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[attr="class","ctopline"]Love don't discriminate

[attr="class","cscriptmisc"]between sinners & the saints

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[attr="class","clyrics"]It takes and it takes and it takes[break]
And we keep lovin' anyway

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[attr="class","cbody"]Date: Summer 2009[break]
Location: Aurora Technologies[break]
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Growing up, she had always wondered how late her father could stay up in their living room. He always had piles of research on the coffee table, his reading classes on—and tea or whiskey on the table, depending on how frustrated he was by whatever he was working on. She’d always had a bed time to abide by, so she’d just had to wonder. How long did he stay up working? At that point, her bedtime had to have been around eight o’clock, so she had wondered if he stayed up past midnight. It had been such a foreign concept to her at that point—staying up that late.
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So, of course, she did what any six-year-old did in that situation. She let her mum tuck her in and turn off the lights. She had waited until she had heard the click of her mum’s bedroom door before she had grabbed her blanket and snuck out of her room. Nora had sat at the top of the stairs, as high up as she could hide while still being able to see the living room, and she had planned on waiting.
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Nora couldn’t explain why she had been so curious how late her father stayed up. There was no reason for it. She was just so used to seeing him there in that chair in the living room, pouring over his research. It had felt like he didn’t need to come up for air—and she had to wonder how much he actually slept. Call it six-year-old curiosity, she didn’t know.
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She just knew that she’d never gotten that answer. At some point in the night, maybe a little past midnight, she had fallen asleep. When she had woken up, she’d been back in her bed, so obviously her dad had stopped working at some point to find her. But she hadn’t had any way of figuring out just when that was. It had remained a mystery.
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Or at least it had until she had started university, and she had pulled her first all-nighter over a difficult assignment. It was the first all-nighter of her career but not the last. When she had finally graduated, and had started working here, she understood with even more clarity how easy it was to stay up into the early hours in the morning when knee-deep in research and ideas. Nora had rather liked being able to understand that firsthand.
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Tonight was going to be another long one. She could sense it. But this time, she wasn’t alone. She had been working with Draco for most of the day and when people had started to go home for the evening, still they had stayed. They had only stopped now because Draco had left to get them pizza, which was a particularly good idea. It was easy to forget about eating when she was working—she thought it was safe to say that Draco had the same problem, but she was glad that someone had remembered that eating was a thing tonight.
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While he was gone, she had continued looking over the research that was scattered all over the ground, with her in the middle. Her heels had long since been abandoned and her hair had been pulled up to avoid annoying her. From the moment that Draco had left, her mind had been back on the work in front of her, and she only remembered how hungry she actually was when her stomach audibly growled. Circe, she hoped he’d be back with that pizza soon.
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[attr="class","cnotes"]591 ● Draco Malfoy ● outfit but she might have kicked the shoes off by this point + hair which is completely unnecessary but she insists we include anyway

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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---Wait For it---
Summer 2009
^{Lucent Technologies}

Draco had popped out to pick up a pizza--seemingly an easy task...but the Fates were against him tonight. Despite having owl'd head, when he had gotten to the pizzeria, they hadn't even started preparing the pie. It was incredibly annoying. His head had been really into the work that he and Carmody were working through tonight. Having to be gone for so long was not good for keeping with the productivity. Draco really believed they were on the cusp of a break-through. Something wasn't just quite right, though, with the compound he was crafting. Alchemy was an immensely difficult and complicated art--and here on the fringe edges were he was crafting substances that had never existed before, there were no books to reference, no experts to reach out to. He was the expert...and Honora was the engineer who would take the silicon-esque material he would synthesize and incorporate it into the circuit board she was working on....But only if he could get the compound stable. 

Explosive was a much better descriptor for what he had produced so far. So, today had been able taking a step back, looking through all the research and plans they had made and finding a new path forward to get there on the work. He just wanted to be back there while he was still feeling inspired. It was like the answer was just over a hill and he was climbing, but the longer he was out of the office, the more he was slipping down the incline. 

