Archer shook his head and gave her a warm smile. "No, really it's okay. It happens to me all the time." Okay well not all the time but most of the time outside of work. "Sometimes it's a good thing, you know getting lost in ones thoughts. It can lead to a lot of great ideas."

"This is just such a different experience than going to different teams to play. It's a good different. I like trying something new." He knew that he was going to like being at the Ministry a lot. He found that most of the people here were very nice. Archer hadn't met a rude or mean person yet. He just smiled, Archer didn't want to admit that he was embarrassed for asking for directions still.

"If you ever need more help you can always ask me! I'm always around and sometimes after I'm supposed to leave I'm around." And on his lazy days he would be bored and want to do some work even though that was his time to spend with his daughter. Archer could do both and he knew that Laila liked to ask him questions about work when he was working on paperwork. She was young but she seemed interested in it and always asked him lots of questions. "Yes, I can." Archer nodded and sat down across from her. "I don't think it's at the point where I have to go to the Catapults right now."

Tala was hungry, this was quite normal for the blonde, hunger and a need for something sweet to satisfy her, at the moment she was eagerly searching out a bowl of chocolate ice cream and a volcano cake, her intention being to combine the two together after she'd warmed the cake a bit.

She should probably stop and grab a coffee too, while she was at it, but maybe that much sugar and caffeine would get her rolling around the office in her chair... Again. Bowl, cake, Tala took out her wand and performed a quick warming charm on the chocolaty goodness before her, the smile on her face was like a child's, all innocent joy.

Dinner would not be complete without dessert, of course. When Cassie finished her strew, she headed directly over to the dessert bar. There were, of course, many different choices. She was going to have the same problem as she'd had earlier. Everything looked good. But she couldn't eat all of it.

She glanced at the woman in front of her. To see what she was getting. What was good? What would she recommend? She was almost too distracted by the food to notice exactly who the woman was. While Cassie did not know her name, she knew that she was THE ENEMY.

Cassie immediately set her plate down and dug into her purse. Where was that ball? Why had she not had it ready? But finally her hand grasped around the small green ball. Almost immediately, it was out of her hand again flying toward the woman. Take that.

Ugh. What was it about chocolate and chocolate goo and ice cream that just went so heavenly together? Taladona didn't know, and right now, with her spoon shoveling her dessert in her mouth, she couldn't have even tried to tell you why ( she might have managed a few mmhms and hmms, but that was it, that was all you would get from the lanky blonde babe.

Her watch (she hated wearing the thing but her phone didn't wok here) began to chime letting her know her short break was up. which was a damn shame because she was really enjoying herself.

tucking her spoon safely into the bowl, tala made her way out of the room, eager to be back lest she be reprimanded (she needed a clean slate to get that extra time off, after all).

And all the while, she hadn't even once noticed the other young woman or her silver ball.

If she said she was hungry, she'd be lying. A morning of snacking had done exactly what many adults warned their children would happen; her appetite was shot to hell--but her sweet tooth wouldn't be silenced. Hungry, stuffed, peckish, didn't matter, Alexa would always find room and a craving for sweets. It was for that very reason that the young woman found herself at the dessert bar.

If nothing else, this would be a good time to replenish the supplies of her candy bag. You had no idea how quickly one could go through candy when one decided to stay late at work to get things finished.

No matter how tedious the paperwork still seemed to be, there was NOTHING that could dissuade Lex from the belief that her life as an official Auror was glamorous. Outside of patrols--that she could now do on her own--that led to report writing, it was absolutely brilliant.

Being in no real rush, she sauntered down the row taking in displays while grabbing at almost everything in her path. The longest pause, however, found her at the chocolate frog displays. Maybe....maybe just 10--no no, 12 and she would be done for today...13?

First weeks were always difficult, he knew that. But all the reading and paperwork he had to do was killer. That's why he stayed in the ministry later than he was intended too. The work as PART Lab Technician had nothing partial about it. He had been going through years of records in the last weeks, just to feel up to date with the ministry's affairs and he felt like had only touched the surface. His eyes were dry and his mouth was parched.

