It's no secret that Level Seven has the best coffee in the entire Ministry. The coffee cart is conveniently located near the lifts for all employees to make a quick stop for a cup of gourmet coffee or fresh-baked pastry. Isobel, the part-time barista, would be happy to serve you any given morning, though after lunch it is self-serve.



OOC- Isobel is quite accommodating though rather quiet. This is because she is a non-player character, not actually RPed by anyone. This thread is open for all Ministry employees, both G&S and other employees. Feel free to start a roleplay here with your friends.

Once she had finished her cursory assessment of Level One, Mariel headed straight down the stairs to Level Seven. One, she wasn't going near the lifts not when they had failed her last year and she didn't exactly know what was going on now - and two, she was anxious to find out what her own level was like. She did not bother to stop at any of the other levels, not to see what other groups might have found or what the levels might have looked liked. Perhaps it could be something she could do later, but for now, the brunette needed to know what her level looked like. She only hoped it wasn't in the same state Level One had been in.. or any worse.

Once she stepped off the stairs onto Level Seven, Mariel slowed her steps and headed towards the coffee cart, the first sight to greet her. It seemed kind of dark down here, at least as dark as the stairwells had been, and she cast the light at the tip of her wand with a quick, Lumos.

Something was off, she noticed right away.. but what exactly, she wasn't sure. Holding her wand out in front of her, Mariel slowly walked further into the room, green eyes sweeping the area. The coffee cart. She walked over to it, frowning a bit at the sight. "What on earth," she murmured aloud to herself as she peered at the bags of coffee that looked ripped open with the contents falling onto the floor. She knew she didn't leave the place in this mess. What had happened while they were locked out?

Well she was back whether the place was a mess or not. Still trying to overcome the emotions from her office. It was time for a break, but she didn't want to fully leave the ministry so Victoria decided coffee might work. Heading out to the coffee cart she stopped seeing her boss. "Have you been into the offices yet?" She was shaking her head as she continued closer. "They are a mess. Things everywhere and something very odd and sticky all over the pla.."

That's when she got a good look at the card. "Merlin not that cart. This can't be happening." This was not what she needed right now. Trying to avoid going outside, but if her coffee wasn't happening she might have to. "What on earth could have happened to all of this?" Was it the mutant things or was something else going on.

Deliah couldn't believe the mess that all the offices and stuff was in and hoped that coffee would calm her down but when she arrived at the coffee cart she saw it was a mess as well and two of her co-workers were standing there and said "Hey what has been going on here while we were looked out of the ministry"

Still somewhat assessing the damage of the contents at the coffee cart, Mariel looked up at the sound of a voice, her wand gripped tightly in her hand as she was still on high alert. "Oh.. Vic, hi.." she said upon recognition, her hand loosening its grip slightly. "No, I haven't. I was actually headed there next." She wanted to see if the rest of the department had suffered the same fate and, though she wasn't really surprised, she was not pleased to hear that Vic noticed the same strange conditions elsewhere.

She was about to comment on the general situation when Vic expressed concern over the coffee cart and her green eyes shifted to that direction again. "Level One was the same way," she said, once she looked back at her friend again. "It seems reminiscent of what was going on before our holiday break. But I thought they caught the mutants.." She stopped, lost in her thoughts a moment. This was similar, yet different somehow.

Mariel was brought out of her thoughts again by the sound of another voice. Oh.. Deliah, wasn't it? She knew she was one of her more quiet Gobstones people. But perhaps she could be of assistance here. "That's what we're trying to figure out," she said with a small yet grim smile. "I don't think anyone has any answers yet. Why don't you help us look over things and maybe we can figure something out." It would be a start anyway.

Her temples were not being rubbed it was just too much really. “Don’t bother. I’d just go straight to Lourdes old office and begin cleaning to make it your own. If it looks anything like our offices or well my section.” She gave the tiniest smile in her wording, the way it was left it was their office, “it’s bad. I haven’t jumped fully in, but looks like most of my files that were on my desk are shredded or just gone. “ She wasn’t too bitter about this since she had redone things at the hanger.

