clear blue and unconditional skies [julian]

Lulu hustled along the long corridor inside the Ministry, her brand new and much coveted strappy nude heels clicking along as she hastened toward the lift. She was running late. Mildred was going to kill her. Literally  shoot daggers for her eyes into her heart and not even send a sympathetic glance when Lulu crumbled to the floor. The 24 year old hurried even more at the thought. She hated when Mildred spoke down to her as if she were 12.

In one hand she was levitating a tray of four coffees, one for Mildred, one for her boss Mr. Thorne, and two for the other two directors in their department. She hadn't even time to get herself a coffee. How unfair.

"Hold that! Hold that lift!" She called ahead frantically as she saw the lift open in front of her as she hurried along and tried to catch it. "Thank you," she breathed to the man who had held the lift for her. She was minorly relieved as she stepped inside even though she swatted away the flying memos that threatened to muss her hair.

It's okay she tried to tell herself. You're only 15 minutes late. Just say that there was a backup in the entrance. Even though she had just used that excuse last week. Oh Merlin. She was really going to hear it this time.

In the midst of her worries part of her noticed the man standing a few feet away. She glanced at him and didn't recognize him but now she found herself studying him covertly with sidelong glances. He was well-dressed and very handsome, his hair slicked back. And he was tall. She tried to turn a bit towards him discreetly so as to get a better look and saw that he had dark designs peeking up from beneath his collar. He had... tattoos on his neck.  Neck tattoos.

She immediately wondered why he was here. Had he gussied up for a criminal hearing? An investigation into a gang? She averted her eyes as as to not attract attention to herself. If he were a mobster type of guy coming to deliver threats she certainly didn't want to get into his line of fire. Of course the rational part of her told her that she was being ridiculous. But really what else was she to expect?

Her floor was only a few stops away and she kept trying to guess the floor he was destined for. It took her mind off the fact that she was probably going to be stripped down in front of her coworkers by Mildred. And she gladly accepted the world of no concern for her potential future. But just then the lifted shuddered and let out a shrill screech of metal grating against metal. And then it stopped moving altogether.

Lulu gasped and looked in horror at the little dial that told them they were between the sixth and seventh floor. "No, no, no, no!" she whispered desperately as she punched a few buttons repeatedly. "This cannot be happening!" Where was magical maintenance when you needed them?!

Hold that! Hold that lift! Julian calmly pushed himself from the elevator wall and placed a large hand to keep the elevator door from closing.

It was with impulse that his eyes followed after the woman’s frame as she hastily made her way in. With subtlety of course, Julian made a mental note of her attractiveness: she was young, she was hot, and her long legs were a plus. The witch was breathless as she thanked him but barely looked his way. Still, Julian replied with an easy, “Of course.”

The ex slytherin leaned up against the back of the elevator wall just as he was before the woman’s appearance and let his mind revert back to his previous thoughts. Since dropping out of Hogwarts the wizard had never attained his right to apparate so finally, after 7 or so years of putting it off, he came to the ministry to see about fixing this problem of his. Of course there were plenty of other ways to get about, muggle and magical, but apparation was truly the most convenient of them all. Not to mention the cease of worrying about getting splinched every time he’d side along with someone.

Julian checked his watch then folded his hands in front of his pelvis before casually looking over to the light haired woman standing beside him. Again the wizard couldn’t help when his gaze quickly ran over her frame once more. As he casually swatted away some flying memos, Julian thought about speaking to the bright eyed witch. Making a bit of conversation with an attractive woman was harmless right? …But she had to work at the ministry he thought as he faced front once more, that with the hurried disposition and coffees in hand.

The tattooed wizard had come to know a few women that worked at the ministry…he didn’t like to judge but there was a stereotype of stuffiness there if he was honest. Still though, it never hurt to try. Julian fixed his tie a bit and just as he was about to speak there was a horrible shrieking sound that drowned out his voice. And then the elevator ultimately came to a stop between the 6th and 7th floor.

Coming to the ministry was very seldom for the tattooed man actually, he avoided it at all costs. Though this was a trip he could put off no longer, the malfunctioning lift is all he needed to make mental note of why he avoided it in the first place. It was more annoying. He didn't want to spend his day off stuck in an elevator.......and with a woman who was talking to a machine?