He went down to the Food Court to replenish himself and found his inner child craving something sweet. Maybe the sugar would do him some good. Give him a boost of energy or something.

He didn't pay much attention to actual candy such as liquorish wands and pumpkin pasties, but chocolate had always been his weakness.

He wondered down the halls of food and neared a display of chocolate where a woman was picking Chocolate Frogs like they were about to go extinct.

"Escuse me" he said politely, hovering over her to catch 2 packs "Better get me some before you snatch them all" he teased with humor "Working late too?" Gallowglass asked for the sake of conversation.

Chocolate was a funny thing when put next to Alexa Cambridge. It had the ability to make her oblivious to everyone in her immediate area if she let it. Usually, she let it. There were few things that could make her as happy as it did and when you needed a picker upper, it was the perfect distraction.

That being said, the reaction to the figure suddenly hovering over her was completely warranted. It had virtually come out of nowhere and was much closer than she would like a stranger to be, earning him an elbow to the gut before his words could be processed. Getting some? Working late? Wait wrong context. What WAS he talking about?

Lex blinked, taking a measured stepped from him but not before grabbing another two chocolate frogs. The Auror sized up her company, belatedly realizing he must have been working late and was asking the same of her. Huh. Go figure. "Yeah.....got some reports I gotta work on. Thought these would help." Correction, she KNEW they would help. "What about you? What's got you skulking around this place so late?" Not gonna apologize for elbowing him just yet. Dude had to explain first. Constant vigilance.

The grin in his face contorted to a pained experience as the air got knocked out of his lungs by a sharp blow to his stomach. Oh OUCH! He huffed with shock and took two cautionary steps back from the lady and her chocolate. She elbowed him! He knew he was tall, and he knew shadowing over someone wasn't nice, but she was all over the chocolate and he just wanted one or two packages.

“What was that for?!” He barked, rubbing his stomach with one of his hands while eyeing the witch with suspicion, getting ready to jump, roll and duck if necessary.

“Same reason” he replied shortly, his eyes narrowing, taking a step forward the display of Chocolate Frogs and grabbing two, retreating quickly “I’ve been here for hours, thought some Chocolate might do me some good.. Wasn’t the only one that thought that either” he eyed her Chocolate filled bag. He wanted to say something nice, but the throbbing pain in his stomach was a reminder that this woman might be bunkers in the head. Better not risk it, yet.

He carefully opened one of the packages and munched the frog in one bite.

“What level are you on?” he inquired, trying to sound polite.

"Sneaking up on a well trained Auror." THAT was what it was for. Even if he hadn't meant anything by it, common sense dictated that one did not do sneak attacks on those who were trained to be wand and cuff happy. It just wasn't a good idea, you know?

Wasn't until he mentioned being there for the same reason (she would assume he meant report writing) that Lex lowered her guard and even then, it was only by a little. He didn't exactly seem like the happiest bloke after the elbow to the ribs and if he decided to do something about it, she'd have to be ready--while thinking of ways to ensure her boss never found out she'd gotten into a brawl with a Ministry worker in the Food Court. In her defence, she would only have been defending herself but it was the principle of the thing....or so she was being made to pretend to believe.

Despite the puff of tension circling the two, Lex couldn't help but crack an amused grin at his hasty retreat once he'd gotten himself another two chocolate frogs. "You don't have to worry. I wouldn't hit you a second time unless you gave me reason to."

And just in case he happened to be one of the new intakes they'd gotten at the start of January, Lex would humour him by telling him her department. "Level 2, Magical Law Enforcement. I help to make sure you don't end up dead." Now far less bothered by his presence than she'd been earlier, Alexa reached for yet another chocolate frog. "And you?"

