Look at Gabby trying to be friendly. Lynley found it amusing. She sipped her drink and began to unbag her lunch before her. "Shopping? Sure. I don't really need anything, but I'm sure I'll need something once we're at the shop," she smirked slightly. That's usually how shopping went, didn't it? And when she needed something of COURSE she couldn't find it.

Lynley smelled it before it happened, her nose crinkling, but she couldn't figure out where it was coming from? "Do you smell that?" she asked both of them. Adam's chattering about Germany being grey seemed pretty accurate to her, especially weather-wise, but she was too busy being disgusted by the SMELL to pay the conversation much mind.

And that was when...

The...explosion..........happened.

Lynley was...covered in whatever......soup--she stood up suddenly and glowered at the man. "What the HELL do you think you're playing at?!" she cried.

”Meeeeeeeep….” Adam made a low odd sound.
All he could hear was rinnnnnnggggggggg…….miinnnnnggg……..innnggggg……

To top that, he had soup running down his nose – and – his shirt was smoking and had a huge hole in it so his tummy was an odd sensation of cold and warm at the same time.

“Meepppp….” He said again wiggling a finger in his ear. A chunk of carrot flew out of his hair.

Sound (and not ear-ringing) was slowly coming back to him. He blinked and looked up at the crabby lady who was covered also covered in chowder. He couldn’t hear what she was saying, only that she was yelling. Uncertain of how one should react to seeing a chowder-covered crabby lady, Adam laughed.

“Ha! Hahaha…”

It was a slightly hesitant laugh that only grew more honest as he continued to laugh. After all, there was no use crying over spilt (or in this case – exploded) soup right?

Pfft. How often did people go shopping because they NEEDED something? That was BORING. Everyone knew that buying what you WANTED was better than buying what you NEEDED. "Isn't that always the case?" Gabby said, returning the smirk. Archer would be pleased with the fashion show he was getting afterwards. Not that she would mention that in case Lynley started gagging or something.

Well, didn't Germany sound pleasant. O_o

Gabby had no idea how to reply to that, and even if she did, there was a weird smell going on. "Ewww, it's disgusting!" Before she could react further, there was an explosion of food all over her and Lynley. If that wasn't bad enough, he was LAUGHING over it.

Okay, now she was seeing RED.

"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU IDIOT????" she exclaimed before throwing a few carrot sticks at his head. See how he liked that!

Adam’s laughs were really covering up the fact that he was trying not to cry. Crying, after all, was not manly and more importantly, crying wasn’t going to bring his chowder back or fix his destroyed shirt. He rubbed his stomach which was bare, cold and warm (at the same time), and very very achy with hunger.

Twack….

A carrot stick hit him in the forehead above his half-missing eyebrow. “Wofür war das?“ he exclaimed slapping a hand down on the table. Remnants of the exploded chowder splashed up at the action. It’s not like he had purposefully exploded his lunch! Did he look like the type of guy who could skip a meal? He stood up, pushing his chair back, more chowder splattered and shook off his clothing from the action. If only he something to throw at Gabby...alas all his food was gone.

But Crabby-Lady’s wasn’t!

He reached across the table and grabbed the first thing he could reach from Lynley's lunch. With a flick of his wrist the food went flying towards Gabby.

...what was HAPPENING? Lynley was not at all pleased, especially with the man's LAUGHTER. She had finally grown to not completely dislike him, and then he went and made a mess...and then LAUGHED ABOUT IT.

AND NOW HE WAS THROWING FOOD?!

Oh no hE DID NOT.

Lynley grabbed her wand. "What are you DOING?"

Was he eating alone? Yes. Was this anything new? No.

Zander had managed to make a couple of, uh, acquaintances here so far. There was that guy he had met at the underground coffee shop... And uh, the uh... Nope that was about it. He had made one new acquaintance, managed to embarrass himself in front of an entire department (where he could never step foot again), and talked to his sworn enemies mother. What a life.

