Okay good. Just checking. She didn't want to make a bad impression on anyone working at the Ministry. What if someone complained about her and then she would lose her job again? Yeah, and then what? She didn't know what she'd do then. So. Olly was going to be EXTRA polite to anyone. Just in case they were one of the important people.

Feeling guilty? Calories?

Taking one of the brownies, she looked the woman over. "You could eat the whole plate and not feel guilty." Probably not what the other woman wanted to hear. Or maybe she did. Olly wasn't sure. Eventually trying the brownie, she smiled a little. They WERE pretty good. She was definitely getting some more before going home today.

Kai had never thought about maybe bringing food to her level with her.....maybe that would set a good impression? She didn't know many people yet though she had worked here for a few months now. She tended to be more of the quiet type and enjoyed her lab time, so she supposed it wasn't odd that she wasn't familiar with too many faces.

At the other woman's comment , Kai looked down at herself, then back up with a smile. "I appreciate that. If I let myself eat plates of brownies continuously that will not last long though."She laughed a little and set the plate on the small table between them, she didn't mind sharing the whole plate with the woman beside her ....because why not? Her coffee was firmly in her grasp though.......probably the only thing she wouldn't share.

After giving the woman a moment to enjoy some of the brownie and swallow, Kai figured she had better proceed with niceties. "Pleasure to meet you by the way. I'm Annette Fern." She politely offered her hand in case she was a handshake sort of person, Kai didn't care too much either way.....it was just a good thing to get to know more people around here.

The smile on the woman's lips implied that it HAD been the right thing to say.

"Maybe not." Olly replied, mirroring the woman's smile. Apart from the fact that she would probably gain weight - which in itself wasn't a bad thing, to each their own you know - it simply wouldn't be too healthy to be eating a whole plate of brownies every day. Not that she should be giving anyone advice on how to keep their body healthy but you know.

Taking another bite of the brownie, Olly looked around the food court for a moment. "Mhm. Always nice to meet people who give me free food." Brown eyes returning to the woman, she grinned lightly. "I'm Olly. Olly Clarke."

Now there was a sentiment that Kai could whole-heartedly agree with. People who gave you free food were a good thing. Which,.....was why Kai was okay with sharing her food. It was a good way to bond and connect with other people, everyone needed to eat and a lot of people *ahem like her* liked to eat. "Free food is always a good thing in my book."

Olly....olly olly oxenfree.......no Kai...no.....just don't do it. Do not randomly say odd things about other peoples names at work......that is probably crossing a comfort line. Lets not get fired...... She did her best to clear her mind and resume to a professional...ish....state of mind.

"Do you mind if I call you Olly?" As in, not her full formal name. She didn't tend to use hers unless they were being professional / on the job. It was long winded and proper to the point in sort of just felt odd. "I usually just go by Kai, so you may call me that if you like." She took another brownie from the plate she had set between them. Mmmmm chocolate and coffee.....

What a couple of weeks! Gallowglass strode quietly, hands deep in his pockets as he made his way through the Hangout area. He needed a break. Merlin had mercy on my soul. He wandered around a few times until he felt like he had found the perfect spot to rest him body and left himself slump into a rather cozy beanbag chair. He was eternally grateful to whoever idealized that room, it was comfortable and inviting.

His hair was getting even longer now and he found himself pulling it from his forehead with both his hands, lacing his fingers behind his head and stretching himself on the chair with a yawn. He took a couple of deep breaths to relax and ease the tension from his shoulders, releasing his hands and rolling his shoulders. He then closed his eyes and hummed lightly. He could stay there a few moments, take a break from work. At least he felt like he deserved it.

He hadn't seen any familiar faces yet, all he did was work-work-work and the only person he saw was Fate since she was assisting him, other than that no family, no Elsa and specially no Meredith. Seeing as they both worked on the same place, he was hoping to come across her at some point. But that didn't happen. The thought of why it hadn't put a crease between his eyebrows. She was probably hunting Hags out in the open. And there he was, making catalogues.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jojogali

What a couple of weeks! Gallowglass strode quietly, hands deep in his pockets as he made his way through the Hangout area. He needed a break. Merlin had mercy on my soul. He wandered around a few times until he felt like he had found the perfect spot to rest him body and left himself slump into a rather cozy beanbag chair. He was eternally grateful to whoever idealized that room, it was comfortable and inviting.

His hair was getting even longer now and he found himself pulling it from his forehead with both his hands, lacing his fingers behind his head and stretching himself on the chair with a yawn. He took a couple of deep breaths to relax and ease the tension from his shoulders, releasing his hands and rolling his shoulders. He then closed his eyes and hummed lightly. He could stay there a few moments, take a break from work. At least he felt like he deserved it.