The guy at the counter at the pizza place told him it was going to be at least fifteen minutes...not willing to just stand there and wait---and his stomach not being able to handle all the delicious smells, Draco wandered outside to pass the time. Across the street was a little convenience shop--he figured he might as well pick up some drinks. Beer was always great with pizza. So, he took his time, choosing a couple six packs, not really sure what Honora would drink.  So, Draco got something dark and rich that he would personally love--a thick stout--and an amber lager that was not quite so full-bodied, but still smooth. If Honora didn't like either of those options, there was stuff there at Lucent.

Finally, the time had passed--the pizza was ready and he popped back to the office. The echo of the apparition pop seemed eerie in the empty building. He was used to being here after hours, though. He enjoyed his work and didn't shy away from working extra hours. His stomach growled again as he took the elevator up to the workspace where he had left the Carmody. He was so ready to eat. 

"The pizza has arrived!" the wizard announced as soon as he passed through the doorway.  "Sorry, it took an age--they were incompetent. I didn't even check the box when they finally said the order was ready...So for all I know, it could be pineapple and anchovies." It didn't smell like anchovies, so he wasn't too worried. It smelled like pepperoni, which was what he had ordered--double pepperoni to be precise--half under the cheese, half on top of it. He liked the extra crunch layer on the top, but double pepperoni all on top of the cheese tended to make too much grease. He had opinions on all that.

Honora Deirdre Carmody  | OUTFIT | 550+

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[attr="class","ctopline"]LOVE DON'T DISCRIMINATE

[attr="class","cscriptmisc"]between sinners & the saints

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[attr="class","clyrics"]IT TAKES AND IT TAKES AND IT TAKES[break]
AND WE KEEP LOVIN' ANYWAY

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[attr="class","cbody"]In some ways, engineering ran in the family. It sounded overly sentimental, maybe, but it just… did. Her father, her aunt and uncle, even Callum. He had just graduated from Hogwarts and he was going to Gráinneog just like the rest of them. Once he was done with school, she knew that he’d end up at Aurora Tech with the rest of them. There wasn’t much of a reason for him to go anywhere else. He could, she supposed. His parents weren’t going to force him to work here if he didn’t want to, but it was sort of his legacy.
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His and hers, in some ways. Isibéal and Spencer might just be her aunt and uncle, but in some ways they truly were like another set of parents to her. It didn’t make much sense, she supposed, if she tried to explain that to someone. She had parents. Parents that she loved and saw as much as possible. She went over there whenever she had free time. Cooking dinner over there and watching football was something that happened at least once a week unless work truly got in the way. She adored her parents—her father was the reason that she had wanted to be an engineer to begin with. Watching him stay up with his research night after night had been what had originally piqued her interest and he’d always been willing to answer any questions that she had.
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It had led her here, and she loved this job more than anything. Nora couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Couldn’t even fathom it. The fact that she got to work for a company that her aunt and uncle were in charge of only made it better. Not because she expected any favors or special treatment from them, because she didn’t. In fact, just the opposite. She hoped that they expected more from her because she was family. Because they knew how hard she could work and would be well aware if she wasn’t putting in the full amount of effort.
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The fact that she was related to the CEO and the CSO was… well, she didn’t think she could go so far as to say that it was common knowledge at this point. It wasn’t a secret or anything. But because they had different last names, it wasn’t something that every single employee knew right off the bat or anything. She thought that helped too—she didn’t want anyone to think that her position here was based off of her family. Luckily, that wasn’t really in question. She was damn good at her job, after all. If she could be confident about anything in her life, it would be that.
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Right now, they just had to contend with this compound. Technically speaking, there was only so much she could do to help as far as that was concerned. She wasn’t an alchemist. She knew a fair bit about it, but she hadn’t gone to school for it. Her mind was more focused on the circuit board and what would come after the compound stopped exploding. Obviously, that needed to be taken care of first.
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But when she needed before that was even dealt with, was pizza. The longer that she sat on the floor, her eyes on the alchemy book that she’d flipped open in hopes of helping in some way—not that there were any books that had helped so far, the more she started thinking about pizza. How long had Draco been gone? She couldn’t quite remember. When she was in work mode, hours could pass without her being exactly aware of it. But she was too hungry. There was no way that he’d been gone that long. If he was, then something had clearly got in the way of his pizza mission because there was just no reason for it to take that long.
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Thankfully, when she was about five seconds away from trying to track him down herself, she heard the elevator open. Moments later, Draco was in sight. “Oh, thank Merlin,” she shut the useless alchemy book and looked up at him. “If it’s pineapple and anchovies… at this point, I would eat it anyway.” It was probably the worst combination of pizza ingredients that she had even heard, but she couldn’t even imagine waiting any longer to eat. She had worked through lunch so it had been a good twelve hours since she had even—more than that, really. “And beer. I could kiss you, Malfoy.” Pulling herself to her feet, she moved over to him to grab the six-packs from his hand. No reason for him to balance beer and pizza, after all. “Floor? Or table?”
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[attr="class","cnotes"]784 ● @ draco ● outfit but she might have kicked the shoes off by this point + hair which is completely unnecessary but she insists we include anyway

