gave the red head a grin. He really doesn’t have a say if she could join or not, because he’s new. For all he knew, she must be new to the department as well. Was she going to introduce herself though?

And...what is up with those trousers of hers? Mordred immediately turned his attention to another woman who introduced herself as Addison Longbottom. Wait...did she just called the woman Ms. Skylark?

...

With the woman’s attention on the newcomer, Mordred sat straighter on his chair, and thanked Merlin that he kept his mouth shut.

See? They didn't mind at all! Harmony's smile widened considerably and she made herself comfortable as she looked between the two. She hadn't meant for them to stop discussing, merely wanted to be a part of it.

"I've been well, thank you! Had a relaxing holiday and found an amazing recipe for triple bean salad!" Which was clearly exciting. Apart from creatures, food was what Harmony got really passionate about.

"I trust you're both eager to get into the swing of things at the ministry, yes? I know I'm always itching to get back while I'm away." Heh. Dedicated to her work, Harmony was. Speaking of work, another member of the creatures fam had joined them and so the red head turned her attention to the younger girl, a serene smile on her face.




"Addison, yes! Our new receptionist!" Harmony took the woman's hand and gave her an enthusiastic shake, pleased to see that her aura was a soft shade of blue. That was a good sign. After releasing it, she added, "Welcome to the family. I do hope you enjoy being a part of the team!" And as Hadley introduced herself, Harmony glanced over at the young man.

"And you're Mr. Mordaunt, yes? I believe a welcome is in order for you, as well. I'm Harmony Skylark, as you must have heard. You can call me Harmony. You both can." That was to Addison, as well.

This sandwich was delicious. It was just what she needed and Mariel was well on her way to finishing her second one when a familiar voice had her looking up. "Oh, thank Merlin.. I thought I was going to die of boredom." She smiled at Victoria and gestured for her to sit down at the table.

"I had a lovely Christmas, thank you.. A little quiet, but it was so sweet to see Regina with all her presents." And that was fine with her to not do a whole lot of visiting. Mariel felt that she had a lot to be thankful for with her family safe and at home. She couldn't think of a place she'd rather be for the holidays. "I hope you had a nice Christmas as well?" Mariel would expect her to, with her husband and oldest son home from school, not to mention it being the first for Helena. That was always special.

Savoring another bite of her sandwich, Mariel looked up as she heard another voice. "Alexandria.. hello!" She gave her a smile and nodded for her to join them. It had been a little while since she had run into the woman at the Ministry, but she was pleasant and welcome company. And it was always nice to know that there were a few of them that could dress well for the occasion. Of course she knew that many of them came dressed down because of the training, but in her opinion it was rather unprofessional. There were better choices than T-shirts. Or maybe she just missed the galas.

She smiled down at her baby bump and lightly rubbed it at the mention . "Thank you. I'm due at the beginning of March... unless he decides to come early like Regina." And honestly, that would be a matter of weeks, which was really closing in fast.

Jose sat down at an empty table, looking around watching everyone talk and having good conversations so far. He hated being late to these kind of things. looking down he saw the conversation starters and he wondered if he would be able to use them on anyone. hoping that someone would come and sit down and talk with him.

Lysander sauntered into the employee orientation but paused mid-step as he saw the sheer number of people milling around the tables, eating food, chatting and laughing. The noise of it was already starting to give him a headache. He contemplated turning back - what was the point of mingling when there was work to be done? He was hoping to start straight away, and here he was, dealing with more obstacles between himself and the work he came here for.

And yet, he was supposed to go through these hoops, no matter how frustrating or seemingly pointless.

With a soft sigh and a slight frown, he briefly scanned the room for an empty table. Aaaaand of course, not a single one was empty. How delightful. He spotted a young woman at a table by herself, seeming more than content with a sandwich for company. Delightful. His brows furrowed just slightly, indecision written on his face, before he finally crossed the room and pulled out the seat across the table from her. Perhaps the sandwich would be enough to keep her entertained and he wouldn't have to do too much of the mingling he so dreaded. He pulled the chair out from beneath the table and sat down in one swift motion, hardly making a sound as he managed to settle his long limbs beneath the table cloth. He crossed one leg over another and let out a silent sigh, suddenly overwhelmed with the proximity between himself and this unknown woman - even if she was all the way across the table from him.

