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last online Apr 17, 2024 16:54:08 GMT -7
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Dec 29, 2020 22:43:10 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2020 22:43:10 GMT -7
listen to the wind blow watch the sun rise run in the shadows Leo looked at the blank wall in front of him and then the blank walls to his left and then to his right. It had been a tedious day and he glanced again the stack of folders on his desk he had to review. The Ministry was in the midst of a hiring surge and the stack of folders represented potential candidates. Mainly they were either graduates fresh from Hogwarts or any of the other Wizarding Schools or interns transitioning out of their “in-training” status. It seemed silly to review those already employed by the Ministry, but he supposed it was probably some outdated rule that was still being upheld. He was approaching two years working for the Ministry now and he knew he was just a cog in the machine, a small block of the whole structure and it made him miss all that dirt and sand and risk he took wherever Curse Breaking had taken him but when he really thought about it he’d rather tackle this rather large stack of files on his desk. This would be easier with computers. A common thought and side effect of his no-maj background, but sacrifices had to be made to be a Wizard he supposed. He sighed and instead grabbed a book he was slowly working through to help his brain not feel like mush at the end of the day and decided he should just take his last break before diving into a file. The breakrooms were always loud and popular places though he did find his usual seat in one of the corners where he could flip through his book in some peace, he didn’t have a ton of friends despite his time here and really people he happened to small talk with at the coffee station. Well, at least the ones that may have found his awkwardness endearing. His life was pretty routine now and as such he wasn’t surprised when he looked up after hearing a familiar voice and seeing a familiar face.
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Bianca Alia Rivera
CASTELOBRUXO ALUM MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD OCCLUMENS LEGILIMENS
267 posts
played by Jenny
do your worst for I will do mine
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last online Apr 13, 2024 6:47:38 GMT -7
MINISTRY
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Dec 30, 2020 7:20:40 GMT -7
Post by Bianca Alia Rivera on Dec 30, 2020 7:20:40 GMT -7
Summer 2019 It was good to finally be an Auror, even if she was one of the most junior Aurors around. It still meant she’d finally lost her trainee status, and could go out on missions without having an instructor constantly looking over her shoulder and tweaking her behavior. She liked the solo missions, where she was in charge of her own schedule and could dictate how everything would go, but she took the paired ones too without (much) complaint. Her father always told her that the camaraderie between officers was one of the most important parts of the job, and anything he said was practically gospel. So as much as it wasn’t in her nature to be social, Bianca put in the time to learn about her coworkers, attend happy hours, and be part of the inside jokes that inevitably came up. Today though, she wasn’t feeling it one bit. Stakeouts were never as interesting as the movies made it seem, and while they were manageable in short bursts – well, taking a full day to observe potential criminal activity was torture, especially when you walked away from it knowing you’d be back soon enough. Her shift wasn’t technically over, so Bianca couldn’t go home yet, but the thought of going somewhere crowded to socialize sounded like torture. She trudged up to the one of the breakrooms to wait out the clock, determined not to get sucked into any rowdy group conversations. When she entered, she dodged eye contact with some other Aurors who had taken over some of the most central tables, instead walking purposefully past them as if she had somewhere to be. “Not today, guys,” Bianca sighed tiredly as a coworker called out her name. Her stride faltered for a moment before recovering as she caught sight of Leonardo, predictably hidden in the corner of the room with a book. He was such a wallflower sometimes that it was amazing he hadn’t sunk completely into the wall, but he was mild-mannered and calm and quiet – so Bianca liked him a lot. She sat down heavily on a chair near his and rubbed her face tiredly with her hands. “If they keep assigning us to full-day stakeouts, it’ll be my ghost they send to the next one,” she grumbled. Not much of a way to start a conversation, but Leo would know she wasn’t being serious, only grumpy. They’d been in a similar scenario enough times at this point. @leonardo
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last online Apr 17, 2024 16:54:08 GMT -7
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Dec 30, 2020 13:04:11 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2020 13:04:11 GMT -7
listen to the wind blow watch the sun rise run in the shadows Bianca took the seat near him and he looked up from his book, it was a book on Transfiguration spells but beyond anything they ever learned in school, probably some of the material used to train Aurors and other groups within the Ministry. But it had always been a subject that interested him, and he liked stay on top of things so he didn’t forget it all doing mindless paperwork. ”Nothing exciting happening yet?” He asked curiously, closing the book and putting it down in front of him on the table. It was very much like him to ask questions, he was curious about the work and the things they did even if it wasn’t the field for him. Despite his grumblings about the paperwork he still had to sift through on whatever day he preferred to be behind a desk. He could still remember the curious look on the Human Resources Department head’s face when he had come in for his initial interview. On paper he was qualified to be an Auror or work in Law Enforcement. She’d explained to him how, at Hogwarts at least, the academic track for Aurors and Curse Breakers were virtually identical, but he hadn’t wanted that. Besides, his current role let him hear more information than participating himself. ”What case they have you on now?” He asked curiously. They had met while she had still been in training and he’d just left Curse Breaking and had bonded over their shared backgrounds. It wasn’t often you found another Spanish speaker in London.
