Principal Lupin on Playground Duty

In the midst of gasping for a much needed, replenishing dose of air, Nemo caught sight of the Minister, having uncoiled his spine to throw his hearty laughter towards the ceiling. His giggling wound down, though an insignificant amount, before he chose to speak, "Psssst, McDonald. The Queen is here to see us now," He whispered in Jack's ear with a snort, which were increasing in frequency amongst his unsteady speech as the evening progressed.

"Hey, why'd you send Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy -" he gestured widely towards the area where Martin and Nikolai may have earlier been found "- to drag us down here anyway? Is it against regulations for Ministry officials to have fun or s-s-something?" Nemo bitterly inquired of his employer, the occasional giggle slipping by as he climbed to his feet to stand.

Jack heard the Minister's voice and she sat up, looking at him and mustering her expression into one of quiet respect. However, there was a little devil on her shoulder- well, there was a drunk Seer next to her, and he was whispering to her. She struggled for a second, blinking and biting back a laugh as she swatted his arm, trying to ignore him. "Hello, Robert. Yes, I think we are quite good on the drink." She stood to follow him into his office.

Poe's comparison of the Aurors sent out a short bark of laguther from Jack, before she managed to button her mouth shut again. She helped him up and began to walk into the office. She turned and offered him a wide-eyed glare, her eyes big as she tried to tell him to stop making her laugh, while her lips twitched and danced with laughter.

"Huh-ay! Don't slap me, McDonald!" Nemo shouted, dropping his head to allow his ever-growing-infuriatingly-longer hair to flop over his eyes as he chuckled. And from behind this makeshift veil he spoke, "You're the reason kids are scared of clowns!" He huffed, while simultaneously he mirrored the warning expression that was being sent his way by Jack, miming her oval-eyed plea.

"Hello Robert," He mimicked under his breath in a deep and official tone that was quite unlike his own, seemingly in an attempt to prove some sort of point to Jack; one which was never verbally stated, though certainly existed to Nemo.

He raised the alcoholic beverage in question to eye-level and slotted it between both rows of his teeth, before picking a fight with the cork that sealed the bottle.

ooc: i am working from the assumption that there must surely be some sort of guidelines re: conduct in Ministry personnel rules. I just don't want to have to develop all of that. LOL

Robert closed the door. "I sent them because Spiderman was busy," he replied to the drunken Omara. "Sit, if you like. Or stand if its more comfortable. Your choice." He went back to his place behind the desk. "That was quite an evening you had. Had a good time, did you? Good. I'm not sure how you do it. I mean, just look at the time. Its after 3 am. And your work shifts start in less than 5 hours, whether you're hungover or whether you're not. Admirable--that sort of fortitude.

"You both have good track records here in your personnel files. So far, this hasnt' been a major issue. You do realize, though, that Ministry members are expected at least to some limited extent to maintain themselves with some sense of respect in public. I believe you both signed your names to signify that you have at least read the Ministry personnel policies. Did you not?

"Presuming that you weren't hired in fraudulently, then, answer me this. What should happen to the employees who break personnel conduct guidelines? What would you do if one of your supervisees committed this sort of a breech of conduct? I am open to suggestion."

Jack was going to burst. Going to absolutely burst. It would not have been so bad had she not remembered that Riley had always been terrified of Ronald McDonald. To this day, he was still really nervous whenever there was a commercial with the brightly-colored clown. Typically, thoughts of her brother hurt, but his was too funny.

As she walked in, she heard Poe mutter under his breath, so she stopped right in front of him, to make him knock into her. She turned her head back and sneered at him, before walking inside and sitting down across from Robert. At his words, she smiled, trying not to laugh. The idea of Spiderman handcuffing them had popped into her head...

FOCUS.

The lecture began and Jack listened, her eyes on his and not wavering. If she could just focus on what was happening right now, she could focus. Jack was then expected to answer, so she chewed on her tongue. How would she want one of her employees to respond? She raised an eyebrow and said, "If it were me saying this to one of the people in my department I would, most respectfully, tell them that for a month they would be my b!tch."

There was the alcohol.

As Jack had undoubtedly intended, Nemo collided with her back as she jerked to a halt, and the cork that had previously rested between his lips slid from his mouth, connecting violently with his nose. "Ouch!" Nemo complained as he gingerly rubbed his nose, taking a seat in the chair adjacent to the one that his partner in crime had claimed. "I'm gonna look like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer tomorrow," He hissed in her direction, later cooing over the inflamed appendage.

