Ishane hadn't been in the Great Hall for lunch. To Tappy, who'd only woken up a few hours ago, this was rather annoying. He usually ate lunch as a belated breakfast, of sorts, and so skipping it to track down his old friend was something of a downer.

Thankfully, then, he'd nicked a few ham sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, chips and apples from the teacher's table before heading for the greenhouses, his pockets full of food. Ishane didn't have an office, yet - so it was a safe guess as to her location. Graham's office had been the traditional office of the Ravenclaw head of house, but Tapendra hadn't claimed it, and Ishane had made no claim for it yet, and so it sat empty.

He tucked his long black coat around him as he headed out to the greenhouses, the cold of the winter having not completely left. Clouds and fog clung to the hills around the castle, and the day was generally rather grey and muddy. As such, he'd given up on the 'no shoes' thing and put on his boots.

He found his long time friend in the far greenhouse - the telltale smell of coffee cluing him in to her location. "Ishane?" He piped up, closing the greenhouse door behind him. "Thought I'd find you here. How are things?"

Ishane poked one end of the spiny bayberry vine in front of her and muttered a quick spell and jumped out of the way quickly. The vine spasmed and  lashed outward and up the greenhouse wall with a surge of growth, winding around a couple of nearby woody plants.

A kettle whistle distracted her from the growing plant. Turning around she grabbed the self heating kettle off of its stand and canceled the heating spell. She set the kettle on the table she had moved near the front of the greenhouse and grabbed the cafetiere. Removing its lid and plunger, she pulled out a bag of ground Sumatra coffee. She dumped about a cup of grounds into the cafetiere's cylinder and filled it to the top with hot water from the kettle. Capping it with the lid and plunger she left the coffee to steep and returned to prodding the vine into a snarling mess.

Her preference for coffee as her choice of a morning wake up call always amused her friends, epecially when she would refuse to drink tea. It was a trait that she could rightly lay blame on her father and passing on his American coffee culture ways. Though her mother's preference for relaxing teas could also be part of it. Tea is for relaxing and coffee is for waking up she had told her friends once. And I don't care if tea supposedly has more caffeine, it's a mental thing, dammit. Tea has always acted like a depressant to me and that's the last thing I need when I'm trying to wake up.

Ishane pressed down on the plunger, filtering out all of the coffee grounds, and filled up her Iggy mug with sweet, sweet stimulation. She stirred in the cream and sugar that she had gotten from the house elves earlier and leaned against the table and enjoyed the wonderful aroma of fresh brewed java.

"Ishane? Thought I'd find you here. How are things?"

"Tappy." She turned her head to him and smiled warmly. She set her coffee down and gave him a quick hug. "I've missed you. We've all missed you. And you didn't come over during break." Ishane made sure to emphasize that last part. She stepped back and poked him in the stomach playfully. "Your mother hens wanted me to scold you about that."

He returned the hug, patting her on the back. "I've been busy," he said, which about covered it; he hadn't figured out how to tell them all his reasons, not yet. They wouldn't fully understand why he trusted Ignan, he was sure of it. "I'm doing three jobs, now. I only got a holiday from one of 'em." His lips curved into a wry smirk. "And you can tell the hens to shut up. They'll see plenty of me in the summer, trust me. I have most of the year to make up for, after all."

He looked around at the swelling plant growth, opting to sit on one of the tables, his legs idly swinging. "How are you settling in? It's too bad you're going home at night, you miss out on all of the after-hours debauchery." He chuckled. "Though after a week with these kids, you might just quit..."

Ishane picked up her mug and took a slow sip. "Noted, and I'm certain you won't inform any of us why you were so busy." Ish shot him  an irritated look and sighed, "Just like you wouldn't tell us why you suddenly decided to come home last month." She shook her head and then smiled softly at him, "Don't worry though, I shall inform the hens post haste that you are in one piece with no obvious signs of trauma." Ishane paused, glancing down at her coffee, "Oh, do you want any Tappy?" She waved her mug at him, "I've just brewed a fresh pot and I've got enough cream and sugar to satisfy even you."