Of course there had been a couple of run-ins with some familiar faces from Hogwarts. And despite the fact that Ethan Mourdant was here working too, it was quite difficult to catch the boy as he was super busy. Zander, however, often found himself with a lot of free time. As his division was still relatively new, there wasn't much to do yet... It was awful. At least if he was busy he could keep himself occupied.

But here he was eating alone. Again.

This place was the worst. He sighed as he took out his packed lunch and unwrapped his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Maybe he could leave early today and visit Sophie Brown?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

Was he eating alone? Yes. Was this anything new? No.

Zander had managed to make a couple of, uh, acquaintances here so far. There was that guy he had met at the underground coffee shop... And uh, the uh... Nope that was about it. He had made one new acquaintance, managed to embarrass himself in front of an entire department (where he could never step foot again), and talked to his sworn enemies mother. What a life.

Of course there had been a couple of run-ins with some familiar faces from Hogwarts. And despite the fact that Ethan Mourdant was here working too, it was quite difficult to catch the boy as he was super busy. Zander, however, often found himself with a lot of free time. As his division was still relatively new, there wasn't much to do yet... It was awful. At least if he was busy he could keep himself occupied.

But here he was eating alone. Again.

This place was the worst. He sighed as he took out his packed lunch and unwrapped his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Maybe he could leave early today and visit Sophie Brown?

Airey Flamsteed was accustomed to multitasking. It was something he prided himself on really but today was astronomically out of the man's typical orbit when it came to the celestial sphere that was Flamsteed multitasking. Medea had needed to take the day away and all other extended family - including his sisters - were unable to come over and watch all THREE kids last minute therefore the astronomer had had no other choice but to utilize the Ministry's daycare service.

Which explained why the man had a newly turned 1-year-old strapped to the front and back of him - Aries in front and Atlas on back - with Andromeda flanking his right side with her precious little four year old fingers intertwined with the Evolutionist's. "No no of course," he assured her while ushering them all towards the tables. "I am positive that mummy remembered to pack extra a-p-p-l-e slices." He had to spell the word out or else risk Aries bouncing and kicking so much with eager energy, you see. It made walking difficult and the blonde twin almost always happened to kick his brunette twin and then Atlas would begin crying and then Aries would start crying out of that strange twin telepathy phenomena. Which then left Andromeda feeling distressed because of the tears and Airey completely anxiety ridden.

"Now, where shall we sit today?" he asked his daughter who immediately pointed towards a table where someone else already happened to be sitting.

A certain former pupil of his, as it turned out.

What was that?

Zander Adair's children senses were tingling.

Which could only mean one thing, or well maybe two things. One, there were children nearby. Or two, he really needed to quit his job here and go back to the nannying thing. However, upon looking up the boy realized that it in fact was his initial thought: kids. Not just one, or two, BUT THREE of them!!! The former Gryffindor's head perked up, his entire face lighting up in the process too.

He made eye-contact with the kid pointing at him and immediately began making loads of silly faces at her. Tugging on his ears and opening his eyes incredibly wide, Zander hoped to get a few chuckles out of her. It would make his entire day, surely. The blonde had long abandoned his sandwich, focused only on the child ahead.

Since when were there ever children around here? Not that Zander was complaining at all. It was refreshing to see young faces. It often felt like "fun" (something children never ran out of) was something the Ministry prohibited, at least Zander felt that way being stuffed up in a cubicle all the time.

"...... Professor?"

Zander immediately let go of his ears, his excited, wide eyes suddenly replaced with an expression of mild confusion. Was his face going pink? Had Flamsteed seen the interaction between his former Head Boy and his child? Welp.

The setup is simple. There is a table with the welcome banner "Hello Ministry Interns!" in curly lettering across the front littered with goodie bags for the interns as well as badges that coordinate with whichever level they have their internships on.