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Bianca Alia Rivera
CASTELOBRUXO ALUM MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD OCCLUMENS LEGILIMENS
267 posts
played by Jenny
do your worst for I will do mine
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last online Apr 13, 2024 6:47:38 GMT -7
MINISTRY
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Jan 3, 2021 4:38:03 GMT -7
Post by Bianca Alia Rivera on Jan 3, 2021 4:38:03 GMT -7
When Leo asked his first question, Bianca answered immediately. She wasn’t really the type to sit around and think forever before talking – she preferred to let her guts drive her actions, and figure out the aftermath as it became relevant. “No!” she said immediately, pouting as she shifted in her seat to place her elbows on the table and rest her chin on the palm of one hand. “I don’t mind sitting around all day, but I need something to show for my time. Otherwise it was just a waste.” Bianca was driven by productivity, by the need to get things done as efficiently as possible. If she went on a stakeout for a full day, she better have something to show for it – otherwise it was just a waste of a day that she could have been pursuing other leads.
Leo had set his book down on the table, so Bianca nudged the book towards her so she could take a look at the cover. She raised an eyebrow at the title and shot Leo a smile of disbelief. She liked Transfiguration a lot – it had been her best subject at school – but that didn’t mean she wanted to spend her free time reading about it. “Leo, I’m saying this as your friend, but…Transfiguration? Do you even remember how to have fun?” She shot a teasing smile at him, although it dropped quickly as he asked about her case. She sighed heavily and fidgeted with his book mindlessly as she thought about her new case. “They think they’ve found an illegal distributing center for cursed items. It’s not even our department really, except there’s some evidence to suggest Grimstone is involved. So my supervisor has been relentless about putting in overtime.” She made a face as she said the name – Grimstone was a Dark wizard who had managed to elude the Aurors for years. There were some higher-ups in her office that badly wanted an arrest, which was why so much manpower was being dedicated to surveilling any area he was suspected to frequent. She didn’t usually discuss her cases with non-Aurors, but she and Leo had known each other for a long time now and they had similar enough backgrounds that she felt comfortable with him. And he wasn’t as boring as he seemed – his prior experience included some excitement too, even if it hadn’t been for the Ministry.
@leonardo
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last online Apr 17, 2024 16:54:08 GMT -7
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Jan 5, 2021 0:03:52 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2021 0:03:52 GMT -7
listen to the wind blow watch the sun rise run in the shadows Her current frustration was evident, and maybe it was why he was more suited behind a desk. Still, he had never been comfortable with not knowing what was going to happen next. It reminded him of his computers back home. It was something he’d had to forfeit to a point to exist in the magical world, and sometimes he wondered if he should have gone back to the states where they were a few years ahead of here. ”I’m sure it's not a waste. Sometimes its important to gather all the information first.” Ironic, considering his current position. Generally speaking, most people might not notice him unless they wandered into HR to sign a form or ask a question, but he knew things about most since the Ministry tried to know what it could about its employees. Still, it would have been easier if it had all been electronic. Leo gave a shy smile, he liked to keep his mind sharp. ”Just making sure my brain doesn’t turn into mush.” He spoke looking at the book instead of her. Eye contact had never been something comfortable for him, but it was easier to talk to the people he was comfortable with. She didn’t hesitate to answer his question, and her mention of ‘illegal’ and ‘cursed items’ caught his attention. It had been a couple of years since he’d left Curse Breaking. His accident hadn’t been severe but severe enough to voluntarily exit. Any ‘glory’ from that wasn’t worth his physical health. He realized that he was much happier shuffling papers and not finding sand in his clothes weeks later. ”Illegal? Like black market stuff?” His life in a small cubicle wasn’t exciting compared to chasing infamous criminals, but he liked to hear about it. ”What’s the deal with this ‘Grimstone’?”