No, no, no…Julian was calm so watching the witch’s mini panic was a bit amusing to him, at least there was entertainment, he thought. To him there was no use in getting bent out of shape but he didn't want a hysterical woman on his hands either. Julian walked over to the elevator panel where the woman was standing and tried to help by making some sort of contact with magical maintenance but it seemed to be just as down as the elevator itself. He looked to the witch standing next to him and then shrugged casually, "Yeah...seems like we're on our own with this for right now..."

There was a moment of silence and instead of Julian sitting there and letting an opportunity go to waste, he decided to use this time for his advantage. He looked at the witch with a gleam in his eye as he started smoothly, “Look...we might as well relax.....why don’t we have a bit of that coffee...and then you can tell me your name…” He was forward in actions but hoping as he smiled crookedly and extended his hand for her to take, "I'm Julian...you are..."

The tray of coffees she was levitating was dangerously close to tipping over. In her panic and surprise of the elevator shrieking to a halt, her mind had become occupied with thoughts other than the simple charm she was doing. Lulu kept pushing the buttons hoping one of them would set the lift in motion once more. Or maybe even the lift would realize that this was not the day or time to break down. If Mildred were in here, sure. Keep her trapped in here for hours, days if needed. Lulu would appreciate the reprieve. But not her. Not when she was already late. And certainly not when Mr. Thorne had that important meeting today that she hadn't even finished preparing his report for.

Merlin, she was going to hear ir.

Realizing that the tray was about to tip, she grabbed it with her other hand and repositioned the cups securely in their little pockets. Then she turned her gaze back to the small panel of buttons -- now all lit in white since she had pressed them all -- fully intending on pressing even more buttons or pershaps finding the 'Help me I'm stuck' button. The man riding in the elevator obviously had the same thoughts as he approached the panel too. Lulu stepped out of his way with her coffee tray in hand and tried to peer around him to see what he was doing. If in fact he was some sort of mafia gangster, she certainly wouldn't want to get in his way. Maybe he could just call on his mafia powers and make the lift start working.

Or apparently not. Lulu stared at him as he shrugged and didn't think anything of being stuck in the lift. Her eyes bugged a little before she turned back to the panel, wanting to push more buttons. She couldn't accept that fact so easily like he could. Knowing that wouldn't really help (although it would make her feel a bit better), her mind whirled as she tried to come up with some other solutions. Would Maintenance know that there were stuck? Did she have to alert them? How could she do that?

She brought one hand to her mouth as she thought, rubbing one finger over her bottom lip nervously. Maybe I can repurpose one of these memos and send it to Maintenance.. she thought as she once again batted away one of the paper airplane memos that threatened to muss her hair. Maybe I could--. She looked up at the man and straightened, noticing his expression was slightly different than before. When he spoke, Lulu really noticed just how handsome he was. Even with the neck tattoos.

But she also noticed he was crazy.

Was he hitting on her in an elevator and trying to drink her bosses coffee?! Men. Her first instinct was to say something like 'why don't you relax' but that wasn't very mature considering he was as cool as one gets. And then she wanted to say something like 'don't you dare touch my coffees and no I'm not telling you my name because we need to focus on getting out of here' but then she thought that that would be rude.

So instead, after a moment of hesitation, Lulu smiled politely and stuck out her hand to shake his for a second before pulling away. "I'm Lulu. It's nice to meet you." She didn't mention the coffees although she might have been considering stupefying him if he tried something. She would have enough trouble explaining this situation to Mildred and Mr. Thorne and the bringing the coffees was the only point in her favor right now. She turned her mind back to business. "Now how do we get out of here?"

The tattoo wizard was relieved when the attractive witch shook his hand and introduced herself, “Nice to meet you as well, Lulu, so-” But no sooner than she let go her mind seemed to be on the situation at hand. "Now how do we get out of here?" Julian clicked his tongue after noting that waiting seemed to be the last thing on Lulu’s mind. Why did she assume that he had an answer for her? Ministry workers, he thought before speaking, “I don’t really know, love. I'm obviously not magical maintenance nor a ministry worker so I don't know what's what...I’m just here for an apparation test... But don't you work here?" He added pointing at her while swatting away the flying memos with his other hand. Perhaps it was just his imagination but they seemed to be getting more aggressive. It suddenly inspired him to get the hell out of the stuffy enclosed space he rubbed his hands together, “Look, these bloody memos…people are waiting for them, right? Eventually someone is going to notice that they’re missing...not only that but others are probably waiting for the lift itself…and the attendant should have noticed by now that it has yet to reach a floor…if he’s smart he’ll know something’s up…” He looked to Lulu after a moment, obviously exasperated and not sure if he was convincing even himself.

