face off | renard

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

IT HAPPENED SO FAST. A single second of misjudgement that could have very well cost Ondina her life. But, that was how it had always been. She teetered on a knife's edge of health. Shifting back and forth, oblivion a misstep away. She wasn't even safe at work.

Ondina had been working at the Ministry for a good few weeks by now, interning in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. But, an intern was all she was. She pushed papers, delivered important documents. She felt like a secretary. And it had begun to irk her. Only Ondina would begin a job and assume she'd push to power in a moments notice. She was impatient, and it was showing.

So much so that she had begun to linger. An ear to a door she shouldn't be near. Sidling up toward the higher ups, as if it might provide her with something juicy. Something she could use. And that was how she'd gotten a shirt full of hot coffee. It stained the pretty pressed white of her collared work shirt, scalding her chest underneath as the hot liquid made the fabric cling to her chest.

She had whirled round, her cheeks turning red, a growl of fury in her throat as she'd faced the poor desk jockey whose cup of coffee had ended up all over Ondina's front. Apologies a-plenty, quivering with anxious guilt. Ondina hadn't been able to help herself when she'd yelled, her chest aching. But she'd only gotten out a few words, the heat of the coffee and the anger tightening her chest until she lost whole breath's. And then, all of a sudden, she knew she had to flee.

That was how she'd ended up in the men's room a floor up, barging in while it was empty and scrambling to grab the porcelain frame of a sink as she wheezed and wheezed before she went around and pushed each individual cubicle open, double checking she was alone as her chest screamed for more air. It was always like this, exertion, anger, yelling. Even the shock of pain could trigger her asthma. Face pale and eyes watering, her make up beginning to run as she grabbed a small phial of iridescent liquid from the pocket of her slim slacks.

Pulling the stopper from the phial, Ondina turned from the mirror and threw it back. Leaning against the sinks rim for support as the medicine trickled  down her throat and seemed to soak all the way through her chest with a chill. It was by no means a cure, and only seemed to help minor attacks, but Ondina would surely be dead without it. Minor attacks could easily become major ones if left untreated. Ondina knew that all too well. 

renard walt goyle

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[renard walt goyle]

Ondina Nell Weasley

The morning had begun with a rather nasty capture and relocation of a ghoul that had managed to find itself into the basement pantry of a magical household. Now, these instances happened on a regular basis – ghouls weren’t known to be the sharpest beasts out there (the same could be said about those on the Ghoul Task Force), but this one had achieved an all-time low when it came to IQ levels. Somehow, it actually made the task force look like geniuses for once in their lives. In the many observations Renard had made over the years of ghouls, he found that they had a tendency to enjoy the comfort of attics the most. The one today had made his home in the basement, wedging himself deep into the damp, musty corner of the overflow pantry that the homeowners clearly used for emergencies and only restocked once every decade. The efficiency in which the ghoul completed this task was so masterfully done, that the cobwebs that laced themselves across the entrance to the tiny room were untouched. How that was even possible had left the task force absolutely baffled, and Renard had made sure to make the snide comment that it was obviously magic. In actuality, it had probably been stuck there for years, and the owners only seemed to notice it when they went to do their aforementioned replacement of canned goods. Having spent a good part of the morning talking with them, he had a solid image formed in his head of what their faces might have looked like when they opened the door to the pantry. Distorting the picture however he pleased in his head as they droned on about fees, the time to complete the removal of the ghoul, etcetera, helped pass the time until he was finally able to leave and get back to real work. Overseeing useless divisions of the Ministry, such as the Ghoul Task Force, was a waste of time in his opinion. Someone had to do it though, and it was better off in his hands than one of his idiotic coworkers, most of whom would have pitied the wretch. Renard didn’t really give a damn, as long as the job was completed efficiently.