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Bianca Alia Rivera
CASTELOBRUXO ALUM MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD OCCLUMENS LEGILIMENS
267 posts
played by Jenny
do your worst for I will do mine
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last online Apr 13, 2024 6:47:38 GMT -7
MINISTRY
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Jan 6, 2021 10:55:37 GMT -7
Post by Bianca Alia Rivera on Jan 6, 2021 10:55:37 GMT -7
Bianca made a noise of frustration as Leo suggested that it wasn’t necessarily a waste if they worked to gather information first. “Oh yes,” she responded with a biting sarcasm, shooting Leo a look. “I have plenty of information. The number of bricks in the alley walls, the pattern of blast marks on the door, and the exact way my partner sounds when chewing with his mouth open. I’m sure my supervisor is dying to hear about it.” She huffed and got bored with the book, returning it to its rightful place in front of Leo. She stared at it darkly. She loved this job, she really did – most of the time she could see the exact amount of good she was doing, helping people and making England a little safer one arrest at a time. But then there were times she got stuck with the rookie jobs, staring at a wall and waiting for something to happen.
It was a tough pill to swallow, knowing she was good enough for higher-profile cases but getting stuck with the entry-level things first. Once they managed to find Grimstone, she’d be able to celebrate with the others knowing she had contributed to the arrest. But she wanted to be the one bringing him in, not pushing pencils or hanging around dark alleys. Bianca rolled her eyes at Leo. “Doesn’t your brain turn to mush automatically after you join HR? I have a source that says it’s part of the initiation ceremony.” She smirked at Leo – he was quiet, but she was sure he could do so much more than learn a creepy amount of things about people by processing their files. It seemed like a waste of his abilities, but he seemed happy enough. “Yeah Leo, illegal,” she responded, rolling her eyes again within the span of a minute. “He’s not exactly dealing in black market…kittens, or something. He might be curse-enchanting this time.” Enchanting items with curses had become illegal a long time ago, but that didn’t exactly stop shady dealers and wizards who dabbled in the Dark Arts. Bianca leaned back in her chair again and shrugged as Leo asked about Grimstone. “What isn’t his deal? He’s escaped Auror custody before, and they want him for just about everything. Smuggling and selling restricted goods, illegal use of magic on Muggles, even some attempted attacks.” She tried and failed to hold in a yawn, then stretched before settling back in her chair. She eyed Leo. “You could just…transfer departments, you know. Then I wouldn’t have to memorize my case files for you all the time.”
