Friday morning, after Johann's Birthday

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"Any sensible person would have taken today off," Johann Storm uttered in a low, quiet voice as he occupied the chair left vacant by one of Aisling's colleagues who was on holiday to attend a winter wedding. He had slid it up beside hers and was nursing a strong coffee in both hands, the third since stepping foot in the Ministry.

"But since when was I considered 'sensible', Aisling?" He asked, half closing his eyes, which were shadowed - there'd been no sleep since the Leaky Cauldron last night after a long day in Russia, and breakfast had been hangover cures. He had at least, washed and applied a toothbrush so he looked half decent.

Aisling had missed all the fun, it wasn't fitting for the wizengamot's wife to be in a rowdy group in a pub, even if Johann had heard that Aisling would have been right at home.

"If I hadn't got a meeting in, eugh," he withdrew a pocket watch and squinted at it, "an hour, I wouldn't be here at all." He twisted round to look around the office. Edwin Glass was nicely locked in his office with some visitors so he wouldn't get shouted at for spending so long with Aisling, skiving off his work on Level 5.

"But its a good job I am here," He informed her with a grin and a lean towards her shoulder. "Because I have to thank you for the wonderful present." He let go of the mug of coffee with one hand to squeeze her forearm and smile at her, leaning a little too far towards her in the process and almost ending up leaning on her shoulder.

"Merlin, I don't look like I'm still pissed do I?" He asked Aisling - although his voice was quieter (owing to his sore head) it was a clear as he usually was (given the accent that held onto his English) "Because Gabrielle will lynch me." He took a generous sip of coffee.

"Yes! Your present, it was gorgeous. Chess, we've no excuse to not have a game now, and the restaurant. I was bowled over, you're far too generous for your own good. I'm not sure what I did to deserve it." Although feeling tender from his good night of celebrations, the feelings of closeness to others still hung on, and he threw that same arm nearest her around Aisling's shoulders into a clasp, the smell of coffee wafting up at her as he squeezed her shoulders.

"You really are a wonderful witch. I missed you last night!"

This was a good day. The concoctions from St. Mungo's seemed to be helping, the immediate impact of the Bank case had been mitigated to a point where Aisling no longer needed to work in an almost panicked rush, and she had an appointment with Darian later. Johann's appearance brought a smile to her face, though she did raise an eyebrow at his slightly disheveled appearance.

"I wish I could have come. I was so busy with work yesterday, and I fear my presence tends to dampen parties these days. Certain that I was asleep before it started getting exciting as well." She turned her chair to converse more easily, then stacked up a pile of papers and slipped them into a drawer. "And I don't think coming in prevents you from being sensible, you don't look that poorly."

She leaned in, hands folded in her lap. "You should be fine in an hour. Can I get you anything? Tea, more coffee? Think that I still have some in here." To say he looked good would have been an exaggeration, but it wasn't bad. Had been a a while since she'd been able to pull off a morning after quite that well.

The arm around her shoulders was surprising, but not unwelcome, and she leaned into a little further. "I'm just glad to know you enjoyed it. But yes, we'll have to have a game sometime over lunch." Assuming that Johann hadn't completely abandoned the prospect of eating lunch, of course. She did remember their last outing.

"Excellent." Johann replied to her estimation of his appearance. "I'm on my third coffee already. Throw me out when I've outstayed my welcome, I'm hiding from my desk again."

Clutching at her shoulder in a friendly yet affectionate manner, smiling tiredly, Johann nodded.

"Yes, though depending on how good we are at chess it might take a bit longer than lunch eh?" He gave her shoulder one last squeeze and dropped his arm to the back of her chair instead.

"You're no damper on any party, Aisling, unless its one with criminals trying to bother Muggles, in which case you're a legitimate damper." He chuckled to himself and raised the coffee to his lips.

"I've just got to work out someone else to take to dinner. Gregor Ramsley's isn't somewhere I'll necessarily suggest to Colin if we don't feel like cooking. That's something a bit more special indeed." He tilted his head and regarded nearby Department traffic with mild interest.

"Tarron take you often, does he?"

"I'm hardly the sort to be throwing people out, Johann. I'll just make a bit of coffee and remind you about the meeting if need be." Aisling drew her wand and waved it softly at a nearby coffee pot, which hummed and then started on brewing the coffee.

She shrugged, the motion rather soft and subdued.. "I'm rather out of practice, but we can always spread the game out over a few lunches if needed. Can't spend all my time behind a desk." Even though she would be doing that a bit more often in the future, once all the paperwork went through. "And people do tend to act differently around the Chief Warlock's wife. But, perhaps next time. I can hope that I won't be dealing with another murder, then." And it would probably have a brought a few questions regarding her not drinking at such a party, now.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out. And yes, Tarron does take me there a bit, though at times we just prefer to stay home with how much we're both away. I've met a few of the Wizengamot members there as well, recently." She smiled a little, a thought coming to mind. "We might be going on vacation, next month. I'm looking forward to the prospect."

