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[capitolprivilege]

Who| Stephen Reagan and anyone
What| Business and pleasure as usual on the home front
Where| The office of the undersecretary of the Minister of the Future, and also a cafe
When| As backdated as you like, honestly; Stephen's habits haven't changed much over the past few months. Basically, the new year to just after the propo he was in goes live.
Warnings/Notes| Stephen Reagan being disgustingly bigoted.

A:

Stephen Reagan's desk isn't fancy or expansive, but that's all right. He's not sure what he would keep in it, anyway; all his files and all his schedules and all his messages are all done electronically, over the tablet that never seems to leave his side these days. It's more of a workstation than a desk, letting Stephen hook his tablet into its socket and spread electronic copies of forms and documents over the smooth white surface in front of him. It's out of the way, sheltered from the view of passersby by a half-wall, and generally, it's pretty quiet. Stephen's reading with pursed lips, looking over the morning's minor catastrophes, tapping his stylus against the desk as he debates whether or not this needs Ms. Dolar's attention. His suit is clean and neat and well-cut, his makeup subtle, all glitter kept to a minimum. He looks youthful but sober.

B:

It's nice to have a job that, by and large, ends in the evening. Sure, Stephen's taken work home a few times, and sometimes he's got to field things that come up unexpectedly, but it's not the same kind of twenty-four-seven being an Escort was. There's nothing on his plate today that can't be done tomorrow morning, so Stephen, still in the suit he wore to work, is sitting with a glass of wine on the patio of a cafe, watching the sun go down behind the Capitol's glittering cityscape, taking time to relax. In some moments, it's hard to believe the Capitol is really at war. Of course, Stephen never doubts the reality of it for a second, but shouldn't peaceful moments like this be impossible with Panem tearing itself apart? It doesn't seem right to him. His feet are stretched in front of him and his elbow is leaned over the back of the chair. He watches the passersby, alone at his table, separated from the street only by a thin wrought-iron fence that's barely waist height.

Comments

A

[talltaleteller]

Connections mean so, so much in the Capitol. Especially when belts are tight and wallets are light. Felicity's mother seemed to know someone who knew someone who knew everyone... and from up the chain of knowing came the news that Stephen Reagan was in need of an assistant. And why, wasn't Felicity eager for some work experience? That a paycheck came along with the position was a real bonus, given that Algernon Yoshida was still not considered fit to return to duty as a Peacekeeper...

Felicity is not entirely sure that she wants this job. It's going to cut into her exam time, which might result in not graduating, and it's definitely going to cut into her writing time... but maybe doing this would be an improvement over all the staring at the ceiling with a knot in her stomach that she'd been doing instead of the studying or writing that she ought to be getting up to. And the money would definitely help out the household. Things weren't at all the same, with Uncle Torin back in District 2 and the... overall general situation being what it was. She was going to have to suck it up and try being an adult, for once.

So there she is, striding into Stephen's office with her head held high and her handbag clutched nervously tightly with both hands, having been told to go in by the secretary. Her outfit is cute and polished and an effort at appearing as mature as possible. The heels help bump her over the five-foot-two mark, at least, and she's quite practiced at walking in them by now. "Aah, Mr. Reagan? I'm Felicity Yoshida, here for an interview?"

Oh no, oh wait, was that wrong? Was she screwing it up already?

[capitolprivilege]

He breaks into a smile, a warm one.

"Mr. Reagan is the other brother," he says. "The one you didn't bump into....god, it must have been almost a year ago, now. Love your shoes, by the way."

Perfect clothing choice, no matter your gender, is worth complimenting, in Stephen's opinion. Not to mention the fact that she's learned to handle her heels. He gestures at the chair in front of the desk, all sleek lines and space-age white curves.

"Sit down."

[talltaleteller]

"A-about a year ago, yes! Oh...!" A quick glance down to her shoes, then right back up again to Stephen's face, and Felicity just keeps right on smile, smile, smiling. "Thank you!" But they are not here for shoe chat. This is just idle introductory stuff. She gives a quick nod (almost a bow but not *actually* one) and has herself a seat where indicated, settling her purse primly into her lap.

And then she realizes that she has no idea what else to say and sort of... freezes up.

[capitolprivilege]

"All right," Stephen says, one elbow carelessly resting on the back of his chair. He's at ease, keeping the pressure on Felicity as light as possible. "Let's get down to business. The first thing I want to know is, do you have any questions for me about the position?"

[talltaleteller]

The ease is kind of nice to see, and she'd like to mirror it, but having been told to take this as seriously as possible, she is not really moving from her purse-in-lap spine-straight position. "Ah... yes! Yes, I do!" No, no she doesn't, but you're supposed to have questions... surely she can think of one in the next few seconds.

"The... ah, the hours, what hours will I be needed for? I'm still a little ways out from graduation so... I'd need to, to work my schedule around that." That's a... reasonable request, right? Is it? She's not sure. What she is sure about is that she's going to find out wether it is or not shortly.

[capitolprivilege]

"I'm sure we can work something out until your schooling's out of the way," Stephen says, waving a hand. "You'll be relief for other assistants until you graduate. You're all right with coming in evenings and weekends if we need you, right?"

[talltaleteller]

"Yes! Absolutely!" That sounds like she's totally still under consideration for the job, and that it's doable, and she'll be able to do all the things that she needs to do. She's smiling even wider, and with a lot more sincerity. "I'll be finishing up soon enough, and once that's done, you can have me on call for whenever you'd need!" It's important to seem eager, right? She's sure she's heard that somewhere.

Another question pops to mind, then, and without even thinking it over, Felicity voices it. "What sort of things do the assistants here... assist with?"