@leonardo
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last online Apr 17, 2024 16:54:08 GMT -7
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Jan 6, 2021 23:55:48 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2021 23:55:48 GMT -7
listen to the wind blow watch the sun rise run in the shadows Gathering information. Taking one's time. Not jumping in. It was what he had been taught as a Curse Breaker, but it was also applicable to some of his less magical hobbies, such as his tech and hacking. It was more for fun and the last connection to his no-maj roots. But the same principles applied. He couldn't just hack something. One needed to surveil and gather information before going in. But Leo was a much more patient person than most, though mostly aided by his more soft-spoken nature. Her look told him, very obviously, that she disagreed with his assessment. She was definitely feistier than he was, though it likely made her more impatient. "You never know when that might come in handy." He spoke, knowing very well that wasn't the case. There wasn't a need to know how many bricks comprised the wall in the alley, but with Bianca, he had to poke fun where he could. She was one of the few people he talked to extensively here. Human Resources wasn't a glamourous department. The work was tedious and rather unfulfilling. Staring at pages and pages of employee files and rolls of parchments comprising incident reports until all the words began to blend together. Leo quietly smiled in response. Their jobs and personalities were vastly different despite having almost the same educational backgrounds. "It's not so bad, most days. Just a busy time of year." Interns and people finishing their training--it put a strain on the paperwork processing of his department. Though magic did help exponentially, it made him miss how technology could probably help. The mention of cursed items intrigued him. It reminded him of his old work. "Cursed items are definitely concerning. Reminds me of the stuff the bank used to make us get." Leo reminisced a bit, though he hadn't been taken on the more extreme jobs reserved for the more Senior Curse Breakers, he'd seen some interesting things in the two years he was there. She explained this Grimstone person to her very casually, though he was interested. Then again, she'd probably been staring at his name in a file for a very long time now. It was now Leo's turn to give Bianca a bit of a look, though he didn't have the intensity that she had earlier. "I--uh--I don't think it's for me." He said rather shyly, it wasn't the first time it had been brought up to him.
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Bianca Alia Rivera
CASTELOBRUXO ALUM MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD OCCLUMENS LEGILIMENS
267 posts
played by Jenny
do your worst for I will do mine
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last online Apr 13, 2024 6:47:38 GMT -7
MINISTRY
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Jan 7, 2021 9:06:34 GMT -7
Post by Bianca Alia Rivera on Jan 7, 2021 9:06:34 GMT -7
Bianca huffed impatiently at Leo as he continued to insist that her day hadn’t been a waste, although he clearly meant it as a joke now. He wasn’t so obvious when he was teasing, because he didn’t change the calm demeanor that he spoke with, but they’d been friends for a while already and there was no way he was actually dense enough to believe that. Bianca knew she was an impatient person – she demanded excellence from herself, and she wanted it now. Leo wasn’t like that. He seemed to appreciate playing the long game and keeping his head down until he got what he wanted. Bianca couldn’t be sure if that was a personality trait, or simply part of the training he’d received as a cursebreaker. To some people, there weren’t many differences between cursebreakers and Aurors – they only saw the fast action and fieldwork. But being an Auror required purposely putting oneself in danger to take out bad guys and protect civilians, which required boldness. Cursebreakers needed to be patient and analyze everything about a scene before proceeding.
Leo began to explain that HR really wasn’t so bad, and only a beat later commented that the case reminded him of the kinds of assignments he used to receive from Gringotts. Bianca shot him an incredulous look as he began to reminisce about his cursebreaking days. “How is this type of career not for you?” she demanded, barely waiting for him to stop talking before she immediately responded. “You used to travel the world and break curses to recover treasure. Sometimes you had to compete with other people to get there first, or dismantle nasty spells designed to kill a man. Sometimes being an Auror is like that, but never at the beginning. Look at me.” She couldn’t stifle the next yawn that came and stopped to blink a few times rapidly and run a hand through her hair. Once she was sure she was awake, she shot Leo a questioning look. “What’s stopping you, really? Did you lose your balls in a cave somewhere? You can’t seriously tell me you’re happy right now, doing nothing at all. You have so much more to offer than that.” She hated the thought that he was wasting his potential – and the best years of his life – doing meaningless work for HR. As a former cursebreaker, he clearly had worthwhile skills. And as a Muggleborn, he had an understanding of things like technology that most wizards couldn’t even dream of. It annoyed Bianca to think he couldn’t see that about himself.
