Aileen rummaged around her uncharacteristically messy office, trying to make it home early this afternoon. She'd made it two steps out, and then returned for a stack of papers. It took two tugs to open the desk drawer, causing her to teeter back. Aileen glanced up at the open door. Merlin forbid anyone see their oh-so-poised Runes professor bested by uncooperative furniture.

But someone was indeed watching. Hairs stood up on the back of her neck, though she didn't see anyone. Aileen took a step forward, and glanced over her desk.

A dog! She thought it was a dog. Aileen froze under that strange, intelligent gaze. Animagus, perhaps? Or Tapendra cursed by another hag? Later, she would think that it was funny she thought of him. The small, dark creature didn't even cock its head at her. It just stared. Still. Silent.

Creepy.

Aileen frowned at the dog - more of a puppy, really, and edged around it to reach the door. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the dog shifting its stance to watch her, and Aileen ignored it as she poked her head out of her office.

Just in time to catch Tapendra hurrying forward!

"What in the-" she stepped back quickly.

"Does this belong to you?" Aileen questioned in a harried tone, gesturing at the animal who remained sitting on the office rug. If it chose that moment to make a mess...

She hoped it was Tapendra's. Then she wouldn't have to worry about scolding any students, or avoiding another niffler-esque incident where the creature bounded about looking for shiny things. Despite her rush to go home and lament the fact that it was her birthday, she hesitated long enough to quirk an eyebrow at him.

Tapendra was indeed in a hurry, not the least because the bloody dog had vanished somewhere and gods knew what the students would do if they found it - probably take it back to one of the towers and squeal about it and then Cyhirae would find out and -

Well, there were worst places it could have been. Less convenient, too. He was, after all, supposed to be herding Aileen towards her classroom, too, at the behest - which was a nicer word than orders - of the other professor's sister, Abby.

He'd only found out a few days before that it was his old classmate's birthday. Now there was a batch of mixed feelings; amusement that she was older than him, panic because he was suddenly expected not only to attend by to find a gift, and terror at the fact that he had guessed (as it turned out, quite accurately) that Aileen didn't know there were plans to celebrate her birthday.

Currently Abby was holed up in the Runes classroom, and doing gods knew what in his absence...

He scooted to a stop with a surprised expression. He hadn't expected her to be in his her office, much less for the Sha to be there.

"Err," he said, intelligently, as he looked around the doorway and at the small black dog which sat quietly in front of her desk. "Yes? Sort of. More of a - well - yes, something like that."

He shuffled his feet for a moment, smiling awkwardly. "He, uh, didn't do anything, right-" It was then that he saw the mess her normally neat office was in, and he scowled at the dog, crossing his arms in much the same way one might scold a small child. "Did you do this?" He asked.

The dog, which had been looking at Aileen, looked at him quietly and then simply shook its head, much the same way a human might do. With that, it walked over to Aileen and sat down, going back to regarding her quietly.

Tapendra's frowned lessened. "Oh, um - okay," he said.

Aileen blinked at Tapendra's suspicious explanation, pushing back a strange mixture of emotions. One of them a prickle of loneliness. Though it was aggravating, Aileen knew it would fade once she got home and nagged Abby about forgetting her birthday. She should have reminded her scatterbrained sister, but she hadn't even realized it would bother her until the day arrived and there was no confetti-filled card, no mischievous grin, no nothing. Only an owl from their mother, which certainly did not lift her spirits, since she'd demanded her presence at a party this weekend full of aging bachelors.

At the very least, Aileen could be grateful she hadn't received any obnoxious flower displays from Oz. He finally got the picture! And yet, as the day wore on, even the lack of singing bouquets was starting to annoy her. Aileen knew it was nuts, so she'd decided it would be best if she left the castle earlier than usual this afternoon. There was a giant glass of wine at home with her name on it.

"The mess is mine," she reassured him when he scolded the dog. Rather amusingly. Watching his reaction distracted her from the dog's all too human head shake, and she only glanced at the creature when it sat by her feet again. Even if Tapendra did stumble in here by accident (wearing something nice for once), it gave her an excuse to smirk at him, which she did.

"I've been in a rush all day," she sighed as vague explanation. She had plans that didn't involve sulking, or so she was going to pretend.

Aileen set down her things back onto the desk, and raised her eyebrows at Tapendra's new pet. Despite its (adorably) wrinkled forehead and puppy-size, it didn't seem like the type of pet he would like. Too silent and eerie.

"Where did he come from? He looks like he's stepped off of an ancient tomb wall." Ancient Egyptian tomb wall. That was the one part that made a little sense.