Upon arriving back at his office within the confines of the Ministry, Renard came upon the realization that the basement he had been forced to stand in had seeped some sort of foul dampness into his suit and hair. He was positive that the worst of it was stuck in his nostrils and that he didn’t actually smell as awful as he felt, but he made a beeline straight for the restroom after dropping off his preliminary reports of the morning on his desk chair. The bathroom was the only place he could think of that would give him the room to either completely air dry his suit, or suck whatever the dampness was from it. That saved him from having to go through the hassle of getting it dry-cleaned again. The dolts that worked at the establishment he frequented typically ran a day late, and never did day-of service. That was their fault though – anyone in the same situation as he was would definitely pay to have their suit cleaned within a few hours. Absolutely nothing beat the form-fitting crunch of a freshly pressed off suit, with the exception of the first drag of the day on a cigarette. With all of that in mind, Renard popped open the door to the restroom with as much force as was necessary to make his presence known to anyone in there, and that he needed them out to complete his boot-leg dry cleaning. Instead of a couple interns or understudies scuttling out like the cockroaches and suck-ups they aspired to be, Renard stopped dead in his tracks a few feet into the restroom. Being met with the fiery-red hair of a woman at the sink was certainly not what he had expected, enough that he began to second guess on whether he had entered the women’s restroom on accident. He didn’t make amateur mistakes like that though, and a split-second side-eyed glance at the urinals confirmed that he was in the proper place, and the woman was not.

Her identity didn’t remain a secret for long, Renard realizing that he knew who she was. Ondina Weasley. It had been a number of years since he had last seen her – his sister was in the same house she had been in whilst at Hogwarts. These days he heard more stories about her than anything else, the majority of which he chose to ignore completely. Getting tangled up in Weasley politics was not only a drain on energy, but also absolutely useless for anyone that enjoyed their life undisturbed by uncontrollable idiocy. The lot of them, even the more intelligent of the Weasley ilk, were insufferable and Renard had preferred to keep his distance from them when he was in school. This situation before him seemed to be fate laughing back at all those years of hard-work, now gone down the drain that Ondina Weasley was currently staring into. “My, my,” Renard broke his silence, hands shoved into his jacket pockets, a devilish grin taking over his lips. “I was unaware that you were packing all these years, Miss Weasley. Unless you need me to get a member of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad. Unfortunately I’m a bit rusty when it comes to…that.” Renard scratched the side of his nose, his face unchanging as he stared down the redhead. He knew she probably walked into the wrong bathroom on accident. Chastising her for that wasn’t any fun though, especially when he could make her squirm. Her reputation at school meant nothing inside the walls of the Ministry. The same mistake had been made by him four years prior, and he was finally starting to cover lost ground. Higher-ups weren’t willing to take crap from some whelp just because she had a famous last name attached to her. She was expendable, just like they all were.

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

IT WAS TO HARD PRESSED PANIC THAT THE DOOR TO THE MEN'S ROOM SLAMMED OPEN. Upon hearing the sound, Ondina dropped the smooth glass medicine phial in to the well of the sink behind her, glass clattering viciously against porcelain. She had jumped, her shoulders jerking as she twisted around hastily at the same moment a figure stepped in to the frame of the men's room.

Her heart was racing, and Ondina held her breath as she stared at her reflection in an attempt to school her features. She reached up casually, her palms sweating as she thumbed a smudge of red lipstick from the corner of her mouth. Her chest still throbbed from scorching coffee, white shirt stained down the front and cold where the liquid had cooled. But rather than flee, as most women might do after being caught in the men's room, Ondina forced her posture to relax.

After counting to five in her head, Ondina tilted her chin to one side, facing the man. There was... something familiar about the thin, angular figure in front of her. Standing at the entrance in a well tailored suit, a carefully blank expression on his face. No name came to mind, but a flicker of recognition floated at the back of her mind. And then he spoke.

Ondina's schooled composure slipped, the beginning of a scowl pulling down the corners of her mouth. 'Miss Weasley' he called her, with enough disdain to make a weaker woman's toes curl. Ondina simply sharpened under the tone, his words morphing her expression in to something coarse and ready to snap.

"Should I know you...?" Ondina snapped, voice husky from wheezy breaths since passed. She was a sight to see, hip resting against the sink in an attempt to appear somewhat casual, her shirt stained and sticking to her skin underneath, the open collar revealing a spread of scorched red skin on a bird-boned chest.

