Another day at the office || Caradoc & Arthur
Caradoc was a man that intrigued him. His work interested him to no end, most probably because heâd never be able to ask questions about the other manâs job. Plus, there was just osmething about Car that was generally interesting, there was a lot of depth behind his stature and the way that he held himself yet he was just another unprepared soldier in this god-forsaken war. Arthur waved off the apology again, it was really no problem.
"Itâs fine, stop worrying about it, yeah? Everywhereâs getting a bit jammed and I doubt that youâre able to just leave for lunch whenever." Arthur smiled briefly before taking another bite of his sandwich, thank Merlin for having a wife like Molly. She was a darling. Whilst many of the people within the Order had families, Arthur was sure that he was the only one that had five little ones dribbling on his arms and nipping at his ankles, not that heâd have it any other way, but he often wondered what it would be like if they hadnât had the boys and how different a person he wouldâve been.
Finishing his mouth he shrugged and scrunched his nose slightly, the delay in his return to the Ministry hadnât helped the department and whilst Ted had done a fantastic job at staying on top of the extra workload, he wanted to make sure that they wree most definitely up to date and ready for the next weekâs work. âYeah, itâs a bit chocka at the minute, but weâre just about there. If we had a bigger department, weâd be flying but at the moment, itâs just me and Ted and then Rutherford I guess. Not that he actually does anything.â Arthur and Tedâs boss wasnât really there to do anything other than oversee cases but with his exntesive holidays and back injuries, his present days were few and far between. âTedâs done a brilliant job for a man on his own for two weeks, I mean, I was out but they wouldnât let me get back at it. Probably a good thing really.â Arthurâs words were slightly bitter and full of resent fo rhte nurses that had ordered the time off of work and managed to make sure that he got sick pay. It was a bit of a joke really to try and understand that he had to sit and do nothing all day exclude feed and change the twins. Itâd given him and Molly some time to work things through but it was still push and go.
Art nodded at Caradocâs words, they were all living through it, as was any other family. âYeah, sheâs good, taking up the winter knitting now. Uhh, the twins are already growing too quickly for my liking, Charlie lost another tooth, Bill can fly nearly and Percyâs interested in laws now.â Racking his brain for any other key things that only a dad would actually care about, he smiled. âItâs weird, Iâm trying not to approach the whole âhowâs your job areaâ, but I can guess that you lot have been busy.â Arthur laughed slightly, voicing his inner awkward because he had obviously lost all his ability to return questions to others. Taking a sip of his water and desperately racking his mind, he finally found something to talk about.
"So, been up to much lately, excluding work? Itâs not something that Iâd assume that youâd be abel to take home." Art relished the thought of not taking a pile of paperwork home every other night of the week, it would be a blessing if he could finsih more than five cases a day in the working hours.
Caradoc listened to Arthurâs explanations, sometimes drifting off into rambling, but he didnât mind at all. These kind of conversations were the best, carrying you often from one topic to the next, without resting too long on maybe some uncomfortable ones. Though he knew that sooner or later these would come up, too. There was simply no way around it these days, with what had happened and everything, especially to Arthur. He could still see that the man wasnât yet himself, that there were slight movements that betrayed nervousness when there was no reason for it. But who could blame him, the nerves of every person who had lived through these things would have been wrecked.
âOh well, it very much depends, actually. Most of the time we can plan at least a little ahead, but sometimes things just happen. But this time it was just a colleague that had a few questions, thatâs all, nothing gone wrong,â Caradoc laughed. Of course, at times, when they were observing or experimenting, there was no time for lunch, not everything could be put down or aside to go and have a bite, but needed to be finished first. Priorities, of course. Yet, when Caradoc had made plans for that day, he liked to keep them.
He picked up a few more vegetables from his plate to chew and swallow, the cantineâs food not the worst he had ever eaten, yet it was always a little too cooked for his taste. âIs there no one who could help you guys in your department?â Caradoc asked Arthur while he cut a piece of chop to let it vanish between his lips, âI mean, when youâre running short, because there are people missing, and one canât handle it all on his own, then there should be someone else stepping in, right?â He knew that the Muggle department had always been a bit of a joke among the other departments within the Ministry, something that Caradoc had never quite understood. But then again, he wasnât part of one of those pureblood families that thought Muggles beneath them, either. But surely there would be someone willing to help? It wasnât like it was something as secret as his own area, where there was no replacement whatsoever. âAnd what about Rutherford, did I miss something?â
He once again looked at Arthur, and he could still spot some dark circles under the manâs eyes, those that didnât just result from stress at work. âI think it was better that you got some time at home, with your family. You deserved it. I mean, going right back to work would have been the wrong thing to do, if you ask me. And I guess Molly appreciated the time she could spend with you, didnât she?â Because he knew that if he were in her place and his husband (or in his case wife) had vanished and then thankfully returned from a place like this, he would want to have his partner around for as long as possible.
"Sounds wonderful," Caradoc smiled. It was so obvious how much Arthur loved his family, whenever he spoke of them, his expression subtly changed, his voice becoming softer, and it was kind of addictive, making it impossible for Caradoc not to smile as well.
"I bet she has a lot to do, with so many scarfs and hats to knit. Say, are you planning on more children or is it enough already, now with the twins?" Arthur struck him as the type to have a huge family and be someone who loved every second of it, even those stressful moments. Caradoc himself thought that maybe one day he would get married and have a child or two on his own, but first there was a war that needed to be won. Everything else would come in time for him. But it was great to see that some people among their ranks already had that luck. And Arthur surely was one of those who deserved said luck in his eyes.
He huffed amused at Arthur's attempt of asking something in return.
"Well, work is work, I'd say at the moment it is a bit more stressful than usually, but still manageable. Otherwise ... well, I guess there is nothing new there, I'm afraid. All my time gets occupied by either work or you know what, and that hardly leaves any for anything else. Hence why I'm catching up with you here and not in a bar or anything," he laughed and shrugged before glancing down to his lunch. "But I think once we're done I'm going on a big vacation. Somewhere sunny, or interesting. I thought maybe Egypt, or China, what do you think? Seeing something else but good old mother England?"
