1995-07-19: Paperwork Geeks

Participants:

Mickey_icon.gif Madeline_icon.gif

Scene Title Paperwork Geeks
Synopsis Mickey and Madeline met for the first time.
Location Leaky Cauldron
Date July 19, 1995
Watch For Um stuff! Lots of stuff!
Logger Mickey

As evening presses in on late afternoon, the small pub starts to become busier. Amongst those stopping in after work is Madeline Sagace, looking rather tired as she slips gracefully between two larger gentlemen, to make her way over to an empty table in the corner. She drops into a seat and settles her bag on the floor beside her, straightening back up to have a look around at the small crowd while she decides on what she wants to order.

Mickey Smith isn't a common face around here but having been contracted out by the ministry to fix a few problem enchantments the magic tinker is just getting off work and decides to drop by the more local place to eat. Looking about he doesn't spot anyone he knows right off the bat and heads to the tab;e next to where Madeline sits. Hanging his rainbow colored bag (yes a touch girlly) off the back of his chair and dark man settles in and looks over the menu, quickly ordering a butterbeer from the server.

Looking about as she is, Madeline notices the gentleman who sits down beside her, though at first, he's merely taken in as a face in the crowd. But since he's been kind enough to get the server over in their general direction, the quiet young woman then attempts to flag down the busy waiter - without too much success. "Pardon me… pardon?" she attempts, though her voice is hardly loud enough to carry over the din of so many conversations going on at once.

Mickey notices the lady besides him attempting to flag down the server, the woman is just to quiet. Mickey pipes up, "Oy mister." He is loud enough to carry over the busy voices carrying on in the Inn and the server heads back in his direction. Mickey points to the girl he realizes he sort of recognizes and explains, "The lady wants to order, sorry. Figured since we are right next to each other might be easier for you mate." He smiles to Madeline and the server at once.

Madeline goes a bit pink as Mickey draws attention to her, even if it was attention she'd been after in the first place. "I, ah … Butterbeer is - that's fine," she informs the server once his attention is back on her. To Mickey, she offers a small and self-conscious smile. "And, uh, thank you. For the … help." Her voice is still quiet, but she makes a little more effort to speak up now, after all that.

Mickey smiles lightly to the woman and waves a hand, "Oh no problem. My mum always said I'm to loud for my own good, figure it's good if my 'gift' comes in useful once in a while." He winks to the apparently shy woman and taping his finger on the counter lightly has to ask after his brow furrows lightly, "You were in slytherin right?" If he doesn't ask it'll nag all night.

"Well, it's a gift, ah, for which I'm … grateful," Madeline assures him, glancing back down to her own table for the moment as she absently brushes away some crumbs left by its last occupant. There's slight surprise as she looks back up at him after his question. She's not used to people recognizing or remembering her, as a general rule. "Yes, I … That's right." That he recognizes her forces her to look at him more thoughtfully than the shy, fleeting glances she's been using thus far, trying to place him as well.

Mickey hums and nods his head to her then extends his hand to the mostly unknown woman, "Sorry Mickey Smith aka Noble." Yep he says the aka one letter at a time and grins afterwards, "sorry think you were in the year ahead of me at Hogwarts. Just always bugs me when I can't remember a name." He admits.

Madeline goes slightly pink again, but politely shakes the offered hand, her eyebrows lifting just a bit as he introduces himself. "Did you- Sorry. I, ah…. Madeline Sagace." She gets a bit flustered in trying to figure out where to start. Once the actual introduction is done, she goes back to the original thought. "Did you say … Noble?"

Nodding his head Mickey beams to her, a touch proud of his adopted family apparently, "Yeah well stuff happened when I was sixteen and the Noble family adopted me. Technically not a Noble but might as well be." He shrugs, it's a convoluted situation, for one he's a much darker man then any of the Nobles, "Didn't really take the last name but I find it a touch easier to explain who I am to people that way." the Madeline's name catches his attention, "Wait don't you work for Jacky boy?"

Madeline doesn't seem too concerned with the technicality of it, simply surprised to hear that name - though given the reach of that family, she really shouldn't be surprised to hear it. He comes around to her point for her though, when he brings up Jack, and she at first smiles before it drops just a bit. "I … do. Did. I'm - not entirely sure what's … But yes, that's - that's me." Also a convoluted situation, it would seem.

Mickey doesn't seem to care if he did or did not work for Jack but just smiles brightly to the woman, "Oh lady I have no idea how you managed to muddle through Jack's paper work. the man's a wanting disaster to all thing paper related. I've been doing it lately when I can but apprentice at the 'the Repair Shop' across the way so not much time." He blushes, dark cheek tinging just a hint of red, "Sorry here I am rambling away when you probably just wanna look at the menu." He chuckles lightly.

