Nightingale in a Golden Cage ~ Stabler's Flat

In a semi-drunken haze, Berlynn staggered to the door of her apartment. She fumbled for a moment before managing to remove the top cartilage earring of her right ear that served as the key for her Flat. Eventually though, she managed to remove the jewelry and traced the German engravings upon her door, de-activating the security charms and allowing her access. With a sigh she entered, slipping off her high heels and tossing them to the side carelessly as she plopped unto the sofa.

Annoyed sapphire orbs scanned the room, getting more irked with each item noticed in the Flat's decor. It was difficult to explain, but the witch hated lingering on things for far too long. She lived for change and saw it as a spice for life. If variety was indeed a spice, for sure, Berlynn Stabler would be the Habanero Pepper; one of the spiciest in the world. Her world was so dependent on change that she moved often, never staying at a flat for more than two years. And when she did stay at a flat for a reasonable amount of time, the decor witnessed multiply changes ranging from Modern to Oriental.

At the present, the Flat was in a Victorian Gothic tone with rich, dark violet coating the walls in it's embrace, dark mahogany furniture, and glass and black metal tables around, with hints of sedative candles throughout the flat. Lovely indeed, yet not at all enough to satisfy the Auror who was contemplating when she should redecorate once more. Or better yet, perhaps move. 

There really was no point in all her endeavors with her decor and homes. After all, with her working schedule she was always busy. And even when she was off, normally she was off at some bar or nightclub, drinking and partying the night and early morning away. To an outsider, they might assume that Berlynn was merely spoiled: a pampered princess who was so used to the luxury life as an heiress to an internationally successful business bestowed upon her that nothing in life could make her happy. Thats not true though. She is happy. She enjoys her job, adores those around her. She merely isn't satisfied. Gustav Stabler had stressed one lesson to all of his children, above all others: Never settle. And it was a lesson Berlynn had learned well. She wants more in life. She isn't sure what it is, what more she could possibly want from life, but it's there, the dissatisfaction staring a her and mocking at her.

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that all of her siblings have children and mates. Perhaps it is because her emergency card at the Auror office has no other number to notify should the worst happen. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that when she does go to her Flat it is so silent that the only sound to be heard is the ice clinking in the glass of her martini. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that she is growing tired of waking up from a night of partying next to someone she doesn't know and won't ever know because once the music is over and the club is closed, she is insignificant and forgotten.

Regardless of the reasoning, Berlynn ignores it all. Or at least, tries to, which is easy, especially with the help of what lays within the packet in her hand. With a smile she opens the packet, revealing a syringe filled with a glowing emerald substance. As the needle meets her skin and the emerald begins to disappear within the matching emerald labyrinth of her veins, she sighs, curling into the sofa she now adores in her delusional haze.

She is at home. She is at peace. She has no regrets.

For the moment, at least.

Despite being assigned to the personal detail of two opposing political figures, Julian Kaiser had nothing but respect and affection for his colleague, Berlynn Stabler. How she managed to do her job, well, and still have time to go out and have some semblance of a social life was a mystery to Julian. Although Minister Lightle did, admittedly, seem like a much more easy-going charge than the bad-tempered Vinzent Zolnerowich who so frequently threatened to have Julian fired. Some people just had all the luck -- and Julian was clearly not included in that number.

But he didn't hold it against Berlynn, so when he found himself knocking on her door in the dead of night to get some papers for Zolnerowich, it wasn't with a heavy heart -- although he did feel bad for possibly waking her. More likely she wasn't even in yet, the party animal -- in that case he'd have to sit outside her door waiting for her arrival, because going back empty-handed was definitely not an option.

Immersed within a rather thrilling dream of soaring through the skies, diving into the deepest ocean's abyss and taking a stroll upon Mount Everest, Berlynn couldn't help but scowl as her rather entertaining dream was annihilated by the sounds of knocking at her door. A bit disorientedly, both from having just woken up and being slightly hung over from her partying mere hours ago, Berlynn rose grudgingly from her comfortable position on the sofa and made her way towards the door. Much to her amazement, she only stumbled once, which in her state was quite an accomplishment. Casting a charm to see who it was, she was surprised to see one of her good friends Julian Kaiser.

