| Details for To Catch a Thief - Arrested Development |
| Summary: | Tim helps Phil develop some photographs of evidence. |
| Date: | 11 August 1938 |
| Location: | Moody Residence |
| Related: | Plot: To Catch A Thief |
| Characters |
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Moody Residence
Nearly every surface of wall that isn't a door is covered in framed photographs of the Wizarding variety. There is clearly a talent behind the lens; it's evident in the composition, the lighting, even the subjects captured. Some are portraits of people, others are landscapes, animals, anything that caught the eye of the photographer. The pictures are alive with movement, and all the more fascinating because of it.
It seems that most of the thought in decorating has gone into the placement of the treasured images. Not to say there isn't care in the furnishings, but the stuffed sofa and matching chairs seem more like a necessary afterthought, and not the main focus of the house's inhabitant. Toward the back of the house a glimpse of a functional kitchen, nothing fancy, can be seen. Stairs lead upward, surely to at least a couple of bedrooms and the water closet. And the wall of the stairway, of course, it yet another gallery for the stunning photographs to be displayed.
Near the door leading to the front garden of the house, there is a door that one would normally expect to be a coat cupboard. A peek beyond reveals something far different, and far larger than expectations. This is the photographer's darkroom, perhaps the most important room for the resident. Wizarding space has made the space expansive enough for ease of movement, and everything needed is just an arm's reach away. The scent of developing potions is redolent in this space, and how it manages not to seep under the door and into the whole house is likely explained by more magical means. There is clearly a place for everything here, and everything is in it's place. This organization probably all thanks to an adorable little house-elf by the name of Bowie.
It is fairly easy to make arrangements to meet someone you work with. You drop a note on their desk asking if you can come round their place and they drop a note on your desk telling you when and where. And so we find Phil on her day off knocking on Tim's door. As it is near lunch time she has brought a basket of food with her, it being the least she can do since he is doing her this favour. When he lets her in she looks around, taking it all in - at least what she can see. "Thanks for having me," she tells him with a smile and then sets the basket on a side table. "I wasn't sure what you liked so I brought a baguette and some fresh ham and brie and some grapes and then I wasn't sure what to drink and thought wine so got some of that and then some tarts." Phil laughs. "It is a good thing my basket is charmed to hold whatever I put into it." She shrugs off her lightweight cardigan and drapes it over a chair. "Thanks again for this, you are doing me a huge favour."
Tim's eyes go a touch wide when he sees what she's brought. "Looks grand. Tank yee veray much Philly. All Bowie really knows to make is salads an' scotch eggs, and pub foods. This is veray elegant. Aye, grand." He pulls out a chair for her at the dining room table. With a short stack of plates and glasses and silverware on a silver tray that's belted to under his chin Bowie makes his first appearance. He 'flings' the tableware like a frizbee and they fly smoothly to their spots on the table and come to rest there.
The house elf's appearance brings a smile to Phil's face. "Hello Bowie," she says in greeting then looks at Tim and slips into the chair, smoothing her dress beneath her before she sits. "Thank you." She begins to unpack the basket. "If you don't want anything just say so, I wasn't sure what you liked so this is stuff I like." She doesn't apologise for that, just tells it how it is. The bottle of wine is handed to Bowie to uncork, "Could you please?" she asks the elf then resumes emptying out the basket. Once it is all on the table she looks across it at Tim and smiles again. "Just so you know, I am not a dainty eater."
Tim settles down himself and shakes his head, "Ah'm nae veray picky. Cheese, bread, fruit, who dinnae like those things? Yee have fine taste Philly." Meanwhile Bowie pops the cork on the bottle of wine with a gesture of his finger in a screwing motion at the cork and then with a flick away out it flies. "Tank yee Bowie." The House elf gives a friendly wave and bow and then heads back into the kitchen to his cupboard apartment.
Phil takes the bottle and pours them each some wine as she listens to Tim. "I like your accent," she says conversationally. "I like how it come and goes." She sets the bottle aside. "I'm quite good with accents. I wonder if I could do your's." She takes over, doing so without comment. Tim's plate is filled for him, a selection of everything is put on it and then set down in front of him before she does the same for herself. Once everything is done to her satisfaction she takes up her glass and salutes him with it. "To new friends." With a smile she takes a sip of her wine.
Tim gets a bit shy at the compliment, "The brogue helps me to keep me from stammering." It's why it comes and goes, when he's feeling nervous or flustered is when the accent makes it's appearance. Usually at work however he doesn't have to use it, or want to use it. The Wizarding World might not have been rocked quite so hard as the Muggle World by the war between Ireland and Britain, but it's still enough to make Tim try to keep it under wraps surrounded by the bulk of British Aristocrats, or Academics that make up a great portion of the Prophet. "Ah like the way ye talk too."
Phil sips her wine. "I dont't really notice the stammering, or rather I haven't really noticed it." She sets the glass aside again and takes up her cutlery and starts to eat. "Really?" she laughs a little. "I don't think my accent is all that interesting. At least I don't sound like I am talking with stones in my cheeks. I find that accent irritating." She pops a grape into her mouth. "How long does it take to develop film?" She leans over and pulls a roll of film from her cardigan pocket and sets it on the table. It clearly is magical film, just from a small discrete camera.
Tim reaches out his hand palm up to take the canister and give it a gentle little rattle while he sips on his own wine after having some cheese on a piece of thin bread. He's still softly chuckling about her comment on her accent. "It's lovelay." He swallows and clears his throat and chews on his tongue a little bit before he focuses on more work related things again. "Bout an' hour, maybe more since there'll be instruction."
