Huh? Oh! She hadn't meant to be overheard by the younger man in front of her but at least he was being nice about it. "That's quite alright, I do that sometimes myself." No harm in admitting something innocent. Nice to meet you, Fulton. I'm Addison Anders, Head of level 9." Most people at least knew of her by name if not by name and if they didn't they sometimes knew her husband who was in the same department or her brother in level 6.

"Oh, good. I could really go for something that isn't a muffin right now," the blonde laughed softly. Perhaps a nice wrap of some sort or a salad.

fulton may have known her had he not been such a self-isolator.. He pretty much kept to himself and had his nose stuck to the paper grind. Addison Anders... Addison Ander...
Oh.... Now he knew why the name rung a bell... Mental face palm!!He flushed a little as he smiled back at the flippin' Department Head..

" Well, it's great being able to put a face to the name..", he said... Nice recovery, Fulton... Keep the conversation going..Hopefully she couldn't tell that he was freaking out internally... Social situations made his skin crawl and his anxiety was building at a tremendous rate... This would be a great test to see how well he could cope.

" Looks like they have a nice salad bar at the far end?... I could go for a nice salad myself.", Fulton added with a smile. " I work in Sports and Games... In the Recreational sports division.. I head the Flying horse racing..
", he explained as he moved down the buffet line to the salad bar as he spoke.

Whether or not she was actually known by many in the ministry was not a big deal for her. Now if this were someone on her level than it would be a different matter, however that was not the case. She did her best to speak with those around her but being in Mysteries didn't always give the opportunities to talk and be around many people.

"Well than, I'm glad I could help," Addison laughed softly giving the man a warm smile. "I find it easier when there's a name to match with a face." The blonde didn't always mind small talk just so long as it was the comfortable kind and not forced. So far things seemed to be going well for a random encounter at the food bar.

The department heads eyes drifted past Fulton towards the salad bar and then back again. "That sounds good," she agreed readily following along that way. "Really? Are the races starting up again soon? I was thinking of bringing my little ones to see one, they love anything that flies." Or moves. Or makes noise. Or that makes a mess. So was the way with young children.

Despite the fact that they a) lived together and b) worked together, Olly felt like she didn't see Schuyler quite as much as she would have liked. So maybe a lunch date would help with that. Although, thinking of it now, maybe an ACTUAL date (one that didn't take place inside their place of work) would be a good idea too. Hmm. She'd have to see when they both had time.

Maybe Friday.

Wow. Friday date night. When had they turned into such a cliché?

Not that she genuinely minded. As long as she got to spend time with Schuyler she was happy, to be honest. So now, here Olly was, waiting for her fiancée by the buffet so they could have lunch from the food court at work. Yeah, they definitely should do something a bit more romantic than that soon.

Now their wedding would not be taking place for another - what? - eight months, give or take, but that was no reason for Schuyler to have to wait until closer to the event to get stressed out. Oh no. Why not start getting into tizzies a good eight months before you tie the knot? Why not indeed.

The blondish-brunette came bustling into the buffet area a tad late, her pace slightly quicker than usual as she made a beeline for her fiance. It didn't even cross her mind - there was too much wedding preparation going on in there - but she always found Olly easily in crowds or community places, regardless of them not being ridiculously tall nor sporting fluorescent hair or something. It was like there was a little invisible string that was tied to their pinkies and it always brought the young woman straight to her love.

"Ugh, so glad to see you." She took her arm and leaned in to place a quick kiss on her cheek. "Guess what." Rhetorical 'guess what.' There was definitely no question mark there. "You know the Save The Date card we picked out?" Surely she did. Schuyler didn't wait for an answer anyway. Instead, she plucked a postcard-sized card from her pocket and flashed it before Olly like she was flashing an Auror badge. "This is what they sent us!" It was ALL pinks (not that pink was a bad color, but all pink?), frilly, had a just horrific sugary script, and worst of all, had these odd sort of pastel frills extending off the bottom.

She raked a hand through her hair, which ironically resulted in her hairstyle matching her frazzled mood. "I'm literally cringing just seeing our names on there." She obviously didn't know whose order was mixed up with theirs, but whoever it was, their taste was absolutely ghastly.

Maybe they could go somewhere for the weekend.