Buying himself time to think, not to mention from growing hot, he shrugged off his blazer folding it neatly before placing it on the railing next to him. He then loosened his tie a bit after rolling up the sleeves of his button up as he looked to the ceiling of the elevator trying to search for a latch for an opening...there were muggle elevators like that weren't there? And if there was he could shoot some sparks into the air as a signal…but was it even possible? The elevator was taller than he was so attempting this alone was out of the question. Could he really ask Ms. Down-to-Business to help check it out for him? He looked to her, trying to assess her mood…better to keep his distance, he thought cautiously. He headed back to the panel to double check, searching for a kind of panic lever, “Didn’t they give you some kind of crash course in case something like this happened?”  It seemed logical to think…though essentially there wouldn’t have been a need for an attendant if the ministry workers knew the ins and outs of the lift, he thought internally.

He was sure the witch had pressed all the buttons imaginable so the possibility of overseeing one way very slim. The situation was proving to be impossible and right now all he wanted was to get out so he could smoke a cigarette. He looked to Lulu when he felt he had a stroke of genius, “There’s no smoking in here…in the building I mean,” He rubbed his chin as he thought out loud, “Maybe I can set off a smoking alarm by lighting a cigarette…that way it’ll bring the attention here…” After saying his thoughts out loud he laughed casually since the idea was a bit farfetched.  He squeezed the back of his neck while shrugging once as he looked to her, “It’s the only idea I got…”

'Yes I work here, duh' she wanted to snip at him but suppressed it. Snark wasn't normal for her. This job was making her crazy. And rude. Lulu took a deep breath and tried to push away the frazzled feeling that had settled over her and had made her tense and irritable. She looked over at the man who had introduced himself as Julian and tilted her head, shifting her weight onto her other foot as she still balanced the tray of coffees in one hand. The memos. "Eventually they'll realize about the memos, I suppose," she ventured to say with a thoughtful voice. She was trying to think this through rationally and avoid any thought of Mildred since that only seemed to make her more frazzled.

Thinking on it, Lulu added, "Magical Maintenance would probably first notice that the lift isn't working. There are only two on this side of the building and someone is bound to call it in soon." She lifted her shoulder in a little shrug, unsure if it would actually happened like that. She also really hoped that Maintenance was already working on it, but honestly, knowing how that quickly that department fixed problems didn't give her much hope.

Lulu glanced at him with alarm as he began to take off his blazer and loosen his tie. Did he really think they were going to be stuck in here long enough for them to exercise the need to get comfortable? It sent a rush of panic through Lulu, thoughts of how angry Mildred and even Mr. Thorne would be at her tardiness. But then as he came closer to examine the panel, she shuffled over and tried to peer over his shoulder to see if he could finagle the lift back into working order. "If they did, I didn't pay attention," Lulu muttered with a heavy sigh. She didn't even pay attention to the mandatory training sessions she had to do for her own job let alone trainings for things that were completely out of her scope.

She smiled at the sound of his laughter even though she wasn't as amused as she wanted to be. It was a natural reaction for her though to smile when someone else did. But a second later she was shaking her head. First because she really didn't want him to smoke around her, what a gross habit. But the more important reason was the one she told him. "If the smoke alarm goes off, it automatically kicks in the overhead shower things," she said then put a hand to her hair and added barely above a whisper "and I'm having a great hair day."

The brunette studied the man across from her for a moment, taking a moment to admire the strength of his forearms and the toned muscles of his biceps she could see outlined in his dress shirt. She hadn't really noticed it when he had first taken off his jacket, but she did now. The tattoos on his forearms were met with slight aversion borne out of nothing more than an unfamiliarity with the art form. But there was a hint of curiosity flickering in her gaze as well.

With another unladylike heaving sigh, Lulu pressed her back against the wall of the lift and slid down, knees together until she was sitting on the floor with her legs stretched out in front of her. Her robes pooled around her and the length of them covered most of her legs, but her strappy heels and ankles peeked out from beneath the teal of her robes. "Might as well get comfortable," she told him as she examined the coffees in the tray, attempting to decipher which was which. "Maintenance isn't the best at quick response times." She finally found the cup that she liked best. It just happened to be Mildred's. Oops.