He felt the pressure to say something, the societal unspoken suggestion that he break the silence with some kind of pleasantry. He hated pleasantries. And yet, this was awkward. After much deliberation, Lysander finally let out a sharp, "Hi." before looking around the room. He straightened his sleeves. He wore a tailored charcoal gray suit, a stark white shirt visible across his chest and a simple dark green skinny tie fastened securely about his collarbone. His heavy glasses just barely made his green eyes seem even larger than they already were, magnified by the thick glass that separated him from the rest of the world. As they started to slip down his nose, he gently nudged them back into place with his wiry hand and cleared his throat.

Jasmine was really nervous about this whole orientation thing. I mean sure it was a good thing for people to meet new people from different departments. I mean she didn't know how many people made up the ministry of magic. She was still having flashbacks of being in the Environmental Protection field. She wondered if Alex was here. Not her boyfriend though but her best girlfriend. She missed her terribly. Speaking of flashbacks, as she was walking around the table she noticed a man she thought was familiar. She tilted her head to see if she was seeing right. Yup she did. She remembered partnering up with him on a mission. She grinned and cleared her throat to not scare him.

"Hello may I join you?" she asked the man. She couldn't quite remember his name all she knew is that he worked in Magical Creatures.

If there was one thing that was exciting about orientations, it was that there was food. Always food. Usually fresh, usually unrotten and relatively delicious. Nothing said 'bad welcome' like bad food, so the Ministry was likely to have splurged somewhat to feed their new employees. First impressions and all.

Which, worked entirely in his favor given his cupboards and fridge had run to a rather skimpy state of late.

Moving down the line of tables, Rhydian snagged one of the largest plates he could find and methodically began picking and placing food on his plate. Each item, each dish. Didn't matter. Food was food and like himself, his tastebuds only lived once. Plus, there was plenty of elbow-rubbing going on at the dining tables, so if he really didn't like something then he could just sneak it onto an unsuspecting soul's plate.

Bonuses all around.

Once his plate was full, every inch of the dishware covered by food, Rhydian moved off and found an empty seat. Didn't much matter where. It was empty, so it got his person deposited on it. One hand went to immediately starting on bringing the food to his mouth, while his other reached forward, turning the envelope about on the table. One eyebrow went up as he popped the rest of the tuna roll he had started on into his mouth and snagged the envelope. A quick flip through the contents had his eyebrows arching ever higher, and a small frown playing on the corners of his lips.

Well these were.........huh.

Another roll of spicy meat and he was gathering a quill to himself, retrieving one of the conversation cards and flipping it over to start jotting down what he considered a proper prompt.

There was something about his boss that he can’t quite put his finger on. Something about the way she talked and carried herself. Mordred waited for the warning bells to ring inside his head, but so far, there’s nothing to be alarmed about…except for, the triple bean salad.

TRIPLE. BEAN. Salad.

Merlin, who eats three kinds of beans in one plate? Not him. The dragonologist tried his best to ignore it as he busied himself with opening his bottle again and finished its contents. Mordred regretted not getting food when he got the chance, because apparently, he could use it to stuff his mouth and shut up.

Work though? He’d choose it over socializing anytime. So in response, Mordred simply nodded and let the women in their group do the talking.

But then, introductions happened. “Thank you, Harmony.” He then stretched his hand out for a handshake. “It is my pleasure to work for the Ministry.” Did he mean it though? Maybe? Maybe not? Depends whether the Ministry will treat him well or not that is.

And…Addison, the new receptionist. The dragonologist grinned at the fellow newcomer and held his hand out to her as well, “Mordred Mordaunt, Junior Dragon Researcher.” Well, that was it yes? No more…talking after the introductions?

