Oh she was asking about her children, well this was always a fun thing for a mom. "I actually have a family photo that was just taken this summer, that is a very rare thing for us." She chuckled before pulling it out. "This is my fifteen year old,Bart, he is a fifth year at Hogwarts. These two are my three year old twins, Alana and Elisa, and this is my husband, he is a professor at Hogwarts." Not that any of that probably mattered to her, but that was her introduction of her family. She loved and was so proud of every single one of them.

She listened to her talk about traveling and let her mind go to possibly planning a few trips this coming year, but that would be if she didn't become minister. If she did then there would be lots going on and she might not be able to get a vacation. She'd have to wait and see. "Where is your favorite place to visit from all the places you've visited?"

"Yes I did graduate from Hogwarts forever and a day ago." It felt so long ago now. "Wonderful experience going there. Did you go to Salem in the States?" She didn't know if there were other schools, she assumed there were, but she only knew Salem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104

Dragons were pretty cool, Bhuvana had to admit that. She wasn't that stuffy as to not appreciate them. She nodded slowly throughout William's spiel, taking in what she could understand enjoying. Tracking migration seemed like someone she would like to do...would've liked to if she was interested in that sort of thing. Obviously.

She tilted her head at his expression. It looked impressed, but… it probably wasn't. For Merlin's sake, he dealt with DRAGONS. She dealt with, at most, toy dragons. Merlin. As for his 'everything' comment, she was wondering when his child level of understanding would show. "Yes, everything…" she said, a bit condescending-sounding, but she remedied it quickly by nodding and thinking of a funny story and definitely not blushing at his wink. She didn't really find things malfunctioning funny, especially not about her… but for some reason she wanted to impress William, and maybe get a laugh in about herself. It was proven that improved self-confidence, or something like that.

"Well, once, I mean, it was probably my first week of this year in the job… we had to test these… you know… um… children's toys. A magical version of muggle spinning tops, basically. And my colleague left the room for coffee, or something, and I was making marks to see if any were defective, and I turned because I heard him coming back in, and I felt something hit the side of my cheek. And, obviously, I was a bit confused, so I turned back around and one of the tops was still spinning and shooting out jam every few revolutions." She cracked a smile, to show that he could laugh. Har, har.

"Not all are as nice as jam, though. I got this from a dysfunctional broomstick." She leaned forward, tilting her right cheekbone at him and pointing to a faded and curved scar. Oops.

Yes, everything... ah, there was the good old condescending Bhuvana. Not that William minded; after all, he had just mocked himself in his own head. Now when she was being herself, he just found her amusing. And was she blushing there? No, it must just be a trick of the light. What did this confident woman have to blush about?

"So you got splattered by jam, is that what you're saying?" Willy let out a small roar of laughter at Bhu's expense, since she appeared to be smiling too. A small smile, but he would count it. "I see now why you got so defensive at the Ministry cocktail party... it must have brought up old memories from your first week on the job." He chuckled again, only joking of course; it wasn't a mean chuckle, and he lightly patted the table in his amusement.

But oh, she had some battle scars too? William leaned in toward her cheek, tilting his face too and to an outsider, it must have looked like he was going to kiss her on her scar... but he quickly leaned away and looked at the ground with a small cough, half-embarrassed for his own thoughts. "Impressive," he said as his brown eyes flicked back up to meet hers. "If we're comparing scars, though," he tugged up his arm sleeve, all the way up to his bicep where he had a moving dragon tattoo. The scar was a long, white-pink jagged line running through the tattoo and over his shoulder just a bit. "Check out this one. Came too close a baby hatching a few summers back. Adorable but ferocious little feller." Yeah, that had been QUITE a few summers back.

Cassie leaned over to look at the photo. "Oh they're adorable." The young ones, she meant, not the fifteen-year-old. Adorable wouldn't be the right word there. And her husband was a professor? "What does he teach?"

Her favorite place? Cassie had to consider that for a minute. Actually, for a while. How could she possibly pick one place to label as her favorite after she'd been to so many amazing places. "I do like the warmer climates a little better. I enjoyed my time in the Caribbean." She hadn't been there for very long, only about three weeks, and it had been more of a vacation than work related travel. Maybe that's why she'd enjoyed it so much. She had been able to relax and lounge around in the sun. Yeah, that had been nice.