@leonardo
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last online Apr 17, 2024 16:54:08 GMT -7
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Jan 20, 2021 23:58:38 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2021 23:58:38 GMT -7
listen to the wind blow watch the sun rise run in the shadows It was easy for people to make assumptions about Leo and what he was like or who he was friends with. Typically all the Aurors hung out with one another as their personalities seemed to mesh well. He figured their similar backgrounds from a cultural perspective, and they were both no-maj, gave them some common ground because there was hardly in their personalities. He admired her drive and fiery nature, brave where he wasn't, but he realized how patient he was when he stood next to her. These were the type of jobs that gave one glory with the right oppurtunity but never right away, it wasn't for him. He gave a small but shy grin and a bit of a repressed chuckle when she finally reaized he was joking. Even in his previous line of work he saw similiar personalties that he did with the Aurors and usually the easier ones to mess with a bit. Leo sat back patiently as she interupted him and began her usual spiel on how he was perfectly qualified to be an Auror and how it wasn't that different from Curse Breaking. It actually didn't bother him much anymore as it had when he first came to the Ministry. He supposed he was still working through the mental part of it all and the things he told himself now that he wasn't near his father and family. Bianca wasn't wrong, they were very similiar and when he'd been hired he'd gotten the same response but in a strange look versus all the words. "It's just not something i'm interested in." He responded calmly, and that was the truth. However, as he waited for Bianca to yawn and return back to a conscious state his expression did shift to that of one that was slightly annoyed at her tone and choice of words though he was never one to outwardly have a temper. Leo paused before he answered, she wasn't that far off the mark but he'd never quite word it like that. "I went into Curse Breaking because I wanted to prove something, it wasn't ever what I wanted to do." He admitted. Something in his seventeen year old brain had told him that this would 'fix' him and prove something to those that doubted him, and then he'd gotten injured and, if he was being frank, lost his nerve. Leo crossed his arms and looked down for a few moments before looking back at Bianca, he didn't want there to be tension. "You aren't making it sound that fun." Sitting in a stakeout was hardly the pinnacle of excitement.
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Bianca Alia Rivera
CASTELOBRUXO ALUM MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD OCCLUMENS LEGILIMENS
267 posts
played by Jenny
do your worst for I will do mine
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last online Apr 13, 2024 6:47:38 GMT -7
MINISTRY
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Jan 29, 2021 3:07:54 GMT -7
Post by Bianca Alia Rivera on Jan 29, 2021 3:07:54 GMT -7
Bianca could feel herself slowing down the longer the conversation went on. Merlin, she should have gotten another cup of coffee – or five – before going to find Leo. The Ministry insisted on keeping her for the duration of her shift, but sometimes could be so incredibly negligent with its workers. Still, Leo was the best company she could ask for. Most of her coworkers in the Auror Office were exactly like her – driven, ambitious, impatient. It made for a dangerous combination when an Auror inevitably didn’t get what they want, or lost out to someone impossibly more accomplished than they were. It wasn’t uncommon to walk on eggshells for days after that until the atmosphere had settled. Leo was patient, and he didn’t get angry with her. Bianca never had to worry about being anything but herself with him, and there was a shared cultural background that most of the Ministry simply couldn’t understand. It meant there were some things they could communicate silently.
Still, they’d fallen into a common argument of theirs. They were both saying the same things they always did, not with any malice but with the understanding that it was practically a tradition at this point. Leo said the same thing as always – it wasn’t something he was interested in – and Bianca was tempted to answer with the same thing she always said. You'd find it more interesting with time. Still, she liked to defy expectations and keep people on their toes, so she decided to try something new. “So what are you interested in, then?” She moved to place a hand on his book before he could try something like picking it up. “Reading textbooks doesn’t count. Reading people’s files doesn’t count. I mean what really makes you get up in the morning and keep coming to this soulless job you have. If you don’t want to keep doing that for the rest of your life, then what is the plan?”
She pouted slightly at Leo’s last comment, and it made her wonder if he’d designed the trap for her or if she’d simply fallen into it herself. “It’s not supposed to be fun,” she said reluctantly, shooting him a dark look for having the gall to say something reasonable. She leaned back and crossed her arms, unwilling to elaborate any more on that statement. Growing up and watching her father, being an officer had seemed exciting. When her parents couldn’t find someone to watch her and she’d gone with her dad to the precinct, she’d seen the boring parts as well – processing, paperwork, bureaucracy. Law enforcement wasn’t always glamorous, and she knew that, even if she’d been up for over a day at that point and was grumpy about it. “But there are some exciting parts. And the rest would be more bearable with you.”
