Today, she arrived at her cubicle, put down her bag, and sat. There was a stack of paper at her left- case files, or whatever you wanted to call them. She shifted the stack an inch to the left before sitting back, sighing, and remembering that she had forgotten her coffee. Rolling her eyes, the woman got up and walked toward the break room. She passed cubicle after cubicle on her way, waving to some, smiling at others, and offering still more a grave, solemn kind of nod. Some people felt stifled by the office environment, but not Hestia. She didn't need visual stimulus to get through the day- all that she needed was her work. She was good at what she did, in her humble opinion, and she liked it, so she wasn't about to ask for multi-colored balloons and funfetti cake every day of the year just to make things interesting.
She obtained said coffee, rejoicing in the disgusting-yet-wonderful scent, and went the long way around to her desk, so that she wouldn't walk past the same people twice. After the initial greeting, when you saw people, they tended to want a conversation. Hestia was not about to chat about the weather with people from the auror division. Not that she didn't like them, but there were more important things to be done. That was mostly what Hestia loved about being here- she always felt like she was doing something worthwhile. Other jobs didn't afford people that satisfaction. She doubted that the games-and-sports people really concerned themselves with matters of "the greater good", as Hestia liked to call it. But no matter. She was here, and they were there, and that was how it ought to be.
Hestia was in her chair again by the time work was supposed to begin. She cracked each knuckle on her right hand in turn, which was Hestia's way of getting ready for work. The knuckles of her left hand didn't crack, and never had, so she didn't even try getting them prepared. But as Hestia pulled out the first file she had to go through, she felt the unmistakable presence of someone standing behind her. A shiver raced down her spine- she hated that feeling, it was the most annoying thing in the world, especially when it turned out to be wrong. But just to be safe, Hestia looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was there.