Just then she turned hearing another voice. “Whatever it is I hope they find it or whom and make sure this never happens again.” Honestly it was just enough, how were they supposed to work like this. “Have you been to the Gobstone offices yet?” She glanced at Deliah though if the quidditch offices and the cart was this bad, then the Gobstone side probably looked the same. “We probably should check out the game room too.” Would the games even be functional? She thought of the pinball machine. What if the sticky stuff ruined it?

“Any ideas on the best way to remove the sticky? I’m going to guess Anthony’s people are going to be too busy to help with the charms.” That was her first priority back in her area. It was way too chilly and dark for her liking. Glancing around at the cart she just sighed, “Probably aren’t going to want to use anything here. Who knows what left this mess and what kind of germs or diseases it could spread.” No way was she drinking that coffee now. Someone would have to do a coffee run at some point.

Deliah smiled at Mariel and said "Sure i will help you look things over and i think it is strange how things are like this i hope we get some answers soon"

Deliah smiled at Victoria and said "Yeah i have been to the Gobstones offfices they are in exactly the same mess as it is here and we really should try to figure out what to do to start cleaning everything up"

Mariel didn't even want to know what her office would look like. Most likely what the rest of the level or even the whole Ministry would look like. And not long ago, she had been excited about the prospect of having her own real office. Now it looked like they had at least as much work to do as when they were cleaning up that stupid airplane hangar. Though they didn't even know what was causing this mess which could mean a bigger issue.

And Ms. Patton confirmed some of that for her. The Gobstones offices were a mess as well. "Yes, this is beyond the point of being ridiculous," she replied in regards to what Vic said as her eyes swept over the opened coffee packets. "Whatever was in here kept us out, it seems," she mused aloud. But what was it exactly? That much she hadn't quite gathered.

She glanced at Vic again as she asked about the specialties department, emitting a short, humorless laugh. "Yes, I'm sure it will be ages before they make themselves useful on this level." She didn't exactly consider them known for their efficiency and she figured the rest of the Ministry would be in the same state. "It would probably be best if we try to take care of this ourselves.. at least for a start." She peered a little closer to the cart. "Maybe vanish all the consumables and try a cleaning charm? Or we can try a potion if that doesn't work." Once she got home she was looking through her book.

"I'm going to check out the rest of our level and y office, then I'll get a clearer idea of what to do maybe.." She wasn't happy about this at all. As if they didn't have enough work to do, now they had to clean everything again before they could really get started. Ugh. "Let me know if you find anything else out of the ordinary. I'll be back.." And Mariel walked further into Level Seven to assess its conditions, heading towards her office.

Victoria sighed as she moved towards the other side of the cart. Looking at the coffee this was a waste. Her brown eyes went towards Delaih, “That doesn’t surprise me that Gobstones looks the same.” This really worried her on how the game room was going to look. How were they ever going to get work done like this. She had deadlines to meet.

Her eyes widened she could handle frogs, but whatever was leaving this mess behind she wasn’t dealing with. Her boss was lucky she wasn’t holding Victoria by this point. “You don’t think it could possibly still be alive?” Her eyes darting to the floor. She had Bart as a son not much phased her, but she still didn’t want any creepy things lurking around without her knowledge.

Nodding she pulled her wand, “Deliah want to start on that side of the cart where the snacks or well what’s left of them would be vanishing and cleaning and I’ll start over her with the coffee?” Team work should do the trick. Looking towards Mariel she nodded, “I’ll right we’ll let you know.” Hopefully they wouldn’t be finding anything out of the ordinary though. “Evanesco” she figured it was time to vanish away the wonderful, amazing, ruined, and wasted coffee.

