Very very backdated: Carrot goes to the Police Chief in search of employment

[cptn_carrot]

Who: Harry Potter & Carrot Ironfoundersson, open to anyone else who might have business here
What: Job searching
Where: The police station
When: Sometime in early November 2011
Why: Because Carrot is a policeman through and through
Rating: No higher than PG, surely

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[cptn_carrot]

Detective Potter did not look like Carrot's idea of a Watch Commander. He looked more like a clerk, with his spectacles and his complete lack of anything resembling Carrot's notion of arms or armor. But Carrot knew better than to judge on appearances, and that went double here. There was something about the Detective that suggested alertness, and Carrot caught a glimpse of a jagged scar on his forehead, so the man wasn't a stranger to combat. And he looked fit, which was more than Carrot could honestly say for Sergeant Colon or even Commander Vimes.

He straightened to full attention, broad shoulders squared, eyes forward. "Sir! My name is Carrot Ironfoundersson. I had heard that you might have openings for policemen." Vastly undermanned was how Balaz had actually put it. "I have been a member of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch for six years, and I believe my record has been good in that time." He kept the fact of his Captaincy to himself for now, not wishing Harry to think Carrot wouldn't be able to submit to another's authority. "I should like to become a member of your police force, and assist you in protecting this city."

[aurorpotter]

Harry's lips twitched at the sharp salutation. Among other things. He hadn't been called sir by anyone in ages, and while once it would have made him mental, now it amused him. He didn't much feel like anyone's sir. Or superior. They ran more on an even level here than any place he had been before, and he liked it that way. People could come around and tell him he was balls at something and he'd more than likely believe it, if he were honest. Especially coming from someone with experience. Or from Hermione.

Actually, most of those types of criticisms came from Hermione.

"You aren't wrong." And neither was his mysterious source, whoever that might have been. "There's only a few of us at the moment." Harry ruffled the hair on the back of his head and shrugged. "Not for a lack of wanting more people. The town hasn't blown up yet, which we're counting as a minor victory. Where did you say you were from again?"

[cptn_carrot]

The man's casual demeanor told Carrot that he probably could ease up, but he didn't. He'd lowered his arm from the salute, but his stance was still textbook-perfect. He had very high standards for himself, after all, and strong ideas about what was proper, and he would not relax until permission was given to do so. The one concession he made was to actually look at the Detective as the man spoke.

"From Ankh-Morpork, sir. You're unlikely to have heard of it. It's the largest city on the Discworld." The lack of recognition didn't surprise Carrot, though even after all this time it was still hard to accept that he was standing on a Roundworld. "I have been serving with the volunteer Watch here for the last two months, sir. Baron Balaz or Mr Abraham Sapien can vouch for my conduct."

[aurorpotter]

"You lot have been a huge help lately." Harry wet his lips and cocked his head to the side, leaning against the desk that was situated facing the door. His wand shifted along the inseam of his shirt, flexing against the cotton material and the make-shift holder he and Hermione had crafted once things began to fall into place.

He was really fond of his buttocks after all. And his balls. So the necessity wasn't really lost on him, even if ease of comfort was a little to be desired. "And please, Harry is fine enough. Or Potter if you'd prefer it, I guess. I'm not anyone's sir. I landed in this job by chance and luck."

Not that he didn't have an impressive enough resume to back up his position, he just didn't like dragging it about either.

[cptn_carrot]

Something about the way Potter shifted caught Carrot's attention, suggesting 'weapon' although Carrot still could not see one. A knife strapped on under his shirt, maybe? He was used to keeping an eye out for small, hidden weapons in the sketchier areas of Morpork. (Which was to say, most of the city.)

"Yes, sir. Mr Potter," Carrot corrected himself. One generally had to earn the privilege of calling Commander Vimes Mister, but that didn't mean Detective Potter had to be the same way. "It's been an honor to serve on that force, and I intend to continue doing so, if it won't create a conflict."

[aurorpotter]

"I can't imagine it would." Harry lit upon the way Ironfoundersson's eyes flickered toward his arm and he couldn't help but grin. He liked that. It wasn't often enough people even thought to look for a concealed weapon, let alone could spot a tell.

He undid the buttons on his shirt cuffs with a little flick of his wrist, rolling both his sleeves up to his elbows. On his right arm the wand holster stood out starkly against his pale skin, the bane of being British, and let the wand slide out into his hand.