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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Wait for it

We laugh and we cry and we break

And we make our mistakes.

Draco really did not mind working late at Lucent. He loved the work. He loved pushing the boundaries of what was possible for the wixen world. He had been so ignorant to what lay outside of it for so long. Really until he had began to study at Gráinneog, he just had not known anything really. The years spent there had broaden his mind and understanding of the world so much. He had fallen in love with the idea of blending the best of what muggles had to offer with all the beauty and cleanness of magic.

But that was not always easy. More often than not, it was really, really hard. Incredibly so, if he was being perfectly honest. Magic was its own type of energy, but there were all these other sorts of energy out there, too---and well, energy did not always play well together. Sometimes, trying to combine the wrong sorts of things just led to really dangerous disasters. That just made it more exciting, though. The danger, the taboo. A lot of people from similar heritages to himself found the work at Lucent to be immoral and inimical to the interests of wixen kind. He disagreed and was proud to be part of what they were doing here.

So, he was happy to work late. He was happy to eat his dinner at the office. It felt like he was doing the right thing--and really, Honora made great company. She was wicked smart and bouncing ideas back and forth with her really helped him keep moving forward on this design. She wasn't half bad to look at either. Not that he should be thinking like that about his boss... He didn't want to muck up his career here by hooking up with the owner's daughter. But she was still really good looking. It was hard to not at least think about it. Especially when she said that she could kiss him for bringing beer.

"Who knew that the way to win a woman's affections was a six pack--I've been going about this romance stuff all wrong for years." The words were out of his mouth before he had a chance to think over them. If he had thought, he wouldn't have said it--but even with him just running off at the mouth like that, his tone was joking and jovial. His delivery and his expression made it clear he was just having fun, not actually putting any stock into the comment she had made. They were just all joking and playing. No one was actually thinking about kissing. Okay, maybe he was a little, but she wasn't. So, he wasn't going to either. He pushed the thought away as he shrugged his shoulders at her question about where to eat.

"Really either is fine." But one look at the table made him change his mind. "Actually, floor. Definitely the floor. I'm not willing to try to conquer that mess without having eaten." He gestured with the pizza box towards the table, which had molecular models, papers, books, and just all sorts of stuff all over it. He didn't want to mess with trying to clear a spot. He just wanted to eat. "How about we just retreat to the back wall?" That part of the room was clear of papers and research materials--and would give them a good space to sit side by side and eat. 

