RP: Pinky Proimse
Who: Ilana, Hyperion, Mandy What: Special Delivery When: October 6th Where: Auror Office//Bathroom Warnings: Emotional! Long lost friends reconnecting. Hyperion notices far more than he lets on.
With Milo at school, Ilana had picked up a part time job to bring in just a little extra money. The second job was working as a delivery witch for Honeydukes. Ilana thought it would be perfect through the holidays, just until Milo came home from school. She thought by then she would either quit, or just work a few days a week.
It was her first week, but she was already being trusted to take a few deliveries on her own. It wasn’t a terribly hard job, very straight forward. She took everything to the addresses listed, made sure the witch or wizard signed for their package, and then came back to home base for the next set of deliveries. They needed the signatures to prove that the things had been delivered to the appropriate parties, otherwise she was sure they would have sent owls.
Today she was going to the Ministry, with a package from the owner’s daughter Zahara. Ilana wouldn’t lie, she was excited to see what her new boss’ beau looked like. The pair had been chatting a bit the past few days; she rather enjoyed the animated woman.
She was dressed in the delivery witch uniform when she arrived at the Ministry. A pair of plain black slacks and a black tee that had the Honeydukes logo on the breast, with her dark locks pulled up into a high ponytail would complete the outfit. In her arms was a small brown box that had been wrapped with green and purple paper that had the Honeydukes logo all over it. On top the box was her clipboard with the list of her deliveries so far today, already a handful of signatures on the paper.
When she came in, she had been instructed to the Auror office. “I’ve a delivery for a Hyperion Montgomery.” She announced as soon as she walked into the room, mostly because she had no idea which one he was.
Although it wasn't exactly a rare occurrence to hear his name being called throughout the bullpen, but it was far less common that the person calling his name out had a delivery for him. Hyperion had a curious sort of nature, so he popped his head up from where he'd been talking to the enigmatic Mandy Brocklehurst--she was still something of a mystery, though he had acquainted himself with what was known about her that he had the clearance to know about.
"Over here," he called out, though he couldn't see who had called his name, so he pulled his wand out and shot up a burst of harmless red sparks.
"Bet you it's from my girlfriend," he commented to Mandy, glancing at her as he wiggled his brows. It wouldn't be the first time, though she didn't do it too often. The voice that had called out sounded much younger than the cheerful old man who had delivered last time, but he knew Zahara had been looking for some extra help as they got closer to the holidays.
Mandy froze in place when she heard the voice. The too familiar voice, the voice she'd not allowed herself to seek out since she moved here, no matter how much she wanted to. No matter how much she missed her.
It might not be safe. No one in law enforcement knew of her connection to Ilana or Milo. She'd painstakingly kept the good part of her life separate from the dangerous, because she would never purposefully put them at risk. And anyone who told you that law enforcement wouldn't use innocents were full of total shite, too.
"Oooh lala, I wonder what it is," she managed to say, but she didn't stand to pop her head around the corner to see her. Though she still lounged in her chair, a knee hooked casually over the arm of it, she felt suddenly tense wehre she'd been relaxed before. Though she did a good job of faking it usually, the sheer shock of hearing Ilana's voice so unexpectedly cracked her mask just the tiniest bit.
Ilana glanced in the direction the voice had come from, a small sigh of relief slipping from her when she saw the red sparks. She shouldn't have been surprised, she supposed her boss likely sent things to him often enough that he knew the easiest way to help someone find him. She made her way through the room towards where she had seen the red sparks, busying herself with checking that the package in her arms was indeed the one for Hyperion Montgomery. She had already arrived at one place with the wrong package today, she was going to be so upset if she did it twice.
Her head was down as she arrived at his desk, relief flooding her when she saw that his name was indeed on the package. As she lifted her head to give him that bright cheerful smile she had practiced, her chocolate eyes landed on the figure in the chair. Her heart stopped, eyes growing wide in surprise, as that practiced smile faltered. Mandy. Ilana's heart was racing and she was quickly throwing that well practiced smile back into place, praying she hadn't given them away. She knew that Mandy liked to keep things separate, she didn't know what Mandy was doing in the auror office and she wasn't sure she would be able to find out.
"I just need your signature!" Was said a little too peppy, she stepped forward to set the package on the desk and held out the clipboard for him to sign. She tried to keep herself from glancing at Mandy, that was going to be a dead give away if she looked at her. Though now she was panicked that maybe ignoring the woman would be just as obvious. There was a reason she was the one that had stayed home with Milo, she wasn't cut out for this sort of thing.