"You know what, I don't think I care." Ondina tacked on at the end, eyes narrowed as she waved him off carelessly. "And you needn't care about my gender either," Ondina went on, bumping off the sinks edge to turn and twist on a tap. "I only have bigger balls than you Ministry Men in method." Flashing a smirk, Ondina ran her hands under the cold tap, her fingers surreptitiously grabbing the dropped phial from the plug hole, clenching it in her hand and carefully out of sight.

renard walt goyle

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[renard walt goyle]

Ondina Nell Weasley

The clatter of something banging off of the porcelain sink certainly made the situation all that more interesting. Ondina Weasley, in the men’s restroom, with a vial of Merlin-knows-what. Renard could visualize the headlines screaming about it. Everyone knew the girl was anything but a saint. That was how easy it would be to let this slip, assuming the object she dropped into the sink was damning evidence. The real question here though, was whether it had to be or not. Plenty of tabloids would dish out galleons upon galleons for gossip on the Weasley family. Especially now, of all times. Her uncle had to go and make all of their lives interesting again, didn’t he?

Back to the point though; the Weasley girl’s reaction was indicative of at least one of two things. She was either skittish because she had been discovered slinking around in the men’s restroom, or that there was actually something to hide inside her tiny object, which, as far as he could tell, was still situated at the bottom of the sink. From the way she looked at herself in the mirror, dabbing at the side of her mouth, before turning to face him, Renard started to second guess whether he had been right about seeing a glass piece in her hand. It could have very well been a tube of lipstick, considering the dazzling potency of the red on her lips. The same lips that he watched curl as he said her name. Her question, about his identity, only confirmed the reaction that he had spread across her face. Renard managed a shrug in response, noting the discoloration on the front of her shirt. Mistakes had been made – just another reason for her to be in the bathroom in the first place.

Renard didn’t have enough time to add words to his previous shrug, the girl cutting him off by rescinding her question, stating that she didn’t care. His grin turned into a smirk as she continued on, giving retorts to his earlier comments. To say she played into his trap would be selling it short. It would have either been this way, or a frustrated growl followed by a tornado of an escape. “I don’t,” Renard countered her comment about her gender. “Merely making an observation. I suppose any bathroom works when you spill boiling hot coffee down your front though,” he added, leaning up against the door frame, partially blocking the exit to the door. “And I have no doubt that your balls are bigger than most. I’d wager a bet that the majority are spineless fools as well, since it seems that we’re pointing out the obvious today.”

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

ONDINA DESPISED BEING OUT OF CONTROL OF A SITUATION. She hadn't factored in the possibility of being caught pale faced and drenched in hot coffee in the men's room. She had worked hard to shirk the stink of illness from her name. Had boxed herself in, been strict about whom she let close and how much she complained. The latter being the hardest thing of all. Ondina had always loved to complain. And that bottle was incriminating. Especially to a disdainful stranger who just so happened to know more about her than she him.

"You think I'd do this to myself...?" Ondina said in a slow derisive manner, gesturing to her front as if it were on display. "I'm not a bloody moron, I can juggle a cup of coffee, thank you!" She tugged at the bottom slightly in an attempt to pull the horrid fabric from her front. She could spell it away, of course. But she'd been so angry, and then so breathless that she'd forgotten to grab the thing from her desk before she fled.

"The people in that department are as dull as doorknobs," She grumbled, making a show of pulling her shirt all the way around to the back before finally dispatching the phial in her pocket on the way back around. She hoped it had been as smooth as she thought it was. "Stupid girl trips over hot air on a good day."

With her hands finally free, Ondina ran one through her hair, exasperated with a temper simmering to match. But now that she didn't have the worry of evidence on her mind, she could finally give the stranger her full attention. They were on uneven footing and Ondina had no intention of allowing this to stand for much longer.

"But not you, right?" She said, tone clipped and lips pursing at the end. She gave him a long look, sweeping from head to toe before meeting his eye again. Unimpressed. "What makes you so different, then? You're not exactly a remarkable specimen or I would have remembered you." Ondina shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest, if only to cover some of the stain. "But you know me, or at the very least my name." Batting her eyes a little, Ondina could almost be pouting. "I don't think that's very fair." 

renard walt goyle

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[renard walt goyle]

Ondina Nell Weasley

Did he think she had spilled coffee on herself? Obviously. Only a person so extremely embarrassed by their stupid mistake would try to pin the blame on another in the manner that the Weasley girl was exhibiting. He could care less, this was just another of his many observations that he was making to pick apart her unnecessary defense that had been thrown up prior to his entrance to the bathroom. “If you say so,” he sighed, head slowly falling against the door frame to join his shoulder there. Poking incessantly at her in this manner was mostly for his own entertainment. None of it would mean anything to him the second she left the restroom. There was no personal gain to be had from his, aside from his own selfish interests. Now if their departments overlapped, maybe. Renard wasn’t afraid to throw a coworker in his area under the bus. Because if he didn’t do it to them, they could do it to him. Being preemptive was what kept his blood flowing on a daily basis.

