Well, Well, Well...

[Ioan Finch]

Ioan Finch had certainly taken more notice of Carter Kaster than he'd expected to as the debate they'd participated in had worn on. At first, it had been with some amusement at the fact that they'd agreed on something and then it was with barely concealed curiosity. They'd unfortunately not had the opportunity for closing statements or Ioan might have mentioned something about choosing a running mate. So, it was only a few short days later that Ioan sent out an owl to the man. He'd been making efforts to meet with all of the candidates, to pick their brains and see what made them tick, and Carter was next on his list, though he anticipated this meeting going far differently than it might have had it happened the week prior.

Ioan knew he needed to do some more campaigning, especially near his home. The other candidates hadn't even made an attempt to garner votes here so he knew it was his for the taking. But for today, he planned on turning his attention to Carter. Ioan knew that family mattered greatly to the man, so rather than meet in a restaurant, Ioan had invited Carter to his home. Ensuring that his basement was well guarded and locked, Ioan sat at his desk, writing letters to people who had sent him questions. He'd found himself enjoying this part most, enjoying the opportunity to promote innovation and quietly decry the stagnation brought about by the current Minister. But, most of all, he enjoyed that people seemed receptive to his ideas. It was funny how willing people were to accept the ideas of the Scitorari so long as he didn't mention the name of the group. Whatever. He could play that game.

 

[Carter Kaster]

Bleak street was not a place that Carter often frequented. The outward appearance of the place didn't appeal to him and he'd never found much reason to spend any time here. Still, he didn't hold the same kind of prejudices of the place that others did. He used to, for a long time. But if he'd learned nothing else in his time here, then all he needed to know was that all things had layers. Everything was layered. You didn't see the deepest intent of anything with only a glance. A fundamental ideal he'd learned recently and one he was sure would help him in this election, or even if he didn't win, it would help him with his further plans. Ioan Finch welcoming him to his home was not something he had expected. He was grateful for the chance to speak to the man he considered to have similar values to himself. He had expected to be more in tune with Claudia, but he supposed it was no great loss for them to have seperate values. He did look forward to picking Ioan's brain and as such had left the twins with Sean to watch. He may not have had the same prejudices of the area, but he wasn't going to hang around with his not-even-one-year-old children in tow. He wasn't stupid.

Arriving at his destination, not caring to try and dodge anyone who might want to see what he was up to, Carter had deigned to leave Ariana at home. She hadn't thought his idea was a great one, but then, he hadn't told her where he was going either. She likely wouldn't have thought Bleak street was a great place to be for a Ministry official, let alone for a candidate. He didn't believe he was in any danger, Ioan seemed to be living her with little to no difficulty and he wasn't sure that Bleak street was really as bad a people said. Certainly not like what he'd experienced in Knockturn Alley. All the truly terrible people lived high above this sort of thing in his experience. Why would anyone who didn't want people to know they were criminals live here? It wouldn't make any sense. Carter made it to the address he'd been given, the warding very clear even in his limited knowledge of them. He wasn't at all surprised. Kiera's house was also warded to the nines, though it had been even before he'd moved in. Carter knocked on the door and waited.

-let me know if you want me to change anything-
​

 

[Ioan Finch]

In no time, Ioan was undoing the many locks and wards to allow Carter Kaster into his home. As he opened the door, Ioan couldn't help but be even more impressed by the man. He didn't appear particularly worried at being on a stoop in this part of town. It made Ioan wonder if he, perhaps, had other friends from the area. Now, that would be very interesting. "Carter, come in. Come in" he greeted, his hands gesturing for the man to enter the home. "The missus is off at work and her house elf is off running errands" he explained as he made his way deeper into the home towards the living room. The Finches lived in a nice home, but it was old and these days held together more by magic than by foundation. The man liked the atmosphere it created. The home had history and fit in well within the neighborhood.

"I'm surprised the Aurors allowed you to come here all alone" he noted as he took a seat in his favorite chair. His Auror had just taken off after asking him to please send a note if he planned on leaving his home. Ioan had no intentions of leaving his home today. He had work to take care of that would require him remaining indoors, but he still didn't like how controlling the Aurors department was. The man could do nothing without being tailed. It was making it quite difficult for him to get other kinds of work done. "I managed to procure some of the drinks from The Medley. Have you heard that they've named drinks after each of us and have a competition going to see which one is the most popular?" he stated, clearly still just as amused by it all as he had been when Alana had first told him about it. "Care to give them a try?" he asked, ready to summon them from the kitchen.

 

[Carter Kaster]

It was not long until Carter was face to face with one of the people he'd never thought he'd identify quite so well with. He did not know very much about Ioan, but he didn't seem to be as much of an outlier as Carter had originally thought. Carter smiled and stepped into the house and through the wards as he was beckoned in. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but the place was rather more stylish than he had given the man credit for. It was old, definitely, but it held rather a nice aesthetic appeal that Carter liked. His modern apartment boasted all the latest in style and design, but he was beginning to think that stripping it bare and building it from the ground up would be something he should look at investing in. "I was going to say that you have a lovely home, but I actually rather hate cliches, so I'm going to say instead that your aesthetic decisions really pull the place together well." It was basically the same thing, but Carter didn't like to be everyone else. He forged his own path, now more than ever.

Carter agreed with Ioan, he too had been surprised, but really, they knew where he was, it was unlikely that Ioan was about to pull out a wand and curse him into oblivion. "Miss Halliwell was initially against it, but I think we both knew that you weren't going to stick your wand in my face and curse my head off. Though that would be quite a way to go, if I'm honest." he hoped it wouldn't be painful. "In all truth, she didn't really have a say. I've never been a fan of protection details. No one person should be held above others. Besides, Protection details can't protect us from the real dangers in life." A hard lesson he'd learned with the death of his wife. He nodded and laughed slightly as Ioan mentioned the drinks they'd created at the Medley. "Yes, Nadia mentioned them to me, but I hadn't had a chance to see them for myself. As a German I feel it would be unpatriotic of me to refuse such an offer." A drink to set the right tone would be good. He didn't really want to be stuck in stiff contrast.
​

 

[Ioan Finch]

Ioan let out a laugh at Carter's mention of death by wand. No, Ioan wouldn't be so obvious as that. Though he was fair at wand-based magic, his strength lay in potions. Nodding at Carter's thoughts on his protection detail, Ioan was once again surprised to find out they held similar thoughts. "I agree. I can't help but think their time could be better suited doing other things" he sighed, having a feeling his Auror agreed. "This has to be awfully boring work for them."

Summoning the drinks and removing the spell keeping them from getting watered down while he waited for his company, Ioan pointed to them as they rested on the coffee table. "Kaster Rum and The Ioan Stop" he stated, quite pleased by the name of his. It was clever. "Here's to friendly competition, a better New Zealand, and the best man winning the election" he toasted once he'd taken hold of his drink.