Berlynn yawned softly and stretched a bit, casting a quick glance at the mirror to make sure she looked at least decent and not as though she had just crawled in from a club. With her hair all smoothed out, she opened her door with a smile. "Hey, Kaiser J" she greeted, using the nickname she had bestowed upon him when they had first met. "What's up?" she asked as she opened her door to let her friend in.

"Business, unfortunately," Julian responded, hugging Berlynn before walking into her flat. "But you know I'm going to get yelled at for being slow no matter how fast I get those papers, so I might as well visit an old friend a little bit first -- if I'm not interrupting, that is," he added, noting the blankets trailing off of the sofa and onto the floor.

"We could get more comfortable, if you like," he joked with a wink, sitting down on the sofa and patting the seat beside him. It was something of a running joke between the two that despite Julian's womanising tendencies and Berlynn's affinity for partying, the two had never gotten together. The truth was that Julian was not over his ex-wife, and he had too much respect for Berlynn than to make her just another conquest. It would just ruin their friendship, he feared, and so they had never crossed that line despite being good friends. Besides, a relationship with a coworker would just be unprofessional. No matter how gorgeous and fun said coworker was.

"Good night, I take it?" Julian asked, knowing she only crashed on the sofa after a particularly eventful night out,

"Nah, not really. Actually, I'm glad you're over. it's not often I have visitors." Berlynn replied, returning the hug. "And don't worry about Vinzent. He's just jealous since you have more hair -and non grey one's, at that- than he does. Don't let it bother you." she replied with a teasing tone. She understood Julian's frustrations, having worked for Vinzent herself, though admittedly her friend dealt with much more than she did, which caused her to nag Vinzent about it whenever she had the moment. Which was rather often, considering she found nagging him until the black of his outfit turned itself to hot shades of pink to be quite entertaining. 

A light laugh escaped her as well as a playful roll of her eyes at Julian's wink and joke, knowing it was a statement all in play. They were very good friends and had always been, though admittedly in the beginning when they had first met Berlynn may have had a mini crush on him. After all, he was the best looking Auror in the department, with a great personality to top it all off. Who wouldn't like him?

Well, aside from a wizard who had what Berlynn personally, ough jokingly, defined as too close of an attachment to cats, who happened to be Julian's boss...

Berlynn plopped down next to Julian on the couch, replying to his question "I went from bar to bar, though cant remember where, danced with complete strangers, watched a few bar fights, and stumbled on the stairs on the way up, only to realize I was attempting to open and enter the wrong Flat... So yeah, a pretty damn good one!" she replied cheerfully with an enthusiastic nod.

"How's yours going?" she asked in return, wondering what errand it was Vinzent had her friend going on.

Julian smirked at Berlynn's theory into Vinzent's behaviour towards himself. Somehow, he doubted he got picked on simply because he was so darn good-looking, although it was an entertaining thought.

"That does sounds like a good night," he returned, considering. "A bar fight or two might have lightened the evening considerably. Vinzent's had me doing paperwork all night, and running about collecting reports for him. Thrilling stuff. From you I need something from Liara...what was it, now?" he asked, rummaging through his pockets for the slip of parchment containing the information.

"Something about an incident at the conference?" he asked, reading off the slip. "The report on the Russian Minister's attack...he wants me to collect the eyewitness reports as well at the official documentation from St. Mechtilde's...intake papers, discharge papers, everything," he concluded, rolling his eyes.

"Why he wants it, I have no idea. To drive me crazy, I'm sure."

["color=brown]Eww, paperwork."[/color] Berlynn replied, not at all fond of scraps of parchment that for some odd reason all Aurors had to handle whenever it came to incidents. She had a theory that if witches and wizards wanting to go into the Auror business were warned beforehand of the staggering amount of paperwork they'd have to deal with, very few people would have opted for the job. It may even have impacted her choice, if she had known, but alas, the spell had struck 'Auror' for a reason, and though Berlynn still was unaware of the reason, she was determined to find out one way or another.

"Hmm... I hate to tell you this, Comrade, but, from me, paperwork is one of the worst things to ask for..." she replied apologetically. While she was a bit of a neat freak, she wasn't what one would call organized when it came to something she loathed and cared little about such as paperwork. With a wave of her hand, she conjured up her desk from her office and had it hovering a few feet in front of the pair. A twist of her fingers had the desk turn upside down, shaking out its contents into a neat pile. 

