Idealist

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Alecto had the preverbal notches on her bedpost extending out of her bedroom and out of her townhouse. If anyone would have been able to analyze her long list of one night stands and hookups without being stabbed for daring to look into her mind, they might hazard a guess that she did so because her life had been so void of any other type of real connection. All her life, even before the war, she hid behind masks of who she was supposed to be and who her reputation made her out to be. Then as the war took off she shifted and added more masks. The heartless, cruel, sadistic bitch who believed in every word the Dark Lord breathed. The sassy ballbuster. The seductive, dangerous woman. So much and so many more. In sex she got the attention she craved, and she would say it was a power move and well her ego loved to be stroked on top of it all. Though, she’d never admit that she enjoyed the momentarily contact with another human being. Being touched when she was so starved for it. But of course, she would never admit it and anyone who dared to poke into her mind would find themselves bleeding for trying. 

She waltzed into the pub, knowing with a smirk that all eyes turned to her as she walked in. The dress hugged her curves to perfection and the silky green color complemented her coloring. No, Alecto was not short on confidence and she thrived hearing the air stir as every head in a room turned to her. Sitting at an empty table, she crossed one long leg over the other and surveyed the room. The pub was packed tonight and she was sure she’d find a toy or two tonight. Someone to go home with before she left them before the sun rose. Already, one brave soul moved forward to buy her a drink and though she accepted it, she turned them away. Far too ginger for her taste. 

Her eyes had been on a possibility by the bar, his blue eyes were bright in the dim pub and Alecto liked the cut of his jaw. She was shallow enough to admit she quite enjoyed pretty companions. But of course, not prettier than her. The voice pulled her from him though and she shot around. For once the mask was dropped and clear and utter surprise was written across her face. Alecto kept her true emotions under layers of masks, hidden to everyone, but the shock was real as she took him in. “Otto.” Alecto breathed and for a moment stilled. Otto Bagman should have been just another name in her very long list. Yet, he was too good. By her nature she didn’t usually attract those with a pure heart. She was Alecto Carrow after all, and her name was equal to evil and bitch. Yet, she’d seen him as a challenge and to her surprise she hadn’t needed to use any tricks on him. They drank, he flirted, she laughed, and they tumbled to his home. She used him like any other and left him before the sun rose. 

Alecto’s senses came back and her cool mask slipped on once more. “I’ll allow it.” She replied with a smirk and the haughty tone she had perfected. He must regret their night together, Alecto thought without any bitterness. He must, she was Alecto Carrow and Otto Bagman didn’t have a heartless bone in his body while she embodied it. It wasn’t new to her, people hated her and rightfully so for everything she had done. But she never let them make her feel ashamed or guilty. It was survival. Alecto took a controlled sip of her drink and appraised him as he joined her at the table. “I have to admit, I’m surprised you approached me, Bagman.” Her tone was haughty, practiced to fit the role of pureblood who had a one time roll in the sheets with a halfblood. “Why are you here? Couldn’t stay away from the forbidden fruit, huh?” She inquired with a smirk. 

--

Otto got bashful over plenty of things, the man had never been able to take a compliment his whole life and a majority of his adult life was spent socializing with Dragons.  Which his parents used to argue didn’t count as actual friends, especially since they could kill you but he would often argue semantics.  Some of the most intriguing things on this planet can kill you just as easily as help you.  

Otto took the seat happily, bringing his drink to his lips and wiping the remaining slosh with a napkin. His eyes returning to her ever so often, a soft chuckle at her comment. “I would hardly call yourself the forbidden fruit.” If he had to assume anything, it was he was her forbidden fruit.  After all, he was a Half-blood with Muggle linage.  He could have cared less if she was pureblood or a muggleborn.

Everything Alecto was had nothing to do with her blood status and everything to do with herself. He never understood the whole fascination with blood purity.  Love didn’t care what background you came from, Lust didn’t wait for a linage check before affect you.  He often chalked it up to his parents never even bringing it up around him or his brother.  He was as removed from that concept of the Wizarding world as any Muggleborn entering it in their youth.  

His ignorance wasn’t shared by his brother.  “I just wanted to check in.” He admitted, “It has been awhile. plus I’ve been stationed near by and you are one of the few people I know around here.” He had contacts and those he’d call friends but compared to what his life was like in Romania, this was relatively a small world for him.  “And one of the fewer people I enjoy the company of.” He added a bit bashfully.

…

He shook his head, holding up a hand to stop the apologies.  “Think nothing of it, my friend.  I’ll take it as a compliment, as I’m sure this Alejandro is a very good looking fellow.  If he’s not don’t tell me, it will just hurt my feelings.”  He nodded, running a hand through his hair.  “Ah, yes.  I understand that sort of stupor completely.  I’ve nearly burnt a structure down a time or two as I got more invested in the ingredients than the potion that I was brewing.”