Tapendra gave Aileen a surprised look. He supposed he could see her being messy every now and then, but - well - she just didn't seem the sort to rush off and leave her office in this state. He blinked and then shrugged; if the dog hadn't done it, then...well, the dog hadn't done it. Tapendra couldn't really judge someone for a messy office, anyway. He wasn't terribly messy himself, but the constant stuffing of papers and books - and his tendency to wind up sleeping on the floor in a pile of paper - made his classroom so regularly dirty and then clean again it was almost like a tide going in and out.

Aileen was being strangely accepting today - he wondered if she was in on Abby's plan after all. Still...

"He's, well, mine, I guess," he said, bending down to pick up the dog, which wagged its tail as he did so. "It was a gift, I suppose you'd say. It's complicated." He wasn't sure if he'd call it a gift, exactly; the complicated details of the sending of the dog and his acceptance of it were mired in politics older than the castle they now stood in.

"It's an Egyptian breed - they call them Shas. They understand all languages, apparently." The dog was remarkably intelligent, he'd give it that.

Holding the small black dog in much the same way one would hold a cat, he looked around the office for a moment. "I'm surprised you're leaving," he said, after a subtle check of his watch. "I thought you were working with some of the students - there were several in your classroom. Seemed to be moving stuff around?"

It was surprising, how easily the lie came.

Aileen ignored the surprise on his face. She had messy days too. Tapendra wasn't making any sense about that dog, but it didn't really concern her, and she was just grateful the puppy hadn't piddled on the rug, attempted to lick her, or sat on her feet yet. In fact, Aileen might have forgotten he was a dog at all if his tail hadn't wagged when Tapendra picked him up.

"Impressive," she nodded in approval. "Yet somehow I can't see Keplar giving up his spot on the globe."

Unless the cat had gotten used to sharing during the short time that Tapendra had turned into a flying pony.

"Hmm?" Aileen replied distractedly, lifting up a few papers in a half-hearted attempt to clean up. "What?" She said in a sharper tone as his comment sunk in. "Why didn't you-?" She gestured at him. Stop them? Mention this to her earlier?

Giving him an exasperated look, she suddenly remembered him rushing toward her office from the right side of the hallway. Her classroom was to the left of her office, a few steps away. She shook her head and started to head out, then looked over her shoulder at Tapendra, who was looking especially harmless with the puppy in his arms. But she knew better. She knew that the second she left his sight, he'd start peering casually at her books and papers, discover something embarrassing or annoying (because that was her luck), and then stick around to remind her of it.

"If you have some important event to rush off to," she glanced at his outfit, "there's no need to stay on my account."

The odd note in her voice was not disappointment! And if it was, she gave him little time to respond as she stepped out of her office and toward the Runes classroom.

Kepler hadn't given up his globe spot, that much was true. The cat didn't seem too pleased with the arrival of this new creature - not that he seemed pleased by much, really - and had guarded the globe even though the dog had shown next to no interest in the object. Kepler wasn't the sort to let his guard down, though.

Tapendra's faked innocently concerned look was about as convincing as one would expect, but thankfully Aileen seemed to believe it anyway. "I assumed they were in there because you'd told them they could," he suggested, hopefully. She headed out of the office, and he hesitated just a moment, letting his breath out and then heading after her.

"Head of House powers?" He suggested, and he was obviously thinking out loud. "I mean, if they're in your classroom, there's a good chance they're Ravenclaws, right?" He smiled nervously.

He hovered awkwardly when she reached the closed door, the dog turning its head to give him an exasperated look.

Aileen shook her head, failing to see his logic. “Ravenclaws generally don’t ‘move things around’ in a professor’s classroom without asking first. I know one in particular who would never-”

She opened the door and had to eat her words.

There stood Sasha and- and Abby?! They were surrounded by what she could only describe as pink floor poufs that resembled overgrown puffskeins. That explained the lack of chairs. The desks had been stacked in a pyramid shape by the windows, and the projector at the back of the classroom made the words ‘Happy Birthday’ dance along the walls, along with random runes and stars.

Her little sister looked startled, jumped behind a pouf, and then jumped out again, yelling, “Surprise!”

Aileen continued to stare, then took a few steps forward. “Abby? How did you..?” She looked back at Tapendra, expression torn between accusation and thankfulness.

“Isn’t it fun? I know it’s not your style, but it does liven things up,” Abby nudged a pouf with her toe, and it meeped at them.

“…Yes,” Aileen conceded with a smile. “You surprised me. Which is not an easy feat. I was all set to head home and drop hints,” she glanced at her quickly, suspecting how she might answer that.

“Sulk, you mean,” Abby grinned.

“Never!"