"Well you never know, better safe then... kicked in the groin?" he suggested, eyeing her feet and measuring its length and his distance. Safe for now. This person was an Auror. Well, that explained her instinctive reaction and could he blame her? No, not really. He had had Auror friends in the past, he even worked alongside some during his years on the field. He knew they acted on instinct rather than logic, reacting first and assessing later - which saved their lives many times. He would have hoped that being inside the Ministry's doors and on a food court would signal him as harmless when he hovered, but then again he couldn't really blame her. Hovering was rude, period. Plus Gallowglass had heard someone once saying something about constante vigilance, which now made perfect sense.

Sighing, he puffed his chest to stretch the sore patch just above his stomach to gather himself and massaged the back of his neck with his now chocolate-free hand. He gazed at her with uncertainty in his green eyes. Will she slap my hand away? She didn't seem at all that friendly. Plus they they got of to a wrong start.

He gave her a lopsided grin, stretched his hand for her to shake and introduced himself to her "Level 3 Accidents & Catastrophes. I clean up the mess others make, I guess." trying to be proper and polite, maybe hit the restart button if possible? "Just started this job, spent the last day catching up to whatever has been done in the past." he added, trying to maybe excuse his lack of manners. He relaxed a bit, feeling more at ease than he was before. Maybe she wouldn't rip his head off after all. Not that he wasn't able to defend himself, because he was. Merlin knew he was. But he wasn't really Auror material, so he had no doubt she would kick his bottom on a duel but he was sure he could kick hers in Potions brewing. "I'm sorry for before, didn't mean to jump at you. Just really, really fancied a Chocolate Frog." he leaned forward and snatched a third one "I guess you do too?" he asked chuckling, looking at the heaps of chocolate she had on her.

Oh yes, he had a point there. If, in fact, Lex had decided to hit from that angle instead of the obvious choice of the gut, they might have needed a trip to the Healer to make sure he was alright. That was a lot of hassle for something so easily avoided.

Any hesitation he might have had toward the chocolate frogs missed her entirely. In her mind the event had gone and was over with, they were onto something new--his job on Level 3. What luck that she'd ended up running into two of 'em in one day. Clearly it was a sign she needed to visit Aron patrol the level...you know...make sure everything was safe."That's real neat. What'd you do on Level 3?" Granted, it was only neat because of the Department Head but he didn't need to know that.

Her attention only wavered from thoughts of the man at the mention of chocolate frogs. Lex's eyes lit up noticeably. "They're the absolute best, I have at least a dozen a day if I can help it." As it happened, chocolate frogs were the loves of her young life--CHOCOLATE was the love of her young life. It was like happiness in a wrapper, what could honestly be better? "I'm Lex, by the way."

As he bit off the frog's leg he narrowed his eyes ever so slightly over her change of demeanor towards him once he referred where he worked. Interesting.. "I work as a PART Lab Technician within Division Two- Accidental Magic Reversal Squad" he informed her, eating another leg "It is indeed pretty neat. My main area of expertise is Potions and Herbology and there have been a few cases of poison due wrongfully brewed potions in the past this Squad had to clean. I'm looking forward to one of those" he grinned, completely oblivious to her alter motives and sounding like a murderer for wanting something like that to happen. "I reckon it's not as cool as being an Auror, but I'm pretty excited about it."

Meredith popped into his head. She works on Level 4. He didn't have the pleasure to bump into her, again... hopefully he could catch up soon. And what was with all this girls having kickyouknowwhat jobs?

He chocked a little on his frog's head, but passed it out as a cough. She ate a dozen chocolate frogs a day? That's insane. At that rate she would be diabetic when she reached her thirties. "You know that's not really healthy right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her in doubt. He did like to eat chocolate, but eating a dozen a day sounded... extreme. "I'm Gallowglass, and since my mother had the kindness of giving me a mouthful name, you can call me Gall, it's easier on the lips" he added with humor, downing the rest of the chocolate and kissing his fingers clean.

"Soo... how long have you been in the Ministry?"

