Sept. 22: Mistake No. 1: Teagan

[Elliott Thomas]

Out in Muggle London, the Friday lunch hour was always chaotic, and today was no exception. Elliott had grown accustomed enough to becoming one of the fish in the one-way-only-please rivers of sidewalk outside of the Ministry, and fell into place amongst bankers and businessmen and builders, as well as those with professions beginning with letters other than b. It was a funny thought, but Elliott felt he blended in better with these people than his own, most days. They didn't expect anything of him, just another preoccupied passerby. They didn't hear him speak and wonder about his stutter and the aversion to spellwork that came with it; they didn't speculate about how a Hogwarts graduate had become an Unspeakable so soon after stepping out of the safety of the school (An Unspeakable who couldn't speak, proper fit, no need to speculate, actually, more like sounds to be the beginning of a joke. The Unspeakable who couldn't speak walks into a bar...); they didn't think about the reasons why a boy from a good pureblooded family wound up hidden away in the depths of the Ministry; they didn't, they didn't, they didn't.

It was nice to slide under the radar, take his place, and go to his usual cafe. As always, Elliott slipped out of the river with one or two others to purchase the day's newspaper. It interested him, reading about what went on out in the world - he was still stuck in the dark and dank Hall of Prophecy, keeping records and ensuring proper organization of the orbs. Dusting. His aim was to work in the Time Chamber, but apparently he was going to be stuck with the mind-numbing duty for a while yet. So escaping to the world outside of it all, a world so incredibly full of people and light and noise after his isolation, and a world completely unaware of the problems his was battling...it was nice. Elliott held the paper close to himself, reading the front page as his feet fell into step behind the person in front of him, knowing the way to the cafe...

Until he suddenly was not melding with the other fish.

Forget the earlier beginnings of a joke.

The Unspeakable who couldn't speak walks into a woman.

Always have been a charmer.

He really wasn't sure how it'd happened - nose had been in the paper, he'd gotten off track, had he passed the cafe? - but here he was, paper crumpled and a young woman before him. Elliott swallowed, nervously meeting her eye as he tried to practice what he'd learned oh so very long ago about controlling his speech. Maybe for once it'd work. Even though he had anonymity here, didn't want to make more of a fool of himself.

"I'm s-sorry, wasn't looking," he said to her under the noise of the sidewalk, folding his paper under his arm as he looked down at her, really seeing her properly now that he was aware of their proximity. She wasn't just a young muggle woman - she was an attractive young muggle woman, with green eyes that surprised him and - you've gotten her doused in coffee, you prick. Not wanting to be even more rude than he already had been, Elliott fumbled, hurriedly undoing his scarf. It wasn't that chilly anyway, mainly wore it where it was, down in the Hall. But it wasn't as if he could just magically clean her up. "Here - if you want - to cover - probably not your style but it's something."

[Teagan Edwards]

Out of everything she had planned for her life - working as a secretary hadn't exactly been one of them. It wasn't as if she disliked her job, she was perfectly happy with it. Her boss was sweet to her (although perhaps a little too sweet at times), all of his employees were just fantastic. And she had experience in the job, she'd spent her summers working part time at her father's practice in Wales. And while she'd gotten decent enough grades that she could have followed in his footsteps, she wasn't sure she wanted to become a doctor herself. It just didn't fit.

And so as soon as she could, she'd convinced them to help her move to London. It had been a tearful goodbye, but finally experiencing real freedom was absolutely wonderful. Her parents were wonderful, taught her how to handle money once she was old enough, so while she wasn't exactly frolicking in thousands of pounds, she was managing well for herself. They had also taken her to adopt a dog once they had moved, insisting she would need the company and protection. And while she hadn't needed him to do much protecting, she had to admit that it was nice having a friendly face excited to greet her when she got home.

Making her way through the crowds of people, she clutched her coffee to herself, annoyeed that she hadn't gotten a chance to drink it in the morning. Thankfully her boss had a lunch meeting, and had given her the chance to go out and enjoy her lunch leisurely this afternoon. Which meant that the local cafe she had become so fond of was in her sights, and a nice warm cup of coffee was soon to be in her hand. Her coworkers had introduced her to the place, and the people there had learned her name in the past six months with how often she was grabbing lunch for office from there.

