Closed Darkness around us

[Professor Killian Fox]

Killian wasn't particularly excited to go to the New York Auror's office, but he also was not one to ignore any possibilities of injustice or wrongs. This was the least he could do and probably the most too if he was being honest with everyone. As he walked in he cast a bored look around the entry hall, the sooner he was out of there the better. "I would like to report an incident, I suspect there was dark magic involved." Killian said with a bored tone to the front desk. The woman nodded and told him to wait a moment as she would get an Auror to take his statement.

@Geovanna Adler-Cade

Out of Character:

Statement being made for rp purposes no actual incident being referred to <3

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

During her last pregnancy, Geo had often felt unwell for the first few months and that was apparently the case with this one too. She hadn’t yet told her colleagues though of the situation, and was making the most of being able to hide the news until she was ready to share it. The night she’d told James was the same night she’d heard he also had found two more children of his own now attending Hogwarts, so she’d had to take a few weeks to get her head around how quickly things were changing.

Sat in her office, Geo called in the Auror that knocked on her door, glancing up with blue eyes to see the Receptionist. Now that she was splitting her time between the Auror offices, she was sometimes situated in New York as well as New Zealand. Geo would always be thankful for the floo network. After being briefed that there was a man who needed to speak to an Auror, Geo thanked the other woman and closed the files she’d been pouring through on her desk, before heading out into the main hall to find the wizard.

“Good afternoon!” She approached the man who’d been waiting for her, extending a hand of her own. “Geovanna Adler, do you mind coming with me?” she asked, hoping he would be willing to come back to speak in their office where things would be more confidential.​

 

[Professor Killian Fox]

Killian wasn't the most excited about his visit, had he had it his way he'd be preferably at his studio. Sketching for a client or just for fun if he was lucky. He raised his blue eyes to a blonde woman who was approaching him seeming to have every intention to talk to him. Well it was what the man had come here for he supposed, didn't make it any more desirable for him to talk to random witches or wizards though.

Killian looked at her extended hand and reluctantly took it to shake. "Killian Fox and yeah sure." He grumbled pushing off the wall to follow the woman. She led him to a room that was nothing out of the ordinary. Killian took seat in front of a desk and gave his statement about the incident he had stumbled upon on his walk with his daughter. Aelin being the main reason he had come here, he'd do anything to protect her and if someone was using dark magic it should be dealt with accordingly.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Making a mental note of the man's name, Geo had led him through towards her office. It was nothing special given that she shared it with other colleagues who would need it too, Geo was in too many places at the moment to have her own space, so she would just use whatever was free at the time. After taking down his statement and running through a number of questions, Geo was almost finished taking all the information she needed to pass on to the investigators. "And you said you were with Aelin at the time," Geo clarified, checking through the notes she'd already written up in front of her. "How old is she?" If she was old enough she would have wanted to talk to her too, but otherwise, a single statement would have to do for the time being. This was the first time something in this area had been reported so there would be little else to go on, and making sure they did what they could to explore the information they did have was more important than ever. ​

 

[Professor Killian Fox]

Killian studied the Auror as she took down his statement. His eyes calculating as always, it wasn't that he doubted the woman and her abilities, no, he just liked to be aware of everything around him at all times. He nodded and a small smile formed on his lips at the mention of Aelin, his daughter and center of his world. "Yes, she was there too, though she was very much occupied with her current favourite stuffed toy. She is Three now." He replied while running a tattooed hand over his jaw.

Killian would have preferred not to go into too much detail about his daughter, but taking in the fact that he was talking to an Auror the chances of it resulting in any funny business were slim to none. "If you have kids you might know a thing or two about toddlers and their attention span." He added with a slightly amused tone.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

For the first time during their appointment, Geo watched as the man smiled at the mention of his daughter. "Ah, that is very understandable," a smile of her own appeared on her lips as she made a note on the report that Aelin would have been too young to be involved. "At that age, there is little that can come between a girl and her toys," she agreed, turning over the paper in front of her to reveal the cover of the report, and glancing back up to Killian.

"My youngest daughter is also three so I can certainly relate to the chaos that is that age," Geo chuckled, recalling how she'd brought up her stepchildren too, each one going through the toddler era in a slightly different way but every one just as tricky as the last. Geo began to rise from her chair behind her desk, "Don't worry, once they reach six it will be a whole new ball game, quite literally for some," she added, moving towards the door and gesturing for Killian to follow her.​

 

[Professor Killian Fox]

Killian surprised himself with the short chuckle that escaped his lips. Turns out miracles did still happen, but it was true. Living with a toddler was full of surprises everyday and you never knew what you got. "Chaos indeed." He agreed recalling just the morning before their walk when she had spilled her chocolate milk all over the counter and proceeded to clean it with her shirt and then try to squeeze it back into the mug.

Killian followed in her steps and got up from his seat. "Yes, very much looking forward to what the future holds." He said to her statement. He had no doubts about whether life would be interesting through all her stages, but he was sometimes nervous about not being enough alone. "By the sounds of it you have quite a bit of experience so perhaps I'll take your word for it though. Aelin is my first and only." He said as they walked out of the office. Killian found it interesting though, that she too had a three-year-old, what were the odds.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

One of the things Geo enjoyed most about her job, was that she was in a position of not just protecting others but doing what she could to put them at ease, too. It was easy to write up a report, but sometimes wizards and witches needed to be reminded that there were people out there who had their backs, even if it wasn't always the most obvious. She hadn't realised that aspect of her career when she was younger, but being an Auror meant so much more to Geo than just being there to track down criminals, she was there to make sure everyone in the community felt comfortable. Killian already seemed so much more at ease now that the attention was focused on his family, and while she appreciated him coming in and had told him such, Geo wanted to make sure that he felt comfortable once he was back out there.