“That makes far more sense than my initial impression, which was that they were for the dragons.  I was beginning to worry I had brewed the wrong strength,” he chuckled.  “I can imagine those first few years are quite stressful.”  

This task had put him out a bit, not that he’d have admitted that to Otto or anyone, but the actually location of the delivery had him far more intrigued.  “Ah – I mean, yes.  That would be a sort of dream, honestly.  Are you sure that you have time for that?”

--

Otto let out a genuine warm laugh that bellowed out in a deep base.  “You might get the chance to meet him and judge for yourself.” He was never one to judge a person based off of looks, it was personality that really drove his interest.  Personality showed more of the core of person, then what outward appearances could.  It was something his mother instilled in him at a young age.  

“Oh no, this stuff wouldn’t even budge most of our dragons, maybe the younglings but-- I wouldn’t risk it.. it destroys a lot of trust drugging them up so early on.” He often spoke as the Dragons as if they were just other co-workers which always raised the brows of some other dragonologists. “And trusts with dragon is a hard thing to earn and an even harder thing to keep.” He added before nodding his head.  

“Oh i’ve got more then enough time, I can’t move forward with releasing the full grown dragons till Alejandro appears so-- it helps keep me busy.” He motioned for the other to follow him.  The Reserve was spaced out with a lot of a dead space to give distance between each enclosure to allow for the keepers to move through with minimal fear.  

He lead him to a relatively smaller enclosed space “Here is DIon and Harper.” He put his fingers to his lips and whistled, almost on cue two small dragons roughly about a single human head in size flew out of their domed home and landed on a branch.  “They are Antipodean Opaleye.” The two young dragons shined almost shimmering in the light, they were both pale white with scales that reflected colors in a million different lights.  “Harper is a transient, she’s only staying with us until we can get her on a transport to the Chinese reserve but Dion will reach full maturity here..”

Otto wasn’t one to linger in the past, he had too much going on for that.   However, he did find it hard at times when it came to people.  He often found himself lingering on thoughts on what wrong with his brother or rather his parents were safe and sound.  They only sent messages from the fireplace now for their own and his own perceived safety.  He worried about some of his friends from school who vanished one day and were never seen again, he likes to believe they made it to safety in other countries and enjoyed the thought of them living their best lives uninterrupted by fear.  Alecto was a mystery for him, it was one night.. one drunken night that came and went, but the thought of her still lingered in his mind.  

By all intents and purposes Alecto was a woman he should have never interacted with, it was a cosmic mistake, a fluke but one that left him wondering if perhaps she was different.  Her genuine laugh, her smile, none of which fit the image he saw painted of her during the height of the war.  She seemed honest in their night and wondered if perhaps they all had been wrong to be fearful of those who sought to change everything.  Maybe some of them were just good people stuck in a bad situation.  

Sadly he never got the chance to see her again and see if the alcohol and sweet talk was nothing more then inebriation and heightened emotions.  That was until tonight, he was enjoying a drink with several co-workers when he spotted her walk in.  An air of Confidence filling around her, drawing more then just his eyes to catch her.  Alecto was never a person who went around the world unseen, she was too confident in herself to not draw everyone around her in.  

He walked to the bar, grabbed a second drink and decided to approach her table.  Unsure if she was waiting on others or not, he placed the drink in front of her with a kind smile.  “Mind if I join you?” He asked confidently but was still courteous enough to wait for her answer.  Otto never forced his presence on anyone, it wasn’t his style.  If people didn’t want him around, he didn’t let the thought bother him.  He had people in his life who wanted him around, everyone else was just a bonus. 

“Fair enough”, William narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking that whatever simple-minded sod opened the door to a cage on a dragon reserve deserved whatever came out of it.  Scare tactics may have been effective on others, but they’d never worked on him.  He was instead insulted that the other man thought him to be so dim-witted.  “That must be the most entertaining part of your job.”  He was joking, but his even tone didn’t hint of it.

Eyeing him for a moment, William eventually decided that Otto was someone worth his time, at least for the moment.  He reached out to shake Otto’s hand.  “I’m William, nice to meet you.  What brings you to this location, exactly?”  The question came more out of curiosity than anything else, though he would have been happy to catch and report something that hadn’t been perfectly Ministry sanctioned.

“What kinds of dragons are you planning on bringing in?”  This question was out of pure curiosity.  When the reserve opened, perhaps he’d even show up to make a donation himself.

-

Otto knew many people came to the reserves for some cheap thrills and seeing what they considered monstrous creatures up close and personally.  He often wondered if these feelings were similar to any of the muggle zoologist he studied as a child from his mothers old books of the muggle world.  