"No, it's…" Madeline trails off as she tries to think of the correct word. 'Nice' isn't really true, since it's not nice to think of poor Jack struggling with all his paperwork. "…okay," she finishes a bit lamely instead. "I, ah - Is he … doing all right? I hope he's … not managed to get the files all, ah, out of order already…" Then she goes a bit pink herself. "Though they're his files to - to get out of order if he wants, of course."

Mickey raises an eyebrow and looks back over to the woman, "Well I hope not. He isn't completely hopeless." Mickey shrugs to her and asks, "So where did you disapear to, I talked to a ministry guy about starting a man hunt for you myself." He winks to attempt to show he is joking, "Sorry probolly prying."

"Oh, no, of - of course not," Madeline replies quickly, going quite red at the idea her comment may have been interpreted as calling Jack 'hopeless'. "He isn't … hopeless at all. Just … busy." The idea of her presence being missed only makes her go yet redder. "It's not, ah, prying. I'm … sorry if I made anyone worry. I've been, uh, quite wrapped up in … things with the Department of Mysteries. And, well, I - I wasn't asked to return, so I, ah, assumed I … was no longer needed." While from some girls that might be construed as a guilt trip, poor Madeline really simply lacks the self-confidence to think anything different.

Mickey shrugs to her, "sorry I was getting prying over the situation still though. Didn't know who you were, just worried when Jack said you up and disapeared." He smiles to her a touch apologeticly, "Well if you are looking for secretary work ever, I can alway talk to my boss man Clive. I know he'd be happy to stop hearing me lecture him about proper order."

"It's … kind of you to worry. I'm, ah, I'm fine though, as you can see." Madeline offers a faint and sheepish smile with that - though she does still look rather worn out. There's a pause as she considers the offer, nodding slowly. "If - If you were in need of help, I could … possibly help out. But perhaps I had best talk to- to Jack first. I … would hate to think he's worrying. Or having trouble with - with the paperwork." She really does feel badly about that.

Mickey nods his head to this and smiles back to her, "Well whatever ya need to do Miss. Sagace." He's really the friendly, touch bumbling sort, "though good to see you are alright after all." He grins wider and when the server comes back orders a french onion soup and the server makes sure to wait around for Madeline's order.

"Thank you, Mr., uh, Smith," Madeline replies, not quite sure whether she should tack on the 'aka Noble' as well herself; but decides against it in the end. "So, you, ah … are in an apprent-" But Mads's foray into actual conversation, however awkward, is interrupted by the server. She's happy with just her butterbeer, even if it does seem a bit of a waste to not take advantage of his attention.

"Oh yes an apprentice tinker for the moment. Decided it would be much easier to start out under someone else then my own business right off the bat." Mickey explains as the server heads off with a slightly prous smile then shrugs, "Department of mysteries yourself then? How mysterious." He attempts to joke knowign she can't talk about it much.

"Sounds very … wise of you," Madeline agrees with a small smile, nodding her head approvingly. She is certainly the sort to take the more prudent route herself. As to the talk of her other job, her smile turns inward and she drops her gaze to the surface of her table. "It … is, yes. Though it, ah, isn't much good for conversation. But otherwise, I … do enjoy it."

Mickey grins to Madeline, "Well we could try and come up with new synonyms for mysterious all dinner, always good for conversation." He grins a touch wider trying to draw the woman out a little, "Or just not and say we did." He chuckles and shrugs to her before taking a sip of his butter beer and asks, "So you always work as an unspeakable?"

The comment at least earns him a quiet laugh from the reticent woman, and Madeline looks back up at him again. "I'm … not sure that my vocabulary is quite that, ah, exhaustive." Coming up with enough synonyms to last all dinner would be quite a task, she figures. To his question, there's a self-conscious smile and she shakes her head. "No, it's … a recent development. I was, ah, working as a file clerk in Magical Creatures before that."

Mickey wrinkles his nose at this and chuckles lightly again towards the woman's comments, "I'm not sure I could either, just hate sitting by myself here not talkign to a soul." He downs the rest of his butterbeer and loosk at the non alcoholic drink like it has offended him. A hand raises to try and wave the server over, "Oh Magical Creatures, anything really nuts cross your desk?"

"Sometimes the … quiet is nice," Madeline replies, after considering it, before rushing in to add, "Not that- I'm not saying I want … quiet. Conversation is, ah, nice too. I've … had a lot of - of quiet lately anyway." She gives a wan smile with that before trying to move on, having gone pink in the cheeks again. "I … mostly just dealt with the files. Though some of those tended to disappear, and a few would bite. It … added a level of challenge." And kept her from falling asleep with boredom some days.

Mickey blushes himself and waves a hand, "Don;t think I know what you mean by quiet." He chuckles lightly and shrugs again, fixing the hat on his head absentmindedly, "Really? They bite back? Sounds at least somewhat interesting. Glad you got the profession change you wanted I hope."

