[ttd] gold rush. [circenn]

"Aha! Too slow," Maisie grinned as her eyes sparkled in the low (and unflattering) Ministry lighting. The cards exploded with a pop! after she'd matched two bowtruckles and she was rather pleased with herself. She wasn't usually so good at the game and she had the sneaking suspicion that Circenn was simply letting her win. Either way, it had turned a mediocre day into a really rather lovely evening.

It was raining outside and it had been for hours now, soaking the streets as the wind whipped up. Maisie wasn't looking forward to venturing outside, at least not now that it was getting dark. In her small office, Circenn seemed to take up most of the space but in the nicest way possible. Exploding snap was a children's game but Maisie thought she was close to burn out and she needed something to perk her up, especially since her three cups of coffee hadn't touched the sides.

Circenn really didn't have to stay late. Maisie hadn't asked but she did like the company. The Ministry was weird after hours, like an empty shopping centre or seeing a cat walk on its hind legs - just strange. Quiet. Eerie. She was thankful, though. For someone so independent, Maisie loathed being by herself. Circenn had been nothing but wonderful through the entire process this far. He'd been helpful and friendly, resourceful and determined. This was his event, she was only here to fill in the paperwork.

"Again?" Maisie asked with a grin, visibly excited as the cards began to shuffle, faster this time. She leaned over the table, head bowed so low that her nose was almost touching it, wand at the ready as her eyes tracked back and forth, keeping an eye out for a matching pair. "Welsh Green!" She exclaimed as she saw them and she jerked forward, ready to poke the cards with her wand tip and earn another point.

@Circenn Kekoa Teague

The day weighed on his shoulders and his eyes were tired, but his grin matched Maisie's as the cards exploded and she won. Again. "Almost had that one," he said, even though the lie felt sticky. He wasn't exactly trying his best to win this game of exploding snap. Or the game before this one. It was more satisfying when she won somehow. 

Circenn had offered and then insisted when she tried to argue about staying late with her to meet some of the event deadlines they were up against. Deadlines that he had no clue about of course. Apparently, his grand plans about changing the whole nature of the event meant a lot of extra work since new vendors, new activities, new décor, new everything had to be arranged. There was no existing precedent for this event that they could use and he was becoming increasingly aware that the extra work was squarely his fault. Not that Maisie had made any indication about it, but he certainly wasn't going to let her do all the work herself.

A game of exploding snap wasn't exactly work, he knew that. But he had seen her flagging and considering he didn't like coffee much, he was as well. Usually when things grew stale and stagnant in practice, he switched things up. Ran a new drill. Sometimes even made them up on the spot and so that's what he did here in Maisie's cramped little office. He had spied a deck of cards and had challenged her to a couple of games, something easy to break up the diligent work they had been doing. A much-needed mental break before they wrapped up the last few pressing items on the to do list that Maisie had written in her neat, little scrawl.

It was quiet outside her office except for the few elves he had seen with mops and buckets and the occasion memo buzzing down the corridor, making him wonder if the note had gotten lost during the day or if someone else was working as late as they were on some other floor.

He groaned for effect as she got another match and he was, again, a second too late. This time wasn't even on purpose. Circenn was starting to get antsy. He wasn't used to sitting in one spot for this long, he couldn't imagine working a desk job like she did. This tiny office that had felt cozy to start with was beginning to feel cramped, like a prison. But it began to slide into the background as she moved closer, leaning over the table so that the sweet smell of freesia and raspberry.

It happened before he could even more. Maisie losing her balance and bumping into him, her lips brushing against his. His brows flew up and he leaned back immediately, the chair scraping against the tiled floor. "Sorry," he apologized quickly as he scrubbed a hand over his jaw at the accidental kiss.

It all happened so fast. Maisie lost her footing and the traction took her forward, the only option was to place her hands on Circenn's shoulders to keep her upright. The kiss was brief, lasting a whole three seconds, but it was enough for her to feel a shock of something, like electricity. Her lips were parted as she froze in surprise, her body stiff as her limbs seemed to be stuck in place.