In an attempt to keep herself from being far too awkward, she tried to strike up a conversation. "The bosslady speaks highly of you. She said to tell you to be nice to me because I'm new." A soft laugh followed, her boss had warned her that Hyperion had a sense of humor. He might try to tease her, but not to take it personally. He was a good man and always meant well.
Inside the package was some of Hyperion's favorite candies, along with one of the new ones for the holidays. This one was shaped like a bat and caused the person to eat it to grow beat ears and a nose for a few moments. They didn't last as long as the bunny ears had for Easter, but they were amusing enough.
Although he hadn't noticed the way Mandy seemed to freeze, when Ilana came around to the desk, he did notice the look she gave to Mandy. He quirked a brow, glancing between the two women. Did they know one another? "Uh huh, right," he said quietly as he took the clipboard, holding it in one hand as he signed with the other before handing it back.
There was a strange tension in the air around them, though he wasn't sure why. Nor was he sure he wanted to know, except that it could give him greater insight into the mysterious consultant. "Hey now, I'm always nice!" he countered, feigning hurt. But he took the package from her anyway. "You're Ilana, right?" he asked, though he was confident that was her name. He was a good boyfriend after all; he made sure to listen when Zahara talked to him about things.
"Always nice. Uh huh. Please pull the other one, Bossman," she said, a leg extending straight up, toe near his shoulder on that provocative teasing way of hers. She'd taken to calling him that for good or ill ever since he started filling in for Lavender Brown.
"I still haven't met this mysterious illusory girlfriend of yours, Bossman. I'm still not sure I believe she really exists," she added, and shot Ilana a look. "Are you suuuuuure, she exists?"
Ilana gave a practiced laugh, hoping that it came off as a bit more carefree than rehearsed. She always did so much better when she kept her mouth shut for these sort of things. It was why Mandy would typically coach her, she had time to rehearse these things. She felt very much the fish out of water. She bobbed her head though when he said her name, hoping he might chalk the look of surprise up to the fact that he knew her name and he was dating the boss. She really hoped she was coming off as the nervous employee. "Hopefully you've only heard good things!"
She was in over her head, though Mandy calling him Bossman had helped her find her feet a little. It gave her some sort of context as to why the other woman was in the office, though she had so many questions. Why was Mandy working for them? How? What did she get out of it? Did this mean she was coming home soon? Milo would love it if Mandy could come home for the holidays!0 She was trying so very hard not to let the excitement show as she turned her attention to the other woman, giving a bit more genuine laugh this time. "Positive, she signs my paycheck... Or maybe her father does?" Ilana gave a lazy shrug. The package was handed off, She could run away now and hopefully make an excuse the next time her boss wanted to send her. While she wanted to see Mandy, she didn't know if she could keep their cover again. It was enough though to know that she was in London, that was a step towards being a family again.
"It was great to meet you," Ilana wanted to make a tease about how Mandy should take her yoga classes, but she knew she was playing with fire. She was already backing away, "I've got a few more packages to get delivered before my shift ends."
Hype rolled his eyes exaggeratedly at Mandy's teasing, pushing her leg back down unceremoniously. Under other circumstances, he would probably take great pleasure in bantering with her. "You obviously need to get out more then," he told Mandy. "You'll have to come to our next open mic night," he added before glancing at Ilana again. "And she'll probably invite you, too. I know she's invited Ruby before." But that was Zahara--ever inclusive.
"It's been good things," he assured Ilana. His smirk was just a bit smug when Ilana confirmed Zahara's existence, and he glanced back at Mandy. "Told you." He couldn't help himself, even if he recognized it as childish.
"You too," he told Ilana. Assuming she was leaving then, he turned back to Mandy. "Make sure you get that write-up to me by the end of the day though, yeah? I've got to get back to it." Or, more like, he needed to go open the package in his office so no one tried to steal his goodies.
Mandy stuck her tongue out at Hyperion just as childishly. Yeah, professionalism in this setting wasn't a big thing with her. "I don't know if I can trust the word of a delivery girl," she bantered back, but gave Ilana a big wink, making the entire joke obvious.
And, lower down, her hand rested on her knee. Her right hand, and the pinky with its tattoo on the inside of it, crooked. If she trusted anyone in the entire world, it was the woman in front of her, though she couldn't let on now.
"Yeah, yeah, get going before Mama starts growling at ya," she said, and she used the same leg she'd raised -- barefoot, of course, another familiar state of affairs for her -- she raised again, lower, and pushed him with her toes as he left her little mini cubicle.