"We don't really have a system here when it comes to a standard weaponry. There isn't a lot of crime in Aternaville and guns aren't the way I work. I never got comfortable enough near one." Harry paused and assessed Carrot, which, he had to admit was an odd name even where he had come from, and smiled, wide and welcoming. "You'll have to fill out a bit of paperwork, nothing to strenuous, of course, but unofficially, I'm ready to offer you a position here."

[cptn_carrot]

Obviously his little glance had been caught, Carrot realized as the Detective unfastened his sleeve. But he felt his brow furrow in confusion at what was revealed there. A very slender, wooden... knife? Stake? Was this more 'technology'?

At the mention of gonnes, Carrot's face hardened almost imperceptibly. "No, Mr Potter," he agreed firmly. "I also do not use a gonne. But I can provide my own sword, sir, and I've done plenty of paperwork. That won't be any trouble." It shouldn't have been possible for him to straighten any further, but when Harry offered him a position, he managed it. "Thank you, Mr Potter! You won't regret it." He paused, a thinking line appearing between his eyes. "Mr Potter, where I come from, the entry-level rank in the Watch is Lance-Constable. What are the ranks here?"

[aurorpotter]

"If I thought you were entry-level I'd put you in as a cadet, Mr. Ironfoundersson." Harry shook his head. They didn't have anyone in the entry-level in his ranks, which was as entertaining as it was telling. Not many people thought to apply to work with him, and those that did had a background that would certainly elevate them beyond the normal candidacy. Harry became Chief of Police simply by being the first one to seek out a job. He wasn't elected in. He didn't have the clout or the length of time in service to the town to be that rapidly elevated, but he took it, because he needed to work or he'd gone completely mental.

"But you're not." Harry straightened up and gestured for Carrot to follow him back into his office. A sword. He carried a bloody sword, of course he did. "When did you arrive in town?"

[cptn_carrot]

A cadet. Carrot nodded, though it didn't tell him what his rank was to be. He had gone from Lance-Constable to Captain in six months himself, before he'd even turned seventeen, so he knew from rapid promotion. And he knew the sort of allowances that were made when a force was so small.

"Yes, sir. Wherever you see fit to put me." He followed as he was beckoned, still holding his helmet in his hand. Again he had to duck slightly as he entered the office, but he'd grown up in a dwarf mine, so ducking came naturally. "I'm afraid I haven't fully mastered the calendar here, Mr Potter, but if it's Ember - er--" He paused, laboring to remember the Roundworld's calendar equivalents. "Sorry, that is, November? I believe it was early August when I arrived." August was easy; it was one month they seemed to have in common. Laying the Discworld calendar next to the Roundworld one was a fascinating exercise.

"And you, sir?" Detective Potter sounded almost Morporkian himself, with an accent very like Carrot's own.

[aurorpotter]

Harry laughed at the eagerness. It wasn't Carrot's fault, not even close, but there was something different about the other man, something that spoke deeply about honor and courage and maybe just a bit too much fondness for his job, but really, he couldn't blame him for all that, now could he? "Don't say that around Hermione or Bod," He advised instead. "They'll make you file paperwork until your fingers are ink-stained and cracking."

He rifled through his top desk drawer, trying to find the forms he needed. Hermione had got them for him at some point, but it wasn't like he often needed the proper paperwork for a new hire. It took a bit of shifting around in his desk, the one place he didn't let Hermione touch.

"I've been here for a few years, give or take. Long enough to know most people." And to adjust to the madness. He didn't look up from his bottomless drawer as he spoke. "Most people are completely mental, if you haven't noticed yet, but they're all nice enough."

[cptn_carrot]

"I wouldn't mind that, Mr Potter. I've done my share of paperwork." He'd done everyone's share of paperwork, when he'd been Captain. Actually, when he'd been Sergeant, too. Mr Vimes had a strategy of letting the papers pile up in the hopes that they'd go away. He hadn't been wrong that most of it was rubbish, but Carrot had been forced to devise a few tricks to make sure that the really important ones actually got seen.

And of course Colon had been worse than Mr Vimes. He'd just burned all the paperwork.

Carrot didn't look like anyone's idea of a clerk, between his height, broad shoulders, the muscles, and the armor. He looked a bit comical at a desk. He wasn't a fast reader, and his punctuation left something to be desired. But he was diligent and thorough, and his handwriting was passable. Dwarfs made sure their offspring learned good writing, so that later when they went out into the world, their letters home would be legible.

The word 'years' bothered Carrot somewhat, but he kept it to himself. He watched Mr Potter dig through the drawer and remembered many similar scenes, standing in front of Mr Vimes's desk. "The citizens here are quite commendable, sir. A credit to their respective homelands. And I'm sure I seem completely mental to most of them as well, sir."