In polite society, after inquiring about someone's job it was good etiquette to feign interest as they spoke of it too. It was for that reason that Lex smiled and nodded along as he spoke despite having very little interest in any profession that didn't allow her the opportunity to put her own life at risk. If it wasn't Auror work, it didn't exist, but naturally not everyone would share this view. It did strike her as curious potions being brewed and being poisonous. THAT got her smile genuinely stretching into a grin. "That sounds epic! What sort of poison was it? Do you know? How long did they have to live? Was it too late?" Now THAT was interesting. "Not quite as exciting, true, but still enough to keep you awake." She teased--but he wasn't wrong. She'd still prefer to be an Auror any day of the week.

Much like the earlier hesitation, his choking flew right over her head. This time it was as a result of her once again scanning the dessert bar for anything else she might slip into her candy bag after paying. Sugar quills were always nice and a brownie for the walk back up wouldn't have been such a bad idea.

Unhealthy? What? "It's not as if I eat them all in one sitting. By now everyone I know would like to think I've learned to pace myself. In an average day that starts and sometimes runs into the next day depending on if I've decided to sleep or not, I reckon I've got at least 20 hours to burn and would hypothetically have a frog roughly every hour and a half--which sounds just dreadful but the math works." One did not simply have ONE frog and call it a day, no, but she wasn't eating them around the clock either.

He wasn't kidding when he talked about a mouthful, was he? "I'll keep Gallow instead; compromise for your dear old mum." Lex shifted her tray along, once again considering her many options. "Been here three years, this one will make my fourth." Three years as YATI, she was fully ready for the life of an Auror. "Where were you before you hit the Ministry?"

If she was pretending or genuinely curious about the poisoning cases, he didn't actually care. He found them fascinating and was eager to share what he discovered with a fellow worker. "Oh it was delicious" he began saying, rubbing his hands together like he was about to share the most precious secret of all "It wasn't too late for the Magic Reversal Squad's intervention. But it should be, because that dumb troll wizard should have known better to be honest...He was trying to make a Draught of the Living Dead by some reason." he said frowning in disapproval "other then being extremely complex it's also very dangerous and by law only certified Potions Master can brew it and they have to have a certain permit in order to do so. But I guess this one's guy will to give it to his mother in law a nice rest for a year or too was too strong. What a git.." he clapped his hands once and grinned with humor at was coming up "So, the genius brewed the potion wrongly of course and once he gave it to her, in her afternoon tea, it did the exact opposite. She became exhilarated and it was like she had eaten raw coffee. She was quick to assume he had been trying to poison her and all hell broke loose as you can imagine.." he chuckled a few times, served him right.

He then proceeded to hear hear explanation about how she balanced her intake of chocolate and sugar and her calorie burn count. He still thought of her as being somewhat weird. But he was sure she wasn't an immediate danger to him at least. He tipped his head to her "If you say so! Though I still think a dozen is still too much, but I'll compromise on 6" he gave her a playful wink and added "Maybe chocolate is the fuel of Aurors?"

He laughed at her joke, his mother would like that, she kept saying that his name had power, like the legend of the Gallowglass warriors and that he should take it seriously and be proud of it. But when you're 5 years old, it's hard to like such a name complicated name...he eyed her tray and gestured towards a table nearby. "Sit maybe?" he suggested before diving into her question "I worked as a Potions Master assistance for a few years after Hogwarts, then did some extensive research on potions and herbology, about 7 years on the field I guess? Those were the golden years to be honest." he pondered for a moment. Yes those were indeed the golden years, the best of his life despite all the tents, allergies, attacks and close calls he experienced. He didn't regret it one bit. "But then as I got older the thought of having a permanent position, some sort of security in life, became quite attractive to be honest. So here I am" he opened his arms around the room. "What about you?" he asked her. She looked younger than he was. Maybe she came straight from Hogwarts?