He proceeded to recline in his chair, intentionally sliding steadily closer to the floor for the sake of his entertainment - when he bolted upright, "Watch it, McDonald! Don't go pimping me out to the Minister of Magic. He's... old!" He hollered, before paying said man a glance, "You know, no offense. I'm just not into that kind of thing."

"Besides," he started up once more while he fiddled with the bottle that he'd balanced on his knee, "If I could have a chance to answer that question - " He glared at Jack for a moment, before breaking into an unintentional grin "- I would say that I'd congratulate the troublemakers for successfully defending themselves from a pack of savage drunks so late at night. We were warriors in there, man! You should have seen us! We deserve raises for that shit! And we didn't even hurt anyone - not really, anyway."

"Hm," he said, casting a thoughtful gaze up at the ceiling momentarily, thinking, "A B**** for a month? Or is that two?" He paused and then said, "Nah. Then that simply makes me live up to that ridiculous reputation that's been molded around me in the last year. Truth be told, I do have other things to do than to micromanage you. I much prefer that you be autonomous." Then, he considered who he was talking to. "Or at least I did prefer that. Perhaps I should rethink that."

He considered what Omara suggested and he wanted to laugh. It was hard work to resist, really. "Well, then, I shall be glad I can spare you the indignity of turning you down. So--I owe you both hearty congratulations on your fine skills at defending yourselves against your peers. It will be interesting to see how you score at the next aurors' drills, I think, Omara. Or how you will fare in a few hours with your beasties, Dyllan. Perhaps, I should let you two swap jobs for awhile. Maybe we should try to see what kind of warriors you are on 'foreign soil' since you're so experienced now. What do you think? Omara can deal with the carnivorous beings we have. And, Dyllan, perhaps you should go hit the streets with the auror squad. You both could begin momentarily with the night squads, if you like. What do you think?"

Poe was complaining that he would soon resemble a beloved children's story character. Jack hissed back at him, saying, "Maybe it'll be an improvement." She had to admit, she enjoyed arguing with the guy as mch as she did nearly dying in a barfight with him. Though, considering what they had been up against, they had gotten off fairly well.

He burst out about her own suggestion and she rolled her eyes. "I mean that we owe him favors and whatnot-" but Robert was already speaking. Then Poe went on about their skills and Jack felt the need to add, "In fairness, they dd attack first, kind of. And they had the impression that we were Death Eaters. It was defense and no one was hurt. And I did pay for free drinks."

He continued on with his idea and Jack's mouth tipped open in disbelief. "I.. But... All the animals are going to get out if he's in charge!" she said loudly. "I mean, I'll take on the night shifts and if I have to do Auror work, I am sure I can, but there will be dragons loose!" She sighed, and then glanced over at her friend. "Well. No offense."

"She's right!" Nemo piped up with wide eyes, "I didn't even take the 'Shampooing the Fluffies and Whatnot' courses. Besides, I am one of the best aurors in this place!" He replied, on the defensive at the mention of being torn from his beloved occupation. "I'm not being arrogant; it's the truth. And isn't she supposed to be the best in her department too?" Nemo gestured towards Jack with nod of his chin.

He yanked at the cork nestled between the lips of his bottle once more, feeling in a particular need for the drink. "Open!" He yelled at the thing, before producing his wand with a huff, prepared to set the cork alight in his frustration. "And hell of a Minister you are, chucking your top slaves in places they don't belong!" He added abruptly, evidently content to dig the hole in which he had already buried himself to the Earth's core.

Robert was not about to allow Omara to continue intoxicating himself on the job and then give Robert rightful reason to oust him. No, no. That was indeed the easy way out. "If I were you," Robert warned, "I would put that particular bottle away." He was pointing at the bottle, and without much forethought to it, he hexed the contents of the bottle, making them disapparate entirely.

"I wouldn't worry about dragons, Jack," Robert said. "After all, Mr. Omara is a skilled auror. If they get too out of control, he will most likely just kill them and eliminate the issue. Isn't that right, Omara? And after all, what's a dragon or four? In his present state, I don't know if he can successfully feed a pygmy puff, but it will be interesting to find out.

"And I would think, Jack, if you learn to fire your wand a bit faster and learn how to duck, you might survive for awhile on the night squad. Tell me again--what's the problem with this? It does sound like a rather good solution to me. Shall we try it a tortnight at a time? Or would you like longer before your first performance audit? We could approach it by the month or the quarter if you like. That's pretty much your choice."