He hadn't seen any familiar faces yet, all he did was work-work-work and the only person he saw was Fate since she was assisting him, other than that no family, no Elsa and specially no Meredith. Seeing as they both worked on the same place, he was hoping to come across her at some point. But that didn't happen. The thought of why it hadn't put a crease between his eyebrows. She was probably hunting Hags out in the open. And there he was, making catalogues.

Tea was a godsend. That was one thing Meredith had come to believe now even more than she had before. Now, she was convinced that if someone pricked her tea would pour from her instead of well, anything else. It wasn’t the work as a hag agent that was the most tiring, it was trying to cheer Blair up…and well, it probably didn’t help that she had told Blair about meeting a guy.

She hadn’t seen Gallowglass in a month, heck, it was strange…a part of her wanted to find her over protective brother and ask him what he had done…still, chances were he hadn’t done a thing. After all, she had been on so many investigations lately that it was getting ridiculous.

Stopping to glance around the hang out area was one of her top priorities right now before finding a beanbag to curl up on. That was until she saw him. What was he humming? She wondered as she stepped closer to the tired looking Accidents & Catastrophes worker.

“I’m surprised I haven’t run into you on the lifts yet” Meredith spoke softly laughing a bit at the end. “We must have really horrid timing with those lifts if we keep missing each other considering I do work on the level below you…?” Meredith grinned at him. “How has the not living-in-a-tent thing been treating you?” She asked as she moved to sit on the beanbag next to him. Okay, it wasn’t graceful she had just barely missed dumping her coffee over her legs. “scourify” she muttered cleaning the mess she had created and sitting up again. I did not just pour liquid on my leg…nope…not at all she had just a bit. Luckily it wasn’t that hot.

She had PLANS later which meant she couldn't stay late at work to get paper work done like she usually did. Alexa had a habit of leaving the more tedious things until the very last minute and it helped that she absolutely adored her job and didn't mind staying late on Level 2. The only problem came when certain plans demanded she left work at a decent enough hour because it meant the paperwork would have to happen during the day.

It was doable she supposed but would require having lunch within the Ministry so she could work through the hour. It wasn't how she'd prefer it but it'd be worth it later--and that she would keep reminding herself.

Alexa flopped onto one of the empty couches, taking the liberty of making herself nice and comfy before spreading out her case reports before her. Lunch would have to be the chocolate frog she fished from the bag she'd plopped on the floor by her feet until she could convince herself she'd done enough to warrant walking down to the main area of the food court to grab a proper bite.

Huh, she could have sworn she'd written this case up already and taken it down to Evidence.

He needed a break. Desperately. There had been an awful lot of stuff for him to get up to speed on, and it had taken longer than he anticipated. Thankfully, still no trouble or problems, so no need to take Emily up on her offer of help. But still he was going cross-eyed from all the paperwork. Which was why he'd wandered down to the food court.

Eating at his desk held no appeal to Anderson, he'd much rather go where everyone else gathered. Especially now, being new and needing to settle himself in. Where better to get some idea of the rest of the people who worked at his new place? And while he got the impression that eating in this area was a strange concept, he still took the food he had gathered into the comfier seating section of the food court.

And then he stopped half way to the only available seat. Which just happened to be right next to Alexa Cambridge. She of the chocolate frogs and grumpy expression. Anderson hesitated, wondering if it was a good idea to approach her or not. He'd not seen her since the introductory meeting, where she had been less than cheerful. Their paths just hadn't really crossed. But if he wanted to eat his steak and salad on a chair that didn't give him backache after five minutes, then he really had not much choice.

Sucking in a breath, Anderson wandered over and glanced down at the table in front of the couch she was on. Paper. A lot of paper. Great. She took up an awful lot of room, it seemed. Clearing his throat, he smiled his best smile and gestured to the mess paperwork with his chin. "May I?" Or are you going to bite my head off for asking?

That smell...

It was....It was...heavenly. Meat. Steak? Meat pie? Roast? Whatever it was, it got Alexa looking up from the stacks of paper strewn about. The fact there was such a sent wafting around wasn't as much a surprise as smelling it SO CLOSE when most didn't think to eat up this side of the food court. Where was it coming from...--bingo. Hey wait, she knew that guy. He worked on her level though, due to WHERE in the level he worked, not someone she ran into often.

Lex pulled herself into a sitting position at his request, her gaze fixing on his lunch for a moment before she proper looked at him. She...supposed...that if she wasn't lying across the couch there would be more room but that smell was counter-productive.

Decisions.

It was a whole nother minute before her mind was made up and she began shifting some of the papers onto the table instead. "Knock yourself out Chief." Half the couch was cleared for him. As much could not be said for the table that was now half full. With luck there was room for his meal but now the table resembled the ones up in the office. "At least one of us is doing lunch right."

Chief. Did she just call him Chief? As in a friendly greeting, and an offer for him to sit down in the space she'd cleared? Anderson had to admit, he wasn't expecting that. It floored him, mentally, for a few seconds; and he ended up staring at her. Just like she'd previously stared at his lunch.