Before she got the chance to explore that idea more, however, Olly spotted Schuyler making her way over to her. And she looked...agitated. Olly could tell even before she'd reached her. What was it this time? It was probably wedding-related. It had turned out to be quite stressful to plan a wedding. For Schuyler especially since she was doing most - if not all - of said planning.

Leaning into her a little Olly knew better than to actually guess anything but instead waited for her fiancée to simply tell her what had happened. And that she did. She'd even brought visual aids.

W o w.

Olly took the card from her, unsure of whether to laugh or be angry. "I don't think I've ever seen anything this ugly." Who WOULD order something like this? "Did you talk to them?" Surely they'd take it back, right? And replace them with the ones they actually ordered. And as soon as possible too because obviously they NEEDED them.

"Right??" Schuyler was glad to see that Olly resembled her own disgust over the card. Though perhaps not quite as vehemently. "Yeah," she answered, taking the hideous thing back. "They said they would have it finished with our design by next weekend, and I made them give us a discount." Quite a significant discount, in fact. But there was a frown on her lips. "I don't know, I'm just worried about the save-the-dates getting out later.. I don't want it to be too late that people have made plans for vacations or something already. You know?" She tilted her head and looked at her fiance.

Good grief, if this was just the beginning of the wedding stress, Schuyler didn't want to think about what else was to come.

If Schuyler didn't look genuinely upset about this mix-up, Olly might have found it a little amusing. Not the fact that they'd been sent these hideous cards (THAT was extremely annoying) but simply...Schuyler's reaction to it all. Olly quite liked her all...fierce like this. It brought out her inner Gryffindor. It was an attractive trait.

While Olly was busy admiring her fiancée, Schuyler DID however bring up a slightly worrisome point. It probably wasn't THAT bad, though. When had Olly turned into the person in their relationship that worried LESS? "I'm sure one or two weeks later won't make that much of a difference." She reached out and squeezed her hand. "And we've already told those we really want there, yeah?" Maybe not the exact date but most of them knew the month at least.

So they better not be making any other big plans then.

Sophie had forgotten to bring her own lunch to work today and to appease a very grumbling stomach she decided to go check out the ministries food court at lunch time. She couldn't just skip lunch or just live on a fruit or two. She knew from experience what that would do to her mood and work performance. She had heard that the food court was located down on the atrium level that she so far had had no reason to visit.

Sophie was still learning to navigate around the floors so it took a lot longer then she had first anticipated to find the food court. And her mood wasn't exactly on top either after getting bad directions more than once that had led her totally in the wrong direction like the loos.

Fuming inside the brunette creatures employee finally entered the food court and immediately made her way straight for the buffet tables. All of the delicious looking food options had her stomach grumbling especially loudly. Luckily she was alone. Picking up a plate Sophie let her brown eyes run over the food platters..Now what did she want to eat?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

Sophie had forgotten to bring her own lunch to work today and to appease a very grumbling stomach she decided to go check out the ministries food court at lunch time. She couldn't just skip lunch or just live on a fruit or two. She knew from experience what that would do to her mood and work performance. She had heard that the food court was located down on the atrium level that she so far had had no reason to visit.

Sophie was still learning to navigate around the floors so it took a lot longer then she had first anticipated to find the food court. And her mood wasn't exactly on top either after getting bad directions more than once that had led her totally in the wrong direction like the loos.

Fuming inside the brunette creatures employee finally entered the food court and immediately made her way straight for the buffet tables. All of the delicious looking food options had her stomach grumbling especially loudly. Luckily she was alone. Picking up a plate Sophie let her brown eyes run over the food platters..Now what did she want to eat?

Despite waking up with the sun, Ryu had not found ample time to make himself his usual bento to bring to work like he usually did. Extra training in his flat's dojo along with a frantic call from the brother-in-law over not knowing where Kurumi's fuzzy socks were among other non-consequential details that the Ministry Sentinel really did not care to know. It was a wonder that Lewis was still alive with how much the bloke fretted and stressed over everything. At least his sister had chosen the less dangerous of professions as a dragonlogist...for the most part.

Now off the job - officially at least seeing as security was never truly on a break - Ryu strolled into the food court, grabbed a tray and a plate, and made he way over to the main buffet to check out the options for the day. "Pardon me," he said as he breezed by the woman looking around as well.