Ondina continued to observe her clothes, and Renard watched, starting to get bored as she complained about her coworkers once again. “Yes, I get the point already. And you’re there to make their lives all a little more interesting right? How pleasant of you, venerable Miss Weasley.” Of course she had to then turn it back to him, once she was finished fixing her clothes, or whatever it was she seemed to be doing. He was in this game to push buttons, not compliment her on her ability to flaunt her stained clothes left and right. Any normal person would have grown tired of the scalding hot coffee mark and magicked it away in an instant. Apparently she was incapable of that, which would explain why she was in a department full of employees that were, and he could quote her on this, ‘dull as doorknobs’. She inquired about what made him different and how he knew who she was, despite him being unremarkable in nature. Like he hadn’t heard that before from her type. Amazing that they all thought and acted the same way, thinking they were unique little snowflakes. Fact was, they could crumble and melt just as fast as a snowflake could. All it took was the perfect storm. Ondina Weasley hadn’t seemed to hit that point yet though. “Renard Goyle. I work, and bear with me on the name it is quite long-winded, in the Beast Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures,” he paused to let her brain catch up with each of the words he had listed off. “In other words, as the division title indicates, I have to know about all of the nasty little beasties in the UK, Miss Weasley,” Renard finished, cocking his head to the side even more, heavily implying that she was equally as awful as the half-breeds and monsters he dealt with on a daily basis.

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

IT WAS THE CASUAL WAY HE BLOCKED THE DOOR that lingered with Ondina the longest. That flared every defensive bone in her tiny body. How he looked at her without really seeing her at all, which was probably why she was able to sneak away her phial without a second thought. She was just a faffing little girl whom, according to him, couldn't even balance a single cup of coffee. Her last name, Weasley, didn't even occur to her. She felt so detached from it most days.

"I do." She scoffed, mouth slightly agape. Her hands found their way to her hips, although he still had a few inches of height in advantage. It might as well have been a mile with the way he insisted on holding himself. High above on a horse whose knees Ondina was aching to kick.

But with a roll of her eyes, she felt like she had an up. He thought she was a prissy little girl looking for entertainment. Which, to be fair, most days she was. But she had bigger dreams than that. "Hardly," She interjected, holding up an open palm as if to stop him. "You underestimate me. I'm not there to be entertained, although it doesn't hurt..." Ondina drawled slowly. "I'm there for every single one of their jobs until I outgrow even that department." Stepping forward, Ondina dropped her hand and smiled beatifically at her new 'friend', shrugging once. "And when I'm done, hey... maybe I'll come for yours." And she reached up, straightening the lapel of his tailored suit with a pat.

And yet he still spoke to her like a fool as he explained his position, which she hadn't been expecting. Ondina had instead expected him to remain tight lipped, use his anonymity to his advantage, but he seemed to take great pleasure in talking down to her. Even if it meant giving her something in return. Goyle, she knew Goyle. Although not like he knew 'Weasley'.

With a laugh, Ondina shook her head, her smile cold as she regarded him with surprise and a nasty undertone. "Sure, so that's how you know me?" She said, disbelieving, but secretly seething. It was a good jab, she hated that it was.

"You're a bonafide exterminator, hun. You don't have the equipment for a beastie like me." And then she looked him up and down again with a disappointed shake of her head before tilting it to the side in thought. She looked at him exactly the way he was looking at her. "You know, I'm sure we have an awful puffskein problem on our floor. Jenny keeps leaving rubbish at her desk..." Tutting theatrically, Ondina stood a little closer. She was ready to leave. "Be a dear and let your bosses know?" Patting his lapel one more time, Ondina moved her hand to press against his shoulder. "Now get out of my way, Goyle." 

renard walt goyle

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[renard walt goyle]