He could usually spot the signs of when he was being lulled into a false sense of security, but right then she seemed quite genuine. So he nodded his thanks and eased himself down next to her, placing his plate onto the tiny gap near the edge of the table. That was precarious. He'd probably best eat it before it fell on the floor. Or Alexa swiped it to eat herself. She was giving off the air of someone who was a bit hungry, what with the staring of before.

"It's Mac, actually." Anderson decided that as she was being unusually talkative, then he wouldn't waste the opportunity of catching her in a good mood. Who knew when it would change. "That's what most people call me. Chief's quite official, so maybe we can leave that to the people who work under me, huh?"

He grinned and sat back, taking a sip of his coffee and surveying the scene in front of him. So much paper. Did the woman never stop? To his eye she looked a little frazzled by it all, and obviously - going by the chocolate frog, and her remark about lunch - wasn't eating right. "It seems so. Not sure the frogs are that nutritious. You ought to get yourself something like this, I'm sure the paperwork could wait for ten minutes." He leant forwards again and picked up his cutlery, slicing into his steak carefully and popping a piece into his mouth. Hmmm. Perfect.

Ooorrr maybe he didn't want to sit down.....? She'd cleared the spot for him but he was still standing there looking like she'd grown a second head. Lex was all set to retract the offer and set her papers in their haphazard manner on the couch once more but the staring came to an end and his steak was now closer to her face than it had been moments ago.

So...she didn't grow a second head then? Well that was bloody brilliant to know. "Mac, huh? All the cool people have three lettered names." She said, her grin mirroring his. Take her for instance. Lex. Boom. There was also Fox but she wouldn't be saying THAT around him any time soon. Merlin knew he didn't need any compliments.

Rule one of being cool? Never question the nutrition in chocolate frogs.

"On the contrary, they're plenty nutritious for me. Keep me going, keep me awake, keep me in a good mood." There was a slightly higher than normal chance she'd end up with a sugar rush if she ate too many but that was commonplace for her by now. "I'll have something like what you're having when I get through at least half this stuff otherwise I'll be lost in the food and before I know it my resolve will be shot to hell." Lex reached for the paper she'd been reading a minute ago. "If nothing else gets done, this needs to be. Can't stay late today. Got plans I'm not willing to postpone."

His playful humming season was interrupted by a soft voice, laughing gently above his head. Talking to him. Meredith. His eyes snapped open and his intense eyes pierced into her's, the corners of his mouth pulled up in an amused and happy grin. She found him! He was starting to wonder if everything was OK with her but here she was. Looking as healthy and beautiful as ever. He smacked himself on the head (mentally). Tone it down man.

He followed her with his eyes, hearing her questions and chuckling under his breath at her slightly clumsy move, spilling a bit of coffee on herself only to efficiently clean it after. He allowed her to seat herself properly before addressing her questions with his soft husky voice, his gaze playing in her face, eyes, cheeks, lips, hair, eyes again. His brain did her no justice. And seeing her after their first encounter, after all the times she popped into his head made him realize something. He was smitten by her.

"I was starting to wonder if you had lied to me, just to get rid of me.." he teased, a fake pout on his lips, seating up straighter "Those lifts have been awfully packed every time I take them, I assure you, you could be in there and I wouldn't be able to spot you" he clasped his hands together slowly, leaning towards Meredith and he spoke "Have you been having a good time so far? Lots of action?" he knew he had. Between the Junior Quidditch cup, the catalogue and everything else, his job was feeling less and less PART than ever.

"Life outside the tent has proven itself very interesting. Even more now that you're here really" he added cheeky. Well what could he do? It was true.

Meredith just grinned as she watched Gallowglass’ mouth form his happy grin. Glancing up at his eyes was out of the question while she drank her coffee – wait…why are you staring! C’mon Mer? she scolded herself and glanced up at his enchanting eyes while taking a sip of her drink.

Thank merlin she hadn’t spilled it down her face. “I would never,” she scoffed, a little more dramatically then she had intended to. “Those lifts can be awfully crowded…I’ve noticed that the third one in tends to be quite empty…it also takes a little longer but the extra space is great” she grinned just slightly as he leaned towards her.

“Well…” she grinned the corner of her lip twitched slightly as she tried not to let herself smirk “there is always more room for action,” don’t blush she thought to herself and grinned. “Honestly,” she glanced down at the coffee cup in her hands, “it’s been quite full of tedium?” She admitted with a slight laugh.

“How has yours been? Any time for making potions?” She asked and then she heard it she was glad life outside of a tent had been interesting…but her? Really, no she wasn’t grinning. “I…I didn’t know I was that interesting” she was still grinning though because honestly who in their right mind wouldn’t want someone to call them interesting.