@leonardo
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last online Apr 17, 2024 16:54:08 GMT -7
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Feb 3, 2021 21:45:49 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2021 21:45:49 GMT -7
listen to the wind blow watch the sun rise run in the shadows When Leo had first joined the Ministry of Magic, he had been a little bit sensitive regarding his occupation. Before, it was full of adventure and the exciting look in people's eyes when he told them he was a Curse Breaker, and now Leo might get merely an 'oh' when he explained his current job. By now, he was used to it, just as much as Leo had grown accustomed to Bianca's comments. She meant well, and he appreciated her concern for his well-being and happiness. It was nice to have a friend who would care that much. Leo had a handful of friends that he would consider close friends, some from Curse Breaking--though he didn't see that them often and some from his school days, although the large majority stayed behind in the states and those he met here at the Ministry. He and Bianca were very different personalities, but their shared cultural background had helped them bond quickly. But, somethings never changed, just like this continuing argument of Bianca trying to muscle Leo into Law Enforcement based on his skillset and Leo pushing back because he really wasn't interested. Aside from Bianca hardly making it sound exciting, he didn't have the disposition for it. Plus, what he hadn't really told her was that he didn't trust it either. Institutions such as The Ministry of Magic weren't infallible, though they pretended to be an authority such as this never sat right with him. It had been a critical deciding factor for him to go into Curse Breaking, the freedom or at least an authority that was honest about its greed. Leo, half-smiled--he liked to read whatever he could get his hands on and today just happened to be something akin to a textbook. "Well, magical-wise, I still read about some things I learned in Curse Breaking." He began. "And I know it's not helpful here, but muggle technology." Then came to her usual comments about his soulless job, and he agreed, there wasn't much to it, but he didn't complain. Leo paused. However, he really didn't know what the future held. There had been this sense of drifting ever since he'd learned he was a wizard and then decided to never go back home. "Something will come up. I'll know when I see it." He replied reassuringly, he was okay with his life as it was. "And if I don't, I'm sure you will bring it up." He said with a quick smile. But, he still stuck to his point--all her complaining about her work was not helping her case to convince him to apply. Leo slowly shook his head "no", he really wasn't interested. "It's not the kind of excitement I'm looking for." He commented, taking the opportunity to retrieve his textbook and slide it back to his side of the table when she crossed her arms.
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Bianca Alia Rivera
CASTELOBRUXO ALUM MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD OCCLUMENS LEGILIMENS
267 posts
played by Jenny
do your worst for I will do mine
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last online Apr 13, 2024 6:47:38 GMT -7
MINISTRY
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Feb 6, 2021 7:18:04 GMT -7
Post by Bianca Alia Rivera on Feb 6, 2021 7:18:04 GMT -7
Predictably, the first thing Leo did after Bianca took her hand away was rescue his book. She rolled her eyes slightly, although a fond smile pulled at her lips. They weren’t strangers anymore, but Bianca still couldn’t guess at everything that went on inside his head. She’d heard some wizards were mind-readers, or something akin to that – being able to dive into other people’s heads and see what was floating around. Since starting as an Auror, Bianca had been receiving the opposite training and learning how to close her mind off to those kinds of opportunistic wizards. Still, she wished she had the ability to poke around in Leo’s head for a while, just to understand everything he kept inside. They were friends, but Bianca didn’t fool herself into thinking he’d told her anything close to everything.
“I wish it was helpful,” Bianca sighed as she leaned back in her chair and considered Leo’s apparent habit of reading books about Muggle technology. “I don’t understand how an entire magical society can still be living in the Dark Ages. No phones or TV or anything. It’s 2019 and I still do actual paperwork.” She shook her head in wonder and disapproval at how separate the magical world had stayed from the Muggles. There were some amazing things you could do with magic – Bianca had gotten so excited at being able to Apparate instead of taking the tube – but wizards still had fundamental gaps in their knowledge about ordinary things…like processing criminals without actual databases or online resources, or using owl post instead of texts. And naturally, that meant that incredibly valuable resources – like her friend’s innate talent with technology – were being wasted in dead-end places like HR.