Within seconds, a mountain of paperwork appeared in a scattered, yet neat, pile, along with a few odd trinkets she had kept in her desk ranging from drawings her nieces and nephews had given her to her secret, secret-secret, and secret-secret-secret stashes of candy and liquor. Ironically enough, one of the trinkets next to the pile of paperwork was a file folder that surely would have helped when it came to organization had the witch not transformed the office tool into a "treasure chest" filled with more from her secret stashes.

"I know it's in here somewhere because the bloody file was too big for me to sneak into the other Auror's pile like I normally would have done." Berlynn stated as she began rummaging through the pile, searching for the desired documents.

"Well then he's a bloody genius, then because not only is he driving you crazy, but driving me crazy as well." Berlynn jokingly replied as she continued to search through her pile. "Any idea what it's supposed to look like? All I remember was that it was to big to discard without anyone noticing."

"Merlin's. Baggiest. Y-fronts," Julian declared, switching to English for the colourful phrase he'd learned from his colleagues at the Auror's Office. "We'll be here til dawn," he continued, sliding onto the floor to gain better access to the mountain of parchment.

"Ach, Berlynn! This man will be the death of us." Daunted by the sheer volume of paper, he laid back spread-eagled across the floor, eyes closed. "There wouldn't be a way we could simply Summon it, would there?" he asked, performing the simple charm with his eyes still closed -- a poor idea, in retrospect. The huge file came zooming out from the pile and landed smack dab on his face, scattering the pages everywhere. He shot up in alarm and surprise, cursing fluently in every language he knew, parchment still drifting back to the floor all around him.

"Blame it on the bosses. They know I can't, or won't, rather, do paperwork, yet they still keep shoving it on my desk!" Berlynn replied in mock-seriousness, not able to control her light laughter at Julian's reaction.

As sapphire orbs watched as their owner's companion attempted to summon the necessary paperwork, only to have the file smack him in the face and scatter the contents everywhere, the witch attempted to stifle her fit of laughter. "...yeah, we could definitely summon it. I'd suggest we try to retrieve the papers, but there's a rather large world of unwanted paperwork out there that could find it's way in my living room..."

In a playful, teasing tone, she added, "I'm not too keen on the idea of going parchment surfing."

Julian sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. "It's too late for this nonsense...or too early, depending on your view," he conceeded.

"I need coffee, or I will die. Is there someplace nearby where we could go for a cuppa?" he asked, hopeful at the thought of caffeine. It was just about the only thing that got him through the day at this point. "Then I'll be out of your hair, I promise."

"Well, considering I guess since I've technically already slept, I guess early." Berlynn replied with a shrug. "You haven't been able to catch a few yourself, yet?" she asked with a tilt of her eyebrow, never having liked the sleepless nights that came with being an Auror. How was one supposed to party after having no sleep?

She couldn't help but laugh lightly at the request for coffee, knowing what it felt like to not have one when it was desperately needed. If Berlynn was asked at this very moment to name the greatest love of her life, she would be torn between alcohol, clubbing, candy, and coffee. "Not her in my flat. I'm afraid I'm not one for cooking." she replied with an apologetic smile. She was, after all, rarely home to sleep in, much less to start playing Chef or Baker. "There's a cafe down the street thats open all night. Want to drop by?"

"Not yet," Julian confirmed with another sigh. "Vinzent is a slave driver, you know how lucky you are to have gotten reassigned -- and you're a pureblood. So yes, I would love a coffee. It'll likely be the highlight of my week, to be honest." It was either have some coffee or pass out on Berlynn's floor -- which he might be tempted to do if it were the fact that Vinzent would murder him in cold blood once he found Julian.

"Sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice, coming here. There might be more gold, but there's so much less of everything else," he admitted, uncharacteristically serious for the moment. Perhaps the lack of sleep and constant harassment was finally starting to break him down.