Not to mention, the other patrons of the cafe were often quite nice to look at. Sure, there had been handsome men in Wales, but London? Teagan was often taken aback by how many beautiful people she saw in the streets. Even if they were sometimes a tad...odd. Ducking through the crowd, she was headed directly towards the cafe when suddenly her coffee went splashing on her jacket and skirt. Startled, she turned to realize that she had walked right in front of of a man. She looked down at herself, biting her bottom lip as she looked up to meet his gaze.

And while this wasn't exactly the best situation, she had to surpress a grin. Because while yes, she was covered in coffee, she was still staring at one of the most handsome men she'd seen. One she'd seen fairly often, always watching him from the corner of her eye as he ate at the cafe. He was never with anyone, often reading the newspaper. And there was just something about him that she couldn't figure out. She wanted to know what it was that made him so different and it had been on her mind for a while.

It was her lucky day.

He apologized to her quietly, her smile showing as he seemed to stutter one of his words. She had turned to face him, the difference in their height causing him to have to look down at her. And while her mind was racing, No he is not looking you over because he thinks you are attractive Teagan, she did her best to keep it to herself. He was fumbling with his scarf, and she couldn't stop the laugh that came out as he offered it to her. "Thank you, you're very kind," she replied, accepting the scarf. She took a moment to wrap it around herself, surprised as how wonderful it smelled. Which meant that he probably smelled just as wonderful.

"Sorry for the trouble, I'm sure I just walked out right in front of you. I can space out sometimes. I'm Teagan, by the way. Teagan Edwards," she added, extending her hand towards him. Even if this went no where, perhaps she could put the curious part of her mind at ease.

[Elliott Thomas]

Elliott really wasn't sure what to make of this.

He'd figured, from his limited experiences with them, that a woman he quite literally ran into would cause a scene. Berate him for his inattention. Send some harsh words his way and run off in a huff to salvage her shirt before the stain spread. But this girl was almost smiling at him, apparently totally at ease, and although she laughed pleasantly as he held his scarf to her - making him nervous, he just wanted to make this right and move on, and she was finding him funny? he wasn't trying to joke - she did take it, in the end. Saying he was kind.

That's new.

Kind wasn't usually one of the adjectives he or others would use to describe him. But the society he had been raised in had promoted politeness, and Elliott considered trying to help in this way the only polite thing to do. Besides apologize. You did apologize, didn't you? It wasn't as if he'd be seeing her again, so why was he stuck on that, more focusing on trying to recall his prior words than how good the adorably diminutive muggle girl looked in his scarf.

Elliott and girls hadn't ever mixed - a tale as old as time oil and water situation, if you will. He had had a few friends and acquaintances over the years who had been female, of course, but nothing, ah, romantic? It was a frustration he'd stewed upon in his lonely hours in the Tower, but unlike most of problems he came across, it wasn't one he'd put much thought into fixing. It just was what it was, and so there he was, a graduate who'd never even been properly interested in a girl.

However, it led to situations like this feeling immensely awkward to the Ravenclaw, due to lack of experience speaking with pretty girls.

It's not like she's from another species, you speak the same language - see? She's introducing herself. And you can understand her speech. Same species, same language. Get it together.

Elliott cleared his throat, eyeing the small hand she extended him before taking it in his. Her hand was warmer than he'd expected, warm and soft - don't be a creep. "Elliott - " So much for anonymity. "Elliott Thomas." The two stood, busy passerby bumping into their shoulders, and Elliott for one was mystified by her eyes. It was a silly thing, really, but they were a beautiful genetic quirk, a bright splash of green. Unique, like her name. You're staring. He dropped her hand abruptly, shoving both of his into the pockets of his navy pea coat, newspaper folded and tightly held to his side as he looked down. "I probably ruined your lunch hour, sorry again. I'll let you get back to it. Don't worry about the scarf." The bloke gave her a slight smile and started to move around her to reenter the crowd, in the moment wishing he could be more like one of his brothers. Both were fine around girls, would be striking up conversations, being endearing - not trying to leave.

