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Post by June Bankman on Nov 7, 2009 0:52:29 GMT -5
June had taken her lunch break half an hour earlier than she usually did, and she was now on her way down the hall to the MLE. It was a wing of the Ministry that she didn't often travel, but she felt she needed to today.
When she arrived in their office, she asked the secretary where she might find Brady, and was pointed towards a desk in the back. When she glanced over, she smiled to see that he was in, as she imagined MLE officers, like Aurors, were more out of the office than they were in.
She strode up to his desk and barely gave him time to acknowledge her. "Are you free for lunch? No awkwardness, I swear."
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Post by Brady Ferris on Nov 7, 2009 17:44:29 GMT -5
Brady was sitting at his desk, trying to make himself busy. He hated sitting at his desk with nothing to do. Much to his luck, a few papers crossed his desk. Even though they were small cases, Brady was glad that he had something to do. Once he was finished with those however, he started glancing through a few files of people that they were looking for.
He was busy reading the file that he didn't hear anyone come up. No one ever really came up to his desk for anything unless it was to drop something off, but even then they never really spoke. Brady was surprised to hear someone start talking and he glanced up at the voice with an expression that said he didn't expect to see her. "Lunch? Uh, yeah, sure," he said. He usually didn't go to lunch until later, but he could make an exception. He wasn't doing anything of much importance at the moment anyway.
"Why would there be an awkwardness?" Brady couldn't refrain from asking the question. He gave a shake of his head, saying that she didn't have to answer it. "You want to go right now?"
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Post by June Bankman on Nov 8, 2009 23:01:00 GMT -5
June rolled her eyes. "Because dinner the other night was the epitome of awkward? I figure I ought to make that up to you."
She sat down in the chair in front of his desk. "Listen, I would really love it if you came to lunch with me. But you don't have to... please don't feel obligated. I just really wanted to apologize for the problems I caused at dinner the other night. If I had known it would gone like it did... well, I would have just said hello to you and left it at that. But if you are interested in lunch, on me... then no, we don't have to go right now. I've got time."
June never really beat around the bush, and Brady didn't really seem like that time that would want her to anyway. So she bluntly apologized for the trouble she had caused. It never even occurred to her that she wasn't the one in the wrong for that evening.
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Post by Brady Ferris on Nov 9, 2009 6:50:14 GMT -5
"Oh." He didn't even think about the dinner being awkward. "It wasn't that bad. I've been in much worse trust me." Brady gave her a smile. "And trust me, I wouldn't do anything that I wouldn't really want to." He liked the idea that June was pretty blunt. It did save a lot of questions.
Brady closed the file he was looking at. "You still owe me that cup of coffee. I figure that lunch could balance that out." He smiled again, just trying to keep things light. "And if you're worried about dinner the other night, don't be. No one got hurt or anything. Your friend was really nice, and I did have a nice time." Of course Brady left out the fact that he hated to walk on egg shells around June's boyfriend.
He stood up. "I'm ready whenever you are," he said sliding the file back into the filing cabinet before locking it.
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Post by June Bankman on Nov 9, 2009 12:20:15 GMT -5
June just smiled. "Talon's not that bad, either. I think I just caught him on a bad night. Too many new people all at once, you know? I can't blame him."
She checked the clock, and then looked back at him. He wasn't scared of her, or at least, he didn't shy away from her, and she liked that. She felt drawn to him, and maybe it was because she sensed something honest about him. June valued honesty, really.
"Well, it's a little before lunch. Maybe we can just grab that coffee before we eat?" She stood up when he did and nodded. "Works for me. Now, it's completely up to you where you want to go, but I have an affinity for the coffee at the Leaky Cauldron," she said, mentioning the place where they had first crossed paths.
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Post by Brady Ferris on Nov 9, 2009 13:25:23 GMT -5
Brady did not acknowledge her boyfriend's name, nor the comment that followed. Meeting two new people? That was too many new people? He held his tongue and kept his thoughts to himself. He didn't want to make June mad.
It took a lot for Brady to actually be scared of someone. He had met a string of different types of people and he hadn't met anyone that truly scared him yet. As for his honesty, it was something that he made sure he was. There was no sense in lying to someone.
He smiled again. "You and I both," Brady said with a laugh. There wasn't a morning that Brady didn't stop at the Leaky Cauldron to grab a cup of coffee. Of course, a second cup wouldn't hurt. "I could always go for coffee." He motioned for her to go ahead of him out of the MLE office.