The reason for this small welcoming taking place in the food court is clear; there is another table with food on it. Enjoy, interns and Ministry employees alike. Mingle a little bit on this first morning of your summer internship before heading on up down to your level. Perhaps you'll see a friend or two or even meet whichever promising Department Head you'll be working for.

Have fun, interns, and welcome to Ministry of Magic!

Lynley was actually?? excited?? to meet her two new little interns. She expected them to be great, all right? There was a Penelope...and a Colt...hmm. She'd wait to see who would pick up the two intern badges from the Transportation section labeled ones...

For now, she grabbed a plate of some of their simply brilliant food court food and waited to see all the young, fresh, not yet jaded faces. They would be so cute. Maybe. She was hoping none of them were too pestilent. Or annoying, or...meddlesome. She tried to fix her face into a less..stern looking stance, something that was becoming easier the more she delved into single motherhood. Kids took patience. Lynley was not patient. Therefore, she was learning. Not to mention that Wyatt took a LOT of it, too.

Wittle interns. Where aaaaareeeee you?

Mariel supposed she could have delegated one of her division heads to meet their interns at the welcoming party, but as it were, she was able to clear part of her schedule this morning and decided to meet them herself. Besides, she could get something to eat while she was here.

She had planned on speaking with them and giving them their work assignments in her office later anyway, but that would still happen after this brunch. This was meant to be more of a get-to-know-you, casual thing.

And of course she was prompt. Which meant she was one of the first ones here. Fantastic. So few seemed to value timeliness anymore. But she nodded to the other department head already present as she obtained a plate for herself."Hello, Lynley."

Addison was truly hoping that having interns in her department would help not only the interns but her own department in learning with how to deal with others. She had made it a point to make sure that all the mornings work was finished so that she would have more than enough time to attend this gathering and meet her interns.

Grabbing herself a plate and putting some food onto it while she awaited the arrival of her three interns. "Hello, Lynley, Mariel," she greeted the other two department heads.

What was the possibility that she already knew at least one of these interns?

This was not where he thought he'd be this time last year. No, he'd thought he would be off in an ocean somewhere doing his internship, but for reasons, he was now interning at the ministry. Once he was moved back home for summer and got all situated and then it was time for his internship. The day of Griffin got dressed and felt a bit nervous. He had never even been in the ministry. The muggleborn wasn't even sure where to go.

Checking the time he rolled himself into the ministry and went through security. There were so many people at the ministry and it was really confusing. The almost 19-year-old looked around and finally found his way. Moving into the area that he was directed to go Griffin moved quietly into the eating area.


He couldn't help seeing the people already there and the boy gave a small smile and nod at them before finding a place at a table.

Tempest wandered on over to the designated area where the interns were supposed to meet the people they'd be shadowing. Was anyone else coming from MLE? She hoped so.. honestly she wasn't sure what interns were supposed to be doing?

They already had YATIs which were pretty much already interns as they didn't seem to do much but paperwork.. Did interns just get coffee? In any case it seemed a little backward giving Aurors interns in the first place but whatever.
Hopefully these children weren't annoying.

Feeling slightly nervous, Jonah made his way over to the seating area because... well, this was where he was SUPPOSED to go. And there were even goodie bags laid out and a nice banner for them. How lovely.

"Hello," he said with a small smile directed towards those already there. He was guessing that most if not all of them were Department Heads. He was the first intern to have arrived, but that was okay. Nothing wrong with that. After grabbing a goodie bag for himself so that he wouldn't forget to do that later, Jonah made sure to take one of the correct badges. He had been assigned to the Department of Mysteries, so he grabbed one of those ones.

One would have thought that, after growing up with semi-famous parents (or at least one), Dylan wouldn’t have been nervous about anything. But the eighteen-year-old was massively nervous about a lot of things, the internship not the least. Honestly, she would have felt more comfortable in a Quidditch stadium than she did walking into the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. She’d gotten fairly good at hiding when she was nervous, though. Only a few people would have known, and she was fairly certain none of them would be there. There was no reason for them to be there, even though her mother, at the very least, had offered to come with her. She was legally an adult now, however, so she’d chosen to Apparate to London and find her way to the Ministry on her own. That and now, she was determined to find where she needed to go now that she’d arrived.

