Johann’s compliment tickled his pride, though he also didn’t feel like he totally… Deserved it. Being the Minister was a difficult task, that was certain. But Mihai knew that he didn’t do well in positions of political power such as that—partially because he truly did not have the proper temperament for it. He tried to be a patient man, but truth be told that he wasn’t. He was full of pride and sometimes wrathful—not traits that were becoming of a politician.
Not traits that were becoming of a person, in general.

Mihai raised his eyebrows at Johann’s food, it looked good, yet he didn’t trust it. To be fair, he didn’t quite trust most of British fare. The food offered here made him miss the meals he grew up with—the meals that were so abundant whenever he returned home to his parents. His mother was quite the cook.

His soup, however, looked promising—with chunks of spiced sausage, potato, and some sort of leafy green vegetable he had yet to identify. “She hasn’t met her, no.  Juni is anxious to. She admires Zephyr quite a bit.” Mihai chuckled a bit, “She is a formidable woman, I can see why meeting her would, how did you put it? Scare the crap out of you.” He wasn’t intimidated by her one bit, in fact, Mihai was rather at ease in Persepolis’ presence. He almost considered her a friend, though he wouldn’t admit it to most anyone.

“I think most parents would find, that nothing ‘scares the crap out of them’ more than anything happening to their child. It’s strange how your priorities change. When I was younger, I didn’t dare think that I would put someone else’s life at a higher rank of importance.” Most people, he would still throw under the bus if it meant saving himself, but not his daughter.

"Raoul Moniz, my former boss-- now he scared the crap out of me." Mihai said lightly, "He had a..." He struggled to think of the proper word, "Foreboding demeanor. Unpleasant to be around." Even after over twenty years working under him before retirement, Mihai's feelings didn't change.

"Mm." Johann responded, making swift work of bacon, his stomach roaring hungrily below the table. He was starting to wonder if he'd misjudged when he'd last eaten.

Mihai seemed to enjoy Johann's rather British turn of phrase as he reused it more than once for his response. Either that, or the wizard was gently mocking Johann, he couldn't quite tell for sure.

Listening intently, blue eyes fixed on his companion, Johann chewed rhythmically while Mihai explained his fears about something happening to children.

"Sounds like half my family." Johann chuckled. "Remind me what you used to do before you joined Brainwash Division?" He asked, reaching for his tea to wash down half a fried mushroom, entirely forgetting not to make a joke about Mihai's job now he felt a little less intimidated and was lulled by food. He'd have to shoot off in forty-five minutes to check a contract for Vedir Prideaux and try and convince the wizard he didn't want to be a witness to its signing so he didn't associate his name with Prideaux (even if his handwriting was implicating enough).

So far, the only suspicious behavior that Johann exhibited was all conducted in Knockturn—and while Mihai was fairly certain the man before him was probably involved in some illegal or grey-area business, he really didn’t care. There was nothing to indicate that Johann was leaking information about the goblin issue. And so, Mihai, quite frankly, didn’t care. He wasn’t a lawful man by nature, especially in his younger years. His morals were in a questionable dark grey area at the worst.

Mihai cleared his throat at the mention of the 'brainwash squad', though he didn't say anything about it. Johann was loosening up a bit. “My work, before here?” He raised his eyebrows,  not many asked him about it. Mihai wasn’t fond of going into too much detail.

“I did similar work there.” The only thing similar was the fact that he altered and created new memories in both careers. “But with more responsibility, more risk.” Mihai explained, “Some experimentation and research. Some tracking. Plenty of travel, I had to pick up a few languages along the way.” He would leave out the interrogation and the grisly bits. “For twenty three years I worked there. I retired." He chuckled, "Wanted to be closer to my daughter, yes? But I am not an idle man. So here I am."

Mihai explained his former job but didn't define 'there' at all in his statement.

"We sound quite alike when you describe it like that, you know." Johann remarked, "I much prefer to be travelling around, learning, practicing first hand, but it's not practical all the time, and certainly not particularly profitable, so here I am, and I'm not an idle man either." He shrugged, and smiled, albeit slightly nervously.

"Though, no daughter. Not physically possible, thank goodness." He waved a hand to dismiss it.

"Could you ever picture yourself doing anything else but meddling with memories?" He asked, curious, "I would hate the responsibility. What if you get it wrong?"

Upon closer examination, Mihai had identified the leafy green vegetable as kale. To him, it tasted similarly to every other leafy green vegetable that was deemed to be ‘healthy.’ He was going through his soup swiftly-- not realizing how hungry he had been until he took his first bite.

While Johann’s lifestyle and passions hadn’t been profitable, Mihai’s had been-- but only financially. But his family and personal life had suffered due to his wandering, workaholic nature. He hadn’t gotten to see his daughter grow up-- not in the way her mother had.  A larger part than he’d like to admit regretted that. Still, it had been a job that kept the adrenaline running. Having settled down, having ‘retired’, he often missed that rush. Even as an obiliviator.

He raised his eyebrows and set his spoon in the bowl. Could he picture working in a field that didn’t involve memory modification? “No. I can’t.” Mihai replied. It was what he was good at, what he enjoyed. “My father and grandfather both worked in mind magic.” His brother hadn’t picked up on that skill, but he was excellent at transfiguration.

“Every job has responsibility. And some mistakes are worse than others.” Mihai shrugged, “And.. The mistakes I make are bigger than the mistakes in other careers. And I have made them, especially when I was still in training.”  The obliviator looked at Johann directly, “But I don’t make mistakes anymore. Not with the mind." He tapped his temple with his index finger in emphasis.

The way Mihai looked up to inform him about not making mistakes did nothing to ease Johann's apprehension about obliviation.

"Family business then." Johann remarked, slightly backtracking to Mihai's comment about his father and grandfather. "My parents are both in banking, but otherwise the generations of Storms don't tend to follow each other in career. I appreciate it's a lot more common in some families though - and with excellent results." He gave a respectful smile towards Mihai, "Banking was always a little too safe, and nobody's at ease round a goblin, are they?"

He chased the last of his plate of food around with this cutlery for a moment before polishing it off. It had been curious to chat with Mihai, even if he had been very surprised to come face to face with the wizard in Knockturn Alley.

"I'll have to leave you to your watch, more clients to see." Johann shrugged apologetically, laying some money on the table to pay the bill. "We'll have to do it again - and I hope I remember." He teased gently as he headed off.


End