"Oh yes, I remember you mentioned you were considering, last time we did lunch." Johann replied smoothly at Aisling's mention of taking a little time away. "Pity murders in the Bank of England can't schedule themselves around such moments. I'm sure you have your hands full with that merry little matter." Johann frowned over the top of his coffee, the steam rising through his fringe in the late morning light.

"I've never seen our crime appear on the Muggle news before. I've taken to trying to watch a little when I can. It was even all on the spiderweb as well." The frown deepened, and the coffee descended towards his lap.

"No, hang on, that's the wrong word again, internet?" He looked to Aisling for confirmation, "Colin's shown me how to use it, but apparently I need to be supervised using it to stop me breaking something. Yet when he's looking at it some nights he doesn't want me to see." Johann shrugged.

"Anyhow, it was all over that too. I don't blame you for not coming with having to deal with it all. Must be hellish." He clicked his fingers which were behind Aisling's shoulder the opposite side to him, he had remembered the beginning of this mental wander, "you'll need a holiday after it all for sure."

"It's our anniversary next month, it seems a good time for a bit of vacation. We're still not certain where we'll be going, though. Tarron seems to want a location with a quiet beach." Aisling's own preferences were focused more on a nice room with a very comfortable bed and a good view, but that was hardly the sort of detail she wished to express to Johann.

She rubbed a hand over her forehead and sighed. "It's there occasionally, but by the time it makes it onto the news it's usually much less recognizable. Seems like we're finally starting to extricate ourselves from the sheer mess of it, though. Should be all cleaned up by the time we're hoping to leave."

Johann's ramblings about the internet earned him a warm smile. "The internet, yes. My sister is rather an expert with it, and she's always trying to convince me to use it more. It would be far easier if a computer would actually work at our home, but there's so much that would have to be changed for such to work." She shook her head. "I'll just have to make do with what I can learn when I visit her." Which she really would have to do soon. Teagan would fuss, with Aisling's news. Her sister tended to do that.

"I would probably have fallen asleep in my drink last night, if I'm honest. Not a state very amenable to parties." The coffee pot beeped softly, having finished its brewing, and with a wave Aisling set it to pouring a cup which then floated over to her desk to wait should Johann require it.

"Ooh ta." Johann replied, putting on a Northern accent for a laugh. He'd been tutoring a colleague with the accent a couple of mornings that week and had found it amusing in return to help her with her German accent. He'd hoped that they might recruit some better Russian translators after the hellish few assignments he'd been given, and the lack of time he had to dedicate to improving it. Every moment he packed in time to remember it, other stuff seemed to fall out of his brain as he didn't use it, and he got rather irritated.

"I could do with falling asleep right now. Swap you." He necked the last of his coffee and put it down on the edge of Aisling's desk, dropping his head onto her shoulder as a joke for half a second before straightening up, removing his stray arm from the back of her chair.

He stifled and yawn and took a proper look at Aisling, which turned into a stare. Typically as ever, he was able to pick out a new hairstyle, or remember the same pair of earrings on a friend, but he could never decipher emotion quite as well as the next person.

"You might have to make it blindingly obvious." He told Aisling, propping an elbow on the desk, almost unseating the mug he'd just put down, "But why are you so tired and such, other than because you're mopping up dead bodies in the press?"

"You'd best head home early today, or I'll find myself coming down to Level Five to ensure that you don't spend the night sleeping at your desk." Aisling gave the fresh cup of coffee on her desk a pointed look.

At least Johann wasn't actually falling asleep on her shoulder. Though he did seem to be maintaining a certain level of observation, even through his apparent exhaustion. She sent the empty mug floating off to clean itself (and to avoid any further elbows), while she attempted to compose an answer to his question.

The precise details of her exhaustion weren't something she wished to disclose to him just yet, or to anyone outside a select few. It was all tied up in matters that would be even more tiring to delve into at the moment, and so many fears. "I did far too much over the holidays, and I'm not as young as I used to be. A fact which I try to forget until it catches up to me, it seems." That much was true, and had been so for far too long.

"Ha!" Johann chuckled at her suggestion, "No, learned that lesson with a week in St Mungo's, I'll be off as soon as this meeting is over."

He raised his eyebrows and his features read that Aisling's response was good enough for him about her exhaustion.
"Perhaps it's you who should also be going home early today. Thank Merlin for coffee." He peered into the mug and grinned.

Then again, the answer seemed too convenient, but it gave the air that the real reason was none of his business. Whereas he might intrude on some he knew, Aisling was a colleague and a friend he respected enough to not press her secrecy.

"Sounds like you do need that holiday, and soon. But did I hear some rumbling that you're getting another intern?"

"Glad to hear it. And coffee does seem to have its uses, though I've never developed the taste for it." Aisling's expression turned a bit softer, a smile starting at the corners of her lips. "And, I will be heading home somewhat early. Not by much, but I've an appointment with Darian and I wish to ensure that the house is in order before he arrives." There was no doubt that she'd fuss with her clothing a bit beforehand as well, this skirt had started to feel somewhat tight about her waist.