It took everything in her to remind herself that now she WAS the law and had to agree with his statement. In truth, it mattered very little to her what was and wasn't against the law when it came to things she wanted but what sort of message would that send, hm? Should she decide she one day needed that potion, she'd brew it, but for the sake of the conversation, Alexa nodded along as if in perfect agreement as he spoke. "Oh Merlin, that's a tough break right there." Mothers were strange things and came in many varieties. Hers hadn't put up much resistance in the end, death took her without hesitation--but her step-mum, CIRCE, there hadn't been a thing she hadn't tried and the woman was alive today. Similarly, this poor bloke's potion was a dud. "I feel for the poor guy. Should have just cut his losses and brewed a proper poison the first time." THAT was how you killed someone. "Shouldn't of left it up to chance. Tell me he got arrested for his stupidity."

What was this compromise of which he spoke? "There is no compromise with chocolate frogs. I'll take substitutions..." Like...like moscato laced devil's food, "not outright compromises." His joke of it being Auror food though, that got a laugh out of her. "Try coffee. That keeps most of us going for days if we need it to."

Lex had only just handed over her galleons and turned to the table he was gesturing to when his words fully processed in her mind. He WANTED stability and security in his line of work? A curious look settled on her expression. How...odd. "That sounds like the exact opposite of why I decided to be an Auror." The day this job became 'safe' was the day she would have to reconsider her career path. "Before I got here, I was taking Ravenclaws to the bathroom because apparently that's the job of the Head Girl when you're at Hogwarts. Not warning Professors about dangerous books that happen to be possessing people, or trying to give them descriptions, but potty relief." Lex could have done without her final year of Hogwarts, in fact she could have left after her 5th year when they dropped the first badge on her.

"Did get a small break while I waited to be accepted into the YATI program though. Used to to travel and see what the world's really made of." Which had been interesting.

He couldn't help the chuckle that erupted from his lips. Yep, the poor fella should have brewed the darn thing properly and save himself a world of pain. "Unfortunately for me, he did and that was the end of his file. I would have enjoyed reading about how he got himself out of that one."

He made a mental note about coffee. If it was good enough fuel for Aurors if would most definitely be good enough for him too.

Hearing her speak about her time at Hogwarts, the reasons why she picked that line of work, gave him a good idea about her age, which was way younger than his own. He nodded at her last statement. " Traveling the world is the best thing" he agreed "And yes, you see.. I've seen the wildness and had as much action as I could have wished for in my line of career. I'm getting to a certain age now, not that I find myself old.." he frowned a little at that. 35 wasn't old was it? ".. but I'm just craving something more.. constant. I can still do what I love, I'm sure I'll get plenty of action on the field, but at least I have a place to call my own, a constant physical home. And most important for me, I have someone back at the office who will notice if I end up missing." he didn't want to go down that path again. Nu-oh. The scars were still very recent, I mean - he got lost after being air poisoned by a sketchy plant cross breed and ended up hallucinating for days, all by himself in the wilderness until the next check in with the lab. Which only happened once a week. That had not been fun.

But still, potty relief sounded.. dreadful. He never made it to Head Boy or Prefect so he wasn't really aware of what their functions were other than what they seemed to be in his time - poop on everyone's fun. "Potty duty sounds awful boring. I understand that you craved something more exciting. Being an Auror is definitely exciting, I'll give you that" he smirked cheerfully, tipping an imaginary hat to her.

He eyed her chocolate frog mounting gestured towards it "Are you going to eat that now or not?" he pretended to go and fetch a few from her pile, jokingly of course, he wasn't in for a do over of her Auror reflexes.

"Well good. People like him don't deserve to walk for their crimes. Ridiculous is what he is." Such a silly bloke he was, even if he made the job easier for Law Enforcement. Nothing wrong with an easy job but that wasn't...what being an Auror was about. It wasn't meant to be easy. "I'd only read about the kind of dark wizards that took forever to be caught. Those are the real interesting ones. So many epic stories." Said up in the office, she might have gotten a couple looks but this guy didn't seem bothered by this sort of talk, even coming from an enforcer of the law. All good.

Wow. Just wow. Lex tilted her head, fixing Gallow with a curious stare. "How old are you?" It didn't occur to her--as most social graces didn't--that such a question might have been sensitive or off limits. It just...the way he spoke...the man sounded like he'd seen enough of the world, no matter how he wanted to phrase it. Permanent home. People to notice him missing. Settling down voluntarily. The whole thing unnerved her. Lex didn't want there to be a time when she decided that was how she wanted to live.