[Teagan Edwards]

After this lunch, this event would be talked about and discussed in detail with the other members of her office. There was always talk about boys, questions if she had met anyone yet, if she had her eye on anyone. And while she wasn't interested in anyone particular, she did enjoy the office gossip. She'd told them about the guys that asked her out, and the ones that she agreed to go on dates with. None of them had managed further than a second date, and most didn't even get that out of her. They simply weren't interesting. Most of them were decent men, but they just didn't challenge her mind.

But this mysterious individual was someone she wanted to at least attempt to understand. She'd never seen him with anyone at the cafe. Guaranteed she wasn't there every day, but she had seen him each time she had come here to fetch lunch or coffee. By himself, each of those times. She wasn't sure why there was this air of mystery about him that intrigued her so much, but something was just different about him. So she was not about to let this moment pass her by.

"Well it's nice to meet you Elliot," she replied as he took her hand. She never believed in fairy tales, but in the moment, she wanted to. He was looking right into her eyes, and how often did that happen? Most guys tended to avoid looking right at her. And while the crowd was moving around them, bumping their shoulders, time was almost standing still. A moment that didn't last long, as he apologized again before starting to move around her.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, louder than she intended to. Giving him an apologetic grin, she motioned to the cafe. "You didn't really ruin my lunch hour, you know. It's just coffee. But if you are that worried about it, how about you join me for lunch and a conversation? You eat at this cafe don't you?"

[Elliott Thomas]

He'd done what he felt he should, and it was time to move on. Nothing more to say, was there? Although he'd be chilled for the rest of the day down in the Hall of Prophecy, he'd deal with it, and hopefully not come down with a cold. The bloke supposed he could just pick up another scarf on his way back, but with this delay, he wasn't sure if he had the time. He was off of his self-appointed schedule, after all, what with running into the girl.

The girl who was yelling after him as if he couldn't hear her. But he wasn't even a meter away. Elliott paused, absolutely perplexed, as Teagan spoke. Because this was terribly odd, for three reasons he could enunciate if prompted.

Point 1: She wanted to get lunch with him. What could possibly make her want to do that? They didn't know each other, and even if he was eating with people he knew, Elliott wasn't particularly loquacious on the whole. Most people didn't want to talk about what he wanted to talk about, so it was better to just read or work out a crossword or number puzzle to entertain himself. And what could he make conversation about with her? These lunches out in the muggle world comprised the majority of his experience with muggles, and the only words he'd ever exchanged were in ordering his food. He knew that there were many witches and wizards who seamlessly lived within both worlds, but he'd never been one of them. He just liked the food. If he let one thing out about who he really was, that could be disastrous.

Point 2: She knew where he took his lunch. She knew - this Teagan Edwards, muggle stranger - that he ate at this cafe. Out of all the cafes and other lunch spots in the city. He was feeling utterly inept, because - apparently, for whatever reason - this girl had noticed him, for surely she regularly ate there as well, seeing as she'd taken note of him. And he hadn't bothered looking up from his paper to see her. Not that you'd've done anything if you had.

Point 3: She was devastatingly kind. His House had been one of critics, where people could and did challenge each other intellectually to the point of cruelty in order to prove a point. There were nice Ravenclaws as well, of course, in any mix of people you were bound to get a variety of personalities. But this sort of kindness was atypical.

All in all, the bloke was feeling rather out of his depth, and gave a jerky little nod, resuming his walk to the cafe with her at his side. Elliott held the door for her and followed behind, looking over her to see that his usual table was still empty. Taking what solace he could in that, he nodded over to it and sat, unbuttoning his coat and setting his paper on the table. The headline caught his eye - well, he was looking more at the paper than at Teagan, if he was being honest. It was sort of funny, how "his people" liked to think they were so different from muggles. So much better. When the Prophet was filled with stories of just as much senseless violence as the muggle ones were.

"D-d-don't know why I bother reading the paper every day," he commented flatly, tapping the story with the blurry picture of the young dead boy. Ill-hid nerves were reappearing, and he took a steadying breath before continuing. As he spoke, he flipped through it to the section he regularly used. He couldn't talk with her about who he was or what he did, but if she wanted to talk, they could do so about something safe. "Never good news, is it? But the puzzles change, at least - do you do them?" Waiting for the server, he creased the paper so she could see the set of number puzzles too, retrieving a pen from his pocket. Much handier than quills, the little muggle invention. He flicked it around in his hand as he looked over at Teagan, wondering just how strangely he was coming off to her. She'd wanted to talk, and all he could do was offer a puzzle.