Ondina Nell Weasley

Wonderful. The little Weasley was getting on the defensive know. Renard had seen the tell-tale hands on hips thousands of times – he always found that it was a sure sign of the other party failing to get a grasp on the situation. He had the upper hand, mainly because he was blocking the exit. For her to leave, she would have to get a little up close and personal with him. The closing of personal space always sufficiently flared tempers. Keeping a cool head around the fiery spirit (and hair) of a Weasley would ensnare a personal victory for him. So far, the same didn’t seem like it could be said for her. Managing to tap into her ferociousness had been done almost unconsciously. What a depressing life to lead; always barking up the wrong tree and being irrationally irritable. There were plenty of days where he felt the drain of dumbasses inside the Ministry weighing down on his soul, but he wasn’t a jerk to everyone in his way in return. Just the half-breeds and beasts. Ondina didn’t seem to have the ability to discern between that.

An eyebrow arched as it looked like she wanted him to stop talking, hand raised in his direction. Under other circumstances, and if they were closer in proximity, that would have been an invite to really go at it. He dealt enough with goblins getting up in his grill during the work week, always pointing their elongated, moldy nails in his face. Pure filth. That was what they were. Ondina was lucky that she seemed to keep herself in prime condition – only another reason why she was probably perturbed over his comment on the coffee spillage. In his experience, pretty and clumsy usually equated to being pretty clumsy. Just because her tongue could lash fearlessly didn’t mean she was actually intelligent. The ones that fought the hardest verbally were typically dumb broads. Renard chuckled at her comment about climbing her way to the top, and maybe eventually taking his job. That was an amusing thought. “Trust me, you don’t want my job if you want an accelerated upwards progression. The politics of my department slow everything down to a crawl.” He wished he wasn’t joking.

“When you have an uncle that has a hankering for raw meat and a cousin brain-dead enough to end up on one of my registries, then yes, that is exactly how I know of you,” he responded, ignoring the fact that it looked like she was trying to size him up. “Want to test that theory, hun?” Renard retorted, annoyance laced in his eyes he shifted his head to watch her walk towards him. Apparently she thought it was her time to leave, and she had the gall to tell him deal with puffskeins. That was what the degenerate half-goblin janitors were for. Last he checked, he was slightly more attractive than they could ever aspire to be. Stupid little girl, thinking she was better than he was. Patting his shoulder, and subsequently pressing on it to get by him, was not the smartest move she had made. His hand shot up instinctively, grabbing hers tightly, his fingers latched around her wrist vice-like. “That right there, is exactly why all of you Weasleys are insufferable. Thinking you have the right to order me around...” Renard growled, moving close enough to her so he could look straight down at her. “Now try it again. But do be a little nicer this time, Weasley.”

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

ONDINA LIKED TO CONTROL HER CONVERSATIONS. Especially ones with smarmy men like Goyle. With his lackadaisical posture, head tilted in just a manner so that he could literally look down his nose at her. Oh, how she fumed at it all. Which was probably exactly what he wanted, but Ondina never seemed to care about that. She lived for the fire in her belly.

Scowling, Ondina considered what he had said with a baffled shake of her head. She wouldn't want his job if she wanted to progress to the top. "Then why in the world would you waste your time in it?" She exclaimed, scoffing. She would later realise why, and promptly take back her threat to steal his job, when he revealed exactly what he did. Bloody pest control. Ondina had to refrain from madly laughing, if only to stop the progressing image of 'crazy bitch covered in coffee'.

However, a new revelation hit Ondina so hard she almost felt foolish for not seeing it first. He looked at her the way he did because she was a Weasley. It clicked in to place like the missing jigsaw piece and a slither of Ondina's anger turned in to indignation. Some days it felt like her family was running from the stink of her illness. Some days it was like they were running from the stink of their own name. In Ondina's line of work, well, Weasley's weren't always seen as much.

"In your dreams, maybe." Ondina spat, face split in a sneer before interjecting. "It's because I'm a Weasley?" She twisted on her heels lightly and laughed hard, approaching him still as she goaded him with puffskein's. Undermining his job as he undermined her person. It was the best she had when she cared not for much beyond a name, vaguely familiar but uninspiring. She pushed his shoulder because she wanted to, because it was a fine step down from kneeing him in the balls. But, what Ondina hadn't factored in was the possibility of him touching her back. No, grabbing her.