"What house were you in?" She didn't know how significant that was. If her house made any difference or if Victoria would even remember. Probably, but Cassie didn't really know. Her only experience with Hogwarts had been with books, and slightly outdated books at that. Of course she'd met plenty of people who had gone to Hogwarts but she hadn't really talked to them about it. She'd always had more important things to do. "Yes I did, and then I went to a University associated with Salem." To make up for her lack of insider knowledge about Hogwarts, Cassie knew plenty about Salem.

Bhuvana had regained her normal complexion. No blushing whatsoever. But that would change later because zomg bicep. Anyway. Cough cough. Bhuvana raised an eyebrow at him, shook her head slightly because PSH the childishness, but giggled a little. Which was REALLY WEIRD. Because Bhuvana never giggled. Ever. It sounded weird coming from her mouth, like girls she pretended to be friends with in school. Totally alien.

Oh gosh. He brought that food fight up? "Surprisingly, that was not the focus." She lifted her eyes to look at him and realized that it might have sounded like she had been focused on him. AS IF. No. Not in any way, shape, or form. Not at all. "I just mean… you ruined my hair. Which normally wouldn't have been a problem, but I-" For a split second, she was tempted to blurt out something about having a date later that night, which was 1) a lie and 2) one of the weirdest thoughts she had ever had. What even WAS her brain right now? Not enough work in it. She waved off the rest of her sentence and bent her head slightly towards her work.

Only to glance back up and see his arm. Wow. She might've been zoning out looking at it for a little too uncharacteristically long, which would explain why she shot upright and straightened her posture, causing her back to crack loudly. She coughed, a little throat clearing, then said as impersonally as possible, "Nice tattoo." Pause. "Wicked scar." She tried the phrase out in her head. Wicked. Wicked. Wicked. It didn't even seem like a word once she repeated it enough times.

She smiled as Cassie complimented her family, "Thank you." Putting the picture away she lifted her eyes as she asked about Cossy. "He is the potions master there. My son is actually the one that had introduced us." It was a funny story really and one that she kept dear to her.

Had she stumped her or maybe it wasn't a good question. Victoria hoped she didn't ask something that was wrong to ask, but it was just about traveling. Then when Cassie continued she smiled, "The Caribbean seems nice. " She had never been anywhere close to it, but maybe one day. "Cossy and I are thinking of taking a trip around winter break for our year anniversary. Maybe that might be a nice place." Once the election was over she was going to need a small break Minister or not and that would be the perfect time to get away for a bit.

She smiled thinking of her old house, she had truly adored her house and her time at school, "I was a Hufflepuff." and a very proud one at that. "Do you know many things about that houses?" Though looking back now it didn't seem to matter as much on which house you were in, but at the time it was just so important. She listened as she spoke about her own school, Salem was one she had heard about over the years, but not one she knew much about. "Did you like it there?" She wondered the safety there compared to Hogwarts, but wasn't sure how to ask.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104

Bhuvana had regained her normal complexion. No blushing whatsoever. But that would change later because zomg bicep. Anyway. Cough cough. Bhuvana raised an eyebrow at him, shook her head slightly because PSH the childishness, but giggled a little. Which was REALLY WEIRD. Because Bhuvana never giggled. Ever. It sounded weird coming from her mouth, like girls she pretended to be friends with in school. Totally alien.

Oh gosh. He brought that food fight up? "Surprisingly, that was not the focus." She lifted her eyes to look at him and realized that it might have sounded like she had been focused on him. AS IF. No. Not in any way, shape, or form. Not at all. "I just mean… you ruined my hair. Which normally wouldn't have been a problem, but I-" For a split second, she was tempted to blurt out something about having a date later that night, which was 1) a lie and 2) one of the weirdest thoughts she had ever had. What even WAS her brain right now? Not enough work in it. She waved off the rest of her sentence and bent her head slightly towards her work.

Only to glance back up and see his arm. Wow. She might've been zoning out looking at it for a little too uncharacteristically long, which would explain why she shot upright and straightened her posture, causing her back to crack loudly. She coughed, a little throat clearing, then said as impersonally as possible, "Nice tattoo." Pause. "Wicked scar." She tried the phrase out in her head. Wicked. Wicked. Wicked. It didn't even seem like a word once she repeated it enough times.