“I’m glad that its been interesting” she grinned, her smile turning more genuine as she added “…you should definitely visit level four sometime,” she grinned, “I have a feeling you would enjoy the break room or the greenhouse on my level” she grinned. “Our break room has a jungle theme…well…not theme there are actual plants and everything probably because of the environmental protection people on the level” she didn’t add of course that he’d enjoy it because she was there…but well, she was hoping that.

He chuckled at her slightly offended answer "I'll make sure to ride that specific one, if you promise to do the same" he then winked at her grin, she looked a bit flustered by what she said and that made him let out a heartily laugh. "Room for more action you say?" he continued teasing, wiggling his eyebrows "I'd think hunting Hags would be quite thrilling really, but you tell me it's tedious? How come?" he wanted to know about all about it - his work had been mostly in his desk, but he would really call it tedious. In fact he was quite excited with the new project he and Fate were working on.

"I haven't been potion brewing exactly... but I've been working with Fate" he mentioned, not paying attention to the fact Meredith did not know who Fate was "on building a catalogue of misuses and most common poisoning symptoms! It's been a real challenge, and quite exciting! She was an arts teacher before, so she does these amazing drawings of people growing two heads and a beard. You must see it sometime" his happy grin stretched even wider on his face and he ran his fingers through his hair absentmindedly.

Then it was Gallow's turn to look chocked "Of course you are interesting, you're the most interesting thing that happened to me since I've moved to London, really!" he listened to her describe her break room and her level. It did sound interesting. But what most interested him was the fact that she would be there and she was sort of inviting him to go over and visit her. "It does sound interesting, our break room is quite plain, much plainer that you would have expected given the activities conducted inside doors at times" he smirked and added "Maybe I'll pay you a visit someday, yeah? See if everyone is treating you right?" it then occurred to him that he had no idea if she had a boyfriend or not. He knew she had a over protective brother, that was well established. But what if she was just super nice and polite and he was reading way too much into everything? He frowned a little, but quickly bounced back, playing his super smooth and inconspicuous game -not.

"I mean... that is if you don't have a boyfriend there, who will hex me to Ireland and black if I show my face, no?" he was half joking, but still looked at her expectantly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jojogali

He chuckled at her slightly offended answer "I'll make sure to ride that specific one, if you promise to do the same" he then winked at her grin, she looked a bit flustered by what she said and that made him let out a heartily laugh. "Room for more action you say?" he continued teasing, wiggling his eyebrows "I'd think hunting Hags would be quite thrilling really, but you tell me it's tedious? How come?" he wanted to know about all about it - his work had been mostly in his desk, but he would really call it tedious. In fact he was quite excited with the new project he and Fate were working on.

"I haven't been potion brewing exactly... but I've been working with Fate" he mentioned, not paying attention to the fact Meredith did not know who Fate was "on building a catalogue of misuses and most common poisoning symptoms! It's been a real challenge, and quite exciting! She was an arts teacher before, so she does these amazing drawings of people growing two heads and a beard. You must see it sometime" his happy grin stretched even wider on his face and he ran his fingers through his hair absentmindedly.

Then it was Gallow's turn to look chocked "Of course you are interesting, you're the most interesting thing that happened to me since I've moved to London, really!" he listened to her describe her break room and her level. It did sound interesting. But what most interested him was the fact that she would be there and she was sort of inviting him to go over and visit her. "It does sound interesting, our break room is quite plain, much plainer that you would have expected given the activities conducted inside doors at times" he smirked and added "Maybe I'll pay you a visit someday, yeah? See if everyone is treating you right?" it then occurred to him that he had no idea if she had a boyfriend or not. He knew she had a over protective brother, that was well established. But what if she was just super nice and polite and he was reading way too much into everything? He frowned a little, but quickly bounced back, playing his super smooth and inconspicuous game -not.

"I mean... that is if you don't have a boyfriend there, who will hex me to Ireland and black if I show my face, no?" he was half joking, but still looked at her expectantly.

Oh good he had noticed she was acting offended. Leaning slightly closer she grinned at his comment about the lift, “why I think that sounds like a wonderful plan Gallowglass” she chuckled and lifting her coffee to her lips and took a little sip only to cough slightly at the action comment. “I…” glancing up at him just in time to see him waggling his eyebrows at her. “Why yes I do say” she was trying to sound like she had everything under control like she was smooth. She was anything but.

“It gets quite tedious when you can’t find the hags at all” she chuckled and shook her head. “Honestly, the last five ‘hags’ - ” as she said the word hags she made air quotes with her fingers as really, this was something utterly bizarre, “were just little unfortunately warty muggles and older witches as well” she admitted with a sigh. “So…there’s been a lot of deskwork really?” She admitted with a shrug of her shoulder.