Personally, she planned on filching a couple of his treats just because the moment she could... but righ tnow, she waited until she couldn't see him, ducked out around and through, keeping low enough, looking like she was rushing to the loo... which she was.
And on the way, fingers slipped into a belt loop of a certain delivery girl and without letting on she'd done anything, she tugged sharply, opened the bathroom door, and when they were both in, she leaned back against it. "Lock it," she said breathlessly. "Please. I don't have a wand."
Ilana's face cracked the second she had gotten away from that desk. Mandy was in London, her smile covered her entire face, and Ilana was completely distracted by the thought. It was why she didn't feel Mandy grabbing her belt loop until she was being tugged into the bathroom by the other woman. A laugh left her, just a second before her wand had slipped into her hand, and she was locking the door and casting the silencing charm. It was all finished off with another quick spell that saw a little sign appearing on the door to say out of order.
"You're in London!" Dark chocolate eyes were large as she threw her arms around the other woman and squished the shorter woman. She had imagined this moment hundreds of times, not once had they been in a bathroom. Every time Milo was around, and it was then that pulled back as her thoughts turned to Milo. He'd loved to see her... He was at school though, there was no way to let him know. It'd have to be a secret, hopefully she would be here when he came for the holidays.
"We have like two seconds, don't we?" She asked in a slightly deflated voice, she wasn't going to be happy with just two minutes. It was selfish as hell, she had just seen Mandy sitting next to an auror. She was fairly certain he was in charge of something, though she hadn't paid close enough attention when ZJ had been talking to figure out what that was. "You need a wand." An afterthought.
Once the spells were done, Mandy couldn't help herself. Her normal stoicism shattered, and she threw her arms around Ilana and burst into tears. She would fully understand if the other woman hated her for how little she'd been around the last couple of eyars, but God she had missed her so badly.
Mandy was normally known for her calm and her ability to hold herself together in nearly any situation, so it was a mark of how much she felt that she broke for a moment just then. "We can... we can take a few minutes. But not too long. But I might be able to sneak over soon."
She pulled back, trying to wipe off the still spilling tears. God, she was ridiculous!
"I do need a wand. I haven't been allowed one except in some specific circumstances so far," she said. It made getting around a lot harder as witch.
Ilana's arms wrapped so easily around the other woman, hugging her tightly against her body. She was trying to squish her into her, as if maybe she could squish hard enough to get her to stick and then she could take her home. "Good, then don't pull away yet." She muttered as she hugged her just a bit tighter, burying her own face in the shorter woman's dark locks. She had missed her so much! She wasn't about to let her go though, not to wipe tears, not for any of it.
Okay, so maybe to breathe. That was something she had to let Mandy do. She didn't pull away far though, her arms still around the other woman. "I'll get you one, somehow." Even though just moments before Ilana had been thinking about asking ZJ to not send her back. She knew that she needed to come back, she needed to practice her face more. "I'll work on my face so that the next time she sends me... I won't be a total fool." Her face crumbled a little, a guilty sort of look gracing her expression. "Do you think it'll be okay?"
She burrowed her damp face into Illy's shoulder, her grip on her friend fierce. She couldn't seem to get a grip on herself, the tears falling hot and fast, small sobs in the back of her throat.
"You're a godsend," she said, voice thick as she pulled away only far enouh she could look at the other woman. Though she'd tried to put it from her mind, and succeeded in part, she'd missed her terribly. Ilana and Milo... being so far away and having to communicate with them so rarely... it had hurt so much.
She reached up to pat her friend's cheek gently. "You weren't a fool. It'll be okay. He might not even have noticed." Or if he had, she'd field his questions with her usual deft vagueness.
"Definitely not." Ilana muttered, though she didn't want to fight with Mandy about it. She absolutely adored her and honestly after so long apart... She just wanted to hold on to the other woman and not let go, not until she absolutely had to. She leaned into the touches though, smiling when Mandy said she wasn't a fool. She still thought she was, she wasn't the best with these sort of things. She forced the thought away though, if Mandy didn't want to dwell then she wouldn't. She only had a few minutes with her, she wasn't going to waste it.
"How can I get it to you next time? Are you able to leave?" She wanted her to be able to leave, selfishly. She wanted her home for holidays, she wanted so many things. She had no right to ask for any of it either, not with the way Mandy had been sticking her neck out for her like that. "I don't want to leave until we know how I'm going to see you again. I want to be sure we have a plan before I leave. I need more than five minutes. I'm sorry, that's so selfish."