But - oddly, immensely oddly - he wanted to be able to offer more than that.

[Teagan Edwards]

Teagan was very confused by this complex man that she had ran into. He had stared into her eyes, and then suddenly walked away. And when she had asked him to join her for lunch, he had seem almost surprised. The way he had nodded - was she annoying him? There was no clear answer to her question, but at least he had accepted. She followed him up to the cafe, giving him a smile in thanks as he held the door open for her.

She was greeted by familiar smells as she stepped inside, and she gave a wave to some of the servers. Elliot nodded to a table, and she followed him cheerfully, shrugging off her jacket and placing it on the back of her chair. He was focused on the newspaper, and she read the headline curiously, a frown appearing on her face. She would have to pick up a copy and read the article later to see exactly what had happened, wondering exactly how said the news would be.

She settled into her seat, giving a shrug. "It's always bad news these days, it would be nice to have a headline that doesn't even something terrible." It seemed like so many people were dying too young in these past few months. Perhaps it was just the difference in culture between her home in Wales and London, but it just seemed like there was sometimes a giant secret lurking in this city. Strange things happened here.

Watching him as he flipped through the pages, she continued to speculate about him. He was being polite, but perhaps she simply wasn't his type. It was hard to tell, especially as he stuttered when he spoke to her. Was it because of her, or just something that he did? She shot him another smile as he looked at her, leaning forward so that she could see the puzzle he had mentioned better. "I love puzzles, let's see... This box here, that's an 8. I'm positive."

She would wait until they ordered food before trying to pry too much information out of him, but she was going to figure out Elliot Thomas before she missed her chance. "How often do you come to this cafe?"

[Elliott Thomas]

I don't think you could be more awkward if you were trying to be.

    Shut it - I know.

This was still immensely odd for the young Ravenclaw graduate. Maybe this was something that people did, but it wasn't something that he did. Lunch with a stranger? If he told this to anyone who knew him, they wouldn't believe it for a second. Because there was no way in any of the possible universes that there were, that a girl like her would ask him to lunch.

It didn't add up.

As she was likely starting to see, he was more of a downer than an upper, and she seemed to be the opposite. The bad news, the realities of the world - they stuck out to him, needled at him. It felt rather hopeless, out there in the world, knowing what was actually happening. Muggles like this girl, muggle-born witches and wizards and their families, they were being taken. Tortured. Killed. For nothing else than being who they were. It was a sick thing, and Elliott was just trying to stay out of it. He'd read the papers to stay informed, but he wasn't about to transfer within the Ministry to be an Auror or something - that was laughable, he could hardly get spells out right if he was worked up.

He just needed to keep his head down, do his work, and hope the war would end soon. If it did, maybe he'd actually be able to do the investigative sort of work that had drawn him to the Department and have it mean something.

He rather doubted You-Know-Who cared about his theories on the spacetime continuum, especially as the muggle mathematics were so useful to the study. The man would probably defund the research.

So how - how was Elliott, knowing that he could be run down by his own people for being here with her, supposed to be acting normal?

You're bloody paranoid, you know that?

So Elliott went to the puzzles, hoping they could get through them by the time their lunch was up and that be that. (He didn't like leaving if he wasn't finished with them.) If she wanted to participate? That would be nice. If she didn't? Well. He didn't particularly have a back-up plan.

Teagan leaned forward as he showed her the puzzle, concentrating first on one of the squares-within-squares ones, and he couldn't stop his smile as she admitted to liking them - and not only liking them, but having a cause to, because she was already figuring it out. He penned in the 8, jotting in a 2 below it, before remembering he had another pen on him. He held the one in his hand out for her to take, and once she did pulled out the other. And, admittedly, it was nice. Working with her, bumping hands as they filled it in, minds working quickly and - it almost seemed - together. As they worked, she asked a question, and Elliott had the feeling this wouldn't be the only one. "W-work days," he said simply. He felt like he'd be too much of a prick if he didn't ask about her, so continued. "And you?" The question was against his better judgement - or was it? If he could get her talking, sharing about herself, then that meant he wouldn't need to talk as much. And then there wouldn't be as much risk for him to say something he shouldn't. "What do you do?"