@ honora  • 570 • outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

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[attr="class","ctopline"]LOVE DON'T DISCRIMINATE

[attr="class","cscriptmisc"]between sinners & the saints

[attr="class","cline"]

[attr="class","clyrics"]IT TAKES AND IT TAKES AND IT TAKES[break]
AND WE KEEP LOVIN' ANYWAY

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[attr="class","cbody"]The magical world had continued to reap the benefits of what was created at Lucent Electronics, which was the point, obviously. Her aunt and uncle had realized that there was a distinct fracture between the Muggle world and the magical ones, and in some cases, that couldn’t be helped. They would always have their differences. But there were also ways for Muggle technology to benefit them.
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It had been a controversial topic when the company had first been founded. In some ways, it still was. There were certainly those that kept to the old ways. People that wouldn’t be caught dead with a Lucent cellphone or a refrigerator in their homes. There were always going to be those people, but that was their choice. It had always been her aunt and her uncle’s choice to create a better future for the wizarding world by combining their knowledge of engineering and alchemy with technology. And clearly, enough people supported this idea to make them a vastly successful company.
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And it was one that was still growing. Every day, there were fresh ideas, new experiments, new projects in motion. It was something that always energized her and had her ready to come into work every morning. Nora couldn’t imagine doing anything else for a living—her mind couldn’t make sense of people that didn’t do what they loved, that couldn’t come into work every day passionate and ready to work.
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She did know that not everybody was that lucky. That there were people whose passions were just out of reach, or that were possible but didn’t prove the money needed to actually survive. That had to choose to do something else, something that could provide for them or for their family. It was horrible, but it was the reality for some people, and she felt for them. She truly did. Every day, she was grateful that she got to do something for a living that she loved more than anything.
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Nora was just as happy to do that with her family. It had its complications at times, but she worked every day to ensure that no one thought she’d gotten to her position because of her family. She wanted them to know that she had earned it. Luckily for her, most people knew that. There were a few people that might whisper about her, about it, but there were always going to be those people. Pleasing everybody was just not possible, or necessary.
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This project was one that she had been looking forward to. It would be her first time truly working on something with the Malfoy, though she knew him by reputation. Her aunt in particular had been rather enthusiastic about his talents when he had been hired. Since then, she had only heard good things. They were off to a decent start—albeit not without their struggles, but that was par for the course when it came to engineering… and alchemy, thought that wasn’t her forte.
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More than anything, she was excited about the prospect of food. Her stomach grumbling would have certainly proven to be a distraction from work. Her smile only grew at his words, and she couldn’t help but laugh. “That, or you’ve been romancing the wrong women.” Merlin, that hadn’t come out exactly how she had meant it. It sounded like she was implying that he should be romancing her, when really, she’d just meant he was clearly romancing high-maintenance women. A six-pack was certainly the way to her heart. The words had been teasing, though, so she had to think that he wasn’t going to put all that much stock in them.
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Once she’d taken the beer out of his hands, she nodded in agreement at his assessment. “Wise. Yes, agreed,” even the thought of moving all of their papers and work out of the way to put the pizza boxes down was too much work. All she could think about was opening up that box and feasting—and enjoying whatever beer he’d picked up. Honestly, she wasn’t all that picky, so she didn’t think she’d have much of a problem with it, whatever it was.
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Taking care to avoid stepping on the papers cluttering a good portion of the floor, she made it easily enough to the wall, and settled down against it before pulling out their options for beer. “Let me guess—this one is for you,” she teased, pushing the lighter lager toward him, “And these are for me.” She concluded, before pulling out one of the stouts. Obviously, he’d thought the opposite, and really, she’d drink either, but she’d choose the stout to keep him on his toes.
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[attr="class","cnotes"]777 ● @ a six pack is the way to a woman's heart ● outfit but she might have kicked the shoes off by this point + hair which is completely unnecessary but she insists we include anyway

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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Wait for it

We laugh and we cry and we break

And we make our mistakes.

It was in the Malfoy's nature to flirt. For years, he had let his charm flow without even thinking more often than not. But he kept it in check at work--He knew how to keep things professional...and he never wanted to make the workplace an unpleasant place to be. So, he watched the things he said. He kept his eyes on faces, not figures. He was not one of those guys who objectified women. He wasn't going to be that way. He had seen too much of that in his youth from his father to do it now. He hated Lucius too much. He had to be different...and for the most part that was just trying to be a good person. It was learning morals and ethics and how to respect others.