His hand encircled her thin wrist easily, a vice like grip that cut off circulation as much as it rendered her motionless from the wrist down. And the distaste in his eye, towering over her with a gleam that would make a weaker woman's knees shake. Ondina straightened her spine, refusing to back down so that they might very well be nose to nose. His tone was as threatening as it was laced with years of ingrained anger.

Ondina lifted her head and curved her spine so that she could lift her chin without touching him. "I'm not ordering you around because I just so happen to be a Weasley," Ondina hissed, her teeth gritted so hard a muscle in her jaw feathered. "I'm ordering you around because you're standing in front of the door, dillweed." And because her blood was red hot, Ondina wheeled her free hand back and swung it forward in a sharp arc, smacking it against Renard's cheek with an echoing ring. At the same moment she wrenched at her wrist without success. "Let go of me!"

renard walt goyle

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[renard walt goyle]

Ondina Nell Weasley

She was stupid. That had to be it. Him, wasting his time in his current department? As if. Ondina had only scratched at his comment on the surface level. There was much, much more to the reason why he was inside the Beast Division. Renard contemplated not revealing it to her, but his convictions weren’t exactly a secret amongst his peers. She would find out eventually, unless she decided that their little chat today was meaningless. With the attitude she was giving him, that was a possibility. Letting bugs bother her when she could kill them was the vibe she gave off, and Renard was fully aware of that. “Because I hold power over those beneath us,” he said. “It’s indisputable that the things I take care of are of lesser value. Keeping them in line and aware of that divide is exactly why I waste my time there.” It was almost unimaginable that she hadn’t figured that out already, especially when she was just saying that she had no problem with knocking down those in her way. There was little difference between their ideologies.

“Sure. It’s because you’re a Weasley,” he rolled his eyes. Typical Weasley thing to do, make it all about themselves. Unfortunately he would have to give her this one, because he had made it out to be about her family. It always was in a way, considering how much power they held in specific parts of the government. Everything that was dropped down to his level was because of the Minister, the shining excellence of nepotism, all because her poor, pathetic niece couldn’t handle the pressure of it all. At least Ondina had the balls to stand up to her adversaries, unlike her cousin. The former Minister would never have been able to handle the situation he was currently in with this Weasley. That was an undeniable fact. This one had ferocity and strength, the kind that he felt as she slapped him in the face when he refused to move from in front of the door. It was kind of cute, thinking that would move him. The sting faded rapidly as he curled his lips into a sick grin, watching her try to yank free. His wand was out in a flash, though probably slower than her slap had been, pointed square at her chest. “Like I said before you rudely interrupted, be a good girl and ask nicely. It’s not that difficult.” The wand was a bluff. She would be smart enough to realize that. All he wanted was her to capitulate and listen to him.

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

IT WAS QUITE SIMPLE. When put on the spot, the person Ondina cared about most was herself. She was selfish, and she wasn't ashamed of that. Selfless people were stupid. Her self involved thoughts often meant that even when interacting with others she could often only see what related to her the most. So, the fact that she didn't quite catch what Renard was putting down was... unsurprising. But then he explained, and she saw exactly the man that he was.

Ondina was a Purifier. She'd joined a little late, sure. And she knew exactly the kind of opinions they held. But, Ondina didn't care about scoring mudbloods and beasts from the earth so much as she cared to be in a position of superiority. Renard obviously felt differently. "Hm..." She hummed, narrowing her eyes as she looked at him hard, she didn't recognise him as a fellow Purifier. "Then... I suppose I agree with you." And it hurt to admit as much. "But I still think it's a waste of time. You'll never make a dent from where you're standing."

Even when admitting she was right to assume, he seemed to take no pleasure in doing so. That same patronising tone. Like he thought she was a stupid little Weasley, with barely enough mental capacity to blow her own nose, nevermind comprehend the likes of him. It only made her angrier, fuelled even further by the audacity he had to touch her. Not even touch her, grab her. If she'd the strength and her wand he'd have faced more than just a slap.

Even at her forceful demand, Renard wouldn't budge. Her hand was still stinging and red when he whipped out his wand, gripping her close, the point inches from her skin. She ground her teeth, eyes widening as she looked down at it. How dare he... she thought viciously. But she didn't flinch. It didn't take a genius to see when a man was bluffing. Even as audaciously as Renard. But that didn't make it any better.