Heh, she just giggled. William wanted to point out that Bhuvana had a sense of humor, because she seemed to need reminding of that, but he also didn't want to be a jerk and ruin the moment. She had laughed though. She had. He was going to record this moment in his mind... but for now, he just laughed too.

Oh no? What WAS the focus of their food fight then? He coolly raised an eyebrow. "...the hair, ah, right right. Well, the fondue in it must have helped, because your hair looks particularly shiny today." He almost reached a hand out to touch it but swiftly turned that hand into just a pointer finger, pointing at her head and then quickly falling to his lap again. Whew. Close one. He almost just embarrassed himself.

Thaaaat was quite a reaction to his muscles arm, he had to say. "You like it?" Willy rolled down his sleeve after glancing at it for himself. And the scar, too. "Thanks. I have another tattoo, but I've been thinking of getting a third in that shop in Diagon Alley, ya know? It looks like a cool place." Did Bhuvana have any tattoos? Something told William that no, she did not. She probably didn't have many scars either. She looked like she took good care of her pretty skin.

Bhuvana ceased her giggles at an opportune time to hear William's laugh alone, which was a nice laugh. It was very... full. Like his amusement had found its way through the entirety of his body. She stopped thinking about that, but made a mental note to notice it more often.

She matched his eyebrow raise, then raised her other eyebrow as well. What was his question, hmm??? Oh. Her hair. She stayed still as his finger moved towards her head, inwardly thankful that he stopped before reaching her hair, which was not as cooperative today. "...Thank you?" she said, reaching for a strand of her hair to examine. Looked normally shiny, she guessed, but maybe the light was hitting it differently. She placed the strand back behind her ear, taking caution to not get her dangly gold earring stuck.

Asdfghjkl what? She liked his arm, thank you very mu-oh. The tattoo. "It's impressive," she said, remaining purposefully ambiguous. "What's your other tattoo of?" And if it was on his abdominals could she please see it? She did not know of the tattoo shop, as she usually shopped in the muggle market a block away from her flat, and hadn't needed magical supplies in a couple of months. "I've never gotten a tattoo. Henna's good enough for me." She normally had her arms and hands covered in the intricate patterns. "I have some in my bag right now," she commented casually, poking her bag with her toe, "I'm in need of a flower on my arm."

SHE DIDN'T EVEN LIKE EATING HER FOOD HERE!!!

After working with the ministry for quite a bit, she had gotten really good at avoiding this place too. This gross, greasy, grimy little excuse of a "food court". Food court? More like "DISEASE court". But uh, first time for everything maybe? Okay, so it wasn't exactly her first time, but she'd make sure it was the last. Goodness, maybe she was taking this whole 'separation' thing way too far. Like, eating on the same floor as him couldn't be all that bad for her brain, right?

Right. No man will EVER make her question her choice in food eating venue, ever again.

The brunette was sat in a pink chair, as she eyed her salad bowl. Her heart did a thing, one of those skippy things, as she caught a quick glimpse of a red tomato. He wore a tie that-- MERLIN he was EVERYWHERE. She couldn't eat her stupid salad without having him pop up in her head. It was HORRIBLE. And now she was stabbing the lettuce leaves quiet angrily. Ahem. Nothing to see here people... Just a very well dressed woman, with pristine curled hair... who just so happens to be angrily eating her salad. It's very casual over in Level One.

Hah, this was cool, Luc thought as he entered in the Food Court to get his grub on. There was some pretty good food choices here, almost as good as back at Hogwarts. But here he was officially dining like the adult he was working here. He chose a nice seat with his chicken wrap, it wasn't a huge meal but it did the filling up nicely.

Deliah was carrying her stew and dumplings and entered the seating area and looked for a seat and saw a man sitting alone and walked over to where he was sat eating and said "Hey mind if i join you?" Deliah needed to meet new people for sure

Luc was about to take another deliiiiicious bite into his meal when his mouth was already mid-open. His head turned to see who asked him. Oh, she looked nice. "Sure!" and seemed to be just as nice! Like his Uncle taught him, he got up to open the other chair for her, "My name's Luc, what's yours?"