"People notice if you go missing up on Level 2 but I don't reckon we're thinking along the same lines here." He probably meant something a bit more domestic. "You still go places, right? Whenever the mood hits you?" Otherwise this sounded awful confined. Confinement and permanency, two of the fastest ways to freak her out.

The next thing she knew, he was reaching for her chocolate frogs. A horrible joke by those that didn't know better. He didn't know better. The impulse that rose in her could only partially be tempered by the fact of his ignorance. As a result, he was able to keep his hand despite the stinging hex she'd sent at it that might have hurt a little more than she meant it to. "I am. Not all of them, but some of them." Lex retrieved her change then stuffed her purchase into the candy bag slung over her shoulder.

He chuckled "Yes, those are the stories worth reading, I agree. But, other than this guy, a couple blown up family members, two headed siblings...so far I haven't reached the juicy stack." . Yep, he had read maybe half of the stuff available in the archives?

They way Lex asked him his age, made him chuckle with humor, he did sound like an old bat didn't he? "I'm 35.." he raised both his hands in a defensive stance ".. before you say 35 isn't old, I know that. I'm not saying that I want to curl up in a bubble and never experience action again." he placed his hands on the table again, flattening the already flat surface as he spoke. "I'm not even going to ask your age, because I know women find that very disturbing, but once you've reached my age and experienced what I've experienced, you will too something a little more.. stable as well." he looked at her for a moment, deciding wether she would find his stories interesting or not and decided in favor of it. He retrieved his wallet from inside his jacket and pulled a picture from it.

"That's me, after 1 year deep within the Schleswig-Holstein forest in Germany one of the forests Muggles refer to as the Enchanted Forests. We were searching for a very rare breed of Fanged Geranium - which we did find in the end - only to be attacked by a very aggressive pack of Graphorns - which he successfully killed and collected the horns... did you know they're really valuable and useful in the making of the Antidote to Uncommon Poisons?" he sighed, and absentmindedly scratched his left arm, where one nasty scar prevailed "What I mean is, I've spent the last 18 years just out there, no home, no attachments, nothing. I'll be a nice change to have my clothes in a closet rather than in a suitcase."

Now she would think of him as a crazy man, but those were some of the best days in his life, he wouldn't trade them for nothing in the world. But man, he was tired. He could use the rest for now, plus it left him more time to work on his book too. "But I can understand if excitement, adventure and all of that is what you're looking for now"

OUCH WHAT IN THE, MERLIN'S PANTS ON FIRE. this girl had a real problem. It was a joke, JOKE. He growled at her like an animal and nursed his hexed hand to his chest, retrieving his own wand and murmuring a healing spell. "I'm done with trying to joke with you" he complained, wiggling his fingers to check if the pain was gone "from now on, you'll have to be at least a feet away from me at all times."

She wasn't gonna say it wasn't old. 35 sounded very old to her and very far off. At only 21, 30 alone seemed leagues away. 35 was something else entirely but she wouldn't interrupt him while he spoke, opting instead to take the picture and have a look while he relayed some adventure he'd had in a German forest.

To be honest, he'd lost her after fanged geraniums. They'd gone...on an adventure...looking for a plant. Er...what a way to live....?

Op! There we go! Graphorns. Consider her attention captured once more. In fact the look she now had said that Alexa was hanging on to his every word as he recounted the remainder of the story. "What did you say was the name of that forest again?" Had to go there now, had to. Maybe she could even drag a friend along. "I guess I get what you're saying but I don't think I'll ever feel the same way when I hit 35. Just doesn't seem like the sort of thing that'll bother me." Permanency bothered her. Settling down, committing, stagnancy all stood to make her lose her already fleeting mind.

