RP: Auror Games Who: Mandy and Hyperion When: Friday July 7 Where: MoM - DMLE What: Meeting at the Ministry Warnings: None
Mandy sat in the small, half sized cubicle that Singh had managed to cram in there for her, between Singh's own cubicle and the very junior auror on the other side of her. She knew, logically, that the auror had done the best she could for her under the circumstances, even giving up some of her own space, but she still resented it somewhat. The crowding, the lack of room. The seething anger of the junior auror, whom she simpered at every chance she got.
A girl had to have some fun, after all.
The thief tilted her chair back dangerously far, leaning into the aisle. She'd yet to meet the people in the cubicles across from theirs, and at the moment, with her muscles sore and aching (she'd like it later, really she would) from the defense class, she honestly didn't give a crap. She held the cold case file above her head so she could keep reading it, wishing for the umpteenth time for a wand again, and cracked her gum as she read it carefully.
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There was more than a little extra bounce in Hyperion's step as he made his way through the cubicles of the Aurory. He had some paperwork to deliver to Auror Singh, who was more highly ranked than him but not by much, about the attack on Addi. It was the most stressful situation of his career, because he knew that what he'd done could not only end his career but possibly land him a stay in Azkaban. But it was one of those situations where protecting a good friend was more important than the truth.
He'd just rounded the corner and was making his way through the narrow aisle between cubicles when someone tilted their chair back. Hype stopped short of running into it, but had no qualms with dropping a hand to one corner of her chair and giving it a firm push to spin it in a circle as he walked past. Only a couple steps past, he paused and turned back toward her with a quirked brow.
"You're new 'round here," he observed, taking a closer look at the woman.
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Mandy gave an insulted sort of squawk as someone unceremoniously pushed her chair and sent her spinning along with the paper work she held above her. Her reaction time was good, though, and she reached out with a bare foot - her shoes were under her desk - and poked the offending person with her toes, still staying tilted back, though the folder had landed safely on said desk.
She gave the handsome auror - and he could be nothing else, she thought - a brilliant smile. "Or so you think," she said a bit coyly. But also a bit cockily. As if she belonged and had all the confidence in the world.
She tugged a dark strand of hair, still smiling. "Getting good at my disguises, aren't I?" As if he should know her, did know her. She knew she should actually be a good girl, and behave herself, but she was so bloody bored.
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When her toes poked against his belly, Hype raised a brow and wrapped a hand around her ankle, his fingers only partially touching her skin as most of his hand rested on the hem of her jeans. Oh, she was a mischievous sort, he could tell already, and he cocked his head a bit as she spoke. He was very familiar with his co-workers and so highly doubted she was someone he knew in disguise. Not to mention other small things that were tipping him off. No one could say Hyperion wasn't good at his job.
"You're sitting in a makeshift cubicle that was portioned out from Singh's space. You're new," he said decisively, using his grip on her ankle to spin her around again, though not quite as enthusiastically this time. "And not an auror," he added speculatively. Because he'd have heard if they were hiring new aurors, and the new recruit would have been given a standard cubicle or desk area.
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She felt a little zing from where his finger did barely brush her skin. Down girl, it's been too long, she told herself, though her smile grew just a little. But then she started pouting as he pointed out the inconsistencies of her claim. It was an attractive pout, all told, but it did hold an element of true disappointment at the core.
She sighed as she spun around again, more lazily this time. "You lot are no freaking fun," she told him. "I swear you love to suck my fun out of everything, and not in a good way." She continued to sulk a bit, mostly in jest, one bare foot resting on the edged of her little makeshift cubicle, both grateful for it and wistful for something a fuck of a lot better at the same time.
"Then who am I then?" she challenged, raising her eyebrows at him.
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Hype certainly felt a bit of triumph at her quick surrender. "Out of everything, eh? What sort of fun did you think you'd be having around here?" he asked, tone dry and almost bordering on sarcastic. It wasn't that he didn't love his job, it was just that it was terribly serious most of the time. It was, in part, why he was so enthusiastically lively in the other facets of his life. He needed it to balance the work he did which was as satisfying as it was suffocating at times.
"I don't know yet, but I'm certain I will before the day's out," he retorted cockily. Not only was his mother the head of the DMLE, but he was on good terms with Potter, so unless this woman was some sort of top secret asset, he saw no reason he wouldn't be able to discover who she was without her telling him. And somehow he doubted she'd be in a cubicle in the open if she were top secret.
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"Don't tell me you don't have fun solving cases and unraveling puzzles," she said right back, her tone matching his almost exactly, and though she remained sitting, her body language shifted to mimic his minutely as she tossed her head in the same cocky manner he was. It was subtle, all of it was.
