After lunch in the entrance chamber


He felt a hand on his elbow as he was headed back to the Brain Chamber with the rest of them, for the last leg of his shift. Virgil had come in early and planned to be out the doors long before tea - it was always his habit to take a few early or late shifts so as to free up convenient pockets of regular work day hours.

       "Virgil," Yavin Morgenthau's grasp tightened slightly. "A, ah, a word?"

The flow of Unspeakables broke around them in the large chamber, heading for different doors. At times like this the Department of Mysteries seemed less mysterious and more humdrum in its routines.

But soon enough they were alone, surrounded only by obsidian walls and blue flames. Yavin was in one of his milder sweaters, baby blue with embroidered clouds, though this did nothing to soften his hard stare.

He released Virgil's elbow. "Did, hm, did they do something screwy to you at the Agency or do you, hah, do you want to explain yourself?"

V considered his options, briefly. One - pretend he did nothing. Probably inadvisable, though he wasn't sure how Yav figured out what he'd done to Cynthia Bombay. Two - apologise. Which didn't really suit either.

"It was self-defense," he looked up at the taller wizard. "Technically."
       "Technically." Yav repeated, unimpressed.

This didn't feel like it was even worth discussing. There were more important subjects he could be going over with the department head - to do with their St.Mungo's work, or CAWW. Experience told him Yavin wouldn't drop it, though.

"I... reacted," Virgil tried a different approach. "It won't happen again."

He stared the younger Unspeakable in the face, eyebrows lowered more in thought than disapproval.

Virgil Carstairs was barely a month back from the exchange program with CAWW and he was already acting out more than usual. Things hadn't been crazy before the exchange. Choking someone out in full view of a sit-in crowd was... objectively unhinged behaviour. To say nothing of what he got up to in his free time.

"We should talk about this," he replied to his protégé faux-apology. "We haven't really, ah, really talked lately, have we?"
       "I had my debriefing," V replied smartly. "And we've done nothing but talk about our resea--"

Yavin touched his shoulder lightly, cutting him short.

"Fine," he knew when to take a hint and Virgil wasn't a kid anymore. "Don't, hm, don't let it happen again. You're, uh, barred from the chamber until I say so. Find something else to do."

An indignant look crossed Virgil's face. "Barred?" he repeated incredulously. "You need me in there."

"Do I?" Yavin squeezed his shoulder and let go, moving past as the younger man turned to follow with his eyes. "Got by just, ah, just fine for a whole year,  Virgil."

He stared at the door long after the Head of Mysteries disappeared behind it.

Find something else to do. Something else. He wasn't angry - it was hard to get angry at Yavin - but Virgil was very close to it. After everything he'd done! To say they didn't need him! To be barred? From the Brain Chamber?

Mostly he couldn't believe it mattered that much what happened to Bombay. Yavin supported the werewolf cause.

Virgil wasn't sure what to do with himself for a moment: if he wasn't allowed to be where he was meant to be, he'd go bother someone in the Hall of Prophecies or Time Room. But he remained where he was and went over that parting shot.

Just fine for a whole year without him.

Alright, yes. Maybe he was angry.