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Post by June Bankman on Nov 10, 2009 1:10:47 GMT -5
He didn't have to say anything. June saw the look on his face, and she couldn't help but want to stick up for him. She loved him, after all. "Not everyone can be as loud and obnoxious and people-loving as I am, you know."
And she left it at that. She didn't want Brady to think poorly of Talon, but she didn't want to focus on him for the rest of the day, either.
Her smile reappeared when he motioned her out of the office, and with a bounce to her step, she turned and walked on. When she was out the door, however, she stepped to her right and made room for Brady to walk next to her. "I'll be honest... I didn't think you'd say yes to me today."
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Post by Brady Ferris on Nov 10, 2009 6:48:34 GMT -5
Naturally not everyone was as loud and people loving as June, but he didn't understand why someone could get so angry just meeting two new people. There was something off about her boyfriend, however, Brady was keeping it all to himself. It made no sense to cause an argument with June.
Seeing the bounce in her step made him give a soft smile. Leaving the MLE office, he walked beside her until they got out of the Ministry. "Why wouldn't I have said yes? You don't scare me that easily," said Brady with a teasing tone.
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Post by June Bankman on Nov 10, 2009 17:23:19 GMT -5
June just shrugged at his question. "It's good to know that you don't scare easy," she replied. "By me or anyone else." She didn't mention Talon's name again, but it did impress her that he wasn't scared of Talon. Merlin knew the guy could be intimidating. She'd be lying if she said she couldn't see that about him.
Besides, she hated his friends... he was allowed to not like hers, right? Even if she at least acted polite around them.
"So what does scare you, Brady?"
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Post by Brady Ferris on Nov 10, 2009 18:21:12 GMT -5
In response, he only nodded his head as he looked in the direction they were going. He wasn't sure what scared him. Going into the Magical Law Enforcement forced him to put down his fears and quite honestly, Brady wasn't even sure what he was scared of.
When she addressed the question of what he was scared of, Brady looked at her and gave a look that said he was thinking. After a long moment's pause, he gave a shrug. "I'm not sure to be honest with you. Being a part of the MLE causes you not to be scared because there is never any telling what you are going to be going after. Although, I remember being scared of the thing in my closet when I was a little boy. I always thought it was some big monster but I suppose my imagination got the best of me because the night I finally became brave enough, I discovered there wasn't anything in my closet." He laughed. "But now, I'm not sure. I've seen and heard too many things to scare easily. Luckily, I haven't ran into anything I have been scared of yet."
He gave her a smile. "What scares you?"
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Post by June Bankman on Nov 10, 2009 20:34:31 GMT -5
"I would have kicked that monster in the arse for you. I was all about conquering the closet monsters. And under the bed monsters," she added with a laugh. "I have a little brother, and he used to be terrified of those things. I was never really allowed to be scared of stuff like that."
She only turned and gave him a bright smile when he asked what she was scared of. "Nothing," she responded, and the way she announced this made it sound like she really believed she was fearless. "Everything. The world's a scary, fun place. I guess if I had to pinpoint one thing, I would say that I'm terrified of ending up alone."
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Post by Brady Ferris on Nov 10, 2009 22:18:27 GMT -5
"I don't think that you're going to have to experience ending up alone," Brady said with confidence. He was pretty sure that a girl like June wouldn't end up alone. After all, she had a boyfriend that she cared about. Brady wasn't sure how much he cared about her, but he sensed that June was a person to hold on tight. As for Brady, he wasn't concerned about ending up alone. He had always appeared to be somewhat of a loner. It never bothered him.
"But if that's the only thing you're scared of, you're doing great." He returned her smile. June was something else. They reached the Leaky Cauldron in no time, and he opened the door for her. "Ladies first."
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Post by June Bankman on Nov 11, 2009 11:42:58 GMT -5
June shrugged. "I guess I'm doing all right. I've got a great boyfriend, great friends, random strangers that agree to go to coffee with me." At this last one, she flashed him a playful grin. Certainly by now, she didn't consider him a stranger anymore. In fact, he wasn't a stranger after he said "Hi," for the first time.
She thanked him and slipped inside the open door, the blush in her cheeks more apparent as the warm air of the Leaky Cauldron rushed to greet the two of them.
"Let's take a table," she said, opting for that rather than sitting at the bar.