"Sounds like you do need that holiday, and soon. But did I hear some rumbling that you're getting another intern?"

"Three weeks or so will have to be soon enough. And yes, she'll be starting in a few days. You might have met her actually, she was down on Five for a bit. Abigail Reid." She smiled, thinking of the young woman's enthusiasm and energy. "I hope it will go well, we can always use more assistance."

And assistance that didn't consider a course in Muggle studies the final authority. She took a sip of her tea, then yawned slightly. "It's been a long time since I was an intern, but the Department is a better place now then it once was." As long and painful of a process as those changes had been, at times.

"Do give him my regards."

Johann nodded along to Aisling's description.

"Reid! Ah yes, she's a laugh. I'll miss her from five. She's got a good head on her shoulders, perfect young woman for a young wizard to my understanding." He smiled over his coffee, thinking of the conversation he'd had with Sasha after Christmas about his affections for girls. "Glad she's finding a new role in the Ministry, perhaps Catastrophes will be her thing."

He flexed his fingers in his writing hand, glancing down at it as Aisling mentioned her days as an intern.
"The whole wizarding world has changed though. I don't mean to imply your age is significant, just that there's been quite a change in Britain with the war, socially, politically, even economically for our side of the divide." Johann explained, gesturing with one hand, the other still gripping the coffee.

"For the better though, and it's down to those of you who stuck through it that Reid and the rest of them have a place to join the Ministry despite magical capability." He ruffled his black hair, "I'm without a handy intern at the moment, been looking at recruiting a few more with language skills - there's only so many meetings I can sit in before I can't physically be in two places at once." He shrugged, "I'd hope that fixing catastrophes is on the decline for this floor, and it's more about prevention, but not recently, eh?"

"I hope that it will be, she's had more than her share of troubles with such matters." The unfortunate events with Dreogan Eleor were still not so far from Aisling's thoughts, even though such attacks had not spread out to the rest of his office. The slow, cruel beginning of the last war were hard to divorce from the now in her thoughts, as much as she might pretend otherwise.

The look she gave Johann for his words, was well, it was almost a smile but she couldn't quite manage one. "I've lived through two wars, Johann, I would hate for such to also allow me to be young." She pressed a hand reflexively to her neck, than shook her head. "And it would be a terrible thing if matters had not changed, if no one had learned from all that has happened. The price was high enough as it is." And very personal, though she managed to keep most of the shadow from her expression.

Neither of them seemed awake enough to delve too much into the topic. "I wish you luck with finding such an intern. And you'd be surprised by how much prevention exists already, but it never gets noticed unless it fails."

Which, she did have to admit, had happened more often than she would like recently.

"True. That's the beauty of it." Johann mused on prevention.

Not wishing to dwell on the war, which he had studied from afar and been uninvolved with overseas, his eyes had wandered around the Department.

Magical maintenance fell under the DMAC's remit and two of the staff in overalls were stood beside what looked like a vacuum cleaner - or at least, similar to the one he had become accustomed to using to tidy up the flat he shared with Colin.

A third wizard, not much taller than it, was explaining the concept to them, for there was no electricity in the Ministry. The magical maintenance wizards were regularly pointing to parts of it and asking questions, and points were re-explained.

"Training in the Muggle life extends to all of your Department then?" Johann asked, "Or have you found a breed of carnivorous hoovers?" He asked, glad to scamper away from the depressive topics, unaware quite of the guilt he should have been experiencing from brushing matters aside in preference of discussing domestic equipment.

Of all the things in the world that Johann could be distracted by, it was a vacuum cleaner. Aisling laughed at the question, the sound soft, gentle, and perhaps relieved. It was an easier topic than the war, at the least. "Carnivorous? I haven't heard of any, so I expect they've simply stayed with devouring rugs and whatever small trinkets might be dropped onto the floor."

And potentially very useful, at least to those who couldn't clean up via magical means. "And given that they're electrical, I don't expect to see swarms of charmed vacuums causing trouble any time soon. But it is good to keep them aware of such devices. Terribly awkward to send someone in who doesn't understand vacuum cleaners."

She shrugged slightly, subtly glancing at the time as she did so. It wouldn't do for Johann to miss his meeting because of her, after all. "And there's always training in the Muggle life, though some of it is more informal. You invariably pick up a few things, working here."

"Hmm." Johann agreed, still eyeing the group around the hoover, "I admit I was a bit perplexed by them to begin with."

Consulting the time, unrelated to Aisling's previous glance, his visual interest entirely preoccupied by the domestic appliance, he made a face.

"Suppose I best put in an appearance and find an agenda. Thanks for letting me skulk down here for a bit anyhow." Johann resolved, co-ordinating his limbs up off the chair beside Aisling, trying to ignore the way the colleagues nearby looked rather pleased with this news, able to continue their work without interruption.

"And thanks again for the birthday present, unfathomably generous of you." He patted the witch's shoulder and swung the chair back to where it had been.

"See you all again soon - and we'll set a date for chess." The linguist raised a pale, long-fingered hand to them all and waved with his familiar grin.


End