She bristled at his remarks. The notion of family—blood, as he'd called it—having anything to do with one's nature was mildly absurd to the girl who's never felt she'd had a place where she belonged. Years of living with the Scrimgeours had taught her that she was nothing like her parents, Julius, or Araminta.

"I subscribe to the belief that our environment shapes us more than our bloodlines," she responded coolly. "Give me enough time with the dragons and I'm sure approaching them to do my work will become second nature." Besides, it wasn't as if she'd had to physically handle them.

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— MJ is MAGICAL —

Jame shrugged at her remarks. It meant little to him in the grand scheme of things. He wouldn't be working with her, after all. Working with toddlings was a dangerous enough job and he doubted Mac would expect her to be tagging along with him. Not what with the history of having less trained individuals out there with them, after all.

"Whatever ya think, lass," he said, an air of nonchalance about him as he spoke, "Not sure who Mac plans to have ye shadow but I don't see what more you can learn from 'em that we haven't already learned prior."

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Yay Bree Set!

Bella sat back in her seat and crossed her arms over her stomach.

"I guess that's exactly the point, then," she said with a shrug that matched his. "You all have such intimate knowledge of their lives that you could hardly expect outsiders to understand them. I'm sure my observations—" On top of whatever other research Mr. MacFusty had her doing. "—will give insight as to what 'normal' people think of them."

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All of what she had to say still had little baring on Jamie. Even if Mac had gone off his rocker and expected her to join him out with the toddlings, he would flat out refuse. There were very few of them that did still work with the bastards and he doubted any of them would be willing to take her either. It was just far too dangerous of a position to have someone so green out there. Didn't matter if she thought she'd be somewhere in the distance simply observing. The toddlers were sneaky bastards.

"Sure enough, lass," he said with another shrug, "S'not like you'll be with me. Wish ye the best o'luck regardless."

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Her efforts to convince him she was worthy of this position were silly. Firstly, he didn't seemed to really care what she did despite engaging her in this conversation; secondly, he'd spent most of the conversation offering little more than fear-mongering; and thirdly, he wasn't her boss, nor was his name going to who she listed as a reference at her next position once the research was completed.

She could not, however, shake the desire to prove herself nonetheless—he was a MacFusty, and he was her boss' brother. Though it was unlikely, ill words from Mr. Jamie could see her cast to out onto the streets once more!

"I suppose Mr. MacFusty will have me with someone who can handle me," she taunted with her brows raised once more. "I'm a bit of a wildcard, you know—probably more difficult to handle than those dragons." It was obvious that her words were no more serious than light banter. For a man who claimed to be so rough and tough, he seemed so...disinterested.

(And not very MacFusty-ish, she thought. He had to have a little spark in him just to function.)

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Jamie let out another bark of laughter. She was starting to show some more spunk but it was still hardly enough to sway his decision. She'd not last long no matter how strong she thought she may be. If she was stuck with the much older dragons, she'd get bored. The younger ones could likely kill her. That was that.

"S'not you being a wild card I'd be worried about," he answered as he stood up from his chair and stretched out, "The toddlings don't take well to new faces. New faces are jus new toys to them. You'd be gone before you even had a chance to get yer quill out."

He stepped around his chair then, decidedly done with the conversation. "I best be off to a bath though," he said with a smirk, "Cook ain't gon' be happy I've not gotten there yet."

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The following 1 user Likes James MacFusty's post:1 user Likes James MacFusty's post
   Bella Scrimgeour

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Yay Bree Set!

She averted her gaze as he stretched as to not tempt herself to stare at him. Unlike Mr. Jamie, most of the other MacFusty men had the decency to clothe themselves while in the presence of ladies.

Though her eyes were off him, her ears were not; his words sparked her curiosity, which then sparked her courage to stand up as he started to leave the room.

"What's a toddling, Mr. Jamie? A young dragon?" she asked. She would have thought that adult dragons were more dangerous than the younger ones; they were larger and probably more protective.

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Jamie rolled his eyes as she referred to him as Mr. Jamie. It hadn't been what he'd meant when he'd said to just call him Jamie. As far as he was concerned, mister was a term for proper gentleman. He didn't feel he fell into that category in the slightest, nor did he really want to.

"Just Jamie," he said simply, effectively stopped in his tracks for the moment, "None of that mister nonsense." His tone was one of authority in that moment, showing he clearly was not a fan of being referred to as a mister. This was why he didn't interact socially very often. It didn't fit him and he was already starting to tire of it.

