Afternoon

There was something about apparating that Myrni had always disliked. She never minded longer travel times via train or broom (or even the speedier portkey) because it mean she could enjoy the scenery. But for her jaunt to the Ministry of Magic for lunch with Nathaniel, she thought she might as well take advantage of expediency.

The three D's of the task were hardly a problem for the Arithmancy Professor. She had a clear handle on her destination and wasn't likely to lose sight of that given it was for a meeting with her fiancee. And as a former Gryffindor, she was both determined and deliberate in her actions. Thus, the trip really was less of a concern for her than she usually made it out to be before leaving.

Once outside of the Ministry of Magic building, Myrni found an unoccupied bench to sit on and wait for Nate to come out and join her when he was finished with work. They had planned on lunch together today because it had been a while since they had spent some quality time together. With the new school semester begun and busy for her and a few important cases coming through the Auror office for him, time for each other had been limited.

Myrni pulled a copy of The Daily Prophet out of her bag and began to skim over the articles, looking for something of interest to read while she waited. It wasn't long, however, when she felt a shadow darken the page she was reading. She looked up, thinking it might be Nate, but her face fell slightly when it was not. Not wanting to give the person the impression that she was completely disappointed to see them, she flashed a small smile and said, "Oh hey. How are you?"

Dreogan had come up gasping (figuratively, fortunately) for a breath of fresh air between meetings -- debriefings, investigations, surreptitious observation -- remembering, lest Akiva scolded him, that lunch was, in fact, a good, even, perhaps, necessary thing. And he should take advantage of this time. . .

He couldn't help but hold his hand up before his eyes, squinting at the sudden onslaught of light as he entered the Wide World. He heard the tell-tale *pop* of Apparition and noticed a dark-haired mage approach and settle herself on a bench in front of the monolithic building which, to the Muggle world, simply was not visible at all. Dreogan smiled somewhat and made his way over to the bench -- on the way to the Pret-A-Manger he was about to visit. Ready-made sandwiches. . . and a French name. So therefore fancy. He couldn't see how Akiva would have complaints with that.

"Well," he said with a smile, "Myrni Levartian -- good to see you." He remembered her name because it sounded, in his mind, like leviathan. Though she was nothing like a whale. Or tracts by Locke. It was interesting, and she seemed -- though they had, by no extensive means, a close friendship -- nice. He had, in fact, only met her a handful of times; once at a teaching practicum of the Magical Arts in North America, where they had discussed a variety of subjects over lunch, once in the Auror's office when visiting his brother, where he had learned she was now happily engaged to an Auror, Nate something, and once by happenstance while bookbrowsing in Diagon. "Waiting for your fiancé, I assume? Or some other purpose bring you to our humble abode?" he asked with a vague wave behind him at the Ministry building. By no stretch of the imagination "humble."

With the week's events, it could be anything. Aleron, his scholar friend -- who he, in fact, believed that Myrni might have met once or twice at conferences, unless he had her mistaken for another professor -- was consulting on a couple of cases. . . others lingered outside the building, concerned and wanting to know "the truth" -- though mostly reporters. Some protesters. Nowhere near as many as the Muggle protesters just on the other side of Westminster by Parliament.

Realising she'd asked a question he'd not yet answered, he added with a bit of a blush, "I'm holding up, considering. And you?"

Myrni did a double take after her partially sheepish smile to the passerby. She immediately was overcome with a sense of familiarity with the fellow and after a pregnant pause, her face brightened in recognition. She slowly rose from the bench, barely catching the Dailey Prophet before it fell from her lap to the ground in a haphazard heap. She held it in one hand and stepped towards him. "Dreogan," she said, loving the sound of his unusual name. With a grin, she extended her free hand to him. "Wonderful to see you again as well!"

The Arithmancy Professor marveled at way that the world worked, so large and yet so small when it came to reconnecting acquaintances. She had met him on a few occasions and he was of the personality and character that made the meetings memorable, even if they were brief or random. And Myrni was the type of person who always enjoyed meeting new people, especially those who were interesting or unique. And Dreogan certainly was.

When he asked if she was waiting for Nate, she gave a quick nod. "Yes, we were planning to meet for lunch," she began with a quick glance at the watch on her wrist. Her brow furrowed as she noted that it was past the time they had agreed upon. "It seems as though he must be running late."

Her look of disappointment from before returned and she sighed. "Perhaps he's going to be a while. And in that case, it would be nice to catch up with you." Knowing that his pursuits were quite far reaching and out of the ordinary, she asked, "What brings you around here? How's work? What are you doing now?" She indicated to the bench and urged, "Please, sit! Share with me all of your news."

"Yes, we were planning to meet for lunch."

Dreogan frowned at this. "Well, he might be detained. I know that Level Two is particularly busy just now," he explained, likely needlessly. He'd not heard anything from Adon -- though he'd also not heard anything from his brother well before then. "Did you send a message in? It's likely he will be some time." They were putting in all hours; Archer'd barely managed to break free of the building for the past five days.

The care and worry on his face shifted as he smiled at Myrni's invitation. "Well," he said, "I'm not so sure I have news," he confessed. "Work's going well. I haven't had to travel in some time, which has been nice." He thought of Akiva and how his permanent position here allowed for a more permanent situation in their relationship. He tried to remember the last time he had spoken with Myrni. "I'm dating a girl," he said, seeing no reason to leave this out. "Akiva Katz," he grinned a bit. "She works at the Ministry as well. And you know my brother already works there. With Nate." A shrug. "I guess it just draws the right sorts of people. A good bunch. You should consider it, you know. My friend Aleron Wilhelm -- you know him, don't you? He's started consulting with the Ministry. They could use your help, too. . . if they could woo you away from your students."

He felt a twinge of envy there. "How is teaching, by the way?" he asked in a wistful tone. "I miss it; very much."

The moment the words "might be detained" left Dreogan's lips, Myrni's face fell with obvious disappointment. She was aware that Nate's days had been busier with some of the recent events within the Ministry but she had hoped their simple little meeting for lunch would not be affected.

"Well," she said with a slump of her shoulders. "That's rather unfortunate. I didn't send a message in but it's unlike him to be this late, so what you say must be so." Though she was still disappointed, it was hard not to be interested in her counterpart's news and it did offer a pleasant diversion.

She smiled when he brought up not traveling and she quipped, "It is so hard to tame our wandering urges." But his mention of dating a girl shed some light on what had managed to do so. "A girl, huh? I suppose love does have a way of doing that."  She returned his grin and nodded approvingly as he told her that Akiva worked with the Ministry. Myrni's brows shot up as Dreogan mentioned his brother working with Nate. "He does?" And then to the claim that that place of work drawing the right sorts of people, she agreed, "I suppose it really does."

But she couldn't contain a lighthearted scoff of his comment that she should consider being employed there. Dreogan couldn't possibly know that she had worked in the Ministry when she was first out of school. It hadn't been her cup of tea then and she highly doubted her opinion would change much now. She held up a hand with fingers splayed and shook her head. "Please do tell Aleron that I'd love to help him in my spare time. But I don't think I could leave teaching altogether. I enjoy it too much." She ventured a more genuine smile for Dreogan. "I'm sure teaching misses you. And surely the youth are missing out on your talents as well. Perhaps in time you'll return...."