But he wasn't the one instigating the flirtation now. Not really-- He and Honora were both pushing the comments further, just a little bit a time. Him with a little reference towards romancing ladies--her retort essentially saying he should have been romancing her. He couldn't deny he had thought about it. She was gorgeous. She was brilliant. And it didn't hurt that she was a muggleborn. He knew his father would hate that--and so he liked it. It set her apart from the people he had known growing up--the girls he had always been urged towards. She was different and that was exactly what Draco wanted. He wanted a life nothing like the one his parents shared. He wanted a life far, far away from purist society. He wanted a life where the tattoo on his arm didn't matter, where it was meaningless. He needed it. That was the only way he could ever be happy.

A smirk played on his lips as he looked at the woman. Her retort about romancing the wrong women drew a chuckle off his lips. "You got me there." He looked over her features, eyes dropping from meeting hers down to memorizing the curve of her lips before lifting back to the bright blue pools. The beauty of her features could not be denied. Draco had always seen it, but the little comments they were making were urging him not just to notice, but to be appreciate just how gorgeous she was.

He was supposed to have his mind on the work that had them here long after hours, taking this late meal at the office. But as he leaned back against the wall, he wasn't thinking about work. He wasn't even thinking about the pizza that he had been ravenous for not too long ago. He was thinking about the way Honora's lips quirked up at the side and her eyes sparkled when she was flirting with him. It was a dangerous line of thinking...especially when the minx got a bit playful about the beer. He could see the teasing reflected in her gaze--and he enjoyed it just a little too much. So, she wanted to keep him on his toes--keep things interesting. Good. He wanted things to get very interesting. 

"Sure-" he chuckled, as he pulled one of the amber beers out of the cardboard holder. "I'll drink whatever. I'm easy-" Draco popped the cap off and lifted the beer to his lips. The alcohol did nothing to soothe the thirst that was growing in the man. But he wasn't complaining. He knew better than to flirt with his boss. He knew better than to let his eyes keep traveling back to her lips. But here he was, doing it anyway. 

@ bosslady drinking my beer • 591 • outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

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[attr="class","clyrics"]IT TAKES AND IT TAKES AND IT TAKES[break]
AND WE KEEP LOVIN' ANYWAY

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[attr="class","cbody"]Lucent had been her future for as long as she could remember. From the moment that she had truly started to get to know her aunt and uncle, she had known about the company they had founded. She had already been interested in engineering around that time, so it had been fascinating to learn that they’d combined engineering and magic. As time had gone on, she had learned more about it, and she had known that she wanted to end up there someday. She could have never imagined doing anything else.
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It was something that she had been able to share with her father too. When she had first been told that she was a witch, when she had first started to spend more and more time with her extended family to learn about the magical world, she had been worried that her parents would be upset. Even though it was their idea, she had been concerned they’d be put out that she wasn’t spending as much time at home. But the more she wanted to learn about engineering, the more she wanted to spend time with her father. The more she wanted to stay up and see his notes and whatever it was he worked on to the early hours in the morning. She thought that having an insight to entirely Muggle engineering was extremely beneficial to her career here as well. Even without her father understanding the magic side of things, he had always been a good person to bounce ideas off of.
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She knew that he liked being able to hear about her job, and that it was something that he could actually understand. Nora had no idea what he’d do if she’d done something entirely in the magical world. Something that he couldn’t begin to understand or even talk about. After a long week working at Lucent, she could still go home to her parents’ house, and she could talk to them about what had happened at work that week.
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They could feel involved in her life—her father more than her mum, though. Her mum just dramatically lamented about having another engineer in the family. When they had family dinners with her aunt, uncle, and cousin, her mum was extraordinarily outnumbered, though. Nora wasn’t sure how that had really happened, but they really were all engineers. That meant endless people to bounce ideas off of though.
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And when she came to work, there were even more brilliant minds to work with. Her aunt had told her that Draco had been an extraordinary asset to the company, so she had been looking forward to working with him. Of course, her aunt had also hinted at him being very good-looking and Nora’s type, though she hadn’t put much stock in that. She had seen him around, she was well aware of what he looked like—unfairly attractive, yes. Her type? That was something she’d been way less certain of. He was clearly smart, which was a good start. She was actually incapable of holding down a relationship with someone that didn’t have a brain.
[break][break]
But she hadn’t thought much more about it, at least not until their remarks started getting just slightly more flirtatious. She had not explicitly said he should be romancing her. She had just implied it. Which was fine. Technically speaking, she was his boss, after all. Sort of, anyway. She was a senior engineer, but of a different division than the one he worked in—which made it a little better. “If a woman expects diamonds, run,” she teased, an amused smile forming on her lips. It was a joke, of course. There was nothing wrong with buying someone diamonds, but if someone expected extravagant presents, then you’d found yourself a high-maintenance girlfriend. Or boyfriend, really. “Consider that my advice of the night.”
[break][break]
It had been only moments before that she’d been very focused on the work they’d been doing, and the food that they’d get to eat when he got back. But their remarks had her mind going in a different direction—like how late at night it was, and how they were probably some of the only people still here. But no. They really, really couldn’t go there. Despite her aunt’s teasing remarks, that was so not what the woman had been implying. “I wouldn’t go spreading that around. There are definitely a few ladies around here that might take you up on it.” She joked, before taking a swig from the bottle of lager.
[break][break]