She sat next to him on the table, "The kids are that bad?" She raised an eyebrow, "The one's this morning weren't that bad, though I haven't had much chance to hear the current scuttlebutt." She took another sip, eyes looking at him expectantly over the rim of her mug.

"No, that's all right. Unlike you, I actually can drink tea," he told her jestingly. "And I told you why I was home last month - Kanika family stuff." It was an obvious lie, but he wasn't sure if they should know, not yet.

"The kids can be ruddy awful. The first years are alright, though you may have to yell at them a bit. The fifth years are...they're quiet," he confessed. "When I first started they were the worst - arguing, fighting, storm outs and so on. But they've all gone oddly complacent since Knight cooled off. You shouldn't have an issue. Oh - but keep Sellaphix away from sharp things, the boy can be a little...overenthusiastic."

He retrieved one of the sandwiches and took a bite as he continued. "It's the 3rd years you want to watch out for. Crazy bunch, that. Oliver's the worst. She means well, but the girl's wand has a mind of its own and she's...well...not the brightest bulb in her year." He didn't want to say stupid but, well...

"Yeah, uh huh, sure Tappy. Kanika stuff." Ishane's expression what quite clear that she didn't believe him. She shook her head, "Tappy, if you don't want to tell us then just say so. It's better than you lying to us about it." She paused for a moment, "I will at least accept that, can't speak for the others though."

Ishane smirked at his description of the current crop of students, "Including Cyhirae?" she teased. "Well I suppose it's good for Miss Oliver that there won't be much spellwork in this class, though I'll keep that in mind just in case." She took another sip of her coffee, "So other than her and Mister Sellaphix is there any other students I should look out for? Or teachers?"

He slumped, slightly. "I'm sorry. I'm just - I don't know enough details to tell you guys, yet. Ignan knows some of the details, but..." He shrugged, and smiled at her. "It could all turn out to be nonsense." He looked up at the semi-opaque roof. "It's Prideaux. I just don't want to involve you guys if I don't have to."

With that said, he continued hurriedly. "Cyhirae too, I'm afraid. I had to take 50 points when she tried to hex Ignan earlier this year." He snorted. "Of the first years...Antonopoulos will give you gift baskets and others helpful items, but she's an alright sort. Kearney and O' Fearghial tried to burn down one of the greenhouses under Graham. Both of the Collins children are bright, but Dahlia definitely shines out. Erik's more of a trouble making sort, the cheeky devil. MacFusty I'm not sure about, he mostly sits in my class and looks utter ly lost. Wakahisa will likely try to hide if you mention muggles - long story - Thornton is smart enough. Wintergreen is an angel, be sure to let him excel. Harcroft is a walking textbook - one of those mis-sorted kids. Seems more Ravenclawish that anything else. The other Slytherins are pureblood brats," he added. "You know the sort."

Ishane chuckled, "I remember you mentioning that, looks like little Cy has her mother's big temper. All the Firsties sound like an interesting bunch."

"Though," she set down her coffee down beside her, "you keep mentioning Ignan. That's Ignan Storm correct, the DADA teacher? You've gotten close if you can call him by his first name so causally," Ishane teased. She suddenly frowned at him, concern filling her tone, "Prideaux? He's involved with the Prideaux stuff?" She placed her hand on Tapendra's shoulder, a worried look in her eye. "Are you alright? Prideaux hasn't made a move has he?"

"No!" It came out suddenly. "No, nothing like that," he said, tone calmer. "But he might - he's got the opportunity to, and..." He shrugged again, hopelessly; dislodging her hand. "It's complicated, alright? Just...complicated."

He stood, hopping off the table, and wandered a few feet from her. "Ignan's a...well, a friend. He's a good man, no matter what the students say. You'll see, when you meet him." He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair - composing himself. "I trust him, Ish. That sums it up nicely, I think. I told him about - about what happened with Prideaux. He needed to know. He and Mum where..." He snorted, amused  suddenly. "He was nearly my stepfather, alright?"

He shrugged his coat off, giving him something to do with his hands. "I trust him," he repeated. "And he - he trusts me, I think." I hope. "He came looking for me, when I went home."

Ishane sat blank faced for a moment before chuckling, "Well, that certainly wasn't what I was expecting. Almost your step-daddy, huh." She smiled at him softly before hopping of the table herself, "So I guess it makes him honorary family then."