Up close, Circenn's eyes had a tiny bit of gold in them, just around his irises. They were very pretty and she leaned forward slowly towards him before the sound of his chair pushing back and away from her made Maisie snap back into reality. Where there was once pleasurable nervousness was now ice cold dread.

"Oh no," she whispered, her eyes wide in panic as he apologised. This wasn't his fault. It wasn't really hers, either, but his reaction made it very clear to her that he'd endured something terrible. Letting out a squeak of alarm, Maisie clapped a hand over her mouth as she backed up, knocking the playing cards all over the floor, one exploding with a rather sad poof!, like a lame party popper.

"I am so sorry," Maisie gasped, her blood cold in her veins as the urge to cry became almost overwhelming. It was bad enough that they'd accidentally kissed but then she'd been dumb enough to try and kiss him again for real. She hadn't eaten much that day but the noodles she'd enjoyed at lunch time threatened to make a reappearance.

The reality hit her. Circenn must have thought she'd orchestrated this whole thing - asking him to work late with her in an empty office, laughing and joking - it must look as though she was setting something up. If her boss found out, she'd get the sack. Then she wouldn't be able to buy food or pay her rent. She'd have to move back home with her mum and her new husband. It was all too much.

She took a step back, her skin pale as a sheen of sweat began to emerge on her already clammy forehead. Maisie looked at Circenn for a second but it felt like an eternity before she dropped to her knees and began to hastily clear up the cards and her papers.

Circenn was still surprised by the little incident, but what was more alarming was Maisie's reaction. He didn't want her to think bad of him, like he was taking advantage or anything, not to mention the bad skew the media could take. He unfortunately could see it now in headlines: Montrose Captain Harasses Ministry Employee After Hours. Shite.

Her 'oh no' felt like a little jab of the knife too, like he had really dropped the pass on this. Did her eyes look glassy like she was going to cry? Double shite. "No, I'm sorry, it wasn't your fault," he said, seeing a change in her expression before she flew into a hurry of trying to pick up the cards. Bec would have his balls if she knew he was all but admitting fault here. Not that he was thinking Maisie would do that, but it was always a concern.

He wouldn't blame her if she was trying to get away from him as quickly as possible so he didn't stop her and didn't offer to help with the cards and papers even though he wanted to, opting to give her space instead. "Maisie," he said her name, wanting to get her attention. "Maisie," he repeated again before she glanced up at him. "It was just an accident.." Circenn said, trying to get on solid ground here again and clear up the misunderstanding.

This was bad. Like really bad. Circenn was talking to her but she couldn't hear anything except the blood pumping in her ears and her breathing becoming quicker and quicker as she spiralled towards a meltdown. "Stop," she told the captain quickly, her eyes wide. "Stop," she said again, softer this time. He was being very polite for taking the blame but she had been the one to go in for a proper kiss, not him. She'd overreacted, not him. She didn't want to hear it. His niceness was making everything much worse. She had a boyfriend, for crying out loud. A pretty shitty one but a boyfriend all the same.

Reaching out, Maisie dragged the cards and the papers towards her and pushed them into a very uncharacteristically haphazard pile. Circenn was right. It wasn't even a proper kiss. Just a bump. Not even half a second but Maisie felt ice cold dread. It wasn't even a big deal. He'd been a gentleman and rebuffed her, quite gently too, so she just needed to calm down.

"Right," she eventually replied with a breathless laugh as she struggled to right herself, placing the messy pile of papers on her desk, her eyes darting everywhere but at him. "No, I know," she assured him with a quick nod as she tucked her hair behind her ear before she glanced at the clock and found her way out. "It's late," she told Circenn and it was. "We - I - should go," she declared as she scratched her head, momentarily stuck.

She hoped she wasn't being rude but Circenn shouldn't have come here tonight. Maisie shouldn't have invited him. They were both being helpful but, at least for the time being, he might be more comfortable having his manager present. Or working with someone else entirely. Phil would love to usurp the task at hand. Managing to get a hold on her panic, she glanced at Circenn. "I'll see you," she announced and decided at that moment, that it would be safer to meet at the pre-arranged times. She hoped he wouldn't be offended.