She was already going to miss the meeting, wouldn't have Mr. Thorne's report done on time, and was horribly late. Drinking Mildred's coffee wouldn't be the worst offense. At least that's what she tried to convince herself as she flipped the lid open and took a gentle sip. Wordlessly, she held out the tray to Julian, offering him a coffee too that he had initially solicited her for. Go big or go home right?

Lulu was desperately trying to believe that and in usual fashion, tried to distract herself from the hell she would catch once the lift did start working again. Maybe it was better to just stay in here all day. At least she wouldn't have to deal with Mildred right? She glanced at Julian, a thought returning to her and she asked the question that she was curious about before she could stop herself. "Did you say apparation test?"

“Ahh…you’re right,” He said, the obviousness of her statement dawning on him as he looked up to the ceiling of the lift momentarily, “Rubbish idea, anyway,” Julian laughed, mumbling and shaking his head at his own foolishness as he let his arm fall from the back of his neck to his side; allowing his hands slip into the pockets of his slacks. In realizing he would be stuck in an elevator for an unknown amount of time, the better part of Julian knew his idea had mostly been drawn from the addictive part of his personality that was selfishly craving nicotine, so much so, if the witch had went along- he would have lit one up in a heartbeat. His attention refocused as the woman next to him spoke again…And I’m having a great hair day…Julian allowed his gaze to wander over to Lulu, his face faintly perplexed as she held a hand over her head. It was the first sign of humor he’d witnessed from the witch and though Julian offered her an amused smirk he was honestly surprised that the huffy ministry worker was able to conjure a joke. He thought over it again…Or was she seriously worried about her hair? Unsure, Julian used the same light humored tone as he spoke, “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of putting a stop to that magnificence.”

Julian could feel her eyes on him; it was something he’d exceedingly grown accustomed to as an adult. The many tattoos adorning a better half of random places of his body was something he knew many people weren’t used to seeing therefore he accepted the usual gawking most times…or judgment, he thought reluctantly. Still, just in thinking over the subject of tattoos Julian’s fingers twitched. There were always new ideas popping up in his mind accompanied by a sort of jolting urgency that he needed more. Surely Gregoire would finish the tiger head on his stomach soon and Julian was already plotting for something on his back; the only part of him left untouched. Surely though, if he could have done it himself, he would have without hesitation. Much like his awful cigarette habit, Julian was very much addicted to the art of tattoos and tattooing. Or perhaps art in general, he added quietly in his head.

Letting another lopsided smirk adorn his features, the tattoo wizard watched as Lulu animatedly slid down the elevator wall.  Although the wizard acknowledged the situation being out of his hands, Julian felt a pang of pity flow through him; internally rendering inadequacy since he was unable to provide a rational solution to their escape. What honesty could be done though? Might as well get comfortable…finally, Julian thought, it was exactly what he’d been trying to get across to her since the start of it all. Women, he thought playfully as she offered the tray of coffees to him. Julian picked at random before he groaned a bit as his long legs willed himself down to the floor, inviting himself to sit next to her.

The wizard kept his knees bent so that his black dress socks peeked from under his slacks and he held his coffee to her from his side, “Change of heart?” He smiled widely asking a rhetorical question, as he opened the tab, “To your generosity- Cheers love.” Facing forward once more, Julian took a swig of his drink. Did you say apparition test? The tattooed wizard nodded licking the residue from his lips and clearing his throat as he let his forearms rest on his knees, holding the coffee lazily in one hand he started, “I did, yeah,” He circled the cup a bit in his hands as he thought; feeling a pressing need to explain himself further he continued, “I dropped out before I was able to learn,” He raised his eyebrows once as he looked to her, a playful tone in his voice, “It was a combination of family issues and my own stupidity that I never went back,” He paused putting the cup to his lips, as he thought back. To his own standards he’d not done too bad for himself for being a drop out, “But life as it turns out has a funny way of working out for the best,” He took another swig of his coffee, being not only a man but a compulsive flirt, Julian let his eyes roll over her once more, growing peeved by her concealing robe; Merlin he hated those things.