Ish patted Tapendra on the shoulder, "Fine then Tappy, I won't pry if you don't want me to, but..." Ishane looked him straight in the eye, "Don't forget about the rest of your family, okay. Don't cut us out of the loop, especially on big things." She smirked slightly, breaking the somber mood that they had fallen into, "Or else your mother hens will descend upon Hogwarts and sit on you until you spit it out." It was obvious how uncomfortable this was for Tapendra, so she wouldn't continue to bother him about it. At least she wouldn't right now.

"So," she began, changing the subject, "what about the rest of the years? And the teachers?"

"I'll tell you guys everything, once I know what's going on. I promise," he said, avoiding her eyes. "I don't mean to leave you all out of the loop, but." He frowned. "I talked to Ignan about it instead. I wanted a separate opinion. Like it or not you - and the mother hens - are a bit too gung-ho when it comes to me." He smiled warmly. He liked that fact, admittedly; but it had disadvantages.

She let him change the subject, though, and he followed. "The other teachers are a...diverse lot." He snorted. "It's easiest to divide them into bad, neutral and good..." Letting his breath out via his teeth, he thought a moment. "Keep in mind I'm going on personality here," he added quickly. "But, ah...Storm's good, obviously, Kirchlehner, Levartian, Reid - you might remember her, same year as us, and Myr-err, Levartian was in your house. Frasier's a bit scarce, but he's a decent sort."

He leaned on the wall, counting people off on his fingers. "Hooch I'd like to say neutral on, but she's a bit against Ignan, apparently, so if I have to take sides... Austerlitz is scarce too, bit of a battle-hammer. Morgan's not the type to annoy, but does well. Vallaincourt's competent, can't say I know her well. Same with Hallet, she's new."

After a pause, he rapped his knuckles on the wall. "Snark and o Morain, you should watch out for. I'm surprised Snark hired you, to be honest. You must have been the only option."

"Reid I remember, vaguely though. She was Slytherin, correct? And a bit of a snobby bitch, right? Levartian sounds familiar but I didn't interact with people outside my year much so I might be misremembering."

"Snark and Ó Móráin, you should watch out for. I'm surprised Snark hired you, to be honest. You must have been the only option."

She laughed, "To be honest I'm surprised as well. Though I suppose my background and experience outweighed any objections about my stances. Though she did hire you," she smirked at him, "Mister Third Hottest Teacher at Hogwarts according to Witch Weekly. Sonya has that article framed in her office, by the way."

"Ugh, I lost to Bombay, don't make me think about that, please," Tappy said, sighing theatrically. "At least Ignan won, to the surprise of everyone. Don't mention it, though; he's been trying to hide the fact he's smug about it. I think Georg's just mad he wasn't included, so he's been making it worse..."

He finished off the sandwich, absently licking his fingers. "You really should meet Ignan, Ish. Remarkable man." He smiled. "Certainly better than the disaster Lockheart was, that's for sure. Used to be an Auror and all that. Very strict." He chuckled. "I'm honestly impressed Cyhirae hexed him, points taken or no."

Ishane smirked, "What do you want to bet that Bombay was voted so high cause of a joke? I can't imagine that anyone legitimately voted for him. Twat. "

"Phff, anyone would be better than that blowhard." She smiled teasingly at him, "Since you keep mentioning Mr. Storm are you going to do the introductions, hmm. Or will I have to hunt him down myself."

"So how have your classes been? You did say that you were having issues with the student's level of knowledge. Bombay's notes seem to indicate that I shouldn't have to deal with that, at least with the traditional stuff."

He shrugged. Who knew? There were certainly a few people who missed the previous professor, though for the life of him, Tapendra couldn't figure out why. The idea of anyone finding Graham bearable, let alone attractive, was simply mind boggling.

"Whichever comes first?" He suggested. "I suppose I can force you two to have tea together tomorrow night, if you wanted to stay for dinner..."

Tapendra's gaze drifted to the greenhouse around them. "I think you'll be fine. Plants are plants. It's not like you're asking them to write essays on genetic theory, or making  them hybridize."