"You have a lot to look forward to then," she smiled, knowing even herself how much she was looking forward to seeing how Eden grew too. "I have six," Geo explained, walking him back down the corridor toward the lobby. "Five of them are my step-children, but I've been there since the eldest was three," she explained, wondering how it had already been almost thirteen years since she first babysat Bailey. She'd just made prefect now at school, and she'd come a long way since she was the girl she'd first met. She left out that the number would soon be seven, although her hand went instinctively to her stomach for a few seconds. "Does Aelin attend daycare?" she asked, wondering if there was somewhere close to the office that would have been more convenient for Eden, than Geo using floo power to switch state to pick up her daughter when she needed to. Geo's stepchildren hadn't needed daycare, and by the time they were old enough to attend primary school, well they'd had the family house elf to stand in to supervise that. With Dakrey now at Hogwarts though, this was the first time Geo was shouldering the full parental duties.​

 

[Professor Killian Fox]

Killian nodded with a surprised smile. Six was quite a lot, once she mentioned most being step-children it made a bit more sense though. He did however admire her clear love for each of those kids and she clearly was a good mother to all of them, step or not. Killian also noted the way her hand moved onto her stomach in a protective manner. "I see, congratulations are in order I suppose." He lowered his tone while gesturing toward her movements. It was clear she wasn't yet showing and would like to keep the news to herself for now, so he wasn't about to yell it out to everyone in the office to hear, but he also wanted to congratulate her. Babies were always a reason to be celebrated, or most times of course.

"Yes, I am alone with her and working full-time as a tattoo artist with my own shop so having her there the whole time would be a bit of a hassle. As much as I love her, my job also requires a lot of attention and having a toddler there would be a safety hazard." Killian chuckled for the second time at the end of his explanation. This was the most he had spoken to anyone that wasn't his daughter, client or co-worker in god knows how long, but it felt nice to be able to share these mundane thoughts with someone. Especially someone who clearly could understand what he meant.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

The flush that appeared on Geo's cheeks at Killian's next words had her more surprised than she thought she'd be. James was the only one who knew as far as she knew, not even their children would find out until the Christmas break. "Thanks," she replied sheepishly, not denying the pregnancy. "Truth be told this is the worst part of it all," Geo added, "the sickness is unbelievable." Geo's eyes darted across the wide corridor to make sure her colleagues were out of earshot as she spoke, feeling a wave of adrenaline (or was it nausea) at the risk of others finding out.

Geo was a little surprised to hear that Killian didn't have a partner at home, but perhaps he just preferred things that way. She knew plenty of other single parents who did an excellent job and had no reason to think Killian wasn't the same. "A tattoo artist?" she repeated, her eyes now focusing on the tattoo's covering the areas of his body that she could see. She lightly swiped a finger down the back of one of his hands, across the ink that decorated his skin, "did you do these on yourself?" she asked, genuinely curious about how that worked. "Oh definitely," Geo agreed, there were very few places suitable for a three-year-old and a studio was most certainly not one of them. "Well, would you recommend it?" she asked, glancing across to look at his face with her eyebrows raised, a silent second question hanging in the air.​

 

[Professor Killian Fox]

Killian only smiled at her sheepishness, deciding to not make any further comments. He nodded at the explanation, he could only imagine. Well he had seen Aelin's mom go through the motions from first trimester to the very delivery and he was very glad to be a man in those moments, he admired mothers though. The work they put into growing another human never ceased to amaze him.

His eyes snapped to where she was now looking and gently swiping a finger across the back of his palm. Killian instinctively pulled his hand back, and looked at it. "Yeah, most of them on my left arm, right one though no. If I made anything with my left hand it'd look way worse than any drawing Aelin has ever made." His head shook at the thought of ever tattooing with his non-dominant hand, definitely a recipe for disaster. He raised his eyes back up at her question, understanding even the silent one hidden beneath. "Yeah I would, Aelin loves it there and the staff is very good." He said with a shrug and gave her the name in case she wanted to look into it.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

The Auror had to wonder whether this whole experience had left Killian a little on edge since he was a man of little words at times. In truth, most people who visited the offices were, unless they found themselves dealing with a particularly rowdy bunch. His daughter however was one thing he did seem to respond to, and Geo was happy to talk to him about her if only to put him at ease. It was just a bonus to meet another parent in the area. The woman chuckled at his comment about his tattoos resembling something Aelin made, "Oh I don't know, maybe you should get Aelin to draw one herself and then it would all add to the charm," she grinned, approaching a large dark green door and pulling it open, gesturing to Killian to exit before her.

They were almost back the the front desk now, and there were more people lingering around in this area than there had been further inside the office. Geo made a note of the name of the daycare, promising to check it out given that it would have helped her a lot to have Eden on the doorstep. "Thank you, for coming by. We need and appreciate people like you who keep an eye out for others around here," she added sincerely, crossing her arms over her chest, "if you think of anything else feel free to send me a message," Geo added, holding out a small business card with her contact details on, should he need to add to the statement. ​

 

[Professor Killian Fox]

Killian smiled at the suggestion, he did actually have a tattoo on top of his heart that Aelin had drawn, but he didn't feel the need to disclose such details. He walked out to the front and gave the Auror a gentle nod at her words of thanks. Genuinely wasn't that big of a hassle as he did work close by anyways, so it was just a little detour. "Will do, have a great day." He finally said taking the card and turning around. leaving the building.


Finished <3