Nodding to Victoria, Deliah made her way over to the side of the cart where the snacks were always kept and pulled out her wand and said "Evanesco" Deliah thought it was a waste but she had to get rid of the now ruined snacks

This was just sad, super sad. The wonderful coffee that she loved so much. "This just is awful. I think I'd rather see my office worse off then see the cart like this." She needed the coffee to function didn't whatever was here know this. It wasn't very smart whatever it was. Annoying women, didn't it ever learn that wasn't a good thing? As she continued to move trying to clean up more of the coffee a decision was made. "I think until we figure this out I'll just start bringing some stuff from home for everyone. Then it could just be a daily thing. Nothing left out. We don't want to attract whatever it was back." Her eyes scanned the area afraid a mouse or something might jump out.

Glancing over at her coworker she realized, she really didn't know much about her. "So Deliah, tell me a bit about yourself." This could pass the time now couldn't it. "Dating? Married? Kids?" She wasn't very good at guessing ages, she'd probably have to say she was younger, but she wasn't going to assume. "Do you like your work with Gobstones? It's actually one of my favorite games." It was pretty well known by now that she loved her job in the quidditch side of things, especially more now that she had more responsibilities, but her passion for Gobstones was just as great. "I bet Saxon is great to work with." The girl that only a year or so ago had her feeling a bit threatened was now in Victoria's mind a very enthusiastic coworker that she wouldn't mind working more with.

Deliah smiled at Victoria and said "At the moment i am not seeing anyone and yes i do like my work with Gobstones cause i actually like to play the game in my spare time so when i got a job in the gobstones office i was pleased and yes Saxon is great to work with" Deliah was glad that she was getting to know some of her colleages a bit better

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saz Hale

Deliah smiled at Victoria and said "At the moment i am not seeing anyone and yes i do like my work with Gobstones cause i actually like to play the game in my spare time so when i got a job in the gobstones office i was pleased and yes Saxon is great to work with" Deliah was glad that she was getting to know some of her colleages a bit better

Vic listened as she continued to try and clean up a bit. The sticky stuff seemed like it was endless. "I don't get what could have caused all this and left such a residue." Her hand had found it's self in it one too many times. She really wasn't enjoying this. Honestly for as much as she had been cleaning up for the ministry she should get paid for two jobs. One for her normal position and the other maid service. Did they not know she had a mess at home she could be cleaning.

Listening to Deliah talk about being single she just nodded, "Well single isn't a bad thing." Not sure whether she was saying that for Deliah or herself Vic decided not to hang on that subject. Nope she didn't want to think about any of that. Her brown eyes did glance up to hear about her liking to play Gobstones. "It's my favorite to play. I use to be great, but haven't played seriously in so long I probably wouldn't be able to anymore." She sure hoped Saxon went to Mariel about that Gobstone ministry league. It would be so great to get back into it again.

"She has a lot of great ideas for the game. I hope she get so to do a few of them. It would be nice to see the sport in the spot light. The prophet had done and article a while back about it." That was nice to see as well. With that and some of the ideas her and Saxon spoke about she had high hopes.

The more you magically clean and repair the work area, the more you may begin to notice a movement out of the corner of your eye. As you continue, you realize that this is not just a trick of light. Something is moving.

CHIZPURFLES!!!

A multitude of the tiny crab-like creatures are now calling this place home. Better get some pest control and fast! These little creatures are starved for magic and hungry for wands.

Deliah smiled and was about to start cleaning again and said "Victoria do you see something moving over there" Deliah was a bit afraid to get too close to whatever it could be from the sounds of it didn't sound good could it have been whatever left the residue behind them

Delaih seemed to be more the quiet type and wasn't much of a talker. Not that that was a bad thing, but Victoria just worried she was talking too much. Shrugging it off deciding that she liked to be social so she was going to talk. "How did you mind the plane at the hanger? It was a very interesting office, wasn't it?" She thought so at least. Her thoughts went to Charely as they often did when she spoke to Gobstone workers, but she kept those thoughts to herself. It had been months since the break up and it was time to stop thinking about things.