He hadn’t been brewing? Listening to Gallowglass talk about his work really made it obvious that he enjoyed it. Okay, so maybe she was eying him after the mention of the name Fate…who was this Fate? Oh…she was his coworker and creative and probably excessively pretty…”now that does sound like a drawing I would love to see” Meredith grinned…okay, so maybe that didn’t sound as enthusiastic as it should have but really, what was she supposed to do? “The only ‘interesting’ coworker I have is the one that is trying to develop a new type of coffee” she paused for a moment “with the properties of dragon dung…by feeding the coffee beans to dragons” she thought it was interesting but was always curious whether the dragon’s fire would pre-roast the beans.

Wait…she was the most interesting thing to happen to him since moving back to London? Meredith grinned at that comment and mentally filed it for later use – “of course you should –“ she paused as she heard his next question and tried not to blush at his question. The blush was more caused by the little creeping smile finding its way to her face.

Why would her having a boyfriend or not be an issue? Meredith was about to ask when she glanced up at him and sighed…”Honestly, I’ve not had one in quite some time” she admitted with a laugh that may have sounded a little on the verge of hysterics. Truly it had been over a year since she had had a real ‘boyfriends’…sure she had dates and every possible relationship she had, had seemed to fizzle out the moment her brother tried to scare the guys off. Seriously. He was a bit much. “Peyton scared off most of the ‘potential’ people,” she admitted with a laugh…”so…I take it then that you are single as well?” She asked raising an eyebrow. Why else would he be concerned about her having a boyfriend or not.

Her smooth answer earned her another cheeky grin, but he decided to drop it. Gallowglass didn't want Meredith to get embarrassed by him.

Desk work was safe, he secretly was glad she had been doing a lot of that, plus it guaranteed that if he did decide to pop in and visit her, she'd be around. Maybe. "That's a bummer" he frowned "I don't know if this is something you're not authorized to talk about but how do you do it? Where do the leads on hags come from? I mean, we don't really hear a lot about them in the paper do we? Its almost like they don't really exist." He didn't even want to imagine they lived amongst wizards freely, but that was probably the truth. Hence the need for a unit dedicated to hunting them.

He frowned again, tilting his head to the side watching Meredith. For a moment she looked ... off. And then she was talking about some interesting coworker she had and he felt a painful sting of something that had him clenching his jaw involuntarily. "It sounds similar to a Muggle practice of feeding the beans to monkeys, though I reckon Dragons are much more interesting subjects." if did sound interesting. Plus he enjoyed coffee enough to see the potential of such experiment, still he didn't like the interesting coworker bit. "I can show you some of the drawings if you'd like, they're really neat. We have a few very.. creative ones on the misuse of some beauty potions that are absolutely disgusting" he chuckled remembering.

But then the frown that had set was lifted and he couldn'd stop the smirk that crept his features. Hah! Triumph! She did not have a boyfriend. And he most definitely wasn't scared of her brother, he was a grown up man after all, what could he do to try and scare him off anyway? "That's something we have to work on then" he replied huskily, nerves maybe? "Maybe your previous.. potential people were just too scaredy" he made a pause, sighing "I'd like to ask you out Meredith, on a dinner, coffee, whatever you like. I'm afraid you might find me forward, but I kept thinking about you ever since we met, and it seems that even though we work in the same place, running into each other is nearly impossible. I don't want to waste this opportunity." he was now leaning so close his knees bumped with Meredith's and he was looking straight at her, right in the eyes, releasing his gaze with full power. There was no need in confirming he did not have a girlfriend, otherwise he wouldn't be asking her what he was asking "I'd like to know you better, to spend some time with you..." suddenly he got insecure, and his voice dropped "I mean, if that's something you'd like too...?" she had every right to tell him to get lost. Maybe she was just being nice? Maybe he totally misread the situation and was in for an awkward Thank you, but no thank you moment. Oh Merlin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jojogali

Her smooth answer earned her another cheeky grin, but he decided to drop it. Gallowglass didn't want Meredith to get embarrassed by him.

Desk work was safe, he secretly was glad she had been doing a lot of that, plus it guaranteed that if he did decide to pop in and visit her, she'd be around. Maybe. "That's a bummer" he frowned "I don't know if this is something you're not authorized to talk about but how do you do it? Where do the leads on hags come from? I mean, we don't really hear a lot about them in the paper do we? Its almost like they don't really exist." He didn't even want to imagine they lived amongst wizards freely, but that was probably the truth. Hence the need for a unit dedicated to hunting them.

He frowned again, tilting his head to the side watching Meredith. For a moment she looked ... off. And then she was talking about some interesting coworker she had and he felt a painful sting of something that had him clenching his jaw involuntarily. "It sounds similar to a Muggle practice of feeding the beans to monkeys, though I reckon Dragons are much more interesting subjects." if did sound interesting. Plus he enjoyed coffee enough to see the potential of such experiment, still he didn't like the interesting coworker bit. "I can show you some of the drawings if you'd like, they're really neat. We have a few very.. creative ones on the misuse of some beauty potions that are absolutely disgusting" he chuckled remembering.

