Ford worked in the Spirit Division, but he didn't mind his office being promoted in casual conversation — and he didn't know that anyone outside the Ministry really understood the difference, anyway. It certainly wasn't a very poetic distinction, so he didn't plan to bring it up. That left the issue of which question he did want to respond to, either of which had potential pitfalls. He wasn't sure he wanted to describe his work as 'fun' to a stranger (not that Broadmoor was a stranger — they'd been near enough at Hogwarts that prior to this afternoon Ford might have described him as an acquaintance, but seeing him in unexpected circumstances had recast him in Ford's mind as very strangerly indeed). Would it be better to be perceived as someone with a serious career? He didn't want to be written off, and he didn't know which avenue was more likely to lead to Broadmoor dismissing him. That itself was only a problem if he was close enough to Tycho that he would be able to in turn persuade Tycho that Ford's career was ridiculous, but at the present moment Ford hadn't collected enough information about their relationship to know. It was better not to take chances.
The question about the upcoming dance was perhaps more innocuous, but Ford wasn't sure how to handle that one, either. Should he speak highly of it in the hopes that Broadmoor would come, or dismissively in the hopes that he wouldn't? Dodonus wasn't likely to be there, given recent events. Did Ford want to potentially have a whole conversation with Broadmoor at a ball when Tycho wasn't there? What he wanted at the moment was for Tycho to return home — he thought he would be able to glean more information from seeing the way they interacted (and, potentially, the way Tycho reacted to seeing Broadmoor and Ford having a conversation together — or was he thinking too far into this?) than he would from just talking to Broadmoor in isolation. He had no control over when Tycho would return, however, and only the vaguest notion of when he would — soon had been Broadmoor's only pronunciation on the subject. In the meantime, conversation with Broadmoor was the best that he had to go on.
"We plan them a few times a year, since the spirits themselves can't really handle the logistics unless they have living relations to deal with the money and everything," Ford explained. "Have you been to one before?" This was a rather meager information grab, but it was something; Ford knew Tycho had been to at least one, and probably more since he lived with Williams. If it was Broadmoor's scene as well, that was another piece Ford could plug into the puzzle when trying to figure out what was going on between the two of them.
The question about the upcoming dance was perhaps more innocuous, but Ford wasn't sure how to handle that one, either. Should he speak highly of it in the hopes that Broadmoor would come, or dismissively in the hopes that he wouldn't? Dodonus wasn't likely to be there, given recent events. Did Ford want to potentially have a whole conversation with Broadmoor at a ball when Tycho wasn't there? What he wanted at the moment was for Tycho to return home — he thought he would be able to glean more information from seeing the way they interacted (and, potentially, the way Tycho reacted to seeing Broadmoor and Ford having a conversation together — or was he thinking too far into this?) than he would from just talking to Broadmoor in isolation. He had no control over when Tycho would return, however, and only the vaguest notion of when he would — soon had been Broadmoor's only pronunciation on the subject. In the meantime, conversation with Broadmoor was the best that he had to go on.
"We plan them a few times a year, since the spirits themselves can't really handle the logistics unless they have living relations to deal with the money and everything," Ford explained. "Have you been to one before?" This was a rather meager information grab, but it was something; Ford knew Tycho had been to at least one, and probably more since he lived with Williams. If it was Broadmoor's scene as well, that was another piece Ford could plug into the puzzle when trying to figure out what was going on between the two of them.
Set by Lady!