Her sister looked at her hopefully, and Aileen hesitated, then moved forward to give her a hug. “Thank you,” she said more warmly. Aileen glanced at Tapendra and Sasha. They’d all be more comfortable if she did not attempt to hug them.

“How did she convince you two to do this? It’s very,” she paused. “Sweet.” She tried to make it sound like a compliment. The combination of runes and stars somewhat worried her, and the presence of that puppy –  uh oh.

In all fairness, Sasha hadn't had any intentions of touching or moving a thing in Professor Reid's office.  That meant, the stacked desks were not his idea.  Nor the non-academic lettering on the projector.  Certainly, the scattered pink fluffs weren't in anyway his doing.  As Sasha glanced around the room, waiting to be caught for the professors to arrive, he hadn't - and wouldn't have - planned any of this.  He'd just done as he was told; provided the magical power to bring Abby's ideas into fruition. 

Given Abby's unique ability to rattle off a thousand ideas a minute in a manner that suggested each was more brilliant than the last, he'd actually done quite a bit. 

Nothing about this was appropriate.  Not hiding in a ransacked Hogwarts professor's office with a squib while waiting to throw a surprise birthday party for said professor.  No matter what rule book one referred to.  And, he'd been suspicious ever since that second year had slipped into the Ravenclaw common room to tell him that a "Hannah" was waiting outside for him. 

His muttering on the subject had persisted halfway through the set up work. 

Sasha had already decided he wasn't going to hide and then jump out in an attempt to startle his professor, even if it was in the name of fun.  As Professors Reid and Trishna stepped through the door, he merely glanced pointedly at Abby to convey that the vast majority of the current state of things was her doing and offered an awkward "Allo! Happy Birthday,"  that was easily drowned out by Abby's jubilation. 

“How did she convince you two to do this? It’s very.”

"She didn't tell me what was going on until we got here an hour ago," Sasha offered.  "She's fairly convincing when she's vague."  Or, Abby was simply inexplicably convincing most of the time. 

"I'm sorry if this is too inappropriate.  I could simply step out," he offered.  It seemed the right thing to do.  After all, everyone else had a real, concrete reason to be here.  Abby was Professor Reid's sister.  Professors Trishna and Reid were "friends."  He ... wasn't sure how to define what he was to any of them. 

Tapendra visibly relaxed when Aileen didn't scream and throw them all out, which he'd sort of expected her to do. He hazarded a nervous smile, though the room was...well, Sasha may have done the decorating, but it was clear that it was all Abby's idea. If Sasha had been told to plan Aileen's birthday, it would have probably been a sober black tie affair.

He wanted to sit down, but when the chair blinked at him he settled for leaning on the wall, putting the puppy down. The dog promptly trotted off to sniff at Abby and Sasha.  "Abby told me a few days ago," he admitted, hoping that was explanation enough for how Abby had gotten into the castle at all. "And yes, she is," he added to Sasha's comment, with a smile.

The boy offered to leave, and the look Tapendra shot him over Aileen's shoulder was openly pleading. "I'm sure you're fine, Sasha," he said, more levelly, nudging the nearby puffskin-chair with his foot. They were cute...and more than a little disturbing.

He'd really rather not be left on his own with the sisters. If he was going to be a third wheel, he wasn't going to do it alone, dammit.

Merlin, everyone was looking awkward except for her. She expected it from Sasha, maybe a little from Professor Tappy, and yes, she'd expected it from her sister too, but still! This was a party. Abby defiantly plopped down on one of the chairs she'd ordered Sasha to make, and laughed when it let out a squeak.

She gave Sasha a look when he immediately offered to leave. Luckily, Aileen chimed in with, "You're welcome to stay. Of course, if you have things to do-"

"You're staying," Abby announced helpfully. "When else will I get to see you? Not till the next Hogs-- is that a puppy?!"

She sat up on the pouf and outstretched her arms toward the small dog. He sniffed her fingers, wagged his tail slightly, then looked up at Sasha. Abby scooted forward, patting the strange dog's head. Strange but adorable!

"Is the puppy for the party, or..?" She had no shame.

Aileen was silent, but quirked a wary eyebrow in Tapendra's direction.

Yes, Abby could be quite persuasive.  He certainly wouldn't have come up with the idea of making the chairs squeak on his own.

Sasha glanced between Abby and Professor Trishna.  He'd had a few days notice?  Did Professor Trishna know Sasha was going to get dragged into this?  He met the Astronomy Professor's pleading glance with a raised, questioning eyebrow just as Professor Reid provided a figurative open door for escape and Abby promptly closed it. 