Controlling her breathing as best as possible, Ondina licked her lips, her grin wicked. "It's a little thinner than I imagined, Goyle." She stopped struggling to pull away, turning to stone as she looked up at Renard and narrowed her eyes. 'Be a good girl' echoed inside of her head. He had a lot of nerve, it was almost admirable. If she didn't despise him so, she might have been impressed.

"Did you really think you'd whip out our big wand and I'd get on my knees and beg you to move?" She asked salaciously, shaking her head and breathing heavily through her nose. And where he still gripped her wrist, she bent her hand and grabbed his own wrist, digging her wicked nails in to his skin. "You underestimate me, Renard." She declared, nostrils flaring as she took a step forward and allowed the tip of his wand to dig in to the skin of her chest, just so that she could stand on her tip toes and say right in to his face. "Now put up or shut up."

renard walt goyle

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[renard walt goyle]

Ondina Nell Weasley

She agreed with him, albeit only partially. In his world, that was an open invitation to further discussion. Hesitation was another one of those agreements that he liked to take advantage of. Catching a person off balance when they were already wavering opened up a world of possibilities. Ondina was one of those people that closely guarded her movements and words, that much was clear from their interaction thus far. Getting her to misspeak or be indecisive was not something that was going to happen right now, but having her on his side in even the tiniest of things meant that part of what he was making moves on in the government could be backed by other witches and wizards. Even if they were the nasty sort like Ondina. The more vocal, upper-class were the ones he needed to be swayed, and this interaction looked like a starting point for a step in the right direction. “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. Doesn’t mean people aren’t watching though,” he posed, lips curling up slightly at their edges. The goal was always to have eyes on him. It wasn’t worth it if he was ignored.

Renard chuckled as she made a comment about the size of his wand. Classy. “You’re a cheeky one when you aren’t spitting venom out of that pretty little mouth of yours.” He thought about pulling his wand back at that point, but decided it wasn’t worth it yet. That would show a lapse in judgement on pointing it at her in the first place. A sign of weakness and the ability to be swayed by words. None of those described how he actually was, and he wasn’t going to start now. Plus, he couldn’t relent after the last comment he made. “Oh so now it’s big is it? Guess its size is suitable for…different things.” This was starting to get rather obscene, but nothing sort of interesting. Her wrist twisted, hand freeing itself and immediately taking hold of his own as his wand pushed into her. Bold move, considering the position she was in. The sting from her nails biting into his skin made his eye twitch, though that was nothing short of the challenge she threw back at him. Oh how he wanted to unleash a spell on her, even if all it did was shut her up for a few minutes. Unfortunately the repercussions for that would be irreversible, and they both knew that. Attacking a coworker on the grounds of entering the men’s toilet was not the glorious exit from the Ministry that he was looking for. “Who says I want to do either?” Renard grinned daringly. This was certainly going to be a messy finish.

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

ONDINA HAD ALMOST ENTIRELY WRITTEN OFF GOYLE'S SENSE OF AMBITION, with disgust. He had chosen a job at the bottom tier at the Ministry, as far as she was concerned, but to hear him carefully admit that he knew people could be watching. It was an admission she hadn't expected him to give. A crack in an otherwise smooth veneer of composure and carelessness. She hid a smirk, and let it lie, shrugging a single shoulder in reply.

But, then he'd taken his wand out. Jabbing it at her and crossing a line she hadn't drawn out, but that was mutually exclusive as far as she was concerned. She felt viciously angry, no matter if he was bluffing or not. "I'm a woman of many talents," She retorted, still smiling in a biting, humourless manner. But he didn't withdraw his wand, and she felt thoroughly backed in to a corner. A power play she wasn't winning, and that just wouldn't do.

"It was a metaphor," She snapped, nostrils flaring as she eyed him shrewdly. "Your ego is by far the biggest thing you own." Though she was quick to reply, it didn't help that whatever she said was supplied with an equally aligned answer. She didn't like the balance of it. And so she reacted in the only way she knew how, twisting her hand painfully so that she could latch her long, lacquered nails on to his wrist. Pressing herself in to his space, no matter the sharp jab of his wand's point in her chest.