[attr="class","cnotes"]754 ● @ you're flirting ● outfit minus shoes & purse + hair

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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Wait for it

We laugh and we cry and we break

And we make our mistakes.

His mind was wandering all sorts of places it shouldn't have been. Draco knew better than to get mixed up with someone at work--especially a superior. He loved his work at Lucent. It was interesting and challenging. It was far from anything Malfoy related. No one cared about his last name here. It did not matter. He wasn't a disgraced pureblood or a despised traitor. He was just himself--and he was valued for his mind and his work ethic. He could not mess that up...

But he was still flirting. The man could not even help himself. It was biology. It was chemistry. There was an energy that could not be denied. The spark that shot between them as they batted back and forth their flirtations made it difficult for him not to think about how that he had not seen anyone else when he left or came back. If there was anyone else here, they were nowhere close by.

He had not thought about it so much before he had gone to grab food. Before the break, his mind had been fixated on the work. Draco had been so focused he had not really thought about how sexy Honora was looking, or how tempting the curve of her neck was with her hair pulled up. He had not thought about the fullness of her lips or the sharp, bright sparkle of her eyes. His mind had been on the work. He'd been deep in it---but then, he'd gone...and it had taken an age. He'd been able to unwind.

And now? Now, he couldn't get the thoughts about how kissable she looked out of his mind. It was a damning cycle. He'd push the notion away and then she'd grin and it'd rush back. He'd fight that urge off and then she'd have the bottle of beer at her lips and they would purse just so. It was all doing him in. 

She gave him some advice about high maintenance, expensive partners and he laughed. "I'll keep that in mind-" he promised. "Had a few witches over the years that were always wanting something. Interested more in the family Gringott's vault than anything." Draco knew that wasn't completely true. Pansy and others had been interested in him, too, for his looks and name. His Hogwarts girlfriend had never really cared to look beyond the aesthetic and the prestige, though. She had never really made any effort to know him--and he had not wasted energy learning about her either. Dull, dumb bint that she was--she wasn't worth his time.

But Honora...She was brilliant. And surely with her family's financial status, she could care less about the Malfoy fortune, what was left of it. The bloody Minister had taken to fining them outrageously. There was not going to be a family fortune at all soon if things kept going as they were. Not that it really mattered to Draco anymore. He had not lived at the Manor in an age--and nor was he living off the familial wealth. He  was making his own way. He had to. He couldn't be associated with his father anymore. He had far too much resentment for the man.

The wizard was making a new name for himself. He was building a new life--and banging the boss definitely was not a step in the right direction for making sure that new life was successful. He logically knew better, but he still really wanted to. Draco had gone from starved for food to starved for Honora Carmody. He took a drink of his beer, as if it could quench this growing thirst in him that the minx was stoking with each flirtatious flick of her tongue. There were novels being written between what was spoken and what was left unsaid--only hinted at by glances and expressions.