Deliah took a seat and put her stew down on the table and said "Nice to meet you Luc, my name is Deliah" Deliah was glad to have got a seat now she could enjoy her meal and chat to Luc to get to know him better

Yet another holiday had gone past in solitude and as much as Charles liked being alone and enjoying peaceful silence, he was glad he was back. There just needed to be a few moments of silence before he faced his mountain of paperwork, but the breakroom wasn't the place to be since Gidyun had put the stupid gaming console in there. He straightened his paper out and took a sip of his coffee as he sat at one of the few clean, quiet tables.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Becky

Yet another holiday had gone past in solitude and as much as Charles liked being alone and enjoying peaceful silence, he was glad he was back. There just needed to be a few moments of silence before he faced his mountain of paperwork, but the breakroom wasn't the place to be since Gidyun had put the stupid gaming console in there. He straightened his paper out and took a sip of his coffee as he sat at one of the few clean, quiet tables.

Lynley refused to eat the food they sold here. So she'd brought her own lunch, bought an apple juice, and set it all neatly on a tray as she search around a table to sit at.

Hmm.

One with people? One empty? She opted for an empty table. Lynley wasn't in the mood to talk today. She was walking rather quickly, too, and her heels were, of course, high. The click-clack of the bosses heels always struck fear into the employees hearts, as Lynley knew from experience from BOTH ends of the spectrum.

And suddenly--her heel made connection with something--and she tripped, very uncharacteristically, and her tray fumbled into a man's lap.

Well.

It wasn't her fault.

Setting his coffee back on the table gently, Charles sat up a little straighter as he read an article that described international relations. He wasn't paying attention to anyone around him until a tray ripped the paper from his hands. It left him staring at the tray instead of the article and he had to now look up to see who or what had disturbed his morning.

He set the tray to the side and offered his hand to the lady who seemed to own the offending item. No wonder she'd fallen, those heels were ridiculously high! "Are you okay, Miss?" Surely she'd hurt herself.

Of all the days to leave her lunch at home...

Forced into visiting the Ministry's Food Court, Marilyn mentally berated herself as she went about making selections. It wasn't anything personal against the quality of the establishment. The food was delicious and mostly cooked in healthy fats and oils...but she'd made rainbow quiche the night before and had been craving the leftovers all morning.

At least she hadn't left it sitting out to go bad...if she was focusing on the positive. Which was a good practice as she felt mild annoyance towards her daughter for being a handful.

Kids.

Finally settling on grilled chicken wraps and gillywater, the blonde paid and went to grab a seat towards the corner of the cafeteria.

The best part about working at the Ministry now? Olly could AFFORD things. Important things. Like food things. Good food things. And they had a food court here too. Maybe she would buy Józsua and herself something to eat for dinner after work. Maybe that casserole.

Olly had spent way too long looking at the menu over at the buffet. But eventually she had bought herself a fruit salad and a sandwich before sitting down at an empty table. This was pretty cool. She felt very grown-up right now. Which she would never say out loud because it sounded really really dumb but you know.

She was quite proud of herself.

"It's nice to meet you too, Deliah," Luc continued enjoying his meal while conversing, "So what department do you work under?" He didn't think she worked in the same area as he or he would've already known.

Deliah smiled at Luc and said "I work in games and sports Luc, what department do you work in? Deliah didnt know that many people from outside of her own department

Quote:

Originally Posted by Becky

Setting his coffee back on the table gently, Charles sat up a little straighter as he read an article that described international relations. He wasn't paying attention to anyone around him until a tray ripped the paper from his hands. It left him staring at the tray instead of the article and he had to now look up to see who or what had disturbed his morning.

He set the tray to the side and offered his hand to the lady who seemed to own the offending item. No wonder she'd fallen, those heels were ridiculously high! "Are you okay, Miss?" Surely she'd hurt herself.

Lynley stood up, quickly, and huffed a little. Man should watch where his leg was--MERLIN. She could have killed herself. And how HORRIBLE that would have looked for the Ministry, eh? Killed by a man's outstretched LEG.

"...I am fine, thank you very much." She said shortly as she eyed her...tray on his lap. "Luckily--I packed a lunch--none of it fell on you, right?" she hoped not...because then she'd feel obligated to pay for his dry cleaning or...whatever. And how much of a fuss that would be. "Have you tried sitting with your legs ....you know, UNDER the table?"