The words died on his tongue as she breathed a single word: stop.

Circenn paused, his gaze meeting hers, and then he gave her a nod. And then another. She probably didn't want to hear his excuses and he understood that. He didn't want to push it any further and yet he still felt the need to apologize rolling through him. Not to mention, any thought of Roxy made him cringe. Shite, how was he going to tell her about this. The option of not saying anything to his girlfriend didn't sit right with him, but he also didn't think this was anything really. Even if he could still feel the brush of her lips against his. Hmm.

But the way Maisie was still avoiding his gaze made him unsettled and uncomfortable. She was agreeing though so maybe it would be fine? Circenn really wasn't sure. He stuck his hands in his pockets as she made a flurry of the papers. He shouldn't have been surprised when she announced it was late and they should go, but it still stung. "Oh, yes, yeah, it is late," Circenn agreed, knowing it was the right thing. He hadn't even realized how late it was.

He grabbed his jacket and his wand off her desk and opened the door for her, waiting for her to exit first before he followed her. "Next week?" he asked, even as she looked like she was about to run.

Circenn held the door open for her and she blinked. It took her a couple of seconds to re engage her brain and to step through it with a quick smile. Maisie was a terrible person. He must now think that she was only working with him to get closer to him. The assumption wasn't too far from the truth but now, it looked like a very underhand tactic.

They walked in silence, her heels echoing off the walls as she hugged her files closer to her chest. Awkward didn't cover how she felt but he was so nice. He hadn't freaked out and he hadn't reciprocated the accidental smooch, he'd simply let her down gently. He hadn't made fun of her, he hadn't been forceful, he'd been rather nice but she still wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. Maisie should be thankful but instead, she just felt sick. One thing was abundantly clear - she had to hand the fundraiser back over to Phil.

If word of this got out, Maisie was in deep shit. She could imagine the gossip in the canteen, people looking at her, whispering behind their hands, Maisie Miller tried it on with a Quidditch player, how pathetic! they'd say. Everyone would think that she was some sort of predator. Beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead but Circenn's warm voice snapped her out of it.

She squinted at him. "Hm?" She asked stupidly. "Oh," she answered as she realised. Next week. She'd have to see him again. Fuck. "Sure, that sounds great," she lied, her brain already working on ways they could do all of this by owl mail to minimise face to face contact.

The air outside was still sticky and warm, the classic late evening of a London summer. Her dark eyes glanced at Circenn and she felt a twinge of sadness. He was genuinely a lovely, lovely man - kind, gentle, funny, brave, clever - so what the fuck was he doing lowering his standards by trying to be her friend?

She opened her mouth to say something but couldn't. Instead, she cleared her throat and nodded. "Bye." With that, she brushed past him and walked down the street, almost tripping on her heels in her haste to get back home and pretend this night never happened.

He wasn't sure how it could go so wrong so quickly, but he couldn't help glancing at her every few steps as they walked silently. And not the good kind of silent either. Their shoes against the tile floor felt too loud and he opened his mouth to say something, try to recover the light-hearted, friendly dynamic they had had for most of the night. When he saw how she clutched her papers to her chest, as if she were protecting herself, he closed his mouth. Shite, he had really messed this up.

At the very least, she agreed to see him next week for the next planning meeting. He just hoped she wouldn't back out. Or call HR on him or something. The warm air greeted him as they stepped outside and he took in a deep breath. He hated being cooped up and even the stickiness of the summer air was better than inside the building, yet he hadn't wanted to leave hours ago. He half-turned toward her, again feeling the need to say something, say anything to fix this, but he didn't know what to say and she was brushing past him a moment later. "Bye Maisie," he called after her, watching her go for a few moments before taking a few steps back as he palmed his wand and then disappeared into the night himself, his memory still on the brush of her lips against his.

/end