But then the frown that had set was lifted and he couldn'd stop the smirk that crept his features. Hah! Triumph! She did not have a boyfriend. And he most definitely wasn't scared of her brother, he was a grown up man after all, what could he do to try and scare him off anyway? "That's something we have to work on then" he replied huskily, nerves maybe? "Maybe your previous.. potential people were just too scaredy" he made a pause, sighing "I'd like to ask you out Meredith, on a dinner, coffee, whatever you like. I'm afraid you might find me forward, but I kept thinking about you ever since we met, and it seems that even though we work in the same place, running into each other is nearly impossible. I don't want to waste this opportunity." he was now leaning so close his knees bumped with Meredith's and he was looking straight at her, right in the eyes, releasing his gaze with full power. There was no need in confirming he did not have a girlfriend, otherwise he wouldn't be asking her what he was asking "I'd like to know you better, to spend some time with you..." suddenly he got insecure, and his voice dropped "I mean, if that's something you'd like too...?" she had every right to tell him to get lost. Maybe she was just being nice? Maybe he totally misread the situation and was in for an awkward Thank you, but no thank you moment. Oh Merlin.

Meredith considered things for a moment and then shrugged, “you and Peyton both feel the same way” she chuckled and grinned over to the older Accidents & Catastrophes worker. “No of course not its something I can say of course,” she smiled softly, “honestly I think that’s on purpose? The not hearing about hags…we don’t want people to be fearful of the potential of something that we try and keep an eye on?” She admitted with a small smile. “We get Patronus warnings of sightings sometimes and some people owl us about them” she grinned, “the more dire ones are informed by Patronus…” she smiled at him.

Meredith nodded “that was exactly what I was thinking about when he brought it up” she admitted with a grin. “I was actually more curious if that would pre-roast the beans,” she admitted with a little shrug of the shoulder. “Oh that sounds great” she grinned, sure she wasn’t pleased about it being a coworkers artwork but still…still, maybe it would be a good excuse to spend time with him?

He was sort of frowning for a bit there…? What was that about? Oh they had to work on her brother scaring guys off? Wait…he had said we? She couldn’t help but grin at that and that husky tone to his voice was definitely going to make her mind a hopeless puddle “Maybe they were,” she grinned and felt her cheeks warm as he continued and asked her on a date. Why would she think him forward? “I don’t –“ her blush deepened as she realized just how off she had worded that “find you forward” she added quickly almost flailing as she spoke. “I think that would be nice the whole going out bit” she paused for a moment the weight of his words hitting her.

“You’ve kept thinking about me?” She asked almost stumbling over her words “I….” she paused “thought –“ wait no she was not going to tell him she had thought about him too. No. That was not going to happen. “I mean uh…think that would be awfully nice,” she admitted with a small smile. “When were you thinking?” She asked careful not to trip over her words. There was no way she was going to let herself tell him that he had enchanting eyes.

"Pre-roast of the beans is a smart observation, that could potentially lead to some very tasty coffee, even though the whole process makes me a little confused to be honest" he admitted with a laugh, sticking his tongue out at the idea of eating something a Dragon had previously digested. Yes, he was a grownup man that sometimes acted as juvenile as a 17year old.

The heartbeats it took for Meredith to answer him, had him feeling much younger than he really was - Hogwarts young - his hands even became a little sweaty. But then she spoke, and her cheeks were becoming a lovely shade of pink and then furious red. So red he had to avert his gaze to his hands in fear he would burn himself, or give in to the urge to touch them. Was that a good sign or a bad sign? He couldn't decide.

He fidgeted his family ring trying to calm himself and read her reaction. She don't? Oh she didn't find that forward, phew, he was scared there for a moment. It was like that awful feeling of missing a step down the stairs and feeling your whole body weight being pulled to the center of the earth. But I must of have embarrassed, he thought to himself, she's crimson red!. He pondered for a heartbeat about how he must have come out, all intense and creepy. Dang it Gallow, tone it down.

"Oh, well.." he began, nonchalantly and a little disappointed she didn't seem exactly as excited as he had hoped she would be "Our department offered us tickets to the Junior Quidditch championship. I thought that would be a nice opportunity to have fun and maybe get to know each other?" he knew it was still a few weeks until the championship, but it was the first thing that popped into his head. And maybe this way he didn't sound as desperate as he was afraid he did? He tried to act cool, detached.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jojogali

"Pre-roast of the beans is a smart observation, that could potentially lead to some very tasty coffee, even though the whole process makes me a little confused to be honest" he admitted with a laugh, sticking his tongue out at the idea of eating something a Dragon had previously digested. Yes, he was a grownup man that sometimes acted as juvenile as a 17year old.

The heartbeats it took for Meredith to answer him, had him feeling much younger than he really was - Hogwarts young - his hands even became a little sweaty. But then she spoke, and her cheeks were becoming a lovely shade of pink and then furious red. So red he had to avert his gaze to his hands in fear he would burn himself, or give in to the urge to touch them. Was that a good sign or a bad sign? He couldn't decide.