He called himself easy and she warned him off the confession. Draco wanted badly to ask her if she was one of those who might take him up on that. The words were right there on his tongue, just waiting to be set free. But perhaps such a question was too bold. He was a snake, not a lion. Surely there was a more clever way to respond--one that protected the both of them if they decided not to go through with where this flirtation was taking them. "I'll keep that warning in mind--make sure I only let my guard down around someone I'd want to have take advantage." He wasn't saying that he wanted her to--just like she hadn't said that she was the type of girl he should be romancing. The meaning was still clear, though, or so he thought. The door was open for them to cross from acquaintances to much more--and they  were certainly moving towards it. Would they actually go through? 

@ you are flirting • 801 • outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

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[attr="class","ctopline"]LOVE DON'T DISCRIMINATE

[attr="class","cscriptmisc"]between sinners & the saints

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[attr="class","clyrics"]IT TAKES AND IT TAKES AND IT TAKES[break]
AND WE KEEP LOVIN' ANYWAY

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[attr="class","cbody"]She had always loved her work. It had always been what she had focused on more than anything else, from the moment that she’d first walked into Gráinneog and began her schooling. Starting Lucent had only furthered that passion. Sure, she had hobbies. She didn’t spend every waking hour at Lucent. She went home, she went on dates… it definitely happened. It might not happen as much as it did for people who had jobs that they didn’t care about all that much. People who went home at five o’clock and had all of their evenings and all of their weekends to date and do what they liked. But she did still make the time for that sort of thing when she wanted to.
[break][break]
But that was never something that she thought about when she was at work. That was just a line that she shouldn’t cross. For more reasons than one, in her opinion. First and foremost, she was a Senior Engineer, which meant that she oversaw the other engineers and that made her their superior. There was a good chance that she would move further up in the company in time—she wanted to, anyway, and it would be a poor start to her career to overstep or to flirt with her colleagues. But that was how she saw them. Being a Senior Engineer might put her a bit above them, but a lot of the other engineers were still her age, so sometimes it was definitely difficult when she had to feel like their boss and not their colleague.
[break][break]
And secondly, and possibly more importantly, this was the family business. Everyone at Lucent knew the name ‘Delaney.’ Her aunt and uncle were the ones that had founded the company, and so not every single person that worked there made the connection that they were family. But most people knew. They were like second parents to her in a lot of ways. They had been the ones that had taught her everything about the magical world when she had been younger. They had been the one that had taken her into hiding with them during the war. They were family, and she knew that they would never let her hear the end of it if she did something that she shouldn’t.
[break][break]
So, as much as her aunt had teased that Draco Malfoy was very nice to look at, she also knew that the woman never thought that any boundaries would be crossed during their work together. Teasing her niece about an attractive colleague was quite a bit different than what would happen if her boss found out that a superior had done something inappropriate with another colleague. But was that stopping her from flirting? Not in the slightest. It wasn’t even like she’d meant to, it had just come so easily. Before he had left to get pizza, their minds had been entirely focused on work and when focused on the task at hand, every word had been appropriate. But now that he was back and they were able to relax a little bit, and now the flirting was coming easily—and it was fun.
[break][break]
Nora had been well aware that he was nice to look at. She’d always had a weakness for blonds, and she hadn’t noticed the intensity of his gaze until now—or how his eyes looked when he laughed. And every time he smirked at her… Merlin help her.
[break][break]
Being attracted to someone that she was working with had never been something that she had worried about before. It hadn’t actually been something that she’d ever even thought about, but now here she was. What was the saying—you can’t stop a boulder once it’s rolling down a hill? They were already flirting. It felt too late to stop, and she didn’t want to. “I imagine wondering about witches’ motives grows tiring,” she shifted forward to open the pizza box while she spoke, letting the heavenly smell fill the space. Though, strangely, she wasn’t nearly as hungry for food as she had been earlier. “I assure you my motives have nothing to do with money.” Nora teased, her gaze meeting his for a second before looking back at the pizza. Maybe she should eat, if only to get her mind off of another growing hunger.
[break][break]
Setting her beer down on the floor, she picked up a slice of the pizza. She had to think that would distract herself just a little bit, right? And, given the nature of their conversation, maybe that was a good thing. But then he spoke again, and an amused smile formed on her lips. There were just so many different ways she could go about responding to that. Things that she probably shouldn’t say, but they were quickly crossing those lines already. Maybe not necessarily in what was being said. It had a lot more to do with how it was being said and what wasn’t being said. “Oh—so there are women in the office you want to take advantage of you? Do I know any of them?” She asked, her tone all innocence. Her eyebrows arched at the question, the amused smile never fading—at least not until she paused to take another bite of her pizza. “I can tell them the good news,” she added, once she’d swallowed—she wasn’t about to flirt with her mouth full, after all.
[break][break]