"The toddlers. Past infancy so they've got the fire and bulk but they've not yet found the true extent of their strength," he explained, "They've also got little to no control. The infants aren't as deadly simply cause they don't have the fire fully nor the strength. The adults aren't cause they have more control. Jus' depends if they chose to use it. Toddlings are a mix of the two. Without any sort of control of what they can unleash, makes 'em most dangerous. They're not to be taken lightly."

And he took note of how her interest piqued with her question as she stood up, "An' I'll not be havin' ye around 'em. Don' even ask."

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Bella was tempted to take note of what he said—not for her research, but for her own knowledge—but decided against it when he quickly ended with a declaration that she wouldn't be able to follow him around.

"I'm not weak, you know. I could handle it," she said, taking a step towards him. Bella was tall for a woman, and he far bypassed her in height! "Besides, how am I to be of use if I have no background knowledge? Even if Mr. MacFusty keeps me away from dragons, I need some context."

She moved towards but still kept her distance. "At the very least you could show me where you work while the toddlings sleep!  Please, Jamie. I won't cause you any trouble."

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Crossing his arms over his chest, Jamie regarded her with a look on annoyance. He'd said too much apparently and gone and got her interested. It was a mistake. A potentially deadly one at that. There was no amount of pleading that would see him come around on the topic though and he simply shook his head.

"Not happening lass," he said firmly, "No amount of pleading or eyelash batting will change it." And his tone was just as firm. He'd seen loved ones lost at the claws of the toddlings. He wasn't going to be responsible for the girl and whatever her wild ambitions were.

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There was something about the firmness in his tone that told her that she wasn't going to get a 'yes' out of him no matter how much she pleaded. There were some people who could be swayed, and others who could be charmed with a giggle and a few minutes of sweet-talking; Jamie seemed like neither of those sorts. Letting out a deep breath, Bella's shoulders dropped into a slouch and a pout spread across her face.

"Well you're no fun, now, are you?" she asked with an indignant huff.

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An amused snort left Jamie as the girl visibly seemed to deflate. She'd at least caught on that he wasn't one to be argued with. It would fall on deaf ears when it came down to it. He'd already seen siblings injured and lost thanks to the toddlings. He'd not have someone untrained out there ever again if he could help it.

"S'not about fun lass," he said simply, shrugging as he went on, "All about seeing to the safety of others. Toddlings, they're not to be trifled with."

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She tried to think of a rebuttal—anything that would make him change her mind. She would, perhaps, be unable to sway him on the matter of toddlings, but he might still be able to help her with other things, right?

"What about the infants? I'm sure a man as knowledgeable as yourself is capable of handling dragons of all ages!" (Was she capable of not sweet-talking someone? The answer was probably no.) "And if they're less dangerous, you wouldn't have to worry about me all that much. I could keep a distance," she continued in her attempt to reason with him.

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Persistent she surely was. Jamie just chuckled and shrugged his shoulders in response. "What about'em?" he asked, "They're infants. I work with the toddlings, not the infants." Which, was perhaps a bit too blunt of a point even if it was true. But with another chuckle and a shake of his head, he went on, "We don't have lots of infants often. Got none right now. If we do get some, though, I'll see what can be done." He wasn't even sure if any of the females were with egg at that moment. He was fairly certain there were no eggs laid recently. He'd have to do some asking around to find out.

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Bella let out an annoyed groan-like noise in response and threw herself back down on the couch.

"Well if you don't want to help me, so be it," she huffed. "I've signed up for the expedition into Irvingly, anyways. If I survive that, maybe you'll go and change you mind about how tough I really am," she added, staring up at him expectantly. Surely one of the brothers had to help her; Mr. Malcolm MacFusty had a wife and children to deal with and couldn't be directing her all day.

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Jamie laughed at her absurd theatrics. She was starting to look as if she could fit in with MacFustys. Maybe she'd be able to hold her own. He wasn't sure but he'd be interested to see.

"Well then, lass, should ye survive, find me then," he said with a playful tone. Maybe if she survived such a thing he'd see what he could do for her. Not with the toddlings, of course. But he'd see if he could find some infants to watch for a bit. He finally wandered off then to see to his bath not even sure if he'd ever see the girl again.

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The following 1 user Likes James MacFusty's post:1 user Likes James MacFusty's post
   Edric Umbridge

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