Alexa shrugged at his declaration. "It's for the best. We seem to be floating along very different senses of humour." In fact she was still having the hardest time figuring out WHY he thought going near her chocolate frogs would be preceived as 'funny'. It.....had never been....ever. Lex's eyes trailed to the ground where she mentally measured out a foot then took a step back. "Better?"

"Peachy! Keep your distance at all times. I still wish to be father some day." Gallowglass retorted ironically, still nursing his hand against his chest more for the dramatics than the actual pain really as Alexa stepped back. He had been warned, this woman did not share his sense of humor. Why did he find her intriguing? Maybe because she seemed to have some sort of death wish and even the mention of danger had her all excited.

"Schleswig-Holstein forest" he repeated, his pronunciation a clear as he could "I can see in your face you're not impressed by my adventures, but don't take on fanged geraniums lightly, they can be quite a pain. Plus the weather and magic influence in that forest.." a chill went up his spine "not for the faint of heart I assure you". He stretched his arms above his head and yawned. It was getting rather late wasn't it?

He clapped his hands together, making a thundering sound in the apparent silence of the Food Court.

"I better be going soon, big day tomorrow." got up from the table both of them had been sitting, and smirked at Alexa, not even bothering to try and properly say goodbye. Putting the photo away he winked cheekly at her "I'll see you around? That is, if you don't get yourself kicked or suspended.." he laughed and started leaving.

Fate had been rather off lately.. Ever since Seb had announced that his wife was pregnant the former art teacher had felt like her world had ended..

So most days she was in the desert bar, because what better way to drown her sorrows than in cake?

She grabbed a large piece of chocolate cake and turned around to find somewhere to sit.. She stuck her fork into the cake and sighed softly as she stuck the bite in her mouth..

Ahh Chocolate..

Chocolate would never break her heart.. Chocolate would always be there for her.. She couid count on Chocolate!

Merlin.. Her eyes were misting up again.. *sigh*

It wasn't yet lunch time, but Gabby was HUNGRY and craving more junk food. Thank Merlin she had that potion Zhenya had made because otherwise she wasn't sure how she would cope at work without throwing up. Brewing her own was out of the question because her stomach wouldn't have been able to handle it.

Making a beeline towards the dessert bar, she began piling her plate with various items, not really caring too much about what she had chosen. As long as it was sweet and ended up inside her stomach she was all good with anything pretty much.

Juniper really needed a midafternoon pick-me-up. And what picked her up better than some sweets? She didn't drink coffee, so a nice piece of pie would have to do. Standing at the end of the dessert bar, holding an empty plate in one hand, Juniper stared at the expansive selection. There were too many choices.

She'd already been to the dessert bar twice today and twice she'd forgotten to make good on her promise. A chocolate frog--not for herself but her little sister. Sure, she could have simply given Jessa one of hers...but she'd already kind of mapped her sugar intake for the rest of the week (as a means of keeping her mind preoccupied) and nowhere in the imaginary budget was there room for her to hand over one of her most precious treasures to the ten year old. It was like...the principle of getting your own, except the little girl couldn't very well do that and being the WONDERFUL big sister that she was, she was obliged her.

Coffee in hand, the Auror made her way across the bar, hardly paying attention to the other selections as she headed for the tray housing the chocolate frogs. Hardly paying attention to anything actually and that seldom ended well on a good day.

This....was not a good day. With her mind being pulled in a million directions, she hardly took notice of the woman before her until she was suddenly wearing her coffee.

"Oh Merlin..."

Should she get apple pie or cherry pie or pumpkin pie or cheesecake...? Juniper's brow furrowed as she struggled to make a decision. And should she get some Bertie Bott's beans to go? They'd keep her occupied the rest of the afternoon, the continuous sugar intake would mean she'd still have energy when she went to her sons' school recital later. She was leaning toward the cherry pie, when she suddenly felt a hot splatter all across her back.

She yelped.

"Hot hot hot!" Juniper exclaimed, turning around to see who had spilt hot coffee on her. Then she paused to calm down. She was at work, after all. She probably shouldn't freak out at a coworker she'd never met before. Ouch. "How did-? What even-? Look where you're going!"