Was that rude?

It was a bit rude.

Lynley smiled to seem less rude.

Well the whole tray had landed on him, so should he pedantic about it? "None of it made a mess." he answered, eyeing the woman. Manners didn't seem to be her thing, it seemed. "I was sat out of the way, reading up on international relations in peace." He blinked at her. His foot might have been just a tiny bit out, but not that much! Was she saying he had big feet? Humpf.

He bit back a nasty response and looked the woman over again. Bite the bullet, Charles. "I apologise that my actions caused you to fall." See? That hadn't hurt too much, had it? Do not mention anything about the heels... and definitely do not mention about her being cautious. He was going to be good. He gave the tiniest, most forced, pained smile that had ever graced his face to the woman. This apologising for things that weren't his fault thing was tiring.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Becky

Well the whole tray had landed on him, so should he pedantic about it? "None of it made a mess." he answered, eyeing the woman. Manners didn't seem to be her thing, it seemed. "I was sat out of the way, reading up on international relations in peace." He blinked at her. His foot might have been just a tiny bit out, but not that much! Was she saying he had big feet? Humpf.

He bit back a nasty response and looked the woman over again. Bite the bullet, Charles. "I apologise that my actions caused you to fall." See? That hadn't hurt too much, had it? Do not mention anything about the heels... and definitely do not mention about her being cautious. He was going to be good. He gave the tiniest, most forced, pained smile that had ever graced his face to the woman. This apologising for things that weren't his fault thing was tiring.

Lynley snorted. Relations in PEACE. True peace would never fully exist, so she thought it was just pointless to dabble in such a...thing. "Well isn't that interesting." She said in a tone.

Play...nicely....you're NEW here...you need to play NICELY with others, Lynley.

She began to gather her lunch and just sighed. "Well it's just FINE, I suppose." She haughtily accepted his apology. "I'm...I'm Lynley Purcell, new Transportation Head." She held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm sorry we had to meet on such....circumstances." Since this was clearly his fault, but she was TRYING to be nice, she thought "circumstance" was a good word choice.

Merlin.

People these days.

Did this woman just snort? Charles fixed her with a piercing stare. "It's my job to know about these things." Who was this woman anyway? She seemed to be a cynical, prissy woman. Charles didn't much like her for looking down at him.

Oh, she was the transport head? Again, he bit back a suggestion that would likely end up with her walking away in a huff and shook her hand. "Charles Taylor, Ambassador-at-large and division head." Yes, so none of this rank stuff. It didn't work with him. He'd dined with Kings and Queens and had advised Ministers, a woman in heels didn't scare him, even if she WAS a department head. "There is really no need to make small talk if it is physically painful to be polite." Yes, he'd noticed her attitude toward his apology for HER mistake. Who even wore heels that high and expected to be balanced for the entirety of the day???

Penelope had decided to just eat in the food court today instead of going out. There was going to be quite a few training sessions for the rest of the day, so it seemed best to grab a quick lunch. Not super quick, but at least not waste time wandering around Diagon Alley or the area outside the Ministry for places to eat. Getting something here wouldn't take as long.

So after ordering a chicken wrap, a salad, and a lemonade, she looked around for somewhere to sit...and spotted Olly not too far away. Seemed like a good place to sit, yeah? Assuming the other girl wouldn't mind some company for a bit.

"Hey, Olly," Penelope greeted her with a smile as she reached the table. "Mind if I sit here?"

Rusty was excellent at making lunches for his daughter, but since she'd been at Beauxbatons he'd got out of the habit of making packed lunches for himself, so more often than not he had to venture away from level 3 to feed himself. Today he wasn't going far, just to the cafeteria and it was good enough for him, and really he had too much paperwork to warrant going further afield. Loaded up with two chicken salad sandwiches, several chocolate chip cookies, and a large banana smoothie, he looked around for a place to sit. Eventually he spotted one of his coworkers from DMAC and since she was sitting alone and most of the other tables were filling up fast he figured planting himself there wouldn't hurt.

Assuming she didn't mind. Was that a bad assumption? Hmm. Just to be sure, he asked even as he placed his food down on the table.

"Mind if I sit, Marilyn?"

Because he was sitting in 3.... 2....