"Oh but he is. I can never stand to interrupt him when he reads to the girls, I enjoy watching them too much. And they so enjoy it. Oh, but I'm rambling again."

"But I like you to ramble." Johann assured her softly across the table. "It sounds like a lovely family scene." He added.

"I suppose so, yes. Work to be done." Johann agreed to her query about returning. "If I were sat here alone, I'd almost certainly be staying here," the linguist admitted, "but I might be persuaded to reapply my nose to the grindstone with a friend." He slid aside their mugs, and wearily drew back his chair.
"Yes, we shall, but perhaps not chess over lunch, unless you really do believe you've forgotten it all and won't let me remind you."

Together they wove their way between the clustered tables, and Johann pushed open the door to leave, holding it for Aisling in his wake. Out in the cold he drew his coat around himself and buttoned it, his lip curling ever so slightly at the chill.

"Don't suppose Tarron would read for me one day, do you?" He asked Aisling, meaning it as a joke, "sounds awfully relaxing..." As he slid his hands into his pockets, the arm nearest his colleague gave a quirk, as if to suggest to latch onto it. Truth be told, it was more a subconscious hint that such a gesture would ensure his feet travelled back to the Ministry and not down the street in the other direction to get away from it all.

It was good to have such friends as Aisling. The world shone a little brighter for them.