He seemed intent on offering Ford a drink. This was the second time he'd offered, which meant it was more than just a polite comment he'd thrown out at the beginning. Perhaps that should have made Ford suspicious of whatever he was drinking, but this man seemed too wholly unmalicious for worry. And he'd just agreed to stop flaunting his ghost friend through crowded rooms of Muggles, which meant the two of them were no longer going to have any problems. It was late enough in the work day that Ford wasn't going to do anything else after this, except filing the report on it.

"Oh, all right," he ceded with a shrug. After a beat, he continued, "There's plenty of ways around that, for your show. Being able to get information as you go," he explained, in case it hadn't been clear which that he'd been referring to. The problem of how to conduct the show without spiritual assistance had been the only point Ford had really been particularly interested in; the reference to the man had gone straight over his head. There were a dozen ways to manage it with magic, of course, but Ford wasn't sure they were any more approved by the Ministry of Magic than the use of Mr. Williams would have been (since magic in Muggle areas wasn't his department). Besides, he thought Dodonus would want to avoid magic anyway, since he’d gone out of his way to avoid it so far... and it was a much more interesting problem to solve, Ford thought, if they weren't relying on magic.

"Can you read lips?" he suggested. "You could have an informant in the back row of the audience, or hidden in some stage curtains."

  

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Set by Lady!

"Oh, splendid," Tycho said with a brief, gleeful clapping of his hands when the man agreed to the scotch. He poured one out for the other man and refilled his own glass. He handed the drink over and tilted his head in thought as the man began making suggestions.

"I am not particularly skilled at it but I could learn," Tycho said in thought. "Though then my audience would catch sight of me stealing glances at the same person repeatedly." Which wouldn't quite do and might give him away. Still, it was a viable idea if he could polish it a little more. "Oh, but this is fun, let's come up with more ideas!" At this decree, he had collapsed back onto his chaise, scotch in hand, much like a teenager set on having a delicious gossip session.

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   Fortitude Greengrass

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Dodonus' enthusiasm for Ford's suggestion was enough to bring another smile to Ford's face, despite the realization that he was being handed a glass of scotch, which was perhaps his least favorite thing to drink. It seemed like the wrong choice for Dodonus, too, though Ford couldn't have said why he thought so. It was unlikely that the actual man had much in common with his stage persona, so it didn't make sense to make any assumptions about him based on what Ford had seen so far, but — well, he was making assumptions anyway. He'd already made them, and he couldn't discard them entirely even if he knew they were probably illogical.

The next thing that came to mind for Dodonus' show was some way to convey a written note instead of hiding a person, but that had the same issue of having him look in one place too often, with the added drawback that a sheet of parchment couldn't look innocent if a Muggle happened to glance backwards, like a plant in the audience could. "Well, some people use codes," he said conversationally. Ford glanced around and found a nearby chair to sit in, since this felt — distinctly less like work than it had a moment ago. "And you've already got the mechanisms for all the noises, so you could use them to have someone signal you. But obviously that's not half as sophisticated as being able to just talk to someone."

  

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"Oh, I do some of that with Williams already. Mostly when he wants me to help him prank his ghostly brethren but it could be used for other avenues," Tycho said in agreement when the man spoke about codes. The ghost in question had not returned but Tycho figured he was going back to their Hogsmeade house or floating about in London somewhere.

"I would love to have even more reason to utilize my mechanisms. Or to expand on them. I've been working on this one for someone in the audience to use for a 'a spirit is among you all' scene," he said, getting up to rummage through a cabinet before pulling out a hand-held crank looking thing. "I will transfigure it smaller when I have perfected it but aside from that, it won't use any magic. Statute and all."

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Ford's brow furrowed lightly at the first statement. He felt he ought to disapprove of anyone playing pranks on spirits, but since the instigator was apparently a spirit as well he wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it. Perhaps it was none of his business? As long as it didn't spill out and affect living people, or particularly Muggles, that was. He thought maybe he ought to ask about it, but he didn't really want to — he was having fun talking about psychic shows and the tricks that could be used to make them work for Muggles, and he didn't want to have to stop in order to put on his Serious Ministry Official facade again and pass along some disapproving remarks.

Luckily, the next thing Dodonus said provided ample distraction. "You made this?" Ford asked with keen interest. He leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees so that he could get a better look at it. "Show me how it works?" he asked eagerly. "You said it's operated from the audience?"

  

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"That I did. I like to try and make them myself before handing it off to someone smarter than me to polish up if I can't get it doing what I want." He had always been a resourceful sort that knew where he lacked. And so he tended to find connections that could fill the areas he lacked. He wasn't afraid of admitting it either.