"That sounds quite interesting." Honoria smiled at Charles. She only knew a little about what his department did. "I've been offered a position as an immigration officer, and Secretariat for the International Confederation of Wizards." She was most excited to be a Secretariat. "The Secretariat positon will be a challenge, but I am very much looking forward to it! I like a good challenge."

"Hello." Honoria smiled. She already knew the woman was thinking about how tall she was.... She could tell by the look on the woman's face. "My name is Honoria, what is yours?" Maybe making conversation would make the girl stop staring.... Honoria hated when people did that. No she didn't have to worry about door heights, and sometimes she hated being taller than most of the men she knew.


"I have been placed in level five: International Magical Cooperation." Honoria said with pride. "I'm really quite excited. I am not only going to be an immigration officer, but I will also be a Secretariat for the ICW." She was more than ready to start her job... "I cannot wait to start working. It's going to be loads of fun. What will you be doing for your position?"

Well that greeting was lovely and Victoria couldn't help but laugh. "I'm glad I'm in the right spot then. Always happy to help with boredom." Turning a bit away from Mariel for a second to grab a chair she sat down and got more comfortable. "So another orientation, but why I must ask, is it training?" Training she didn't feel like went with her department at all. She liked the more fancy orientations, those were the best ones.

Before saying anything else she heard another voice and turned her eyes to Alex, "Hello. Mariel was actually just telling me about her Christmas and how wonderful it was at home. Mine was as well. It was just so nice to have everyone together even if Bart was in and out. Teenagers." She waved a hand laughing. "Helena of course got spoiled by everyone for her first Christmas." Her four month old had been the center of attention for most of the day everyone just going all out for her.

"How was your Christmas Alex?" Vic took this moment to take a bite of her sandwich and glance around the event. So many new faces, she wondered if any were for level seven. She hadn't even gotten a chance to ask Mariel if she had any new employees, goodness her mind had been all over the place during the shut down.

Smiling as baby talk started she had to chuckle, "Yes she likes to leave me during Quidditch Season." Regina being an March baby had been right at the end of the season, though Victoria had no problem co running level seven. After the amount of years she had been there she felt she could run it with her eyes close.

Hadley listened, interested in his history of work with Dragons. My, it was interesting, all this communication. Hadley thought she should do it more often, as she sat there watching Mordred and listening to him. But there was something not quite typical of this man, he seemed a bit... withheld. Resisting the urge to ask him if he wanted her to leave him with his thoughts, because she would be doing that shortly when the orientation completed, she decided to talk more. "Wow, that must have been really interesting. Well, I hope your time with the Ministry here will be just as fulfilling." She didn't want to say just as fun/interesting/adventurous, because she had no idea what the ideal work environment was for the man.

LOL oops, Hadders had done it again. She bit her lips closed, trying not to short a laugh. "Excuse me, then," she said, resisting the urge to mime herself flying a flag of surrender. HA. But he was a Slytherin. Hadley smiled and nodded, "Hey, no issues here. I was a know-it-all Ravenclaw," she volunteered of herself. She couldn't help it if certain people in her year were stupid and had to be corrected. Though she had since mellowed out completely. She'd rather shut her mouth than put her foot in it, though sometimes it happened regardless.

Ooh, but dragon man was asking about her specialty. Her ears almost perked up as she leaned towards the table and clasped her hands together on its surface, interest in her eyes. "Well, I'm glad you asked," she said, a sly smile spreading across her face. Was he actually interested? Meh, she'd talk anyway. "Not odd at all, I don't think. Though it's my job, so of course it's not odd to me. Imagine if you died suddenly and your soul remained here. Suddenly you no longer have your human body, muggles would likely become frightened of you, perhaps some of your friends or family would have thought your soul would depart the world, rather than stick around, and anyone you knew who had passed away had, perhaps, not remained. You don't know anyone like you. What would you do? I would be scared, confused, it's a big change," you know, being transparent and all, "and that's where I come in. Some souls don't have any problem with their transition, but some do, especially those with no experience of death or the afterlife, and I mainly try to connect them with other groups to help build connections. Who better to teach a new ghost than an old ghost?" She nodded. That was the best way she could explain what she did. See, not odd at all. She gave him a friendly smile, did he have any other questions? She would be interested to tell him more.