Her problem was that if she took everything, even this job seriously, she would curl up and die at some point. She had to find the fun, the challenge that she'd always thrived on and got her thrill from. The bonus was, these days, she actually helped people... though she hadn't exactly been completely selfish before.
"I'll save you the trouble, love," she said with a brilliant, winning sort of smile and another tiny toss of her head, and she extended her hand to him. "I'm a special consultant," not a lie, "transferred over from the MFBI, whom I've been working with for over a year. Mandy Brocklehurst, it's a pleasure."
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"Oh, I do, certainly," he agreed easily. Who didn't love a good puzzle? Just not those strange jigsaw sorts--he'd never had the patience for those. And he'd enjoy working out the puzzle that this woman was, but that didn't mean he had to engage her to do so. No, it was almost more fun to do it without just getting the answer from the source, and if she wanted to play coy, he certainly had other resources he could tap.
Only then she took the fun out of it and introduced herself, giving him more than enough information for him to be able to do some digging on his own later to fill in the blanks. He took the offered hand, giving her a firm, quick shake--not vying for dominance nor expressing submission. "Mandy Brocklehurst, you say?" The name sounded familiar for some reason, but he couldn't place why just yet. Perhaps it would click once he did a bit more research into her.
"Got tired of the yanks, eh?" He chuckled faintly, not entirely surprised. He'd never worked closely with the MFBI, but he'd heard some strange stories over the years. That he hadn't introduced himself in turn had been intentional--he was curious to see what, if anything, she might do about it.
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Fun for fun, she thought dryly. If she couldn't have hers, she'd gladly spoil his just a little. All's fair and all that. Besides she enjoyed throwing people off balance and doubly enjoyed doing the opposite of what someone might expect of her. On her terms, of course. She had so little control over her own life right now that she took whatever she could and garnered as much enjoyement from it as possible.
"Aye, got it in one," she agreed, leaning back in her chair again, legs crossing smoothly.
"Who wouldn't?" she replied with a tart little smile. "Much happier back over the pond where I belong." She didn't miss that he'd not introduced himself, but she acted as if she hadn't realized it. It wasn't like she couldn't figure it out, as well. And often if ruffled someone else's feathers to NOT be asked. "Playing errand boy, huh?" she said, lifting her chin at the papers in his hands.
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"Can't say as I've ever had a yen to move that way." No, Scotland was home. He would compromise with living in England if he had to, but he would always prefer living in Scotland if he had a choice. So he really couldn't fault her for being happier here, even if he couldn't tell how genuine she truly was.
He quirked a brow at the question, snorting out a short laugh before shaking his head. "Hardly. I was just bringing an update on one of my cases to Singh," he explained, not that he thought he owed her any sort of explanation. And this was a case he wouldn't let just anyone handle the paperwork on--there was too much at stake.
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"Travel," she said, lifting a shoulder and letting it fall again. That was the truth, as was her love of home. The UK in general. She loved London particularly, but hell, anywhere on this damned isle and she was much happier. She loved to travel... but she had always, always come home again. Of course, the irony was rife in that she had never committed any of the crimes she'd admitted to on its soil, but the desire to be home had trumped the truth on this occasion.
"Ahhh, one of your seniors then," she said, and she eyed him. Judging his age rather accurately. His fitness. Gauging about where in the hierarchy he should fall, given that age and the projected experience thereof in her eyes and with her knowledge.
"Important case?" she prodded with apparent laziness. Observing, always observing, even as she appeared to look up or away. Not straight up disinterest but casual only. Because that was how she learned about people -- questions, poking, prodding, figuring them out.
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"Aye," he confirmed simply with a nod, not seeing any value in denying that Singh was one of his superiors. He was far from a junior Auror, but he definitely wasn't at the top of the food chain yet. In fact, he still wasn't sure he wanted to strive to mirror his mum's success in the Aurory. There were a lot of things he was thinking about these days; he just wasn't sure what he would do if he wasn't an Auror, as his entire adult life had revolved around it.
Hype tilted his head slightly at her question, one brow curved up faintly. "You could say that," he answered quietly. Of course, it depended on who you asked; the case was definitely important to him, but a different sort of importance than anyone not in the know. He wasn't about to share the details of the case with her, not when she was just a consultant. Besides, he respected Addi's privacy far more than to let just anyone read the file or hear about the case. "I'll see you around, Special Consultant Mandy Brocklehurst," he finally said, giving her a slight nod before he went on his way.