"I'm an avid pupil," she says with a grin, "I promise to be on my best behaviour." She eats a little more, content to sit quietly and do so for a while. She doesn't want to put pressure on him, afterall this is a favour. When she has eaten enough she settles back in her chair and sips her wine contentedly. "You have a lovely home, Tim. The photographs are amazing, truly amazing. You should put on a show. I see so much art and in all honesty it rarely is ever this good."
Tim actually blushes at the last set of compliments he clears his throat and chews on his tongue and bobs his head in gratitude, but he's obviously beyond any trick to keep him from stammering and he knows it so he keeps quiet. Once she looks like she's eaten her fill he stands and moves to help her with her chair and then gestures towards the basement door, "Shall we?" While the bulk of the basement is usually filled with his training gear and equipment making it usually off limits for anyone he has forewarning and so he's cleared it all out and packed it away for this rare instance. So the basement looks remarkably clean for being a basement. He's brought the wine and their glasses down and once he opens the dark room he sets them down on a small table in the sizable potent smelling room. "Sorray for the smell…Ah cannae smell it any more, but I know it's strong."
Phil rises from the table and makes to follow Tim. She is unaware of all the tongue chewing, given that it is internal, were she she would feel quite upset at putting him into this situation. "Yes, please. Lead the way." She follows him to his dark room, her curious gaze moving from surface to surface. "I don't mind. I've spent nights in bins and under bridges hunting for a story. This isn't so bad, considering." She laces her hands together behind her back. "Just tell me what to do and I will do it."
Tim gives her a boyishly charming smile before he comments, "The abridged version…." He lifts up the first jug of solution and shows her the name on the jug and then fills the first dipping trough, then the second solution and the second bin is filled all just to an inch or so of solution. Then he pretends at a magic trick like a stage magician and pulls out the canister of film. He's more of a show than a tell kind of teacher but he does answer any questions she might have through the process of dipping and drying and dipping and drying and then comes the time when they have things to the point where she can see the pictures taken and she needs to select the pictures she wants to complete the rest of the process with and make full sized prints.
Phil didn't lie. She is a good student - an attentive one. She watches and helps whenever asked and when it comes time to choose the photos she is pleasantly surprised by how good her photographs were. "That one," she says and then points to a few others. All the photographs are of women's handbags or pieces of jewelry that belonged to women or look to have belonged to women, cheap things which won't fetch much of a price if fenced. "The bastard stole from the poor witches, they're simple women too afraid to go to healers or the ministry. Now that I have these I need to convince them to do both."
Tim shakes his head frowning. "Any idea who dis low life is?" He's got a surprising authoritative tone when he asks that. His Auror training bubbling to the surface when faced with these crimes. The pictures she picks out get a little snip to the perforated edge simply to mark the ones selected clearly. Then he takes her through the rest of the process until she's looking over the still pictures of the items. "Yee did good, them mini-cams are usual hard to use an' low quality. But ye got some real good pictures. Now do yee want to add the motion potion so they get the full view?"
Phil stares at the photos, thinking about the women she has spoken to and the suffering the man put them through. She breathes out a heavy sigh. "Yes, we know who he is. The MLE is looking for him now. I'm working on the victims, trying to get them to speak up." She lifts her head and looks over at Tim, "Sorry, I already said that." She looks at the images again and says, "Thank you. I was hoping it would work." She cannot help but laugh a little. "Is it really called motion potion? That sounds…I am sorry. I ca - I know its not polite." She covers her mouth with her hand to try and stiffle her laughter even as she nods to indicate she does want it on the photos.
Tim looks rather surprised that the same woman that wrote the propriety article is making innuendo towards 'Motion Potion'. His eye brows arch up and he looks at her all wide eyed, surprised and perhaps a touch relieved that she's a bit less starchy than he thought she might be. He starts to chuckle himself and nod his head while he adds the Motion Potion, it even says it on the side of the bottle he turns so that she can see it. After the pictures have taking their plunge he clips them up on strings to dry and stands back with her watching her face for her reaction more than the pictures as they start to come to life, though because it's just sitting objects the angle starts to swivel and adjust. "So wha'sis name? Whacha knows bout'm?" He seems almost too casual as he asks about the criminal.
Phil recovers from her laughing fit and wipes her hands down the front of her dress. "I am terribly sorry. That came out of nowhere. I do apologise." She looks at him and shakes her head, "I am sorry, Tim but I cannot divulge that." She sighs, "I have been given strict instructions because of the investigation being ongoing. I can tell you that he is a gambler and that's why we think he is doing this. To feed his addiction. But more than that I cannot say. He's simple and his crime is not terribly complicated but it is hurting people terribly and I intend to make sure he pays."
Tim nods his head and gestures to the table with their wine. "We can sit an' have a glass while they dry completely, then ye can take them to the authorities. Aye?" He's a bit more relaxed around her now that she made the bawdy joke and he even gives her a friendly wink as he pours the wine.
Phil crosses the space and sits down at the table. "Why haven't we ever done this before? Do you do this with others from work? I have to admit I don't know many others socially. Sometimes I go and have dinner with Marinus and his boyfriend, you know the music correspondent." She takes the glass of wine from him and sips from it. "What about you?"
Tim gets that shy boyish look again and sips to stall, "Never 'ad someone in 'ere but me an' my uncle. Ye are the first. So no, Ah dinnae socialize myself. Tried it once. Dinnae work out verah well, as yee prolly known." He takes another drink of wine, this one much more than a sip.
Phil nods slowly as he brings up the elephant in the room, that small librarian shaped elephant. "I didn't know her very well, but I am sorry for the pain you have been through. I won't pry." Which says something considering prying is what she does for a living. "If there is anything I can do, you know - things to get you out. I do go out quite a bit. Not all of it fun mind you." She grins, "Quite a lot of it is social functions for charities my family is involved in, but you never know waltzing might be something you are very fond of."
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