Geoffrey was not terribly surprised to learn that Lenore was less than pleased with her work, currently. After all, Nita of all people was considering quiting her job, and while he realized that the Ministry wasn't the same as the Daily Prophet, the way things had been going lately, they might as well be. Still, something to keep in mind. Maybe he should try and milk Howell for information the next time he saw him. Not that his brother was generally very forthcoming about his work, but there was a first time for everything, right?
He perked up significantly when Lenore mentioned the Ashworths, though he was careful not to show his interest. "Ashworths? I might've heard a thing or two," he admitted casually, sipping his Firewhiskey. "What kind of letter did you get?" Best to know whether she was being given an offer or offered a threat before admitting to too much.
A 'thing or two' from Geoffrey probably meant it depended on who was asking. Lenore settled comfortably back in her chair, balancing her drink in her lap as she kicked a leg up onto a free chair again. "Apparently," she said, being careful with her phrasing, "they're looking to recruit someone tutor a problem niece. At least that was the gist of the letter," she said skeptically. "I'm inclined to think the unspoken implication is that she's slipped free of their grip and they want someone to chase, be ditched, and follow under her around under the guise of chaperoning." Lenore paused and thought over again how strange a request it was; especially from an apparently well connected family she had never dealt with before. Her interest was piqued, for sure. How and why had they tracked her down, of all people? Still.
"It's interesting," she admitted, "but I'm not a baby sitter." Connections though, didn't make themselves. It was something to think about, anyway.
"Well..." Geoffrey said slowly, "there are various several you should consider when looking at something like this. First off, realize that if this niece has been able to slip the grasp of the Ashworths, she's probably absolute genius. Might not necessarily be good genius, but genius nonetheless. And that means you could probably learn as much from her as she can from you. Secondly, you have to realize that Ashworths tend to keep their problems internal. If they've approached you, it's either because they want to size you up, or because they want a specialist, and they feel you're the kind of specialist they need." Or you've got in the way somehow and they want to dispose of you discretely, he added mentally. He wasn't going to tell Lenore that, however - the chances that she'd pissed off the Ashworths to that degree were slim, and really. If they wanted her gone, there really wasn't much that could be done about it
( ... )
"Might not make everything worthwhile, but it can make a whole slew of things tolerable," Geoffrey said with a shrug. It was, after all, the Chandler Way (right up there with "world conquest through careful corporate takeovers" and "Mother is always right"). "But if Ashworths are looking for special chaperons for this girl, then the one thing you can be sure of is that she'll be interesting. And probably a handful. D'you know what house she's from? If it's Cairo, you'll want to be sure to have a few protections against explosions handy going in," he warned. Much as he respected the Ashworths as occasional employers, he also rather appreciated Lenore all in one piece. Maybe he should ask Gerry if she knew anything about this...
"No," Lenore shook her head, "they didn't see fit to fill me in on all of the details yet." If they paid well enough, she supposed she wouldn't have any room to complain. Lenore did like to think of herself as a practical person and if she was being compensated, she could ignore a whole lot of minor annoyances.
She raised an eyebrow, "Explosions, you say? Well." Lenore's expression turned more skeptical. "It just gets better." Getting hurt was not on her list of things to do. The whole point of entertaining the offer was it's promise to get out out of harm's way here. Lenore preferred not to trade one trap for another. At least, though, this would be something new. And her Slytherin heart did love a challenge.
Lenore shrugged the subject off. "Oh, well. I'll figure that mess out later," she resolved. Later, when alcohol and Geoffrey weren't part of the equation. Which was not to say that she didn't appreciate the man's input, she wouldn't have asked if that were the case, but making serious decisions was not what
( ... )
"Sadly, the passport question has pretty much been rendered moot," Geoffrey lamented with a sigh. "Seeing as how I'll not be going anywhere next year, what with this Hogwarts thing." He downed the rest his glass and grinned at her. "Though I did make sure to get it sorted out, just in case I should need to suddenly leave the country any time in the near future."
Lenore smirked. "I don't know that angry headmasters are quite so easy to ditch," she counseled. "Parents maybe. If they're lacking in imagination." Oh, she was going to enjoy not having to pay on this bet.
Maybe you should feel a little bad. Morally.
Lenore considered it briefly and shrugged it off. When it came to that, she'd deal with it.
"Who said I'd be ditching headmasters or parents?" Geoffrey asked, putting on an air of indignant affront. "I'm more worried about what'll happen to me when Corina Mayfield or one of her cronies finds out that I'm not quite what I present myself to be," he muttered, grimacing. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time that he'd been flirting with them... it was only later that he reached the conclusion that perhaps it was not the best thing he could have done.