[Teagan Edwards]

She hoped that this lunch conversation wouldn't end with her making a complete fool of herself. If he wasn't interested, that just how it was. It wasn't like it'd be the end of the world. She had enough offers for dates to keep her occupied, and enough friends to help her laugh it off. He was just some guy who spilled coffee on her, his opinion didn't have to matter. She and Tris would laugh it off later if things didn't work out in her favor like they had done before. There was no reason for her to get caught up in her thoughts and worry about this guy.

But she absolutely was.

He was handsome, and the way he spoke to her was endearing. There was more too him than a guy with a job trying to impress her. He wasn't puffing out his chest, trying to be a big shot. And that was a refreshing experience. She took the pen he offered her, and she took it happily. She would figure out this puzzle - and him. She had to.

She poked her nose with the end of the pen as she considered the puzzle, her thoughts interuppted by his response to her question. "Some work days, depends on how much time I get for lunch." A lot of the days she didn't get a chance to actually sit down, not with how busy the office was. Before she could answer his next question, however, one of the servers was approaching their table.

"Hey Jess," Teagan said with a smile. "I'll just take the usual today, and more coffee if you could." The server nodded, turning to Elliot and Teagan waited for him before she placed her pen down on the table. "I work as a secretary for a doctor's office, nothing too fancy. What about you?"

[Elliott Thomas]

Thankfully, Teagan kept being agreeable, taking the offered pen as if this wasn't an odd way for her to spend lunch. And who knew? Maybe it was a habit of hers to strike up conversations with sociable strangers - he couldn't imagine many people saying no. She was beautiful and kind - hell, even he had been persuaded to take lunch with her! And it hadn't taken much persuasion. It was easy enough to speak with her when his mind was half on her and half on the puzzle they were completing number-by-number together, but Elliott looked up at her with a bit of confusion at her reply. Her lunch hour varied? Oh, the unpredictability of that would bother him! Before he could ask what it was she did, a waitress came to their table, Teagan amiably greeting her as if they were old friends. "The turkey club without tomatoes, please," he specified, giving the girl a stiff smile. After the waitress left, Teagan...put down the pen. And spoke about herself. And asked about...him.

You don't have a cover story - why would you come over here without a cover story?

Elliott, after an undisguised look of, well, nearly fright - if she didn't want to do the puzzle they would need to talk, and he had nothing true to tell him about himself - cleared his throat, composing himself. "I work for the Ministry," he said, praying to Merlin and all the greats that there was a Muggle Ministry. There was, wasn't there? What good was his time spent in Muggle Studies if, the first time he really needed the information - besides using the currency - all of his careful notes on their government went out of his mind? "L-like you, nothing too fancy, just preliminary research and development, basically an over-glorified intern," Elliott explained with a slight shrug, trying to stay as close to the truth as possible. Not that he even was involved in research so far - apparently he was still better suited for record-keeping. He had been fidgeting with the pen, wanting to resume the puzzle, and after speaking did so. "Must be interesting to work at a doctor's office - " The phrase was unfamiliar to his tongue, but those were the equivalent of Healers, right? " - but it doesn't sound like you're too thrilled. Looking for something else?"

[Teagan Edwards]

While the puzzle was fun, it wouldn't last forever. Eventually they would complete it and then Teagan wasn't sure she could get him talking. He'd replied to all her questions so far, but it was hard to read his body language. Leaning towards her could have simply been so that she could more easily access the puzzle. He'd been so surprised that she had wanted to get lunch with him, and she hadn't even considered that he wasn't interested. That he might not even been interested in women for that matter. Teagan had no idea how she was supposed to figure something like that without asking, and she didn't want to be rude.

Or make her intentions too clear until she could figure out if she would get flat out rejected.

He stated an order instead of simply saying the usual, which could mean that he often got something different each day. But so far he had seemed like he was sticking a schedule, and ordering something different didn't fit into the personality that was unfolding in front of her. She smiled as he cleared his throat, waiting for his answer. The Ministry? It was such a fancy hob for someone so young. Even if he was doing research and development. As smart as she was, she had never paid too close attention to the inner workings of the British government. "That sound so interesting. What kind of research are you doing?"