"I have more freedom than I used to. I don't have to be back except by a curfew, and Singh often lets me stay late on weekends and stuff or whatever so long as I check in periodically," she said. "It's like... house arrest, sort of, only I'm slowly earning privileges? I haven't found you yet because I didn't want them to potentially find you while tracking me."
She was probably too paranoid but the paranoia had paid off before. "I just don't want to get you in trouble, you know?" she said quietly. "Milo needs his mum."
Ilana understood the other woman's hesitation, her head bobbing as she nodded in agreement. "I understand," she said in a soft voice. "I don't blame you for not coming looking right for me. I can see that it's clearly a complicated situation." She sucked in a breath, "Please say you'll be home for the holidays? Milo needs his mum, you're right." Not just her, he had two mums. She had no idea when they would get around to telling him, but it was something that she wasn't worried about just yet. At least not until after he had finished school.
She felt the tears in her own eyes then, "I'll bring you one sooner then, when can we get together? Do they go out with you?" She worried that Mandy might have friends when she needed to go out. She really just wanted to be able to spend time with Mandy and not fret about something bad happening.
"Hell or high water, Illy, I'll be home for the holidays unless they drag me away in chains again," she promised recklessly, hugging her really tightly again. That reckless streak got her into plenty of trouble at times. But hopefully not this time.
"I get to go out more often on my own now. They're starting to get bored with keeping close tabs on me, so I was hoping to be able to find you soon." She knew she still had shadows sometimes, but more and more often she knew she was alone anymore, or merely recorded on parchment in an office somewhere magically.
Ilana hoped that she was right, she hugged her back just as tightly, burying her face in the other woman's hair. She let out a contented little sigh then, as she started to pull away. "If it helps... I live on Victory Road now? I don't know if you're able to apparate, but I can adjust my wards so that you can apparate directly into the flat. We just moved into those new two bedrooms one.. We're in 5A. Please, just anytime. I'm working on Victory Road too, I'm so close." She was working at the gym, as well as Honeydukes. She was sure they could work something out, they had to.
She squeezed her in a hug again, "Do you really have to go back?" She asked sadly, "Do you think I should get you a phone too?" She was almost certain that Mandy didn't have one of those. "I shouldn't send Cleo with a letter to you, even if she leaves in the dead of night, huh?"
"It does. I pretty much have the run of Victory Road now," she said. "And anywhere I can floo, so long as it doesn't have an unplottable on it. I have tracking charms on me, unforuntately," she said, wrinkling her nose. "And they cant be taken off without raising an annoying alarm." More than annoying, really. She'd be pulled back in and lose her privileges for a time, at least.
"Phone would be good too. Something with no names attached, as always. I can hide it. But no owls, I'm pretty sure they still read all my mail."
Ilana was nodding along, making mental notes as she listened. It was a good thing she lived on Victory Road, Mandy could come see her. She needed to pick up a burner type phone, she had learned about those mostly when they had been on the run, she also needed to pick up a wand for Mandy. She could get all of this done in the next few weeks, hopefully. She needed more ways to contact her friend, she had missed this. She was so glad that she was finally home, though she had wished it had been in a much different capacity.
"Alright, I won't send Cleo. She misses you, you know." She loved her little bat, though the poor thing was getting older. She reached her hands up, cupping the other's cheeks before she leaned in to steal a kiss from her friend. It was a quick platonic thing, "I love you so much. Please be safe until I get to see you again?"
She trusted Illy to know what to get. They'd gone oer it all before, just not usually in such capacity. But she knew that Ilana would figure out what to get, and she'd be able to slip it to her on the sly.
"I miss her. Give her a piece of fruit for me or something. I haven't gotten to cuddle a bat in ages." Most americans were so bloody phobic, it was amusing. But then, Brits were just as bad about snakes, and Mandy loved snakes too. She pecked each of Illy's cheeks and then her lips in turn. Quick, affectionate, then she held out her pinky to her, the one tattooed with promise. "I love you too. I promise I'll see you again soon." And that was a promise she couldn't and wouldn't break.
Ilana smiled as her pinky laced with the other woman's, her own tattoo aligning with Mandy's matching one. "You better." She teased, biting the end of her thumb a moment, laughing before her pinky squeezed the other woman's. She would send word, however she could, once she knew exactly when Milo would be home for the holidays. She really hoped Mandy would be able to pop in at least a few times to see him.