Delia had almost an entire table covered with research. She had found something new and had gone off on a tangent, deep down a hole of ancient cursebreaking, that she was diving into, but it was slow going. There was cross-referencing and research and notes to take and she could really use a cuppa, but couldn't take a break yet because her brain would not let her slow down. She had a pencil stuck in her hair, which was falling out of its chignon, tendrils escaping around her face and into her eyes. She pushed them back impatiently, tempted to take the whole thing out and braid it instead, but didn't have the desire to follow through.

She walked around the books she had open on the table, her notebook in hand, tip of a quill against her lips as she searched for the paragraph she'd started a few moments ago about some sort of ritual. She stopped, running her fingers down a particularly large Tome in Latin, she had a dictionary beside. Her Latin was passable, especially in regards to scientific names, but she didn't always know some of the older translations.

Catching sight of a word, she looked closer, flipping to the dictionary, stopping partway through to make another note in her notebook. Then she spied a list on the page she flipped past and went back. Oh Merlin! She was expected to meet with a possible benefactor to fund her trip back India and she wanted to have more to go on! Her proposal was half a mess and she need to finish it!

"Oh where did it go?" She mumbled to herself, moving back to where she had been sitting previously. "It's got to be here somewhere." She filtered through the stack of papers, losing her grip on some and they went scattering to the floor. It was a good thing she'd left Cynthia at home today. Sighing heavily, she bent to pick up the scattered parchment, hoping her proposal was among the mess.

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During one of his brief breaks, Roman had decided to put in a visit to Crowdy. He enjoyed going through the older books and making note of past cases that might come in handy for the Ministers knowledge. After all, part of his job was to think of things Minister Dempsey had even to think of.

He had noticed a rather harried looking woman that seemed to be looking for something. "Did you lose something?" Roman asked, wondering if he could be of some help as he bent to help pick up the mess. Some of the librarians would not be altogether pleased if they were to catch sigh of parchment all over the floor.

  

Just my mind. Cordelia thought to herself when the gentleman asked if she had lost something. She'd lost a lot; her lover, her sister, her sanity, her career was on tenterhooks. Everything seemed to be crumbling around her and she hadn't the ability to stop it. But, she didn't let her existential crisis show. "I had a proposal for funding in here somewhere." She sighed as she dropped to the floor to pick up her mess.

"I'm sorry, am I in the way? I tend to spread out a little." Self-awareness was not one of Cordelia's strongest suits, but she could recognize her mess when she'd cast a wide net.

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"Funding?" Roman asked, unable to help a little curiosity. He dealt with such proposals now and then in his occupation. "Not in my way but I think the librarians would appreciate their floors clear," he said in jest as he continued helping her pick up the wayward parchment. Academics were often a table to themselves, papers askew so he doubted Ainsworth would mind that aspect.

  

"I'm a botanist," she explained as she tried to pick up the parchment in some order of how they were, but figured she ought to just get it off the floor and then organize after. "I do a lot of research expeditions," Or she used to. And she needed to. She really was going to start losing her mind if she didn't get traveling again. "And I need funding for the next one." Not to mention she really needed to fix Cynthia, she owed her sister that much. Owed herself almost as much for ruining her life around it.

"Thank you," she added and cast him a warm smile.

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Ah! His wife was in that field and part of what had deepened their acquaintanceship had been his overseeing the funding and implementation of a community garden. She did not do research expeditions though for which he was glad. He had grown accustomed to her presence and would be lonely if she were gone for months at a time.

"My wife is in that field. She owns a florists shop and breeds plants," he offered with a smile, simply because he was proud of his wifes accomplishments. "If you like, I could provide you some names of individuals who tend to enjoy funding such excursions." He came across a lot of them in his networking.

  

"Oh, lovely!" Delia's interest in plants was far more scientific than that of a florists, typically, but if the woman bred plants, that might be a different story. She wondered if she was already familiar with the man's wife, but it had been a long time since Delia had spent any length of time in her home territory.

As he continued, she was far more interested in what he had to say about investors. Delia tried to neaten up her pile, straightening up now that everything was off the floor. "Truly? That would be wonderful. I am headed to India and it's quite the voyage." Meaning she needed more funds than usual, especially when she meant to travel partially by ship.

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