The sound of voices had led her to the food court, where she saw the banner and everything else set up and a faint smile crossed her features. She might still be unsure about what she was going to study once she started uni, but at least she’d found where the interns were apparently supposed to be gathering. Plus, as she looked around at the few who had arrived, she thought she recognized them. Vaguely, and she found it odd that it seemed there were more Ministry people than interns yet. She hadn’t thought she was that early, after all. “Hello,” she said, giving them a smile as she went over to claim a goodie bag and a badge for Games and Sports before she decided to see what food there was for them to eat.

Despite having had a rough first week back home, Noelle was very excited about her MLE Internship. she'd convinced her mom to splurge for her a bit and grab some new clothes for the summer to wear to the Ministry. She knew that Ava would be here too... somewhere.

Heading in, she saw the badges and a table of food. Plus... a lot of people. She smoothed her clothes nervously before walking in with her chin up. Her mom had taken her to the ministry today and instilled she show confidence. Especially since she was to be working with actual MLEs.

Noelle took a look around as she went to the refreshment table. She really wasn't hungry but figured she'd keep her hands busy. She didn't really know who she was supposed to be reporting to. Feeling the need to mingle and not just stand around looking lost, she went to the nearest person. "Hi there. Im Noelle Grace Summers. " She smiled, and looked around. "Im interning with the MLE. Do you happen to know who I would talk to about that?" Maybe she did? Maybe she didn't?

Why Why Why did he sign up for this and why in merlins left....you know what Azzo had already given up caring why they accepted, him his grades were horrible. Guess he could make his mum happy by just getting this thing over with and well as anyone knows he would be doing nothing but being an idiot all summer.

Azzo walked in and over to the table and do you have to take the goodie bags. He looked around and saw people his age with them so guess he has to. He took on and the pin for Games and Sports. He did talk to a lot of quidditch players. Most the female ones. Still didn't mean he actually liked it. So he was ready to be miserable this entire time at the ministry.

He hated small talk but would rather just stay here than go to level whatever that Sports was on. He was just going to give off the vibe of please leave me alone.

Did he see another sports badge.

Eh whatever. He would get to know her later anyway. Whether he wanted to or not.

It's the D-day!

When Ava got the owl from ministry about her being placed at MLE, she was sooo excited for this day! And not to mention her bestie was also in the same department as her, it's like they were destined to be together and hopefully this would be an opening for her future to be an auror here, and so would Noelle.

Making sure that she dressed up appropriately (but not too much), the Gryffindor walked to the cafeteria and found the area where the ministry people and fellow interns gathered for internship welcoming party or something like that. She grabbed the goodie bag and the MLE intern badge. "Hello." Ava greeted them politely and smiled as she stood next to Noelle.

Reyna Lorca did not actually have any recollection of signing up for the internship, though she was sure she must have, at some point. She blamed it fully on her year mate's year-long OWLs induced stress. Surely it must have rubbed off on her at some point, enough to make her sign up for work during the summer. Who knew stress was even contagious?

It was the only explanation as to why she was here.

But she'd dressed for the occasion, at least. Smart grey trousers and black loafers, with a long-sleeved, white blouse that came together at the right side of her neck with a black bow. She'd even piled her thick waves in an artful bun because the BOW was meant to be the star of the show, after all.

Just because she had to be professional didn't mean she also had to be boring.

Anyway. She picked at one of the Magical Accidents and Catastrophes badges, wishing the colors were any different. The purple was not a good look.

Interns were arriving, it seemed, all at once. None of them were Transportation, though, because she was paying acute attention to the badges they were grabbing. "Hello, Mariel and Addison," she grinned and nodded at a few of the interns. "Looks like you've got some ones here already. Good luck," she said with a smirk.