Speaking of dragons...

Trading his plate for a bowl, Ryu helped himself to a bowl of Dragon's Breath Stew and hopefully a roll or two to help mop up whatever left stuck to the bowl once he was done with his spoon.

Sophie was at best contemplating the food options when a man breezed by, distracting her with the scent of his strong cologne or was that shaving cream? Unsure she muttered back "No worries." Before she turned her brown eyes back on the buffet table.

Deciding to try the grilled chicken wrap Sophie put it onto her plate but couldn't help, but see what the guy with the cologne chose. Dragon Breath Stew. Did he like spicy foods or did he intentionally want to upset his stomach? Unable to not comment she called over "You know that stew will likely upset your stomach right?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

Sophie was at best contemplating the food options when a man breezed by, distracting her with the scent of his strong cologne or was that shaving cream? Unsure she muttered back "No worries." Before she turned her brown eyes back on the buffet table.

Deciding to try the grilled chicken wrap Sophie put it onto her plate but couldn't help, but see what the guy with the cologne chose. Dragon Breath Stew. Did he like spicy foods or did he intentionally want to upset his stomach? Unable to not comment she called over "You know that stew will likely upset your stomach right?"

Bowl filled and three rolls collected onto a small side plate, Ryu was considering a side salad when the woman he had unceremoniously somewhat cut in front of spoke to him. He recognized her, as he did everyone in the Ministry - for reasons, but it was beyond the Ministry employee level of recognition. A slight blast from the past feeling tickling his intellect.

"Only those who do not have the stomach lining for it," he chuckled in reply with a slight wave of one of his rolls. "I, on the other hand, favor spicy food." Really, the spicier the better as far as this Hollingberry was concerned.

Sophie was considering a side salad and a bread roll when the guy that cut in before her in the buffet line responded to her comment. Filling a side plate with lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and a bread roll she graced the man with a look as she commented with a slight raised brow. "I suppose your right. Some people just have more delicate stomachs than others." Like her. Sophie never felt well after too much spicy foods. It had been proven one too many times.

Eying the drink selection she frowned giving the man another look over. She got the feeling that she should know him. "Have we met before?" And Sophie did not mean at the Ministry Orientation event.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

Sophie was considering a side salad and a bread roll when the guy that cut in before her in the buffet line responded to her comment. Filling a side plate with lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and a bread roll she graced the man with a look as she commented with a slight raised brow. "I suppose your right. Some people just have more delicate stomachs than others." Like her. Sophie never felt well after too much spicy foods. It had been proven one too many times.

Eying the drink selection she frowned giving the man another look over. She got the feeling that she should know him. "Have we met before?" And Sophie did not mean at the Ministry Orientation event.

He could nod to that statement, one of his brothers being among those and often the butt of a joke at the expense of his other younger brother. It had never been a dull moment come winter time in the Hollingberry residence. Had put a permanent ban on kimchi nabe in the their house.

Grabbing just a bottled water, he glanced back over at her when she confirmed his own déjà vu suspicions. "Certainly feels that way," he confirmed with a grin and offered his free hand to her. "Ryunosuke Hollingberry." If that triggered any memories for her.

Natalie was in dire need of a substantial meal. She had almost sprinted to the food court. She made her way to the main buffet and selected the following; fruit salad, a large scoop of roasted potatoes and some roast beef. Natalie paid for her meal using the correct change and headed off to find a dessert and drink.

After checking to see if anyone was in the kitchen (which, they weren't, for it was way before lunch time at this point) Morgan did his thing.

His thing being = spiking all of the food in the food court on this fine November day. Had anyone ever told these people they were boring? They were! Morgan was clearly needed to spice up their boring lives here at the ministry. The only people who were not boring were most likely aurors because they caught the bad guys on a daily! Weekly!

So a little excitement in people's foods wouldn't kill 'em. Especially since what he had spiked the food with wasn't anything horrible, right? Morgan decided to stick around and see what havoc his little scheme would reek. Lunch was still around...........two hours away. Plenty time to get some paperwork done. He set up camp at one of the tables.

Why wasn't there a food cart on Level 3? No, serious question. It should have been made absolutely criminal having to walk all the way to the food court just because his stomach decided his eyes would get no rest until it was fed.

