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Post by Skatie on Apr 21, 2018 10:13:18 GMT -5
Maverick Erasmus
Hitwizards had a far-reaching reputation for being stoic, measured, and somewhat arrogant. It took a certain kind of person to come through the extensive training and the mental strength required wasn't something that could be taught - one had to be born with the ability to take another life and not destroy themselves in the process. Their confidence was hard-won and very few would begrudge them their occasional arrogant behavior based on their experience. It wasn't bragging if it was true, after all. Or so they said.
And then there were the demo demons.
Hitwizard demolition specialists were a unique breed of individuals even among their own peers. It was one thing to brandish a wand and strike the life out of someone - you see, detaining suspects was left to the Aurors. Hitwizards aimed to eliminate threats, not just contain them. It was an entirely different sort of business to calculate and use advanced potions techniques to create chaos. They mostly assisted their Hitwizard components in extracting deeply hidden targets, but they would be lying if they ever said that they weren't trying to do the job themselves with their elaborately controlled explosions.
Maverick Erasmus was one of only two Hitwizard Demolitions Specialists. Mav had nothing of the characteristic stoicism of his department. He was considered wild, reckless, but utterly unmatched in his ability to get the job done. He carried himself with a bit of a swagger but it was balanced by his natural kind nature - he disparaged no one.
And now, when he was called in as a special consultant to give his professional opinion on what had caused an explosion - man or beast, magical or non - he was dangerously handsome in an Armani suit and sunglasses. He approached the other specialist who had been called - probably someone with great insight into dragon fire - and tossed her a roguish, totally unprofessional wink as he lifted his shades. "Ello, love. What seems to be the issue here, then?"
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Post by katey on Apr 24, 2018 16:29:19 GMT -5
Nadine Beck
Nadine was thrilled. She had been stuck at a desk for so long, any opportunity to go out in the field was a treat for her. They weren't even sure that dragons had been involved, hence why someone as junior as Nadine had been called out at all. She hoped they were. She felt like she hadn't seen a real dragon in ages. Even her boss's pointed reminder to dress professionally didn't bother her. She threw on a slightly rumpled button-down shirt, a jumper, and her only pair of nice slacks, glad that she at least didn't have to wear robes. Jeans were best, but robes were definitely worse than this. When she saw the other consultant approach, her idea of what it meant to dress professionally was briefly shaken. Dragon people didn't dress like that. Dragon people dressed like they were ready to hit the dirt at any time to avoid an oncoming flame. That was a cool suit. He was probably a cool guy. Maybe she should get a cool suit. "Er," Nadine began, crossing her arms over her chest. She was immediately uncomfortable. The wink, the casual language. This was not a cool guy. But this was definitely a guy who thought he was cool. "Explosion." She subconsciously pitched her voice down an octave, as though it would make her seem more authoritative. "Possibly dragon-related. That's why I'm here."
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Post by Skatie on Apr 24, 2018 17:14:10 GMT -5
Maverick Erasmus
As a demolition specialist, Maverick saw a lot of the field. Being in the field meant dressing inconspicuously in muggle attire, so he had taken a special interest in following muggle fashion. It helped, of course, to have a muggle father. His father would never wear an Armani suit, though. He was more of a jeans and work boots man. Maverick had gone the extra mile and had his expensive suit tailored to his specific measurements and when you wore a suit made just for you, you tended to feel devilishly confident whilst wearing it.
He wasn't surprised that the other consultant was rumpled and unkempt. Witches and wizards were only too often found to be utterly hopeless when it came to dressing for fieldwork. They hid themselves inside layers of robes and when asked to trim back the extra fabric, they all looked gawky and awkward in their own skin. She was almost cute, though, when she tried to take on some authority with him.
"That so?" he asked with a cheeky grin. Maverick folded his sunglasses and slid them into his breast pocket with a practiced motion. "Explosions are my specialty, though, so who are you?" It was a valid question. He walked past her even as he spoke, already sizing up the smoldering hole in the corner of the building.
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Post by katey on Apr 24, 2018 17:24:39 GMT -5
Nadine bristled. This guy just didn't stop, did he? "Nadine Beck, dragon research and restraint office." She walked beside him, arms still crossed. "Who are you?" It seemed almost like he expected her to know already, and Nadine hated that. They had sent a junior officer from her department, so there was no way he was important enough that she should know he who was. He just thought a lot of himself. That much had been clear from the beginning. She kept her eyes on the hole in the building, trying not to look too much at her companion. It didn't matter how much this guy annoyed her. She was here for a job, and there might even be a dragon if she was lucky.
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Post by Skatie on Apr 24, 2018 17:42:39 GMT -5
"Maverick Erasmus, Hitwizard Demo Specialist," he replied easily. Unlike her, he was not a junior officer. He was a very well-known operative, one of only two of his kind due to what a difficult position it was, and he had an easy arrogance that came with knowing he was very, very good at what he did. "I reckon they thought I might need you in case this turned out to be dragon fire," he reasoned, as if she were there only to assist him.
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Post by katey on Apr 24, 2018 18:19:58 GMT -5
Nadine was glad she had only mentioned her department and not her ranking. Okay, so this guy was important. That didn't make him any less annoying. It was like every word he said was tinged with smarm.