"Hello, interns!" Lynley said with a small wave. This overly friendly thing wasn't....natural to her, and she wanted to stop very soon. "Welcome to the ministry of magic! Perhaps our minister will grace us with her presence soon!" She said. Hopefully. "I'm the Transportation department head. If you haven't already, feel free to grab some food and a goodie bag." Since the ministry was like, SUPERINTO the goodie bag thing. Lynley just wished their budget for said goodie bags were bigger. Imagine that cool things they could have provided interns with.

Also, why were none of her employees here? Did she need to have a chat with them?

Ugh.

Just UGH.

Even knowing that she was basically Ministry royalty with her placement, she did not want to be here. Weren't these sort of things for people who, you know,
cared? Her grades were a reflection of just how much she did, which was to say veeeeeeeeeery little, so she was surprised she had been accepted here at all. Maybe mum and daddy had pulled some influence somewhere.

Ugh. Whatever.

Going through security and scooping out the goods along the way, Sachiko arrived and strolled over to the table of food and shiny badges -
only to instantly make a face of utter disgust. Green? She did not HATE the color per say...but GREEN?

Um...how about no?

No.

Ignoring the badge she was meant to take, the Slytherin plucked one of the PINKISH hues (a badge for Games and Sports) from the table and pinned it to her dress. There.

Perfect.

Hair flip.

"The Miiiiiiiiiiiinister will be down shooooooooooortly!"

Heels clicking, hips swishing and arms thrown out wide in greeting, Delphine came sashaying towards the growing crowd in the Seating Area of the Food Court. She wasn't late, was she? The reason was simple: it was a big and exciting event and naturally, she had to take extra care into her outfit. Unfortunately, she just didn't have the legs or the figure for an elegant dress (shh!) so a nicely-pressed pair of trousers had to do.

"Welcome interns and welcome employees!" she said in her usual singsong voice to the group at large. She was going to stand right over here, near the employees and other Department Heads so as not to feel tooo old. Some of the interns just look faaaaar too young! "Lynley, Mariel, Addison, dear...... thank you for being here. How many more are we waiting for?" She glanced down at her watch and gave it a TAP TAP! for good measure.

And where were her interns? She craaaaaned her neck this way and that to see any hint of a BRIGHT GREEN badge but nope! They weren't skiving off, were they?

Tut tut.

Tempest wasn't really sure what to say when the girls approached her. Merlin, teenagers were weird.. They weren't exactly babies but they weren't adults either. She always hated being a teenager so the idea of them was usually unpleasant.

Maybe these two were nice enough.

"Hello, Ms Summers. I'm Auror Tempest Chandler. But you can call me Tempest. You two are both MLE interns?" She hoped the other girl would introduce herself as well. A mere hello wasn't much to go on. "Do you know what part of the MLE you'll be interning for?" Because maybe they were security or something and not meant to work with the Aurors. It would be very helpful if her DH was here.. But maybe she'd lead them there when this shin dig was over.

Penelope was both nervous and excited for the start of her ministry internship with the department of magical transportation as she approached the large welcome sign. This was her first internship, and she didn’t have much work experience other than sorting and shelving books at her dad's secondhand bookshop. That was different though, because it was for the family business and it didn’t involve a lot of working with other people. There was also no magic involved in that particular job. Working here was going to be different from anything she had ever experienced, but that was exciting. Apparently she was going to be working with floo powder and floo network stuff, and she was going to be able to use her charms skills.

It looked like the interns were supposed to take a badge for the department they were assigned to. Inspecting the table, Penelope found an intern badge for the department of magical transportation and pinned it to her shirt. The badge happened to be a color that she liked too, which was a plus. She grabbed one of the intern goodie bags as well. Now, where were all the department of magical transportation people? Penelope heard someone say that she was the transportation department head, so Penelope headed over to introduce herself. Smiling at the woman, Penelope extended her hand for a handshake. ”Hello, I’m Penelope.”