[attr="class","cnotes"]897 ● @ you started it ● outfit minus shoes & purse + hair

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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Wait for it

We laugh and we cry and we break

And we make our mistakes.

Working at Lucent was brilliant. He was challenged. He was involved in meaningful work, cutting edge work. Draco could not have imagined a more fulfilling career. He had never really thought about blending muggle tech and magic when he had been growing up. It wasn't something he was exposed to. But Gráinneog had changed that. He'd been able to learn so much--to blend his love of potionology and alchemy with chemical engineering. It had led him to the internship and eventual permanent position here at Lucent. 

And now, he was being possibly a total idiot and risking that. But he couldn't really stop himself. He heard the little discouraging voice whispering in his ear that he needed not to be flirting with the niece of the founders of the company. If they hooked up and it got messy, it wouldn't be anything to the Delaneys to put him out. He didn't know if Honora would even want rid of him, but his experience with women made him think that they preferred their mistakes out of sight and out of mind...not that hooking up with Draco Malfoy could ever be a mistake. He was great--and great in bed. 

But women tended to want more than he wanted to give...except for Astoria, of course. She had wanted less. She had wanted safety from the pureblood name. She had wanted things he couldn't give her. Even though he was sure he'd given her a son...a son who had died. That pain was still raw in his chest. He didn't think about it. He didn't deal with it. He couldn't. 

So, he worked all the time--and flirted with pretty witches. But none of those flirtations had been with someone as interesting or captivating as Honora Carmody. Not only was she incredibly beautiful, but she had a brilliant mind. Draco was not easily impressed, but he was impressed with her. Quite a lot...And it seemed that sentiment was reciprocated. The flirting was definitely going both ways here. 

She opened the pizza box and he reached for a piece. He had opened his mouth to comment that she must have had similar experiences where men would be chasing money or opportunity. Gold digging was not reserved to women only. But then, she kept going. Those wide gorgeous eyes locked with his as she took their flirting up another level. "Mine either." He promised, his smirk spreading over his features. She looked away and that made the expression shift to a grin. Was she getting a little shy on him now? After that bold move. That was cute...and it made her all the more appealing. He liked the give and take, the bold and the demure. It was all very sexy. She was very sexy.

He took a bite of the pizza, his stomach relieved for the food, despite other body parts wanting him to be doing something besides having literal dinner. Their conversation meandered to talk about him being taken advantage of--and Merlin, it was making it hard not to just come out and say he was into her. The game was fun...and he didn't want it to be over---but he, also, was really ready to take things further than just talking. But maybe she wasn't. He took another big bite of pizza, chewing and swallowing it before chasing it down with a swig of beer. He had shrugged his shoulders, just grinning when Honora called him on there being women in the office that he would love to have do very bad things with him. "I think you might know one pretty well." He nearly winked, but settled for just flashing the dimple in his cheek before bringing the beer back to his lips. Another big bit later, he was tossing his crust on his napkin and reaching for another piece of pizza. 

@ you are flirting • 651 • outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0