A sympathetic smile illuminated the witch's face as she gave her friend a playful mini-shove to try and lighten the atmosphere and cheer him up."Ah, c'mon. Don't be such a Drama Wizard. If its that bad you could always request a transfer. Then if Vinzent asks why you switched out, just say he didn't give you enough vacations. That's what I said." she replied, smiling brightly, determined to try and cheer her friend up. She hated seeing people around her upset and always wanted to make people happy.

A soft sigh escaped her as she reluctantly nodded, knowing that Julian had a point there. While she had never looked back on her decision to move to England, that didn't mean that it didn't get lonely at times. "You got a point there. It does get a little lonely sometimes. But hey, thats what clubbing is for. As long as you and the guy next to you have a drink in your hands, you're all best friends forever! Or at least until one of you passes out from the alcohol..." she trailed off with a shrug and a smile.

Julian smiled reluctantly at Berlynn. She was right; it wouldn't be that hard to transfer, but somehow it felt like that was quitting. He was always going back and forth about it, but clearly, sticking through it had been winning out.

"Maybe if I just get a bit more time off," he considered, wondering if he'd even be able to negotiate that. "I haven't had a proper weekend in months, and if I just had any time at all to get a break from it all, it might not be so awful. I just need a vacation, is what it is."

(So sorry! Lost track of this reply >.< *blames gmail* lol)

"Ah, yeah. That was kinda my main issue with working with Vinzent. He was a bit stingy when it came to vacations, which was something that really wasn't working for me. I mean, hey, we bust our asses protecting people everyday. We deserve a hell of alot of vacations. At least once a month to do nothing but drink, dance, and party. Granted I do that on a regular basis anyway... but a change of scenery like somewhere with a beach where I can get a sunburn and whine about would lovely." Berlynn replied with a nod, trailing off with a light laugh.

"For real though, comrade, you are way too tense. You need to learn how to loosen up and laugh at some things." Berlynn offered, hoping her advice would be considered helpful. In the witch's opinion, life was far too short to be spent worrying and fussing over every little thing. Yes, the auror business was long, difficult, and stressful, but the witch felt that the only way to survive and not go absolutely mad was to just keep oneself neutral and not so immersed in work, bringing it and all its worries back home. Granted, it could very well be said that the witch perhaps should too little interest and seriousness in her career, but deep down it was always to each their own, and it was this attitude that allowed the witch to keep on going.

(Hahah it's ok, so did I honestly!)

"Easier said than done," Julian replied with a huge yawn. "I think they're going to have to inject me directly with caffeine at this point...I don't understand why he's got me pulling 32-hour shifts this far away from the election. I'm supposed to be his bodyguard, not his personal assistant!" He shook his head and got up from the floor reluctantly, walking to the door.

"Never thought I'd catch myself suggesting that I wanted to spend more personal time with Vinzent, but..."

Sapphire orbs darkened slightly at the mention of syringes, knowing all to well that feeling of needing something injected within to enable one to keep going. After all, barely a night passed by without a syringe or another substitute of some sort was used to pass a few toxins of sorts unto the witch in her endeavors to create at least an artificial happiness. She stayed silent on that matter though, opting to nod on in sympathy and understanding.

"Yeah, tricky thing about being amidst the world of politics, eh? I mean, all we're really responsible for is just catching jinxes and hexes or making sure they hit anyone else aside from our charge, yet somehow or another we get caught up in the middle of it all. Some days I wonder why don't I just leave the work force and open a candy shop or something. At least that way I'd be able to have my sangria pops in peace! Y'know?"

The redhaired witch sighed lightly as she laid back on the ground, glancing up on the ceiling. "Just makes you wonder sometimes what else life can throw at you, doesn't it?"

"I just might join you," Julian replied with a smirk, thinking a sangria lollipop sounded good -- if such a thing even existed. Knowing Berlynn, it probably did.

"This job is not at all what I signed up for or expected. But...you know me, stubborn. I refuse to be beaten by someone like Vinzent...even if that means taking a literal beating," he joked, only able to shrug at the irony. It all came down to money, really -- cold, hard gold. Having it, or not having it -- didn't seem to make sense how it could be so important. The messed-up part was that he'd taken the job to make things at home better, and they'd only gotten worse. Now he had nothing left but his gold, and it left a bitter taste in his mouth. The only thing he had left was his pride, and he would see it through to the end, whatever that end might be.