“Pleasure is all mine, William.” He exchanged pleasantries with the other, Otto briefly remembered him from his time during Hogwarts but it was always safe to assume the two never ran in similar circles back then.  Otto kept a kind smile on his face, “It was the location approved by the new Minister for a reserve.” He explained, “It’s wide enough to house at least 10 full grown dragons safely and far enough removed from the city we shouldn’t have Muggles finding us easily.” He answered swiftly, 

…

“Alejandro,” he echoed, laughing.  “no, unfortunately I am not.  We can pretend I am if you’d like.  What exactly does Alejandro do around here?  I may be grossly underqualified, but I’ll make up for the lack of experience with enthusiasm.”

He held out the plastic bag with dried herbs and some premade potions in small, glass stopped bottles.  “The people that I work for asked me to bring by these calming droughts.  They were wildly unspecific, however, so I’m beginning to wonder if it was because they were frightened of the dragons.”  He passed the bag to the man.  “I don’t think that they’re for the dragons… do you have a handler with a weak stomach? Oh –” he held out a hand to the man.  “I’m Mikhail.  I apologize, that was rude.”

-

Otto chuckled a bit embarrassed with a smile.  His hand rubbing the back of his neck, “No need to pretend friend, I do apologize for assuming.” His face flushed a bit at the honest embarrassment, “Just in a work space kind of mind, so much to do and so little time you know.” He explained with a few swift waves of his hands before he reached out and grabbed the droughts from him.  

The ministry hsd sent Wendy to figure oit the transition of the dragons on to English soil again. Of course no one wanted to come out to the dangerous dragons but her do she was sent. When she arrived there was no one but she saw the man in the distance. The dragons were amazing creatures and Wendy while nervous about them being dangerous she wasn’t too nervous. She. Couldn’t wait to see them though she knew she was sent into the belly of the beast.

She stopped a short distance off and admired them. Then the other noticed her finally and Wendy gave a sheepish smile. “Sorry, no Alejandro but I was sent by the ministry. They are amazing!” Her eyes were wide. “Have you been here long?”

Originally posted by eternamentesola

“Ah Ms. Slinkhard correct?” He had heard word the Ministry was sending someone, he figured it would be an Auror given most other positions in the Ministry didn’t willingly volunteer for life threatening endeavors. So to see a young woman dressed to the nine, was a bit off putting.  He kept a warm smile on his face, “Otto Bagman, Lead Supervisor on the move and resettlement here.  Pleasure.” He held his hand out to the other kindly.  

"Ah yes, I’ve been here since dawn.” He commented, “We want to get the dragons free to roam as quickly as possible but that requires a bit of work on our part.” He explained, “We put up the barrier that will confuse and redirect any muggle that wanders too far off the road and if that barrier fails we have guards stationed inside the perimeter to obliviate and send them on their way.” He explained, 

William had heard rumours of the construction of a dragon reserve just outside of London, and decided he wanted to go and investigate for himself.  Dragons were powerful creatures, one of the only breeds he didn’t hold utter disdain for.  The reserve had the potential to bring about a decent amount of chaos, and he wanted to be one of the first ones to say he’d been.  Quietly walking up behind a man who had the potential to give him information about the whole endeavor, he raised an eyebrow, feeling a flicker of annoyance at being mistaken for someone else even though the man hadn’t turned around.

“No, I’m not.  I think you’ll find I can be wherever I so choose”, William responded coolly, not finding it necessary to explain his every movements to a stranger, especially with his high code.  He peered around the man’s shoulder to get a closer look.  “You’ve got younglings here?”

As much as Otto had to admire the dumb courage radiating off of the other, “Still Dragon Reserves are protected areas, the Ministry doesn’t want to deal with idiots getting injured who have no idea what they are doing.” Otto explained, “You open the wrong cage around here and you can cause a chain reaction that leads to you becoming bacon for one of the drags and people like me having to fish your remains from their jaws.”

 Otto added as a warning, he was always cautious when he came to dragons but he was also protective.  He took care of many of the dragons he’s worked with since they hatched and any violence they cause is almost always squarely looked upon as their short comings, not the humans error.  He never enjoyed when people cost him some of the dragons he helped nurture.  

Status : OPEN

He wasn’t paid enough to ask questions so when his boss told him that he needed to relocate back to London to help establish a Dragon Reserve hidden within the rural areas outside of London.  He just showed up, his first time since the war really started to become a well known threat before he hid himself away in Romania hoping for the world to balance itself out.  With the Ball behind him, he could finally focus on work.  He had four crates of Dragonlings that needed to get acclimated to their new terrains with hope that they wouldn’t get the bright idea to escape.  

They needed to clear the air space and finally pray the Hungarian Horntail (Zilla) and the Chinese Fireball (Bren)  enjoyed their new homes or they would be putting out fires for the next couple weeks.  When he heard noise behind him, he just assumed it was his buddy Alejandro, so he didn’t even bother to turn around.