Elliot was returning to the puzzle, and Teagan did the same with a smile, pondering the numbers as she considered his question - although it sounded more like a statement. No, she wasn't happy working in the office. Filing papers, answering phone calls, getting coffee. She was glad that she got to work with such amazing people, but it could be boring and overwhelming. "My father is a doctor, so it's familiar really. He has a private practice, so it was a change working for more than one doctor. It's simple enough, but not...stimulating. I don't really know what I want to do yet."

[Elliott Thomas]

Her smile was disarming, and even with his preoccupation of remembering what sort of governmental system the British Muggles had - finely written notes were coming back to him line-by-line, confirming that he hadn't flubbed yet - Elliott couldn't help but smile back. It felt strange, as strange as this whole thing, really, to have a smile coaxed out of him by something to simple. A smile on a pretty girl. A pretty girl who'd asked him to lunch. A pretty girl who was interested in what sort of research he was involved in.

Naturally, he couldn't really say what it was he did. I'm actually not doing research yet, he would have clarified, had he been out with a becoming witch instead. Instead, I'm helping create a catalogue of prophecies for easier retrieval by the parties concerned later on, if there ever comes a time. Which is highly unlikely. Nothing like doing work that even your supervisor can't deny is potentially pointless, eh?

"Not doing my own research yet, unfortunately," he clarified, bumping his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "There's a sort of trial period where you become established, and - again, unfortunately - it's lasting longer than I anticipated. What I do...it's mundane but top secret?" He let out an awkward chuckle after his uncertain words, not knowing what more to say. "Can't give you any details of the nature of the current work, but honestly it's more like bookkeeping than anything else at this point. What I'm aiming for though...I think it'll be worth having to do the grunt work now. I hope so, at least. I'd like..." He bit his cheek, mind working to come up with how to continue with telling the most truth possible. It would be immensely simpler if he just shut down the conversation, called off their lunch, and went back to his Ministry hungry. And sometimes, he did prefer the simpler route, especially in terms of socializing. But he was finding himself wanting to keep her attention, however difficult this was, on all levels. "I'd like to investigate time and the flexibility of its perception in regards to external factors," Elliott said carefully, eyeing her to see if she'd write him off as nutters. Muggle scientists had done work on this subject, and he absorbed their findings with the eagerness of a dehydrated epiphyte. To his knowledge, no witches or wizards had yet become involved, but the progress that could be made with the melding of science and magic...

How could he resist trying to find evidence of his own? The mysteries of the universe were the ultimate challenges - after all, you'd never truly know if you were correct, would you? So you'd try and gather data and try again and gather more, your hypotheses becoming accredited or all that you've proven is that you must revise them...the neverendingness of that was much more appealing to the neverendingness of his current position.

After he spoke about how she wasn't a fan of her work either, a belated sense of camaraderie hit him as they worked on the puzzle. He knew few people who were truly happy right out of school, but it was still nice to know he wasn't the only one. Teagan was confirming what he'd conjectured, and Elliott found himself with a small smile again as she mentioned the work not being stimulating enough for her. "I'm sure you'll figure it out, this is just your first step," he said simply, echoing words from his father. He wasn't too quiet about his unhappiness at work when he was home, after all. "Discontent is the first necessity of progress. Thomas Edison," he continued by way of explanation for the abrupt insertion of a quote. It'd been niggling at him lately, an odd sort of encouragement - that what currently was wouldn't permanently be, since he knew there was much more left for him to do during his stint circling the sun. He just needed to reach out and grab those things when the opportunities arose.

Is that why you're making such an effort here?

[Teagan Edwards]

Whatever she had said or done, it had drawn a smile out of him. Something Teagan was delighted to see, a sense of calm overcoming her mind. This whole interaction was going well. A smile was enough to prove that. He wasn't annoyed with her, he wasn't brushing off her interest in his work. His smile was genuine - not forced - and it meant that he was at least enjoying her company in some way. She needed to stop fretting about making a good impression. Especially as he continued talking to her about what he did for work, peeking her interest and shrouding himself in even more mystery. Top secret work? The girls at the office were going to get a kick out of this. She'd met a man who couldn't fully discuss his work at the Ministry.

Handsome?
    Check.

Smart?
    Check.

Mysterious?
    Incredibly.