Though, of course, Abby was right.  They didn't get a lot of other opportunities to see each other.  Opportunities not marred by Tawse-snogging seemed even more rare. 

Not that Sasha hadn't been worrying about that. 

"Unless, you know, you could come at Halloween," Sasha tossed out in a hopefully casual manner.  He didn't even know if she's be allowed to.  Of course, in a well-enough planned costume, who'd know?  Besides his Head of House and her sister.  Sasha lowered himself, slowly, on one of the pink poofs, hoping that by moving slowly he could minimize it's vocalizations. 

It was, of course, fruitless.  To the puppy's delight (and probably Abby's), the poof's squeak was just drawn out, lasting as long as it took to sit down - much like someone attempting to empty a bagpipe quietly by squeezing it slower and longer. 

"They aren't expecting party games, right?" Sasha asked, leaning towards Abby. 

"It's, uh -"

In truth, it hadn't really been for Aileen, exactly. He had an actual gift, sitting in a small box in his pocket. But the idea of gifting the dog to her had occurred to him that morning. The dog seemed better suited to her - the stoic attitude native to the Sha as a breed, and the association with purity it carried both seemed better matched to Aileen's life and her...for lack of a better word...style.

He rubbed the back of his head, and sighed. "If you'd like it," he said, with an awkward smile that was clearly hopeful but worried. "It's a very rare breed. Imported." He had no idea if that helped. "And they - it's a Sha. They're not...they're not really like normal dogs?" In truth, he hadn't known much about the breed until the dog had arrived and even now they seemed bizarre.

"Besides, he seems to like you," he added, as the puppy walked back to Aileen and looked at her with its bright blue eyes.

The hint about Halloween completely went over Aileen’s head as Tapendra self-consciously stated the dog was sort of, possibly for her. Aileen blinked at him, sucked in a breath, and ran a hand through her hair. “Tapendra,” she started, glancing at the creature and then the two teenagers in the room. “What were you thinking?”

She sounded more stunned than happy. Inwardly, she was panicking, and the longer she stood there the closer that was coming up to the surface.

"Oh hey! We forgot the party games!" Abby hopped up and extended a hand toward Sasha.

"Abby,” Aileen faltered when her sister hurried out the door. Which was worse? The two teens witnessing the awkward situation or the teens leaving her alone with Tapendra in the awkward situation? She had no time to sort that out.

She took a few steps toward the dog, then veered to the side in a strange mini-pacing session. The Sha was looking at her patiently, and she felt like she should stoop down and pet it, but if it became attached that would make things much harder.

“This is a… living creature,” she gestured the obvious at Tapendra, expression caught between exasperation and guilt. He must have spent an exorbitant amount of money and time and effort, all the while knowing she was not too fond of dogs and yet picking out a breed that seemed eerily suited to her. It didn't occur to her at all that he'd give her a pet on a whim.

The students left abruptly, Abby's tone making him glance at her with barely contained surprise. Did she really think this would make things better? It'd just make it more awkward -

Aileen's tone, of course, promptly did make it more awkward. Gaze falling downwards, Tapendra shuffled his feet.

"Well, yeah," he said. How did he put it? His reasons for wanting her to have the dog were myriad, even though normally he wouldn't have dared. It was the primary one that came to his lips now, and he sighed and spoke in a tone that was...well, frankly, clearly a bit depressed.

He gave in and sat on one of the - whatever the chairs had been transfigured into. It squeaked and he paused a moment to glare at it.

"He needs a good home, and, well..." He clasped his hands together, fingers a worried tangle as he rested his elbows on his knees. "You're probably the only one I can trust to do that." He didn't speak the other reason he was thinking; the dog needed a proper home, and Aileen was pure-blooded. Having such an ancient animal in his modern home just seemed subtly wrong, issues with obviously magical pets aside.

Tapendra made it sound less like a gift and more like a matter of grave importance. Nope, he couldn’t win. Whether he answered that way because he was nervous, or because there was something he couldn’t tell her, she didn’t know, but the lack of direct answers was frustrating. If she was going to panic inwardly, she wanted to panic about the correct things.

"It's a generous gesture, and I'm sure he's a lovely dog,” she sighed. Between the two of them she didn’t know where to look. The dog just stared at her, while the defeated expression on Tapendra’s face made her feel bad.

"Why am I the only one you can trust with it?" She risked sitting on a pouf across from Tapendra, looking annoyed when it squeaked, and straightened her posture as well as she could, crossing her legs at the ankles. The dog sat beside her.

"You're the one who is good with animals. Is he some mysterious artifact in creature form?” Aileen tried a joke, though she raised her eyebrows questioningly. As awkward as this was, she needed to understand why he was doing this.