That snarky, fancy little man.  Briggs was glowering as the other just calmly went on with his patronizing, arrogant prattle.  Was he enjoying himself over a tea time discussion of marigolds and disagreements about kettle bottoms?  Nate was incensed at the contrast.  His own total lack of freedom face to face with Jowd's complete free-to-go, and parading it around as often as he spoke.  Nate could only wish for their roles to be reversed.  Not for his own benefit, but so that Jowd would understand.

Nate itched to strike the Curtain, but he had to restrain himself.  Any contact would mete swift returns.  Instead he stood away and walked away from the table and toppled chair.  Outside the guards made no audible sounds.  Probably they expected tantrums and had complete faith that the Curtain would do the job better than they would.

He crossed his arms and grit his teeth in stewing anxiety.   Screw Jowd.  And screw the Aurors and Trevelyan and Tawse.  All of them shit-bag liars.

"Lucky," he echoed with a scoff.

"I don't want to talk to you," he said, as if it should have been obvious.  "You're a dead blighter.  Interview not a success.  Subject not cooperative.  Time wasted." 

Proof that Briggs was one particular cockroach that had gotten tired of being squished. His absolute refusal to do anything helpful was a spiteful yet thoroughly justified retaliation to supposed mistreatment. Though Briggs had still broken laws, in the plural sense. For any wavering apathetic empathy Sissel had for the prisoner's dilemma he stood firm with the justification of the fact that Briggs was the convicted criminal getting his punishment. Though what punishment would work the best was the question as Briggs was vehement against the system that had placed him here but for all his complaints found it more comfortable than...

...what?

Sissel decided to spare Briggs the further annoyance he could spin out of his last absolution. Such things as if he were dead, how could he be here to be irritating and that time is in fact terribly hard to waste, I should know I used to work in that department. Truthfully, Sissel was not worried about Nate's current resistance about where the Muhra Glass was. He had time to wait and there were other methods to pursue it although they were much harder.

"We won't talk then. But how about a quick game?" From his roomy inner jacket pocket Sissel pulled out a chess set. Unlike all of his other things once he had made it clear at security that it was a gift it was returned after being screened for any dangerous magic. A component of the Verdis Curtain that shielded the visiting rooms, as far as Sissel knew, is while physical contact and spells were rebounded, objects could be passed through if the other side agreed to take it. He placed the folded wooden board down, giving it an experimental push towards the curtain...

"Ack!" Sissel's hand retreated, shaking furiously at the sting. Placing a hand on top of the set was not the optimal potion to submit something to the Verdis Curtain. With one finger on his other hand Sissel poked the side of the set opposite the shield, pushing until he met resistance. He looked to see how Briggs would take the offer.

It was unbelievable.  Nate couldn't ken this wizard at all.  Every time he tried, something was off.   Something was out of phase, something not quite right.  Make no bones about it, Nate knew why he was here, no matter what games Jowd wanted to play.  To coax, coerce, to intimidate the location of the Muhra Glass out of him.  But no matter how wily Jowd was, he didn't have the ... reliability that a wizard like Cinaed Tawse had.

How did it go? A wizard can wield a wand, but his measure comes from spells cast.

Tawse was a murderer.  And likely more than that.  Jowd's credentials and threats didn't hold a candle to actions proven.  And Nate was tired of risk-taking.  It had taken Azkaban to teach him that.

And so the chess board slipped half way through the Curtain was an insult.  Nate was not Jowd's plaything.  He fancied himself a preferable option to returning to the cell, but Nate would never give him that satisfaction.  He would rot first.

Nate approached the table and as soon as he put his hand on the wooden chess set, the Vidris Curtain gave and it slipped the rest of the way through to Nate's side.  But Nate did not unfold the kit.  He did not begin setting the pieces at attention on the back row of checks. He did not open with the queen's knight, or a pawn. 

Nathan Briggs took the board and pieces in his hand and flung it all and sundry into the Vidris Curtain.  With nasty cracks and pops, the pieces broke, scattered and were flung afar to glance into the stone walls around him, repulsed away by the magical barrier. 

"Sod off.  I'm not your toy."

He hit the door with his fist to summon a guard.  He was done with this.

Here was a prime example for why Sissel might not make a good Auror, or linger on further with active duty at TTI. He liked reading about or observing certain kinds of people more than actually having to talk to them. Briggs was such a card. Though Sissel knew that his was a special kind of annoyance for the prisoner. Being lumped in with the MLE was one thing; having a background and former role Briggs never knew about let Sissel be unpredictable.

Even if things hadn't gone so well.

Sissel did not blink or make any other response as Briggs threw the chessboard at his side of the curtain, reflecting and opening to scattered pieces. As Briggs made his way to his door some of the broken figures began snapping back together, as if an already brutal game had been played.

"You're right. You'll be happy to know that after this, I have no sway over your journey in the system anymore. I'm no longer operating for the Unspeakables full time." He figured the information need not be secret. Briggs had faced charges from DoM, tricky as they were to stick, so he wasn't the person they needed to bamboozle.

Sissel got up then, kicking his chair back under the table. "But don't forget you landed yourself here, by your own actions or another's prompting. I'm not the one who let myself get made into a Ministry squeeze toy."

He knocked on the door. "We're done early. Prisoner is all yours." Sissel slipped out when the guard opened the way for him.

Smug arsehole.  So like a Ministry hack to act like a shamed cat who'd walked through the paint - act like everything had gone exactly has planned.  Bollocks. 

Nate didn't care anymore about a smooth demeanor, and he spat in Jowd's direction as he made his parting words. 

From both Jowd and Brigg's sides of the room, the doors opened, and black-robed guards entered.  For Sissel, the guard stepped aside with an open gesture.  On Briggs's side, the guard turned him roughly and again applied magical shackles. 

The Wizarding chess set was scattered on the floor.  Most of the pieces had got to their feet by now, and were marching back across the floor to the board in the corner.  The bishops were zig-zagging in diagonal paths, the pawns inching forward one pace at a time.  The rooks both made straight paths to directly towards the wall, and the knights took their typical three-then-one L-shaped little formations. 

The prisoner side guard glanced at them and then to Jowd, not caring a half-crap if Nate wanted them or not.  "Oi, you want these, gov?"

Hearing the sizzle on the Verdis Curtain made Sissel think Briggs had fired off a spiteful spit in goodbye. Cute. Sissel paused only when the opposite guard made a comment on the chess set reassembling itself. "Keep it on hand for him. He's bound to be bored or curious enough once he's in the middle of his term." Briggs had been a Ravenclaw, after all. "Or for anyone with a long sentence that needs something to do."

He nodded to the guard on his side who closed the door.

---

One de-screening later Sissel had all of his equipment back and was lingering in the visitor's hallway before taking his broom out to the storm. Jenny on the mirror again.

"How did it go?"

"Father Christmas delivered the gift. Might be considered a donation to Azkaban that I could write off my taxes."

"And he touched it?"

"After I touched it and Azkaban guards always wear gloves. Is the blanked board prepped? No one touches it until I get back to take it to my office."

"We could have it ready for you--"

"My new office Jenny."

"Oh. Right. I keep forgetting."

"You might want to get checked, Jenny, it could be spreading. How is Jarvis holding up?"

"Better, though he might end up in the Janus Thickey Ward at St. Mungo's."

"Poor guy. He's getting off rather well, outside of the whole brain scrambling thing. Sometimes the job stinks."

"Is that why you took yourself off active?"

"Kinda. Let's just say I heard a banshee wail."