It was almost as if he had read her list of qualities she looked for in a guy, and she was enjoying every second if. She nodded along with his words, excited to hear about what he wanted to research. "That's absolutely amazing. I mean, it's unfortunate that you haven't been able to start your own research yet. That must be absolutely maddening! Still, top secret - at least it's important," she marveled. She couldn't imagine being tasked to do something so valuable to society that it couldn't be shared with anyone. "What are your theories so far regarding the flexibility of time? I've always thought the concept was surreal. I have my Dad to thank for that, introduced me to Doctor Who. Have you seen it? It's a bit ridiculous, really. But I still love it."

She couldn't help but give him another smile as another had appeared on his face when she spoke of her own work. She didn't know enough about Thomas Edison to share another quote with him, but his encouragement regarding her struggles was sweet. "You're right, I suppose. I mean - I don't suppose. You are right." There was no denying that his statement was true. Even though she had grown up being handed things, her parents had made sure to share their struggles and make sure she had some of her own. "If it's worth having - it won't be easy."

[Elliott Thomas]

Teagan seemed unusually engrossed in what he was saying, and it was an odd feeling, having what felt like the entirety of her attention. He wasn't used to that - he hadn't stuck out in his House, he wasn't one to garner notice at home, and although his mind was always working, he generally wasn't one with a presence that brought this sort of attention. At least, he'd never felt like it. Elliott did wonder how much he was making sense to her, though - he was having to watch his words os carefully, he wasn't sure if what he was saying was even valid in her world, but so far all seemed to be going fine. No uncertain look from her indicating he'd done or said something wrong, so that was good?

Her sympathy towards him was another unexpected moment, and he swallowed, shrugging. It was what it was, and he shouldn't complain - many people had it a lot worse than he did - but he just wanted to make a name for himself through his own research. 

"So yes, it is maddening, when you know you could be doing so much more..." But he could only shrug at her next, as doubting the importance of his current work was a daily, if not hourly, occurrence. He took a drink - and filled in the last boxes of the puzzle, having it incomplete had been bothering him - as she continued, unable to hide his surprise as she went on. Teagan wanted to know what he thought? She knew about this sort of thing? Although he had no idea what she was referring to, and asked curiously, "Doctor Who? No, I haven't seen it." You probably should have seen it, you're being a muggle, be a better muggle. "T-t-the school I went to, we didn't get out much," he said quickly, fixing his cuffs in agitation at the not-quite-but-almost-lie. "What is it? And I think...I think the 'impossible' could be possible, this sort of thing much less mystical than people make it out to be. As crazy as it sounds, the technology for time travel might not be that far off." What would be really cool would be to create some sort of alternate to the Time Turner - fussy things, really, he could probably make something a whole lot more precise after a bit of work...and if he could engineer something that didn't even use magic, his words to her might not be so empty...

He brought himself back, with a bit of difficulty, to the present. His mind could run away with him, but now wasn't the time to think about his prototypes. He was here with an intelligent, beautiful girl, and she was, apparently, taking his blunt approach better than most. If she wasn't happy with what she was doing - which he couldn't imagine, she seemed like someone who needed something different than secretarial work to drive her - it was good that she at least knew it. He was in the same boat, sticking it out to eventually make his own way. But if she didn't want to move up at the doctor's office...would she stay? It was up to her, but he was surprisingly glad to hear her last.

Maybe they weren't as different as they appeared.

He nodded, unsure what else to say, and their lunches were brought to them. After checking to see that there weren't any tomatoes hiding in his sandwich - he'd made the mistake of not doing his due diligence once before and had been sorry for it - he began to eat, doing his best, as always, to keep the mess to a minimum. He fell quiet, and while he had had more awkward moments with people he knew much better than the girl he'd just met, he didn't want this silence to stretch and become one of them. "So, do you have anything to look forward to for the weekend? Nearly there and all," he said, falling back on usual work chatter. That was safe enough, right?

[Teagan Edwards]

Elliot seemed frustrated with his position, but holding back some of his resentments. Teagan could understand that. She was grateful to the doctor she worked for. He'd given her a job as a favor to her father, and it was enough income to pay her bills and still have a bit of fun. But she didn't find any joy in filing medical documents and booking appointments. It was dull, something she could almost do in her sleep if she really wanted to try. She gave a smile as he asked her about Doctor Who, excited and confused that he hadn't seen the show. Sure, it was really a bunch of hogwash theories. A police phone box that traveled through time...