He fidgeted his family ring trying to calm himself and read her reaction. She don't? Oh she didn't find that forward, phew, he was scared there for a moment. It was like that awful feeling of missing a step down the stairs and feeling your whole body weight being pulled to the center of the earth. But I must of have embarrassed, he thought to himself, she's crimson red!. He pondered for a heartbeat about how he must have come out, all intense and creepy. Dang it Gallow, tone it down.

"Oh, well.." he began, nonchalantly and a little disappointed she didn't seem exactly as excited as he had hoped she would be "Our department offered us tickets to the Junior Quidditch championship. I thought that would be a nice opportunity to have fun and maybe get to know each other?" he knew it was still a few weeks until the championship, but it was the first thing that popped into his head. And maybe this way he didn't sound as desperate as he was afraid he did? He tried to act cool, detached.

“I don’t know much about the process myself,” she admitted with a laugh. “I’ll have to talk to Mordred about it if I want to learn on that…” she grinned at him and then the nerves kicked in. How had she said that? What had she done?

Oh merlin he had read into that wrong. Meredith had to fix this, it was imperative she didn’t want him to have the wrong impression for one thing. “No no no no wait” she was flailing and thought he’d probably leave without getting a more clear answer. Reaching out she placed her hand on his knee not even caring that her hand was a bit clammy or the fact that he might be able to tell just how fast her heart was beating.

“I didn’t mean to make you think that I didn’t want to go” she plowed forward and glanced stared at his knee for a bit. “I was a bit taken aback honestly and and and you weren’t forward” she was stumbling over words and repeating them in her nervousness. “I…” she paused and glanced up at him a slight smirk playing at her lips, “I thought about you too actually” she admitted her cheeks still quite red.

“that…that sounds nice” she muttered in response to the quidditch championship. Glancing up at his eyes again she didn’t even notice that she was speaking not until it was too late. “You have really enchanting eyes” the words were almost inaudible to anyone walking past, but seeing as Gallowglass was within touching-distance it was most likely he would hear them.

His deception and confusion must have shown because Meredith was quick to rephrase her answer, placing her hand on his knee, the warmth of her hand spreading an electric wave through his body. She was everywhere, flailing explaining herself to him. He let his hand rest on top of hers and smiled softly "No, it's ok. I think I got a bit carried away. I just don't want you to feel like you have to say yes to me if you don't really feel like it" she didn't have to get so nervous about it, it was fine really, he could understand if she didn't find him as interes- what? She had thought about him?

"Meredith..." he hushed pulling her hand between his and squeezing it lightly speaking at the same time as her "It's ok. I'm sorry for this awkward moment. Let's just start over and -" enchanting eyes? Oh Merlin. They were a pair made in heaven, both of them had the tendency to just say what comes to mind it seems.

His smile pulled up the corner of his mouth, and he dropped his head smiling, hair covering his eyes. He took a minute to gather himself. He knew he wasn't bad looking, he had girlfriends in the past, but again, Meredith could make him feel as shy as a school boy.

"Enchanting eyes?" he repeated, finally looking up into her eyes playfully "Meredith.." he sat straighter, took one of his hands from the hold he had on hers to pull his hair back and quickly returned it to cover Meredith's "Let's rewind. I'd like to take you out. Coffee? One of these days? Then the Quidditch match, if we get along and I prove myself not to be a Hag in disguise? And your brother doesn't hex me to hell of course" he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Cool people have three letter names? It had been a very long time since he'd been classed as cool. If indeed he ever had been. But he had a feeling her grin was for a specific reason. "You including yourself in that, huh?" He smiled inbetween bites of food, raising an eyebrow at her. Unless she didn't call herself Lex, like he was assuming. In which case, he kind of hoped she did not take that question as an insult. Especially as the conversation was so far so pleasant.

"Yeah, that'll be all the sugar." He chuckled and waved a forkful of salad in the air. "This is much better for you. Probably doesn't taste as nice, I'll admit." Although the steak was mouthwatering. The best one he'd ever eaten. And he did feel kind of bad about doing so in front of her, when she was obviously in dire need of something filling. But if paperwork had to come first, he wasn't going to lecture her on a work/life balance. She probably wouldn't appreciate it.

Instead he did his best to listen and eat and nod along to her reasons for not tucking in. Plans, huh? The kind she wasn't willing to back out of. Intriguing. "Doing something fun?"

Gallowglass was adorable awkward that was the one thing she had taken from this experience…that and he liked her or well wanted to get to know her and that was a nice thing now wasn’t it? The way that he smiled just made her want to sit and watch but that was not going to happen.

No need to go total creeper on him.

“I actually…” she sighed “I’ve had far more awkward of situations before…I’m awkward or well I usually am the one that causes them” she admitted with a little laugh and then she heard it. Enchanting eyes.