"There's a hidden winding mechanism here," he said, popping out the keylike part of the contraption and turning it. It produced a sound that was close enough to a groaning sound. "It will ideally be in the plants pocket. No one will think too much of someone checking their pockets." And then a new idea occurred to him. "Or I could figure out how to make it in the shape of a pocketwatch."

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"Ooh," Ford said appreciatively. He was on his feet now, moving closer so that he could lean over the device and see more exactly how it worked. "If you made it look like a pocket watch you could put a second noise in. Turning the crown for a groan and pushing the crown for a scream," he suggested. This overlooked the hardest part, which was finding a way to actually make the noise, but maybe Dodonus had ideas about that.

Without really thinking about it, he took his own pocket watch out and placed it down next to the device for comparison, trying to imagine how it would work. "If you could flatten this out a bit, you could use this bit as the cover of the watch," he suggested, pointing things out as he went. "Then the biggest problem would be making this bit that sticks out fit... could it fold and still make the same noise, do you think?"

  

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"Now that's an idea," Tycho said appreciatively. He pulled out a notebook and jotted that idea down. It was full of other random notes on ideas that he'd had over the years. Some seen to fruition, some still marinating.

Tycho rubbed his chin in thought as he compared the mans pocket watch to his device. Mentally going through all sorts of calculations. "I reckon it could.. you've been a huge help," he praised as he also wrote those down and even began the beginnings of a sketch of how he imagined it would end up looking. "It might end up looking something like this when all is said and done."

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Ford was watching quite keenly as Dodonus worked through it, his eyes alight. He was a little jealous of that notebook — it looked like it had all sorts of ideas in it, and this was the most interesting challenge Ford had put his mind to in quite a while. It was certainly much more fun than thinking about things like his sister's futures, or Cash Lestrange's dementor. Just a harmless little puzzle with an innovative, creative solution. He wanted more of it, and was a little disappointed when Dodonus said you've been a huge help, since he read it as a sort of dismissal.

"That'd be brilliant," he remarked, eying the sketch. Then, tentatively, he added, "Do you think I could help you test it?"

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Set by Lady!

Tycho grinned as the man said the word brilliant. He did try his best to be brilliant even if hard work wasn't exactly his strong suit in most areas. But in this one area, he was capable of it. Probably because it aligned with his personal interest so well. "I don't see why not," Tycho said when the man asked if he could help test it. "I doubt you are going to running around telling other people that do what I do all about this." Well, he would hope not but Mister Greengrass seemed to have his wits about him.

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Ford grinned widely as Dodonus agreed, and an approving "Grand!" had slipped through his lips even before the other man had finished speaking. Ford had always been fascinated by these sorts of things, in understanding how they worked, but he had never gotten the opportunity to really apply his brain to the matter in a creative way. He had always been observing and appreciating, not participating. There was something so appealing about the idea that one of his ideas might have been incorporated. The suggestion that this might continue beyond just one conversation was even more enticing.

"No, your secrets are safe with me," he agreed, once he'd actually let Dodonus stop talking. He retrieved his pocketwatch from the table and slipped it back into his pocket, then dug in the opposite pocket to pull out a small card. It was a Spirit Division card, not a personal one, so it had the address to owl him at the Ministry, but Ford picked up a nub of a pencil from the table and scratched out his Bartonburg address on the back before handing it to Dodonus. "Just write when it's ready, then? I'm free in the evenings, mostly, or the weekends," he offered. "I could come to another one of your shows to help you test it out with an audience, too, if you like."

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Set by Lady!

Tycho had figured as much but it was nice to hear that his secrets were safe, all the same. He watched as the man took back his pocketwatch and dug out a card. He took the card and read the address with a nod. "Can do," Tycho said. His own evenings and weekends tended to be occupied but it wasn't like it would be grandly life changing to shuffle things around. Besides, he needed to block out time to bring this to fruition. "That would be very beneficial. We'll be great friends, I think." Well, he could kind of just sense that this was a possibility in the way he usually did some aspects in life. Always a chance he would eventually be proven wrong, only time would tell.

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   Fortitude Greengrass

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A rush went through him at Dodonus' assessment (entirely baseless, from what he could tell) that they would be great friends. Another person in this situation might have seen it as a bizarre, presumptuous, or even invasive thing to say, but it delighted Ford. He wasn't so far removed from his days as a young student being bullied by older, cooler kids that he didn't still feel pleased at the implication that someone liked him and wanted to be friends with him. It was like he'd just won a lottery he didn't know he'd entered.

"I hope so," he agreed, beaming. "Talk to you soon, then."

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Set by Lady!