As soon as the witch had stepped into the elevator, the ex Slytherin had thought something was different about her. She seemed…bright in comparison to the overall drab of the ministry, at least how he perceived the ministry. And though her initial let’s-get-down-to-business attitude lead Julian to believe he had perhaps a slight misjudge in character, he found himself slowly back tracking, Working at the ministry, Julian felt, would have been the equivalent of being imprisoned. All the rules, the strict schedules, the mass of people; perhaps that was the reason for the witch’s obviously hassled demeanor, he thought intuitively. His light brown eyes found her blue gray ones as he tilted his to look at her, smirking slightly as he spoke, “What are you in for?” He couldn’t shake the fact that the witch simply did not look happy to be where she was, stuck in an elevator or not, and felt the way of his question was appropriate.

Lulu took another sip out of the cup, twisting it slowly round and round in her hand. She peeked over at the other wizard when she felt his eyes on her and upon finding his gaze wandering over her, she quickly averted her gaze with a blush. Even though she really wanted to keep looking right back at him. When he commented on her 'magnificence,' she knew he was being flirty, but found she didn't mind that much, even with all his tattoos. He was, at the very least, an entertaining distraction. She smiled lightly back at him and said, "Glad we're on the same page," with the same humored tone he had used. She made a show of sweeping her hair off her shoulder melodramatically and batting her eyelashes to accentuate her joke.

She watched surreptitiously as he took one of the coffees from the tray and made himself comfortable sitting beside her. Lulu noted once again that he was a very keen dresser. She found more often than she thought possible that guys didn't know what socks go with dress shoes, but Julian seemed fully capable of figuring that out. Extra point for him. She lifted a shoulder in a polite shrug at his change of heart comment. Might as well, she figured, considering they were stuck. "Cheers," she replied back out of habit and lifted her cup a bit in his direction.

With one hand she reached out and smoothed her teal robes and tried not to think about the dirt that she may or may not be getting on them as she sat on the floor. As he spoke, she turned her head more toward him and tilted it as she listened. He's a dropout? She was surprised that she wasn't more surprised. Family issues? Maybe his family is like in the mob or something. Working out for the best? Probably means he's super wealthy from his mobster business. Lulu tried not to show outwardly what the annoying voice in her head was saying in response to each of his comments and instead tried to go for a polite smile. "Well, at least you're here now. Better late than never," she said brightly. "Besides, you've had loads more time to practice than most students do before their tests so I bet you'll ace it." Or just get one of your mobster relatives to manipulate the results, a teeny voice in her head said. She wanted to swat away whoever said that.

She sipped gently, enjoying the coffee more than she expected. Probably just because she knew it had been intended for Mildred. A shudder threatened to shake her at the thought of her colleague and the hell she would catch as soon as she was free of this lift so she desperately tried to turn her thoughts to something else. "If you get a gent by the name of Harold," she added quickly, "You should be fine." She told him with a secret smile. "He's probably nearing 95 and nearly blind and probably wouldn't even notice if you splinched half your arm." A laugh bubbled up before she tried to cover it with a frown. "Of-of course, you probably won't splinch yourself," she said, trying to cover her blunder. It obviously wouldn't be reassuring to someone about to take their apparition test for them to be reminded of the dangers of making a mistake. Whoops.

A moment of silence seemed to fall between them and Lulu glanced over at him curiously. She wondered, as she did every time she saw someone with a tattoo, the meaning behind the ink. Her grey blue eyes traveled slowly up his forearm, trying to distinguish one design from the next. Perhaps she was intrigued by the air of mystery that floated around him. Intrigued but a little afraid too. Mostly because she suspected he might be in some kind of mob. She was studying the dark lines intricately inked over his wrist when his question caught her by surprise. Shocked out of her study of him, her eyes flew up to his light brown ones, hesitation and the slightest bit of confusion in her gaze. The look in his eyes and the smirky expression clued her in and after a moment, she leaned back and tried to go for an air of nonchalance.

"Oh, you know. The usual. Father hellbent on me having a 'successful' career. Apparently being a professional coffee-fetcher is better than nothing," she smiled and lifted a shoulder in a shrug, even though the truth of her statement tugged at her heart wistfully. Responding to his flirtatious nature, she eyed him in a sidelong glance and lowered her voice to a whisper and leaned closer. "I think it might be a life sentence," she told him. "Would you be willing to break me out?" That voice in the back of her head that had been annoying earlier was congratulatory now and wanted to highfive her for her flirty response. Go me!