She sighed as Leo repeated, yet again, that Law Enforcement wasn’t the kind of excitement he wanted. Bianca was stubborn, and she was nowhere near done with this argument. But it had already been spanning months, and she was tired and didn’t want to say something she’d end up regretting. “Something probably will come up,” she agreed, although she added quickly, “I’m just not sure that means you’d take it. You get comfortable, Leo. And then you blink and it’s been years and you can’t even be sure what you’ve been doing all that time.” She’d watched her mother slowly sink into depression as she began to realize that her life had gone nowhere. All those unrealized big dreams, until she was stuck in a barely-paying job in a bad neighborhood. That depressing thought had the potential to quickly spiral, so Bianca changed topics quickly. “I bought some new movies. You should come over this weekend so we can rank them.” She technically lived in Muggle London because she wasn’t completely unwilling to give up on some Muggle luxuries in order to live in a magically-dense area closer to work. Leo was currently her only Muggleborn friend, which also meant he was the only one who’d properly enjoy the magic of good TV.
@leonardo
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last online Apr 17, 2024 16:54:08 GMT -7
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May 19, 2021 18:58:29 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on May 19, 2021 18:58:29 GMT -7
listen to the wind blow watch the sun rise run in the shadows Leo wasn’t bothered much anymore by Bianca’s frustration with him. It wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to, honestly, but he knew Bianca was just trying to look out for him and see him do his best. In the end, it was all about perspective and also temperament. Leo was satisfied keeping a low profile and doing his menial work. His true passion could not be pursued in the magical world, and he’d come to terms with that. In his downtime, he was the happiest, browsing the web and the internet (the no-maj world) and honing his hacking skills. If he focused entirely on the magical world, he’d lose those skills completely. Then again, he was pretty proficient in other forms of “hacking”, as it were. As if transfiguration was anything else in a sense.
He shrugged. ”There’s always Quick-Quotes Quills?” Leo suggested it was similar to some of the speech-to-text technology he had encountered on his last visit home. While he generally did not associate with his family, and they didn't associate with him either except for his youngest sister. Leo had told her about the world he lived in now, and she had looked listened to him intently. She was special in the sense of she didn’t harbor the same grudges or prejudices the rest of his siblings did and his parents—the family had a different meaning to her. Finally, Bianca seemed to accept his excuses once again. It was the same old song and dance for the pair and for as long as they had been friends after first meeting here at the Ministry. Those who spoke a language other than English were few in The Ministry except perhaps in Interpol.
Bianca was probably right. He was wasting his life away. But a part of him deep down would always push back at anyone that tried to give him direction, even if it was friendly. So for now, he just shrugged, not really wanting to discuss it further or dive that deep into his motives or lack thereof. Leo looked back up when she mentioned movies. They both had an interest considering their no-maj upbringing, and not many of the magical community had ever been to a movie theatre or popped in a DVD. ”As long as it's not another one of those cheesy romantic comedies.” Leo commented, she had made him sit through a few recently. ”I’ll watch one if you finally watch Tron.” There was a small smile on his face. Maybe she would agree to the challenge but finding science fiction fans was difficult.
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Bianca Alia Rivera
CASTELOBRUXO ALUM MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD OCCLUMENS LEGILIMENS
267 posts
played by Jenny
do your worst for I will do mine
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last online Apr 13, 2024 6:47:38 GMT -7
MINISTRY
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Jun 4, 2021 6:51:14 GMT -7
Post by Bianca Alia Rivera on Jun 4, 2021 6:51:14 GMT -7
It was hard to remember sometimes, but Leo was a rebel. On the surface level, he seemed innocent enough – quiet, socially awkward, but really an incredibly sweet guy. He was easy to talk to without getting much pushback, whether it was Bianca talking his ear off or those absolute dementors of Ministry employees whose intentions were much less well-meaning than hers. She’d never had a problem getting aggressive with those kinds of bullies, whenever she would catch one talking down to Leo or taking the cowardly route and laughing about him behind closed doors. She didn’t have many friends, and she certainly didn’t have anyone else that understood her as easily as Leo. They both came from non-magical backgrounds, and as foreigners to magic and the United Kingdom it was easily a situation of ‘stick together or die.’