After the last comment, she looked up at him, teeth bared in what might be interpreted as a grin if one didn't look too closely at her eyes. "Or maybe they thought I might need you if it didn't." She was tempted to add a comment about how useless she was sure he would be if they came face to face with a dragon, but she decided to save it. She hoped they did meet a dragon, so she could restrain it while he cried.
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Post by Skatie on Apr 24, 2018 18:27:48 GMT -5
If she gave it a bit of deliberation, she might find that Maverick was quite like a dragon, himself. He could certainly dish out some very deadly fire on command, could he not? "Sure, kid," he smirked a little at her suggestion. He was impenetrable - she was getting no rise out of him no matter what she said and she would be sorely disappointed should a dragon appear. Maverick lacked the gene that caused people to have rational fear. Clearly.
"Right, then, let's have a look," he said, mostly to himself. He had approached the damage and inhaled the smoke purposefully. "Chemical," he said after a moment. "Sorry, love, I don't think this is dragon fire."
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Post by katey on Apr 24, 2018 18:46:17 GMT -5
Kid stung, but Nadine didn't really have a comeback for it. She wished she was 35, or even her real age and the youngest ever head of the magical creatures department. Something to make her feel less small.
"Chemical," she muttered, brushing past him. She squatted down to get a better angle on the source of the explosion. "What do you think makes the fire of some dragons so explosive?" She took a deep breath, inhaling the smoke herself. "Nitric acid," she stood, exhaling a cloud of smoke through her nostrils like a Chinese Fireball. "A sweetness there, that's glycerol. A hint of nitrogen dioxide. All components of the flame of the Romanian Longhorn." Admittedly, they were also components of nitroglycerin, a common muggle explosive.
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Post by Skatie on Apr 24, 2018 18:52:52 GMT -5
Maverick watched Nadine with slightly lifted brows, allowing her to have her perusal of the situation. He nodded to each of her observations, admittedly impressed with her for tagging each of the things he had already identified to himself. "Very good," he commended, and there was no sarcasm in his tone. "All components of nitroglycerin, as well, and I believe common sense would have to dictate that a Romanian Longhorn hasn't been blundering through muggle London, no?" Maverick had a basic knowledge of dragons and knew well enough that the Romanian Longhorn was likened most to a bull and had no ability to become invisible. If one had been here, the muggles would be going ape shit.
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Post by katey on Apr 24, 2018 19:07:31 GMT -5
"Generally I would agree," Nadine said with raised eyebrows. Even that much agreement with Maverick was too much in her book. "But the trade of Longhorn horns is strictly regulated, which means there's a thriving black market. We've been tracing some on the black market and haven't been able to find the link back to Romania." By we, she meant her department, people much higher up in her department. She had not been directly involved in such an important investigation. "If they have one here..." she trailed off. This could be a huge find for her. Maybe get her out in the field more often, if she did a good job. "I think this warrants further investigation."
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Post by Skatie on Apr 24, 2018 19:11:30 GMT -5
"Well, that's a leap," Maverick grinned at her in amusement. "If they have one here, that would hardly lend much to the black market, now would it? The horns don't regenerate, love." You would think someone in her field would realize that her theory was perfectly non-plausible. Was she perhaps a bit desperate to stay out of the office or to prove herself clever? He supposed not everyone was a natural in their field.
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Post by katey on Apr 24, 2018 19:19:30 GMT -5
Nadine glared at him. "They're sold powdered," she said. "In small quantities." She had a sudden vivid image of a back-alley deal, a hand-off of a small baggie of powder. Probably not how it happened, but it was amusing at least. "Those few wizards in Romania with permission to sell shave off bits while the dragons are still in adolescence, so the horns can keep growing. No one's sold the full horns since the trade caused a population crisis in 1846."
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Post by Skatie on Apr 24, 2018 19:30:04 GMT -5
"Nadine," he said her name as if he had known her for her entire life and was quite a bit older and wiser than she would ever hope to be. "Look about, love. A giant bumbling dragon hasn't been loitering in the streets of muggle London." He looked around them when he told her to do so, taking in the relatively busy streets intersecting near the building. "Muggles reported this explosion. They aren't blind and deaf. If there's a dragon here, it's inside and has never come out. If you're asking me to take you into the rubble, then by all means," he gestured toward the hole in the wall.
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Post by katey on Apr 24, 2018 19:34:11 GMT -5
Nadine stared at him for a moment. She considered pushing forth a theory about memory modification and complex organized crime rings, but instead she just frowned at him. "Ms. Beck will be fine," she said, then turned on her heel and entered through the smoking hole.
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Post by Skatie on Apr 24, 2018 19:37:46 GMT -5
Considering that he was the one in the Magical Law Enforcement Department, a hitwizard who hunted down the likes of those who would run organized crime rings, she was probably wise not to launch into that theory with him. He smirked and followed her inside, ducking so as not to touch his glorious hair to the singing brick. "Lumos," he said, having drawn his wand when out of the public view. "Do tell us what you're looking for then, Nadine, love." Her snip had only caused him to now be double informal.
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