"And besides, there's always the chance that I might have the need to run an errand or two sometime," he concluded in his regular tone.
"Ditched me for a pretty boy already, Lenore? I'm hurt." Callum took the seat next to Geoffrey and sighed. "Guess the saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder doesn't apply anymore, eh?" Grinning he held out his hand and introduced himself to the younger man.
"At least the phenotype's the same. Callum Archer. Pleased to meet you."
[I won't be around much today so feel free to skip or puppet him. ^_^]
"Corina," Lenore lamented, making her distaste clear. "I can't believe you stooped so low. In fact you should never mention that and then wonder why I'm not giving you your bonus incentive." Second-hand raving bint was still raving bint. Lenore hated the woman and she would have preferred not to have that mental image tainting her opinion of the man.
She was spared from making a sarcastic comment about Geoffrey's errands by the arrival of a familiar face. "Callum." Lenore brightened and for a moment there was an openness in her eyes wasn't often allowed on the surface. Archer was on a very short list (was perhaps the only person on the list) of people who she was willing to let in completely. He was comfortable. They'd been friends for a long time.
The look sank back beneath her eyes as she smirked at the baiting. "A girl can't wait forever," she returned with a smile. Lenore straightened to lean on the table as introductions were made, adding a helpful, "The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," before taking a
"Oi, I got good information from her, I'll have you know, and I think I deserve a bonus incentive to help me get over my resulting trauma," Geoffrey began to argue, though he quickly shut up when the new face arrived. Settling back, Geoffrey studied the newcomer discretely, liking what he saw (though knowing the way his luck had been going lately, the man was likely straight and thus it really didn't matter).
"H'lo," he said with a nod, leaning forward and offering his hand. "Grand to meet a comrade in arms. I'm Geoffrey Chandler - I'm to be the new flying instructor in the fall," he explain, smiling charmingly, because hey, it never hurt to try.
Callum winced a little at Lenore's remark but it was more out of habit than discomfort. He'd got used to his position and grown more comfortable with it over the past months. "Oh, you're replacing the snotty quidditch... I mean the glamourous Mr Pilot? How lovely!" he exclaimed, completely oblivious to Geoffrey's charming smile. Anton and Callum had not really liked each other and only barely managed to remain civil during their brief encounters in the teachers' lounge.
Noticing the firewhiskey, the man gathered that these two had been at it for a while and wondered briefly if he should bother to catch up with them. "So what's new in the real world? I need to be up to date now that I'm allowed to leave the safe little bubble known as Hogwarts." Grinning he reached for his glass and took a sip.
"The real world indeed," Lenore said darkly. She turned an annoyed look on her glass and sank back into her the hard wood of her chair. "Bubbles are underrated. I think I'd quite like a thicker one, actually."
Most of the time working in Mysteries isolated Lenore rather pleasantly from everything she didn't want to deal with in the Ministry. There were a lot of people asking questions lately though. Lenore didn't like it and she certainly didn't want to deal with it; not when they were knocking on her door and getting in her way.
Remembering that she was in a pub with friends (good looking friends) Lenore shoved it off of her mind again and chose to enjoy herself instead (again). "Not heading out of country first chance you get then?" she asked Callum. "Does this mean I'll be lucky enough to see you around more often?"
"Pilot was a few years below me in school, but I don't really know the man. Hopefully you won't hold his behaviour during his tenure against me," Geoffrey said genially. Geoffrey hoped that it wouldn't matter that Callum was oblivious to his charming smile - there would be others at the school, surely?
"I'm surprised you to hear you call Hogwarts a 'safe little bubble,'" he remarked, "particularly considering all the chaos that I hear has been happening there this year. Students dead, talks of random attacks... I dunno, sometimes I think Peruvian tombs might be safer than Hogwarts' bubble of safety." He shivered. Hogwarts was supposed to be one of the safest places to be - it was where Dumbledore was, after.
"The old man is there most of the time," Archer said and ran a hand through his hair, "so it's currently the safest place in Britain." Smiling he reached for his glass and took a sip, choosing not talk about the random attacks. It was still a mystery to him how it could have happened and it bugged him that no one had come up with an explanation, yet. Someone had messed up badly and it hadn't been Lethe because knowing her, she had taken every precaution she could.