Oh Merlin’s flaming underwear! She had said that aloud! Still, it wasn’t something she was going to deny, “y-yes very much so” she admitted blushing still. Hearing his suggestion about rewinding their conversation…dear merlin that was a brilliant idea.

“Yes. That sounds like a lovely idea rewind to before all of that and…” she grinned “I think that sounds rather nice” she smiled at him and laughed a bit. “I have a feeling I would have my ways of telling if you were a hag” she grinned slightly and then Peyton…right, that could be a problem. “I…yeah, I’ve got a feeling that Peyton will go for the subtly trying to find things out about you route first” she laughed and grinned over to him. “I’m sure he’ll just try and ask questions like about your age…” or he would sneak in and check out the CV to find out his age. Meredith wouldn’t put it past him.

"O'course I am." She said, her grin not wavering for a moment. "Lex works just fine for me. I can't think of many people who use the whole thing." The whole thing being her full name naturally. "I prefer they do if they're gonna go into deviations like 'Lexi' instead. I don't think I've ever hated a nickname more. There are no 'I's in my name so as you can imagine, it doesn't work well. Similarly being called Alexis is the quickest way to get me to ignore someone." Why people chose to change the name her parents had thought so hard on was beyond her.

"I mean, it's not to say I don't accept nicknames, they don't even have to have anything to do with my actual name but if they do....they shouldn't be adding letters that aren't there, you know?" And Merlin had she been called a few. Baby Lion, Lexi, Lexy Pexy, Prefect Candy, Candy Girl, Dollface. It may have sounded like she was prattling off about nonesense but this was what conversation turned into after a bit of sugar. Very casual conversation that distracted her momentarily from her papers.

She should have been watching the salad as he waved it about but her gaze was once again fixed on the steak. Being the avid meat eater that she was, it would always hold more appeal. "You know something? you remind me of my ex-partner, Rhydian. He used to try telling me how great greens were for me too. Even tried getting me to eat them when we lived together." Tried being the operative word. "You got anyone else you're trying to preach the greens to?" Nosy? Why yes, she was--usually when she had other things she SHOULD have been doing.

As for the plans (further distraction from the paperwork she'd been so determined to get done a moment ago). "...You might say that. Yeah....yeah, fun plans. Brilliant really. Couple hours from now I don't expect to still be in the country."

Awkward and Awkwarder is that was even a thing, that would be their thing. For sure. He could totally see her getting into awkward situations, after all they met after she literally walked into him. He chuckled lightly. "I believe you" he said with a wink.

He let her comment about his eyes slide, being afraid she might spontaneously combust "I'd say the same about you Meredith..." he murmed sweetly, but then he was laughing. All awkwardness gone from the air as they both joked about what her brother would do, and him being an Hag.

"I think I'd look lovely dressed as an old lady, don't you think" still holding her hand, he pulled his walled and browsed it for a moment, retrieving a photo of his - a really old photo of him with long hair (the longest he ever had) looking all battered, but smiling nevertheless. He showed it to her, smiling, not minding his looks "Just picture me with some flowy robes and less blood." It was quite macabre that he kept that photo, but it was Louis's idea to register the moment they he had returned after that particularly hard expedition.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jojogali

Awkward and Awkwarder is that was even a thing, that would be their thing. For sure. He could totally see her getting into awkward situations, after all they met after she literally walked into him. He chuckled lightly. "I believe you" he said with a wink.

He let her comment about his eyes slide, being afraid she might spontaneously combust "I'd say the same about you Meredith..." he murmed sweetly, but then he was laughing. All awkwardness gone from the air as they both joked about what her brother would do, and him being an Hag.

"I think I'd look lovely dressed as an old lady, don't you think" still holding her hand, he pulled his walled and browsed it for a moment, retrieving a photo of his - a really old photo of him with long hair (the longest he ever had) looking all battered, but smiling nevertheless. He showed it to her, smiling, not minding his looks "Just picture me with some flowy robes and less blood." It was quite macabre that he kept that photo, but it was Louis's idea to register the moment they he had returned after that particularly hard expedition.

Shaking her head Meredith just chuckled when he agreed with her. Perfect, she had just called herself awkward and he had agreed with her…still, she had walked straight into him on their first meeting. Still she was a little thankful that he had let the eye-comment go for now.

“Thank you,” she murmured grinning softly at the sound of his laugh. “Oh come on” she shook her head laughing, “I still don’t think you would look like a hag – what is this?” She asked as she leaned forward and looked at the photograph.

“Wha” she glanced at him and chuckled “your hair is longer than mine ever was in this photograph” she glanced back over to him tilting her head a bit. “True I could try and picture that but what about the tell-tale old-lady look? Or the warts?” She asked glancing over to him and sighed a bit. “If you try and convince me I’ll have to take you at your word” she grinned over to him.