His eyes light with amusement at her second question, and he shakes his head.
"I'm sorry, I should've introduced myself. Raylan Givens, deputy U.S. Marshal."
A beat.
"That's law enforcement at the federal level, where I'm from."
He puts down the pen, welcoming this conversation over the half-revised mess of his own making.
"And though I do appreciate the concern, no, I didn't - there's just been quite a bit that's happened between then and now. I can't quite remember the exact sequence of events, since the scuffle happened pretty quick."
"Luna Lovegood. Rising fourth year, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
She smiles a bit again.
"I generally get confused about how Muggles organize things like that in Britain. Let alone in America."
Muggles on both sides of the pond seem to delight in organizing their governments in complex and confusing ways. Maybe it's just because there are so many Muggles.
"Why is it they want to know just how a fight took place?"
He cants his head at Muggle, but doesn't pursue it, for the moment.
"Well," he says, his eastern Kentucky drawl more apparent as his speech slows in thought, "they always do. Whenever there's an incident, or an accident, the people in charge want to make sure that we upheld the law, and didn't instigate any kind of violence.
"We're not given badges so we can hurt people; we're supposed to be the good guys."
Luna likes his accent. It sounds interesting. And is easy to understand. Some American Muggles she's heard in London talk so fast they're almost incomprehensible.
"Though I do understand. As much as we like to believe that the people who are supposed to be good will always be good, it doesn't always work out that way."
"From what I hear, the Ministry of Magic has plenty of paperwork and reports of it's own. I suppose it's all the same idea."
He's taken with just how astute she is, especially for someone so young - or, at least, she appears to be young. (With magic in the mix, Raylan's learned what's certain at home isn't always so concrete here.)
Curious: "A Ministry of Magic? So it's regulated?"
His white Stetson is taking up real estate on the counter, well clear of his coffee mug.
The scratch of his Bic goes silent, and he mutters under his breath, crossing out half a paragraph of notes in black ink.
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And his very white hat.
"It's difficult, isn't it?" she says, with commiseration. "When you can't quite get words to say what you want."
The letter she's currently working on isn't exactly easy going. She understands.
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"You'd think after years of filling out these things in pen, I'd quit making so many mistakes."
His eyes flick to her quill, and the accompanying bottle of ink.
"Maybe I should try it your way, sometime - I'd probably be more careful."
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It might be difficult to tell if Luna is being serious or poking fun a bit.
"Though if you're really good at erasure charms, it doesn't matter. Those clean up mistakes easily enough."
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"I'm out of luck, then," he says, as good-natured as he is honest. "Where I'm from, there's no magic to speak of."
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"In that case, perhaps a pencil would be better?"
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"That'd make sense, wouldn't it?"
He wiggles the plastic Bic between his thumb and forefinger.
"I've argued in favor of the same thing, but unfortunately for me, pen and ink's the regulation."
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Luna's mostly a rule follower, but she does have a certain tendency to flagrantly break the rules that don't make sense to her.
"What is it that you're trying to write?" she asks, peering curiously over the intervening space.
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"Nothing fun, that's for sure."
He taps the top report with the end of his pen.
"This is a write-up of an altercation that occurred last week, during a prisoner transport."
A beat, and Raylan's expression bleeds toward sheepish.
"A few of the details are a little fuzzy."
Mostly because he procrastinated on the back end.
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"You're a..." She only fishes a second for the appropriate term. "A policeman? Or a guard?"
She looks at him sympathetically.
"You took a knock to the head?"
That can certainly make things fuzzy.
So can a Confundus Charm. But a world with no magic rather rules that out.
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"I'm sorry, I should've introduced myself. Raylan Givens, deputy U.S. Marshal."
A beat.
"That's law enforcement at the federal level, where I'm from."
He puts down the pen, welcoming this conversation over the half-revised mess of his own making.
"And though I do appreciate the concern, no, I didn't - there's just been quite a bit that's happened between then and now. I can't quite remember the exact sequence of events, since the scuffle happened pretty quick."
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She smiles a bit again.
"I generally get confused about how Muggles organize things like that in Britain. Let alone in America."
Muggles on both sides of the pond seem to delight in organizing their governments in complex and confusing ways. Maybe it's just because there are so many Muggles.
"Why is it they want to know just how a fight took place?"
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He cants his head at Muggle, but doesn't pursue it, for the moment.
"Well," he says, his eastern Kentucky drawl more apparent as his speech slows in thought, "they always do. Whenever there's an incident, or an accident, the people in charge want to make sure that we upheld the law, and didn't instigate any kind of violence.
"We're not given badges so we can hurt people; we're supposed to be the good guys."
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Luna likes his accent. It sounds interesting. And is easy to understand. Some American Muggles she's heard in London talk so fast they're almost incomprehensible.
"Though I do understand. As much as we like to believe that the people who are supposed to be good will always be good, it doesn't always work out that way."
"From what I hear, the Ministry of Magic has plenty of paperwork and reports of it's own. I suppose it's all the same idea."
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Curious: "A Ministry of Magic? So it's regulated?"
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(Or she's just cracked, depending on who you ask.)
"Oh, yes. There's a great deal to oversee. Especially given the Statute of Secrecy."
"Keeping the Muggles from learning that there are witches and wizards in the world takes a lot of work, apparently."
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