All that said, one would expect him to roll over easily when it came to doing things he didn’t want to do. But that wasn’t the case. If Leo followed any of Bianca’s orders, it was ultimately because he wanted to. If he said he was happy in his dead-end job, then absolutely nothing would move him – unless something new could catch his attention. And if he was in a particularly stubborn mood, he might even do the opposite of what Bianca said just to prove a point. So as much as Bianca wanted to take decisive action, like slap a job application in front of him (or steal his book to hit him upside the head, which was becoming a steadily more attractive option), she refrained from doing anything that would just dig the hole deeper. Instead she made a face as Leo suggested Quick-Quotes Quills. “They’re unreliable,” she countered, “and never stick to the facts. They like to embellish, which is bad for police work. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Quick-Quotes Quill wrote the next bestseller.” She had much, much more to say about those quills and the people who chose to use them (like the small-time journalist from Witch Weekly that had been hounding Aurors recently with rumors about the Deputy Head). But she was distracted by Leo’s description of the movies she liked to drag him to, and her mouth dropped open in protest.
“They are not cheesy!” she complained, shooting him a dirty look. “They…they’re sweet, and explore really important themes.” Bianca didn’t like finding herself playing defense, so she crossed her arms and pursed her lips. They were entering into a negotiation now, and Bianca would be damned if she’d let her mild-mannered friend walk away with the better deal. “I’m not watching Tron,” she said flatly – it honestly probably wasn’t all that bad, but she was still miffed about Leo’s ‘cheesy’ comment and was feeling petty. “If it has superheroes or dragons, I could be persuaded to watch at a two-to-one ratio. Two of mine for one of yours,” she said in a challenging tone as she fixed Leo with an intent stare. It was her patent intense look, the one that always got a confession in the end during interrogations. As the two stared at each other, Bianca couldn’t imagine what the scene might look like to an outsider. Leo was sitting back in his chair, a small smile on his face (no doubt daydreaming about his sci-fi movies). Bianca was leaning forward as she gave Leo an intense, heavy-lidded look. “We’re watching Legally Blonde first,” she finally said, testing the waters.
@leonardo
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last online Apr 17, 2024 16:54:08 GMT -7
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Jun 22, 2021 11:11:09 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2021 11:11:09 GMT -7
listen to the wind blow watch the sun rise run in the shadows The Ministry had an array of personalities, but the majority were the Law Enforcement employees whose egos made them top-heavy. Those were the students that Leo remembered from school. He knew the type. They were loud and arrogant, and the quiet ones were more pretentious than the rest. So befriending Bianca had been a surprise altogether but not unwelcome. Their shared backgrounds connected them on points that others had a hard time understanding. Although it wasn’t difficult to find another witch or wizard from a no-maj background like himself, most were native to London or the UK. Very few were multilingual.
Leo shrugged. She had a point about the Quills. Not even the Prophet employees he watched walk around the Ministry, their eyes watching like a hawk stalking prey, used them. So, he could see her point—and embellishment wasn’t encouraged in official reports from Law Enforcement. ”You’re right, maybe one day there will be an easier way to do paperwork.” Because of their backgrounds, they knew the solution to that problem. ”Or maybe one day the magical world will wake up and adopt computers.” Leo could only hope and pray for that, but it seemed like it would never happen. Wizards and witches lived a long time and were happy with their archaic forms of doing most things.
Bianca seemed personally offended by his statement, but he didn’t know what else to say. They were silly and cheesy and predictable. They lacked any type of suspense which left his mind wandering. Still, she’d managed to rope him into watching quite a few. ”Themes?” Leo tried to figure out what themes those could be. As if chasing after a boy you thought was the love of your life after knowing him for a week was some metaphor for something profound. ”They’re so predictable.” He commented, eyes rolling slightly. She gave him a counter-offer, and he stared back, wondering what her angle was--if there was one. She was never the type to let him off easy—not even for this. But what may work on the common criminal would not work on him, hence why he flew under the radar so much even when one of his closest friends was in Law Enforcement. Still, he couldn’t help but grimace at her suggestion. ”That one will cost you three.” Leo’s gaze didn’t waver. ”Fine—superheroes it is, but my choice.”
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