Anyone want drinks tomorrow? I'm buying and as such I reserve the right to say no to you if I don't feel like dealing with you.

*walks into the Five Dragons in a wizarding corner of London, and orders a glass of wine before finding a table* *she's glad to be back in England for a bit, and more glad still to have got off work almost at normal-people time, and she settles back into her squashy armchair cheerfully, looking round to make sure Fred hasn't arrived yet*

*she's early, and hadn't expected him yet, so she spends some time drinking her first glass of wine and going over tomorrow's schedule before she looks up again for Fred*

*walks into the pub feeling a bit more cheerful than she has in days, as she's finished work on the house and is back in her flat with Pansy, which suits her much better, thank you very much* *she looks round and doesn't see Seamus and, since she considers it undignified to jump up and down trying to see over peoples' shoulders, makes her way over toward the bar counter for a better look*

*finally deciding she must have got here first, she slips onto a bar stool and orders a pint, then gets drawn, half against her will, into a discussion of Cardiff City versus Newport County football clubs* *she's only the vaguest idea of football, really, something about a ball and nets and kicking things and blood, but the opportunity to make snide comments in Welsh to the barman about the Brit who's taken Newport County's side is too good to pass up*

*she's learning about free kicks and penalty kicks and something called a corner kick--who knew there were so many kinds of kicks, it's really a bit ridiculous, isn't it?--when she sees Seamus walk in and gives him a wave*

*she sleeps badly and wakes up late, feeling groggy and out of sorts, and it takes her a moment or two to remember where she is* *with a sound that's half a groan, half a sigh, she rolls out of bed and shrugs into her dressing gown before heading for the shower* ( Read more... )

note left on top of two stacks of reports, both easily twenty high, left on the Major's desk late Monday afternoon

Major Robinson,

Here are the finished reports through the end of the week. Per our many, lengthy, and exhaustingive discussions, I'll be out of the office most of this week, subject to emergency callback. The Four Merry Frenchmen have been handed over to the prosecutors' office--their Mysteries file is pending closed.

Thanks for understanding.

2nd Lt Greengrass

Who: Roger and Daphne
Where: Mysteries
When: Friday morning

( I didn't sleep much last night...I was with a girl. )

*manages a few hours of sleep before she jumps--well, stumbles--into the shower, out of the shower, and gets ready for work* *she walks to the Ministry, needing to clear her head, and stops for coffee on the way* *she heads into the Atrium, gives a testing snarl to the security wizard on duty and is pleased when he looks down at his paperwork quickly*

*she reaches her office, unlocks it, and shifts papers round her desk for a while, wanting nothing more than to go back home and be lazy* *she flips through her file box, realises she's missing one she needs for her latest busywork report for the Major, and heads out to the file room*

*on her way back down the hallway, she sees Roger's door closing and narrows her eyes* *she knocks on the door, and has a moment to hope, devoutly, it's not the Major puttering round, before she hears him say something she can't quite hear and, grinning, knocks again just to be a pest*

*got home from France late this afternoon and put in a few more hours at the office before deciding she was too damned tired to concentrate any further* *when she got Adrian's owl she nearly sent him back a refusal, but her talk with Maj and thoughts of how long it had since she'd actually done anything fun--well, beating up on bad guys is always fun, so non-work-related fun--made her reconsider*

*she got to the pub early and remembered to eat dinner on time not standing up at the kitchen counter for a change, and the server's just cleared her plate when she sees Adrian walk through the door* *she lights a cigarette and waves him over to the table, and signals the server, as she expects Adrian will want a drink*

*looks down at the parchment in her hands, and smiles; it's just like him to wonder when she'd finally contact him and demand she come now, rather than simply invite her in like a normal person*

Je me suis demandé quand vous me contacteriez finalement.

Mon appartement. Immédiatement.

~N.

*she apparates away, makes two intermediate stops, and arrives at his flat a few moments later* *the door opens to her; the spellwork makes her smile* *then he's there, and the hug nearly makes her tear up, it's been so long since a man held her that way*

*he locks the door and resets the privacy charms and wards, and she sits down on the sofa, glad to be somewhere that feels safe* *he sits down beside her a few minutes later, and hands her a glass of wine* *she sniffs it experimentally, and smiles; it's Dragonetti* *his arm goes round her, and he pulls her close to his side, and they watch the fire crackling in the grate*

( an owl arrives in Holyhead, carrying an envelope decorated with little stickers of dragons and ponies and snitches )

*

( an owl arrives in Bath, carrying an envelope and a small bag )

*stands outside the pub, waiting for Marcus, smoking (probably too much) and frowning (definitely too much) and trying not to think of anything irritating or annoying (definitely not enough)* *she wants to stop by Charlie's before heading back into the field, but she felt the need to touch base with Marcus before she left*

*feels both like she hasn't seen Marcus in too long, and like she hasn't done a damned thing to help him lately* *it's just one of those days she's wondering whether her job is even worth it; she never seems to see her friends anymore, and she worries about them and about damned near everything these days; she's starting to feel distinctly boring and stuffy and maybe even like a wimp*

*she stubs out her cigarette and looks down the street, and grins involuntarily when she sees him walking up the lane*

owl post addressed simply to "R", via an owl clearly not native to England which has been specifically instructed not to deliver its message during daylight hours, and not near the Ministry.

the note is extremely heavily warded, and heavily charmed to look like an illegibly-signed Valentine's card to anyone but the addressee

R,

Not sure where you are now. That's probably for the best.

Hope things are all right with you and my little buddy.

D.

P.S. Recent events have given me a new appreciation for former bosses. But don't take it personally.

Captain,

As discussed, first recorder in place.

May have business out of the country later this week, subject to your approval. It can wait if things are too hairy with Padma out.

~Greengrass

*fights the urge to pace, instead tapping her fingernails impatiently against the tabletop* *she picked the pub--if you could call it that--in Gravesend because it's the sort of place anyone could bring anything to and not be questioned* *it isn't what you'd call a trendy place; in fact it's not even a place anyone would go to, unless they were up to something, but people tend to mind their own business here, and that's good enough*

*to make sure they mind their own business, she'd used a Cloaking spell, then charmed the table against unwanted attention; now all that remains is for Fred to arrive*

*she considers her glass of ale, decides it looks no worse than a glass in the Hog's Head--perhaps a touch less dirty--and takes a wary sip, hoping the alcohol will make up for the lack of any other sort of sterilisation*