Mmm triple bean salad, "Sounds delicious," Hadley said, always wanting to improve her diet. After all, she was the only person in her home capable of eating food. "Where did you go for your holiday?" she inquired, interested in ANYTHING related to holidays and travel. Maybe her next job could be some kind of travel advisor.

Oh, back to work, Hadley nodded. "It's nice to be back. I went back to Argentina and found a very isolated community of new Ghosts who allowed me to interview them, so I'm looking forward to getting back to the writing." It was all going into the book, even though she was working on drafting it. It was horrible, all she wanted to do was add more and more to it, but it would be so big she'd have to cast a weightless charm on them once they were published. IF it was published.

The handshake didn't last long and that was alright. When he asked her department , she smiled a little. "I should think that we will work together somewhat soon at least." Even if he was in a different field of the department, they all would need to work together on certain cases and exercises. It was just they way these things worked. " I am intended to be a P.A.R.T. Urgent Response Officer." The thought of actually using her knowledge and talents in the field to help people seemed thrilling. Before she needed to bother asking however, someone else requested that he divulge his position. Hmmm......very interesting.



She was a little surprised when the woman complimented her dress. Whether she meant it or was being polite it was nice either way, Kai liked it. "Thank you and pleasure to meet you." She smiled warmly at the woman next to her. She grew quiet as the others introduced themselves and stated their departments. A rather mixed lot so far it seemed, her ideal situation. Games and Sports , which she was bloody awful with, was sitting next to her. Across from her was a fellow level three , and next to him was international cooperation. This mingling thing was proving to be interesting so far.

Why work here? "I suppose we will all have a different reason that we came here." They were probably all from different places, blood status, and walks of life. They were all here though, possibly for the same larger goal. "I myself, came to do something for the greater good. No matter the position here, we can truly help people of all varieties both magical and muggle." That was her primary reason for it all.



Her gaze turned back to the tall blonde woman as she spoke. Ah, that seemed directed at her so she smiled at her politely. "What a lovely name you have." It really was unique sounding. Latin and old Italian names had a sort of classy charm to them. " I am Annette K. Fern, a pleasure to meet you." She offered the woman a handshake if she wanted, if not that was okay too.

No one to have a conversation with? That didn't last long. No SIRIE.

NOT that Delphine was at ALL surprised by this. She was approachable, right? RIGHT. She was surprised to find him sitting on her table all of a sudden, making her jump about a foot in the air. Her dark eyes landed on the man who'd just sat down across from her and she blinked a couple of times before letting a smile cross her face. A goofy smile that one would give if they were trying -- and failing -- to de-awkwardify a situation. MUNCH MUNCH SMIIIIIIIIIILE MUNCH MUNCH.

Was she creeping him out yet? No? Good.

Once she had swallowed the bit of sandwich in her mouth, the woman smiled wider at the stranger. "Almost didn't see you for a minute there." Har har. "Helloooooo! I'm Delphine Cavanagh, Senior Undersecretary," she said, giving the new man a polite nod of her head, "You're very sharply dressed today." Which was a good thing. Yes.

And what was he called? Because otherwise she was going to refer to him as Green Tie Man.

It was extremely hard for Eliora to not sit at home today and let Aron know that she was not in the best state for work. But she had really wanted to find any new people she may have to work with and identify any of the new hotties that needed to feature on her list. And maybe she'd steal Rusty aside and tell him what was happening and maybe hope he took her hands and professed his undying love for her and promised her a happy ending. Haha. Whatever.

She was just tired.

This whole situation meant that she wasn't allowed as much coffee or even any coffee at all.

She took a seat at a table and read over the tips for conversation starters. Boring. Who really wanted that boring type of conversation?

A fittie please.