She knew that either he would spell her, and she could potentially report him. Or, he would concede and they would part ways for good. It was a precarious battle and though furious, Ondina wasn't sure if she would prefer him to give in and be weak. Or maintain his position with an almost admirable stubbornness. He seemed intent on the latter, but that put her in a difficult situation.

"Well, you better do something, Renard," She said, tone low and slow. "Because eventually someone's going to come in here and I don't think you look very chivalrous from where I'm standing." She blinked large, doe brown eyes. Forcing her tense facial muscles to relax in to a look of pale innocence. "You just never know who might be watching..." 

renard walt goyle

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[renard walt goyle]

Ondina Nell Weasley

Apparently his answer satisfied her, or at the most, drew indifference, a signifier from the way she shrugged off his comment. What most saw as a lack of motivation, by taking a low position on the totem pole, especially when he could have had anything he wanted, was simply his way of proving exactly how superior he was. She had said it herself earlier: taking higher-ups’ jobs for her own was her version of climbing the corporate ladder. Renard was considering calling their advancement in their own respective fields similar in essence, though voicing that out loud would certainly provoke ire from the girl. He had played enough with her already to know that she wasn’t one to place herself on the same level as him, even if they technically were. “I don’t doubt that one bit. Although I am having quite a difficult time figuring out which of those talents you’re utilizing right now. Surely submission isn’t one of them, is it?” His little old wand was scarier than he had intended it to be. Bluffing was too underhanded for him, even if it was his default mode when his advantage started to slip away. She had to know that.

“Of course it is, Captain Obvious,” Renard snipped back at her, annoyed that she even felt the need to point that out in the first place. Only stupid people couldn’t see that he was an egomaniac. He prided himself off of that. Ondina wasn’t as stupid as she looked though, and pretty soon it started to look like she was tiring of his wand jabbing her in the chest. But his wand was not going to relent as long as her grotesquely pointed fingernails were digging into his wrist. Sure, he was insinuating violence with the weapon, but Ondina was actually committing that infraction here. Unfortunately she had a point, and an innocent intern fresh out of Hogwarts could never be imposing to a man that had already been employed for several years. That was simply impossible, right? “Fair enough,” Renard relented, pulling his wand arm back from her neck, even though she had been the one to jab herself in the first place. “Now run along before someone sees you in here and assumes you’re trying to slut your way up the ranks,” he added, cocking his head to the side and forming an awful grin. “Never know who might be watching, after all.”

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

THE ENTIRE EXCHANGE WAS A POWER PLAY. Ondina was no stranger to toeing the line. Often enjoyed the challenge, but she would always prefer the thrill of a win. Unfortunately, the more she sparred verbally with Renard, the more she was forced to realise that they were somewhat well matched. Though she would never admitted this to him, it was rather obvious. More than once she'd had to concede a subject, which she drew no enjoyment from.

He was certainly right that submission was not a strength of hers. And she scoffed when he said as much, wrinkling her nose. "It certainly is not." Her chin lifted an inch higher, though any further and she'd be looking at the ceiling. "It's not my job to make it easy for you, Renard." Her lips pulled higher at one side, though devoid of any genuine amusement. He had a clever tongue, that was for sure, but she would be damned if she allowed him to try his luck without a fight.

Ondina's eyes rolled at his silly reply, though she enjoyed the lick of annoyance that shot through his tone when he did. 'Captain Obvious', how simpleton. At the very least she'd rankled his pride by saying it out loud. He obviously prided himself on his massive ego. Godforbid it be overlooked. And while he'd had the upper hand initially, with his wand pressed against her skin, Ondina had managed to keep her cool long enough to see the potential mistake in it. Though, obviously she'd bluffed on her own. She'd never deign to tattle at work. That was for home, where she prided herself on being a level above those she lived with. It worked, though. His wand pulled away from her skin and her shoulders relaxed instinctively.

A second later she extracted her nails from his wrist, wiggling her fingers as a ceasefire. "You should be so lucky..." She snorted, rolling her eyes at his attempt to damage her integrity. As if anybody would believe that, she thought. "Now when I ask you to get out of my way, are you going to move this time?" She tilted her head, flexing her hand where he'd had her thin wrist. Too prideful to reach down and rub the skin. "As much as I've enjoyed our little chat, I've had just about enough of your delightful company, Goyle." Quirking her brows she placed a single hand on her hip. 

renard walt goyle

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!