In truth, the trip over wasn't that long and with the availability of lifts the man didn't even have to consider the stairs....but the effort involved was astronomical all the same. Maddox wasn't sure where he'd found the energy to make it down here but now that he was, his stomach was rumbling something fierce and there was only one thing to be done; get food.

If only Department Head privileges gave him front of the line privileges. He would 100% make use of them regardless of how it might have come across....but then people would fuss...and he'd have to deal with THAT.

Merlin why was everything so much effort?

It seemed the only option was joining the line. By the time he got to the front he'd already snagged some of everything and had the adequate amount to pay. Stacked this high, he'd definitely be needing a cat nap when this meal was over. Good thing too because Ciiiiiirce was he beat. When was he never?

Getting to the food was always such a pain because it meant having to move around a lot and always risked the potential of running into a familiar face and being forced into some conversation he was too uncomfortable to have. Unfortunately for Zander Adair, the only way to avoid the hassle was to pack his lunch and there were many things this pseudo-adult couldn't do... And cooking was definitely one of those things.

The former Gryffindor stood in line and picked out his usuals, a rhythm he was all too familiar with. It was only when he reached the front of the line when he realized he recognized the man standing in front of him. Uh. Why did every single person from his entire past happen to work in the same dang place???????

Zander Adair chose not to say anything and instead waited until he could go up and pay for his food. All the while he stood and debated whether or not he ought to say something to the man... On one hand, he could ignore the guy and maybe Professor Quigley wouldn't notice him and they could both move on with their lives as if this never happened. On the other hand, if he did ignore him... and Professor Q saw.... That'd be real shady. See, Zander wasn't even that impressionable. He could typically get away with the flying under the radar, pretend you didn't notice 'em gig. Only he knew for certain that he had made an impression on this particular man, albeit an awful one.

U g h.

Curse his stupid conscience. The man had saved his life once, Zander felt obligated to at least say hello.

".... Uh, Professor Quigley?...." Alright, cool. That was enough, right?

Josephina probably should have started packing lunch from home but with Septimus away at hogwarts, it was just too convenient with this food here in the food court to not take advantage of it. Not to mention for the most part she enjoyed running into her former students, even if it was a gentle reminder that she was getting older, as they were old enough to be working, with babies and spouses. Ugh. It seemed like yesterday she was turning twenty-eight and heading back to Hogwarts for the first time in ten years. And now... she had a son who was there for the first time. Where did the time go?

Absently piling food onto her plate - it really didn't matter what because fortunately she'd developed an aptitude to eat pretty much anything. Which had it pros and cons and it was time to pay and find a place to eat. Ah there was her boss man; the one who'd joined the Hogwarts teaching staff the year after she left.

And near him was one former Gryffindor boy. One of Airey's. "Mr Adair. Mr Quigley." she greeted politely of the two wizards. They wouldn't mind her company, right?

With a yawn of obvious fatigue that displayed sharp canines, Maddox turned to look at the food court. Vaguely, he considered the various options he had for sitting. It wasn't so crowded down here today which meant he might not have needed to hurry back to his office and hide out. This place could get to being like a zoo sometimes, fully equipped with loud noises and strong scents that the man's now delicate senses could not tolerate.

He moved toward the seating area, spotting a table he liked when he heard very distinctly a title he had not been for years. Professor. An interesting time in his life to be sure. Children, as he learned, were highly impressionable and tended to believe just about anything you said. Ethical? No, but Merlin was it fun.

The man turned in one lithe movement to face the voice he'd never forget. "Just Maddox will do." He said, looking over at the young man. "Consider it my treat for graduating Hogwarts alive." Yes, he may have been making a subtle jab about that other one who'd decided to figuratively poke the angry acromantulas. Had to admit, of all the detentions he'd dealt out, Adair's might have been one of his favourites for the simple fact it required some of the least energy. The boy was sorry enough without the piercing sapphire eyes of his then Professor locking with his in utter annoyance. Pretty easy stuff.

"What area of the Ministry are you with now?" He wasn't too put off by not knowing Adair worked here--knowing the people in his own department was hard enough, but it was an interesting little surprise all the same.

Ah and an employee of his too. "Hadley." He returned her greeting with a nod. "I suppose some company wouldn't be bad for lunch. Joining us Adair?" The man never minded sitting and eating with others, being quite social despite his aversion to most....active activities.