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Post by Brady Ferris on Nov 11, 2009 15:41:26 GMT -5
"See, your life sounds pretty much perfect." Brady put a smile on his face again. Maybe it was just the part of him that analyzed people, but he didn't like Talon. That was plain and simple. He was just going to keep those opinions to himself however. It would have been pretty nasty if he just openly stated his opinions because one; he had only met the man and two; June would be defensive and then that would cause whatever sort of friendship they had to just disappear.
"A table it is." Usually, Brady came in here every morning and had a cup of coffee as he read the Daily Prophet. Why he didn't just get himself a coffee maker that actually worked and just subscribe to the Daily Prophet, he didn't know. Maybe he would do that, eventually.
He pulled out June's chair. "How do you like your coffee?"
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Post by June Bankman on Nov 11, 2009 18:34:06 GMT -5
"I'm not complaining," June replied, unaware of the thoughts he had about Talon. She knew her parents hated him, but she'd had a falling out with her parents ages ago, and she couldn't even remember the last time she spoke to her little brother. Talon was all she had, really... if anything happened with him, where could she go? It was easier now that Virginia was in town and would probably take her in... but she didn't think she'd ever have to use that resource.
She sat down and smiled, thanking him again for pulling out her seat. "You're quite the gentleman," she told him. To his question, she replied, "Lots of sugar. No cream."
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Post by Brady Ferris on Nov 11, 2009 18:52:02 GMT -5
Brady only smiled as a response to her comment. He waited until she was sitting before turning toward the bar. "Lots of sugar, no cream, got it. I'll be right back," he said walking up to the bar. He ordered their cups of coffee and paid for them. He grabbed a big handful of sugar packets and slipped them into his pockets before carrying their cups over.
Setting June's cup in front of her, Brady pulled out the sugar packets and placed them on the table and then took his seat. "I like to have a lot of sugar in my coffee too and sometimes just a little cream." He smiled again and started to put sugar into his coffee.
"To be honest, this is a lot better than just sitting in the MLE office. Most of the time if we're not out working on some kind of case, we're sitting around doing hardly anything."
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Post by June Bankman on Nov 11, 2009 19:22:20 GMT -5
When he dropped the packets on the table, June laughed, loud and freely. "Such a sweetheart," June replied when he came back. "Thanks for this... I'll pick up your next cup," she promised, taking four packets and opening them one at a time. It was a meticulous process, but June was quite OCD about some things. Each empty packet was placed just a certain way at the edge of the table before she finally took her spoon and stirred.
"We're the same way in the Portkey Office... it's mostly just paperwork, and it drives me crazy sometimes. But every so often, we get something exciting.... like that wayward portkey that lead to us meeting," she grinned. "How do you keep yourself entertained over there?"
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Post by Brady Ferris on Nov 11, 2009 20:40:25 GMT -5
Being in the line of work he was in, Brady picked up on the way she did things. It was just part of who he was to just observe. Seeing how neatly she torn open the packets made Brady look down to how he opened his. He just torn the top part off and just emptied the packet into his coffee, causing a few grains of sugar to hit the table. Not commenting on it, he torn open a few more and emptied those in as well, before stirring his coffee.
"I can see how it drives you crazy," he said with a boyish grin. "Keep myself entertained? Oh, it'll make me sound completely boring. I go back and look files over, like the people we're looking for. See if there is anything I missed or anything that can help find that person. Sometimes we get calls and I usually go on those."
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Post by June Bankman on Nov 12, 2009 12:46:17 GMT -5
June laughed. "It's not boring. It's incredibly productive. It's better than my solution, anyway."
Holding her cup in her hands, she leaned forward and conspiratorially narrowed her eyes. "You want to know what I do when I'm bored? I take early breaks and invite MLE officers to coffee." Leaning back again, she shrugged. "But I'd do that if I wasn't bored, too, so maybe that doesn't count."
She finally took a sip of her coffee and closed her eyes, just feeling the heat it gave her for a moment. "Nectar of the gods, I swear."
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Post by Brady Ferris on Nov 12, 2009 14:45:47 GMT -5
A laugh escaped Brady. "It counts," he said. "I believe that could be considered a lot of fun. After all, we're not a whole brooding lot." This was probably the second time that Brady had been asked to go somewhere with a female. The first time he was sort of dating a girl but that didn't work out to well. Brady hadn't been what she was looking for, simply put. He wasn't one of those guys who would be seen at some club on the weekends dancing or anything. Quite frankly, Brady didn't even know how to dance. He was just the type that usually set back and took things as they came.
"I believe I've become extremely dependent on coffee. There's not a morning I can go without it."
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