Just as she was about to swipe her wand over more coffee grounds to vanish them, she heard Deliah. "Hmmm" Turning her head away from what she had been doing for a moment. "Did I see what?" Merlin had she seen something? Vic's brown eyes scanned the area that Deliah was before turning back to her own work.

Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

"Don't you dare, get off" but first instinct was to drop her wand and jump back. She quickly regretted dropping it. Watching in horror for a few moments as two Chizpurfles made for her wand. "Get.. get off." She swatted around them, but not really getting near them. Could she step on them and maybe squash them that way? Though they were on the counter.

Slipping off her heel it was worth a shot. She wanted her wand in one piece and right now it wasn't looking good. She smashed her heel down on the counter hoping to hit one or at least scare them off the wand.

Deliah smiled and said "The hanger was okay and well what should we do we can't really take on chizpurfles without help and i am afraid of them i had a bad experience with Chizpurfles when i was on holiday a couple of years ago"

Merlin seriously.. SERIOUSLY!! Why were they still on her wand she had been shewing them and smacking her heel around the counter after them. . Ugh this was just ridiculous. She moved a bit as she saw some crawling around and lost her blance forcing her unshoed foot on the ground. Hopefully there wasn't any that her bare foot just stepped on. The blonde was entirely grossed out now.

Her brown eyes snapped towards Deliah, she was joking right? A bad experience with them. She wanted to tell the young lady to suck it up, but she wouldn't be mean. "We are going to have to get someone and since you can see I'm wand deep in these creepy crawler would you be a dear and go fetch Mariel so she can get creatures down her." SHe had no shoe on, no wand, did the coworker think she was going to be able to go for help?

Merlin go quickly...

Good Merlin the sooner they got things back to normal the better. Aron was getting sick and tired of having to use the stairs to get around everywhere - and this was coming from someone with a very fit physique!

He hadn't been to level 7 very much, so it took him a little while to get his bearings straight before throwing caution to the wind and deciding to just follow the sound of womanly shrieks. "In need of a bit of a hero, are you ladies?" he greeted while wiggling one of the bottle's filled with Derek's pesticide in the air.

Had the women found something undesirable? Mariel was sure she heard a scream..? some sort of commotion..? from her office and froze for a moment while she had been assessing the condition of her fireplace. She hadn't gotten very far with things on that end to see why it wouldn't work from the outside when she knew she had to return to the coffee cart. She just hoped whatever it was wasn't too terrible.

Taking a deep breath, she walked briskly out to the entrance of Level Seven, her wand tightly gripped in her hand. Green eyes scanned her surroundings as she approached and she took in the situation. Vic was shoeless and in something of a panic while Deliah looked on. "What is... ?" Then her eyes saw the tiny insects crawling over Victoria's wand and on the counter, causing the brunette to let out a little gasp. Oh.. OH. Her eyes widened as she realized what those.. things were.

Green eyes snapping to the A&C man with the abnormally long name as he mentioned something about a hero, she glanced at the bottle in his hand. "Whatever that is better kill those things." UGH. Chizpurfles.. were they causing their issues? And why did she suddenly feel so itchy?

"It sure does that" Aron smirked as he offered one of the bottles to the department head. "Start using is as soon as possible. Time sensitive solution." They would see the little buggers flopping onto their backs with their tiny claw legs twitching in no time.

He would have handed one over to the lady with the heel in her hand, armed and dangerous by the looks of things, but he also didn't want to have it accidentally thrown at him. Could poke one of his dashing eyes out or something.

"I'll just leave this box here for you and your employees then," he said while placing it down on the floor.

Victoria was still trying to get her wand back when she heard the words of a familiar voice. Her brown eyes glared more then looked over at the accident and catastrophes department head. She was still annoyed by his rudeness that day at the phone booth and now he was thinking he’d be a hero. Merlin he was very full of himself wasn’t he. “I’ve never needed a man to be my rescuer before.” she snipped and then turned back to getting her wand. Picking it up she flung the Chizpufles off of it. [s] possibly hitting the hero with a few.