"Does this mean I'll be lucky enough to see you around more often?""Who knows? An old client offered me a job. Sounds easy, pays well and it'd prevent my skills from rusting. I might accept it." The smile turned into a grin as he leaned back in his chair and threw an arm across the back of Geoffrey's chair casually. "Unless, of course, you have something better to offer," he said to Lenore and winked. Having been friends with her for such a long time allowed him to say careless things like that and he knew that they wouldn't be held against him. Geoffrey's presence didn't
( ... )
He perked up significantly when Lenore mentioned the Ashworths, though he was careful not to show his interest. "Ashworths? I might've heard a thing or two," he admitted casually, sipping his Firewhiskey. "What kind of letter did you get?" Best to know whether she was being given an offer or offered a threat before admitting to too much.
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"It's interesting," she admitted, "but I'm not a baby sitter." Connections though, didn't make themselves. It was something to think about, anyway.
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She raised an eyebrow, "Explosions, you say? Well." Lenore's expression turned more skeptical. "It just gets better." Getting hurt was not on her list of things to do. The whole point of entertaining the offer was it's promise to get out out of harm's way here. Lenore preferred not to trade one trap for another. At least, though, this would be something new. And her Slytherin heart did love a challenge.
Lenore shrugged the subject off. "Oh, well. I'll figure that mess out later," she resolved. Later, when alcohol and Geoffrey weren't part of the equation. Which was not to say that she didn't appreciate the man's input, she wouldn't have asked if that were the case, but making serious decisions was not what ( ... )
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Maybe you should feel a little bad. Morally.
Lenore considered it briefly and shrugged it off. When it came to that, she'd deal with it.
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"And besides, there's always the chance that I might have the need to run an errand or two sometime," he concluded in his regular tone.
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"At least the phenotype's the same. Callum Archer. Pleased to meet you."
[I won't be around much today so feel free to skip or puppet him. ^_^]
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She was spared from making a sarcastic comment about Geoffrey's errands by the arrival of a familiar face. "Callum." Lenore brightened and for a moment there was an openness in her eyes wasn't often allowed on the surface. Archer was on a very short list (was perhaps the only person on the list) of people who she was willing to let in completely. He was comfortable. They'd been friends for a long time.
The look sank back beneath her eyes as she smirked at the baiting. "A girl can't wait forever," she returned with a smile. Lenore straightened to lean on the table as introductions were made, adding a helpful, "The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," before taking a
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"H'lo," he said with a nod, leaning forward and offering his hand. "Grand to meet a comrade in arms. I'm Geoffrey Chandler - I'm to be the new flying instructor in the fall," he explain, smiling charmingly, because hey, it never hurt to try.
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Callum winced a little at Lenore's remark but it was more out of habit than discomfort. He'd got used to his position and grown more comfortable with it over the past months. "Oh, you're replacing the snotty quidditch... I mean the glamourous Mr Pilot? How lovely!" he exclaimed, completely oblivious to Geoffrey's charming smile. Anton and Callum had not really liked each other and only barely managed to remain civil during their brief encounters in the teachers' lounge.
Noticing the firewhiskey, the man gathered that these two had been at it for a while and wondered briefly if he should bother to catch up with them. "So what's new in the real world? I need to be up to date now that I'm allowed to leave the safe little bubble known as Hogwarts." Grinning he reached for his glass and took a sip.
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Most of the time working in Mysteries isolated Lenore rather pleasantly from everything she didn't want to deal with in the Ministry. There were a lot of people asking questions lately though. Lenore didn't like it and she certainly didn't want to deal with it; not when they were knocking on her door and getting in her way.
Remembering that she was in a pub with friends (good looking friends) Lenore shoved it off of her mind again and chose to enjoy herself instead (again). "Not heading out of country first chance you get then?" she asked Callum. "Does this mean I'll be lucky enough to see you around more often?"
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"I'm surprised you to hear you call Hogwarts a 'safe little bubble,'" he remarked, "particularly considering all the chaos that I hear has been happening there this year. Students dead, talks of random attacks... I dunno, sometimes I think Peruvian tombs might be safer than Hogwarts' bubble of safety." He shivered. Hogwarts was supposed to be one of the safest places to be - it was where Dumbledore was, after.
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"Does this mean I'll be lucky enough to see you around more often?""Who knows? An old client offered me a job. Sounds easy, pays well and it'd prevent my skills from rusting. I might accept it." The smile turned into a grin as he leaned back in his chair and threw an arm across the back of Geoffrey's chair casually. "Unless, of course, you have something better to offer," he said to Lenore and winked. Having been friends with her for such a long time allowed him to say careless things like that and he knew that they wouldn't be held against him. Geoffrey's presence didn't ( ... )
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