"Some crazy things happening around the Ministry. I hope you're both remaining vigilant."

Did Zander have regrets in making his presence known? Yes, many.

In fact, in almost the same instant that he had spoken up, he had wanted to turn around and leave. Seeing your Professor outside of school was like seeing a dog walk on it’s hind legs: strange, unnatural, and who cares if he graduated years ago it was still wild! Of course he also knew that he was being incredibly dramatic, it was just hard to feel comfortable with authority figures from his adolescence. Especially if they were to make jabs such as that one. Yeeeesh. That hurt.

Zander knew that he would definitely have to make an effort to remember to call the man by his first name, something he would definitely slip up on due to the years of doing otherwise. “Ha, ha… Thanks?” Riiiiiiiiiiiight.

So uh, he couldn’t escape? They were actually going to do the talking thing? “Games and Sports,” he admitted, though he was still in the works of seeing if transferring would be a possibility. It Games and Sports wasn’t exactly the right fit and anyone who even mildly knew the blonde would probably say the same. “Uh, you?”

He finished asking the question before he heard another voice entering the conversation. Zander didn’t recognize the name as someone he knew, until he turned around to see that it was Professor Hadley his former Muggle Studies Professor from Hogwarts.

LOL

*freeze frame* *record scratch*

Yup, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.

“Totally,” he was a deer in headlights, answering the question before even thinking it through and then cursing internally because of it. Sure, why not?! Couldn’t think of a better way to spend his afternoon than with two of his PROFESSORS FROM HIGHSCHOOL.

It was crazy to think that Ariana had been employed at the ministry, in the minister's office department for a year. There had been so many changes in that time.

For one, they had a shiny new minister of magic. As far as she could tell, everyone was still adjusting to that change. She was, that was for sure.

Changing from a female ran head of state to a male head of statement was quite the whiplash, when she had only been in the department for such a short space of time.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear....

The young Bellaire flipped her hair over her shoulder and straightened her dress before clicking her way to the food table where the minister himself was standing.

"Hello Minister."

The lunch time crowd was drawing in! Morgan could almost not contained just how pleased he was to see this! He busied his nose in some of his paperwork as people began to get in line.

Ah, it was the young lad from Level SomethingorOther. Didn't remember his name, but did remember him helping Morgan carry his books back to his level once. What a nice guy! A round of applause for the nice guy!

What what what?

Who was talking?

Morgan was so busy smiling at the memory of the young lad carrying his books that he almost didn't notice Ariana, someone in his office, which meant he actually knew her name! "Ariana, darling, if you could step five paces to your left, you'd be a dear," he smiled up at her. She was directly in his line of sight of the enlarging LINE at the buffet, okay? And he had spiked the food, and he wanted to see the results! And he was positively giddy that Maddox was one of those people! "How are you, dear?" he asked as he looked back down at his paperwork to appear useful.

Why was their minister such an odd man? She stopped herself from making a face and instead, did as he had asked. She even turned her head to look in the direction that he was looking.

There didn't seem to be anything remotely interesting over there...just people eating. Eh...apparently the minister found that very fascinating.

"I'm well minister. How are you? Are you feeling alright?" She gave him a concerned look.

Morgan was pleased when she did move. Beautiful woman, yes, but he was more interested in the people in line right now! Thank you! "I am wonderful! Truly, wonderful. Trying to make the Ministry less dull as the days go by. And also get some....policies. Important ones. In place." He was hoping she didn't ask about these policies because he actually wasn't working on any policies at the moment.

One might wonder what Morgan P. Nickels actually did as minister, and sometimes, Morgan himself struggled to answer that very question. He thought he'd maybe give a press conference very soon to put everyone's minds at rest! He was holding down the fort, all right? He was making sure the whole didn't explode with...political...chaos. Or whatever., As more time went on, the more Morgan realized he had almost no knowledge of the things a minister should know, and therefore...he was making this position its own. His own. Thing.

"I'm actually growing quite hungry, though, and need to eat soon. Only thing is...to eat here or...elsewhere..." Because eating the spiked food would mean he would be joining IN on the fun and not merely watching, but maybe watching would be more fun, and he was in a right predicament now! A very minister-ly IMPORTANT predicament!