Once she had her wand Vic turned hearing Mariel about to speak, but oh mister full of himself hero wasn’t even going to let others talk? Alright, she slipped her heel back on and crossed her arms. “Oh but I thought you were the hero around here. So be my guest.” She opened her arms towards the bugs. Why was he handing the bottles to Mariel he could clearly be the man and kill them for the women?

Oh and now he was just leaving the box for her and her employees so clearly the hero was only there for another department head and the two standing actually doing something were invisible to his eyes. She bit her tongue not usually this aggressive but she had a chewed to hell wand, bugs all over her, and a egotistical man in front of her that she really didn’t care for. “Seems like things are being taken care of here, I’ll just head back into the office and see if they are hiding in there.”

She picked up a bottle and headed back into her own office. She had to go do a man’s job and all.

Wow. Someone needed to grow a sense of humor.

He had said hero, not rescuer - there was a very distinct difference between the terminology - but he wasn't about to stoop to an unprofessional level and give her lip back. Instead he just raised any eyebrow as she seemingly dismissed herself. Add one more honking daffodil to the list? Appeared that way and it was hard not letting his Law Enforcement training make him psychoanalyze the woman's words and actions. Oh well, at least he had delivered the pesticide that was going to eradicate the infestation, so he could handle the attitude and serving as someone's emotional punching bag knowing that a solution was in sight.

"I'll just be heading back down to my level then," he said with just the slightest hint of agitation in his voice. "If you need more of the pesticide, though this should be enough, just send a patronus. With this Ministry wide spray down it should reach me without getting gobbled up."

Finally lowering hie eyebrow, the Australian backed away and turned to head back up the stairs.

Time sensitive solution? Mariel wasn't too concerned with that because she wasn't wasting any time getting rid of these creepy little critters. Just the thought of it was make her itch all over. "Fantastic," she said a bit dryly as she reached for one of the bottles. It wasn't that she had an issue with the Department Head at all, in fact she was remotely grateful to be handed the solution instead of her having to search for pest control or having to wait till she went home. But how much of this pitching in and doing other people's jobs was she going to continually have to do? This seemed to be an issue the past year and a half or so and she was growing rather annoyed with the prospects. Did everyone really think that Games and Sports were not busy enough with their own work to do?

Because of that, the brunette didn't even blink at Victoria's attitude. Honestly, there was only so much they could take and patience was wearing thin all around. It appeared to be up to them to get their own level back up to par as usual. At least the blonde had her own personal situation under control and Mariel eyed the bugs warily before Vic started heading back to the Quidditch offices. "Good idea, I'll be along that way shortly." Best if they split up perhaps, because it wouldn't surprise her if these things were everywhere. Shudder.

She glanced at the A&C DH and gave him a nod, duly noting his thoughts on the matter. Ministry-wide.. yep. "Thank you, Aron," she said as he turned to go. She certainly hoped he wasn't expecting the formal use of his name because she wasn't sure she remembered it correctly enough. Mariel grabbed another bottle before looking up at Deliah. "Why don't you spray down this area.. and get rid of the consumables while you're at it." No one was going to be eating or drinking any of that, especially now. "I'm going to take care of my office and see if the other areas need some assistance." She gestured towards the box on the floor that still had a few bottles in it before heading further back into their level.

Coming back after finishing the office Victoria looked around. Oh it seemed the hero was gone and well it didn't seem like he finished the job, nor did anyone one else. She half wondered what happened to Deliah, but shrugged it off. If they were ever going to get level seven back up and running they were going to need their coffee.

Taking the bottle of spray Victoria made her way around the area spraying all those horrid bugs. Especially the ones that chewed her wand. She just hoped it could be fixed. There was a huge sigh that came out of her mouth as she thought of her precious wand.

Spray

Spray

Spray

Bugs be gone!