March 28th, 1890 — Ministry of Magic Offices

Samuel St.John-Black. Aldous had thought him fine enough (for an American) until the ill-fated elopement. Since his brother ran off with Mr. St.John-Black's fiance, however, the wizard had done his best to evade the liaison, offloading any necessary appointments onto his assistant head. Evading awkwardness, after all, was the great English pastime, and Aldous was particularly adept at it.

Like Reuben's good behaviour and Aldous' ability to properly use both legs, however, all good things had to come to an end eventually, and the latest trade deal upon the table seemed unlikely to negotiate itself.

Thus, Aldous found himself in a small but comfortable meeting room, checking his pocketwatch for the eighth time in as many minutes as the hands ticked nearer and nearer to the American's arrival.

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

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Samuel wasn’t a fool - he knew he was being dodged – knew that the Head of the department of magical co-operaiton for the United Kingdom was trying desperately not to be in the same room as him. Not that he could blame him. If Roscoe had absconded with another man’s intended he might not have wanted to take tea with him either.

He was been a little late on purpose, not enough to be construed as an overt slight, but about 4 minutes, enough to make a distinct point about his mood going into this negotiation, and his views on the man he was about to deal with.

The affront to Samuels pride hurt more than Miss Finch’s abandonment – that was the smart that he would never forgive. And that was the afront that he felt when the door opened and he came face to face with Mister Aldous Crouch for the first time. He had never met the younger Mister Crouch, but he imagined him to look rather like the man across the table.

As an aid pulled out the seat for him, Samuel unbuttoned his suit jacked so he could sit, opened the document folder in front of him and without looking at Aldous said ’Alright Mister Crouch, lets make this as brief as possible shall we?’. He bit back a barb that was perhaps a little too personal. When he finally met Mister Crouches face his expression was beyond impassive: - stony was a better descriptor but there was a thinly veiled anger in the Americans grey blue eyes. ’what exactly can the UK get from us today?’

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   Aldous Crouch

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Lady is a star

Aldous blinked, taken aback. Though he had not expected the wizard to be enthusiastic about their meeting, the brusqueness with which he was greeted was so uncouth, so...American. In the time before, Aldous had never been given cause to wonder at the fact that the man before him had been tasked with diplomatic responsibility for his country. This, though, was rather too sharp-edged for his comfort.

"Yes, well," Aldous began uncomfortably, "as I am sure your assistant will have informed you, it is purely a matter of quota."

As he spoke, he fished about for the correct papers, procuring them for the gentleman without meeting his eyes. Aldous would be the picture of (awkward) professionalism, even if St.John-Black was less inclined to do so.

— Samuel St.John-Black —

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

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'It always is' he said in an almost mutter. An aid placed a quill at his elbow and Samuel dipped it into the ink pot and made a few jotting notes of his own on the dossier. 'And here I was thinking it was we Americans who marked everything by virtue of equal tallys.' he said with a broad but rather forced smile, that was more of an uncomfortable grimmace.

The other man was very English, painfully so, like a character from one of those tepid novels by Dickens - the boring one, the Pickwick Papers. Samuel made another few quick notes on his paper - 'It may be a matter of quotas Mister Crouch, but I'm not entirely sure what more you could possibly expect us to give up.'. He met Mister Crouches gaze with a steady implacable expression.

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Lady is a star

Aldous cleared his throat uncomfortably. He had not expected the exchange to be comfortable, but had not anticipated such hostility. After all, Aldous was a bachelor still with no sights upon anyone's fiance, in spite of his brother's carelessness.

"Mr. St.John-Black, I will remind you that generous trade parameters have long been the norm between our magical trade communities. You can hardly begrudge our looking to maintain that."

— Samuel St.John-Black —

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

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’Hmm yes generous’ he mused scanning down the paper, ’as long as we can rely on the parameters to hold weight and be followed through upon’ he mused, marking up the document with the necessary changes. There wasn’t much to change, an grudgingly the Crouch was right, there wasn’t much of a complaint to be made about the actual contract terms.

’so can we Mister Crouch?’ he asked coolly, setting aside his quill and meeting Crouches eye, ’Can we rely on promises made here to be followed through?’

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Lady is a star

"We are not the sort to allow personal matters to influence our diplomatic relations," Aldous replied primly but frankly, looking the other gentleman in the eyes for the first time that meeting. St.John-Black could faff about all he liked, but Aldous had done nothing wrong, and the British Ministry of Magic certainly hadn't.

(True, he would immediately return to avoiding the liaison in the corridor, but damned if he didn't do his job first!)

— Samuel St.John-Black —

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

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Samuel's lips quirked slightly as the other man jibbed that personal matters would not be allowed to influence Ministry affairs - Poker had never been Samuels game. It seemed ridiculous to him that anyone, least of all a Crouch would attempt to subtly lecture him on personal affairs bleeding into public life. The man opposite him's personal matters had directly affected Samuels life, his reputation, his ability to function in his role now that he was a man who had been 'left at the alter' - the gossip mags had already got their teeth into the story.

Had they been at the club, or at some social affair he might have made a greater show of his indignation and what he saw as the other man's hypocrisy but they weren't, and he didn't. Instead he signed the document with a flourish, and pushed it back towards the other.

'I've learned a great deal about how the British are inclined to do things in such a short time Mister Crouch.' he mused, standing, his aid scrambling to pull out his chair and gather up the spare papers. 'I've had quite enough learning for some time I should think'. He glanced at his aid, who briskly opened the door. 'Have a good day Mister Crouch' he finished.

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Wrap? - if aldous wants to respond.

  

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Lady is a star

Aldous' own farewell was just as curt, though as soon as the Americans had left the room, the wizard let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Awkward would have been one thing, but he was starting to think that his brother's wife had dodged a bullet indeed.

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

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