"Oh, it's really silly. It's about a Time Lord who travels through time in a blue police phone box. He also regenerates into a new form every so often, keeps him from dying. The show is currently following the fourth doctor right now," she said with a grin. "He's a bit bonkers. But it's quite fascinating. I'd recommend it. Not too much explanation of how time travel works though. It's almost like they're trying to convince us to believe in magic." She set her pen down on the table and sat back in her chair, studying him as he talked about what he wanted to do for work.

"I'd like to think you are right," she replied after a few moments. Technology was ever changing. Why, it had only been ten years ago that the States had landed a man on the moon. Space travel was a rapid growing field, it only made sense they would be looking into time travel as well. "Of course, once time travel is possible then you have to worry about the ethics, don't you? If it's accessible to anyone things could quickly get out of hand. It would have to be a controlled sort of system."

Okay Teagan, perhaps take a few steps back here. You're getting too serious.

Their lunches appeared, and Teagan watched with a grin as he checked his sandwich carefully. Her focus was on her coffee, the comforting smell and familiar warmth reminding her that she could make it through the rest of this Friday. As she started on her own food, he asked her about her weekend and her mind immediately went off. "Oh, no. I'm completely free this weekend actually," she replied before flashing him a smile. Could he really be asking her about her weekend plans? Maybe he was just as interested in her.

[Elliott Thomas]

Teagan just lit up when she spoke about what he assumed was a television program, even though she'd discounted it at first by saying it was silly. It sounded as interesting as she said, actually, and he was intrigued as ever at how creative Muggles were to think up things like this. A "Time Lord" - And what the hell is that? - traveling through time? With what purpose? He was about to ask when she dropped the m-word, which he was completely unprepared for.

Because, obviously, magic didn't exist to her. It was something left to writers and special effects teams to make parodies of, something that captivated Muggle audiences with its "impossibility." The abilities that he and other witches and wizards had were just the things of fairytales, children's stories, to the rest of the human population. Not that she can ever know - but what would she think? Elliott couldn't help but wonder how this lively, thoughtful, and beautiful human would take news that magic was real. That he was a wizard.

Not that she can ever know.

He shook himself out of it, giving her a small smile as he replied, bringing back an earlier question. "That does sound interesting, but I have to ask - he's doing all of this traveling, and is that it? You watch him flit about? So it's like you're seeing history through his eyes or something?" It wasn't as though he had a television, there was no way he'd ever watch this show - but Teagan was an obvious fan of it, and in his efforts to keep her talking, getting her going about the plot of this would likely help him out. Thank your lucky stars she didn't ask about your "school," good Merlin, you've got to have a go-to cover, work on that later.

Although he ran the risk of coming off as a nutter in describing his opinions to her, Teagan took it in stride, adding on to his ideas in a surprising manner. It was interesting, getting this little insight into how her mind worked, and to be honest he hadn't expected that response. He was more about the could we than the should we, planning on leaving the ethics of the use of whatever he developed to someone else to declare. But there were rules about this sort of thing in his world, where time travel wasn't restricted to television. "It definitely is something to think about," he said, unsure of how much he could say without letting on that he already knew the rules. "I'm imagining keeping track of travels to be a logistical nightmare, and then you've got to ensure proper use - can't go running about timelines changing things, seeing yourself, all that. But if you could," he asked, meeting her eye with a broader smile, "and you didn't have to worry about the repercussions - when in time would you go?"

Lunch soon in hand, Elliott ate, checking his watch, checking out the girl across from him. He wondered, although he knew, how he hadn't noticed her before. It wasn't as though the cafe was all that enormous, or that the environment was too busy to see the other patrons. He'd just...isolated himself here. As per usual. And although he still felt guilty about ruining her shirt, he wasn't sorry for it, because it had led them here. And this lunch, like Teagan herself, was a pleasant surprise. Not that anything could come of it, but it was a pleasant, if odd, change from his norm. So as she rather excitedly let him know that she had no plans, he looked up to see her beaming at him. His brows rose minute, because not having plans wasn't usually something to be so jacked about, right? "Ah, well - free time is good too, re-energize before the week."