"Perhaps it's … overrated," Madeline decides with a faint smile, speaking of the quiet. Or perhaps it's that the grass is always greener. Being so quiet leaves her wishing sometimes she had the wherewithal to be more forceful. "Some of them. It was … an experience. But yes, it's - working as an Unspeakable is certainly more … ah, rewarding."

Mickey nods his head to this, "Yeah I tried working as a muggle contracter like my dad did for a bit, but then gave up and got back into magical items. Sometimes a career change is all you need." He is full of um…wisdom, yeah that's it. Mickey is by no means stupid though and finally getting the servers attention asks Madeline quickly before order, "How is your butter beer miss?"

"You … have to do what is right for - for you, I think," Madeline agrees quietly, nodding her head. "Jack was, ah, one of the ones to help me … see that for myself." She takes a sip of her butterbeer when he mentions it, nodding her head. "It's … quite all right, thank you." She glances over at the server when he's flagged down, but does seem satisfied with her own drink.

Mickey orders another for himself and then raises an eyebrow to Madeline, "Jack helped you figure it out? Well I guess that makes sense, I don't think he's ever doen anythign he didn't want to." Mickey shrugs again, seems to be a bit of a nervous twitch for the man, "He's older then me but my real mom and his mom were best friends so I've known the family a long time." Mickey gives into rambling again.

"I … can't imagine him ever doing, no," Madeline agrees with a quiet and thoughtful smile, as she considers that. "I'm glad that, ah, everything worked out for him." Her own drink is going down slowly, taken in small sips when she thinks of it. As for the rambling, she can't be said to mind, merely looks politely interested at this bit of news. "Ah, well. You must … know him well then."

Mickey nods his head, "Yeah I guess so…" He takes the butterbeer from the server offered with a polite thanks and twirls it a bit between his fingers, "So you know Jack well then?" He asks trying to figure this one out, what the big brother date her or something and woman scorned?

But Madeline's story is really not so simple or straightforward. Or normal. "I … don't know. I - suppose not really," she replies, thoughtful and a little sheepish at being so uncertain. "But he's … always been very kind. I owe him a great deal. I … hate to think of him struggling with his paperwork." It really does trouble the poor woman.

Mickey chuckles and shakes his head at this, "Ah no that is what he cons me into. I can't stand to see paperwork even a little out of order, it's a bad habit." He admits with a sheepish grin and the soup arrives but he just sort of picks at it randomly.

"Yes, well, I can understand that," Madeline replies with a reassuring smile. "A … little out of order is fast to become a lot out of order." Once a file clerk, always a file clerk, really. She takes another sip of her drink, watching him picking at his food. "Are you … not hungry?"

Mickey hums questionally and picks looks up from his food, "Oh yeah I guess. Ordered it but just not really feeling it, if you know what I mean…" He pokes the crispy crust with his spoon and leave the spoon standing up straight there, "Well it doesn't matter, I'm sure I'mm find something later." He shrugs and grisn to Madeline, "So how did Jack find you Madeli…I mean Miss. Sagace"

"Yes, I … suppose I do know what you mean," Madeline agrees, eyeing the soup with the spoon now standing up at full mast within it. Her cheeks go just slightly pink and she ducks her head, smiling inwardly at the memory. "He … came into the Department - of Magical Creatures, that - that is. He, ah, was bringing in a demiguise, though of course it … was quite invisible, so I, ah, wasn't sure what was … going on at first." She shrugs her shoulders, looking sheepish.

Mickey grins to the woman, "Oh really?" He waggles his eyebrow jestingly to Madeline and then waves his hand, "Sorry everyone likes Jack, he';s the likable one out of us bunch." Not a touch of jelous nature then at all, Mickey isn't the type.

"Yes … really," Madeline replies with a not, looking a bit puzzled as to what's so hard to believe about that story. Any jesting eyebrow waggling is just met with bemusement. She can sometimes be a bit clueless. "Jack is … very likeable, yes. Though, ah, I … would think one could say the same of you." There compliment is sincere, but shy of course, and she offers a small smile with it. "I … probably ought to be getting on though," she notes a little reluctantly.

Mickey notes the note of misunderstanding and scrambles to recover himself, "Well um…ah…thanks…" He finishes lamely and then grins to the woman trying to cover him momentary laps in Micky, well charm or whatever you might call what he does. "I do hope I run into you again, maybe dinner sometimes to um you know run over the files at Jack's office. I could be doing them wrong you know…"
GAME: Save complete.

Madeline finishes the last of her butterbeer, pausing just slightly at the offer, considering it before nodding. "I … Ah, yes, that - that would be, um, fine. The system is a bit … complicated, but much more, ah, efficient once you … get the hang of it." She offers a small smile before rising from her seat. "Have a … good evening, Mr. Smith."

Mickey waves his hand, his smile a touch brighter at the offer for dinner or just sort out Jack's paper work, probolly both. "Evening Miss, a pleasure to meet you."


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