Coffee and a stackload of marking. [Aldrich + Romulus]

Aldrich had thought, oh how naive, that when he had left school, he had left behind homework for good. But now here he was, outside classes, with thirty pieces of work to mark for each of his classes this week. He was going to be here for a long time, he knew. He had never appriciated how hard it was for teachers; marking, lesson planning, teaching, staff meetings, monitor duties and so much more. It was such a hard job, more tiring day to day than questing had been, and that was certianly saying something.

He dropped the pile of papers he had been levitating on to the table, leaning heavily on his cane (they were having bad weather) before making his way over to the kitchenette to put the kettle on to boil. He glanced around quickly to see if there were any house elves about; he didn't want them near him, he could make his own coffee, then he got out a mug to put it in.

He was so tired, the first year Gryffindors had been acting up and apparently it's against school punishment to put curses on students. How ridiculous.

It was a rare day when Romulus sprung a pop quiz on his students and and even rarer day when he remembered to correct the said tests. These bad teaching habits had earned more than his fair earful of complaints and, after finally becoming sick of it, the Italian man decided to fix his ways. Simply out of the pure goodness in his heart. The fact that his fellow teachers expressed disapproval of his slack style had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Thus, the man moved, tests in tow, from his office to the staff room, in search of a place free from distractions. The aura of productivity from the other staff would surely inspire him! Setting his things down on a table, Romulus noted that another teacher was here, probably plagued with the same arduous task on grading he was. Giving a large grin in the general direction of his company, he put on his glasses and took out his quill, all ready to at least look the part of a productive teacher, the head of Gryffindor no less!

A few particularly bad tests later, Romulus had lost his zest for correction; it was simply getting too painful for him to see the students do less than succeed. He yearned for a distraction for such despairing grades! {Of course, the very reason he was here was to avoid distraction but that's besides the point!}

Of course, as soon as he took a glance at the other teacher here, he was plenty distracted. He...or she possibly, was absolutely beautiful. "Why hello there~" Romulus attempted his most charming grin at the person and waved.

Aldrich tried his best to avoid the other teacher in the room; after all, if he didn't get this done now he probably wouldn't sleep tonight. But these essays were so boring and of course factually incorrect, which wasn't making it easy. After correcting the fiftieth simple mistake he was starting to get bored and his mind wandered, which told you that he really was having a tough time finishing this. He usually had such a good attention span and had always prided himself on being a good teacher, but today, somethng was off and he simply couldn't care.

Then suddenly, the other teacher in the room, whom he had heard shuffling about restlessly for the last thirty minutes, stood and came over to him, greeting him. Aldrich felt ashamed but he couldn't remember him, not even from staff meetings, how embarassing. "Hallo," He said, glad for the distraction. "Did you want something?" And there came the hostility; he didn't mean it, it was a defence mechanism he couldn't control when meeting new people, and he hated it, pushing them away.

" I just wanted to say hello~" Romulus couldn't help but pout a bit at the ever so slight hostility the other man was projecting. Was no one at the school friendly? He could understand the students being less than keen on him but other teachers? Ah, that was tragic. Oh well, that gave him a mission at least. By the time the semester finishes, he was determined to win the other teacher completely over.

" I'm Romulus Vargas, Ancient Runes professor and Head of Gryffindor extraordinaire! Who might you be?" He finished his little introduction with a smile and a little flourish for good measure. This was one good way to avoid looking at the dismal tests!

Aldrich was almost amused by the look on the other teacher's face; the way his bottom lip stuck out and made him look like such a child. He started to smile in his amusement, his mouth twisting and contorting in an effort to wrestle the smile back down, his hand going over his face to hide the battle from the other teacher. "Oh I see." He said politely, voice clipped as he still wrestled with the smile, "Well then, hello to you too."

The other teacher introduced himself, in a rather extravagant way, I might add, which didn't do anything to help his amusement. "It's nice to meet you, Herr Vargas." He said after he had calmed down slightly. He wasn't sure why he had found it so funny that the teacher was acting like such a child, he was cute and it just made him want to laugh. "I'm Aldrich Beilschmidt." He introduced himself, "Defence against the dark arts, teacher." He held out his hand to shake - they should try and have a good working relationship, after all.

Was that amusement he detected on the other man's face? Oh, that was most definitely a very good sign in terms of his six month plan dedicated to making this man his absolute best buddy in the world. A huge smile found itself upon the Italian's face as Professor Beilschmidt held out his hand.

Being the man he was, Romulus took this as a sign not to shake it but to hold it and press a kiss to it before letting it go. "A pleasure to meet you, Aldy." Not even once did it cross his mind that that was abnormal behavior.

Aldrich stared at his hand, which was having a pair of rather soft lips brushing over it. Well, he had not been expecting that and as a reflex he yanked his hand back, making a small, distressed noise in his shock. "I suppose it is also a pleasure," He said, rather stiffly, all amusement gone now simply because of how uncomfortable he was with other people. Right now, he wasn't sure he would like the other teacher, but he was, for the time being, willing to hold his judgement

"Would you like some coffee?" He stood and went over to the kettle he had boiled earlier, just as an excuse to move away and be polite, "I have so much work, which is shocking, I always seem to have a lot of work, no matter how much I do." He sighed.

When the other man withdrew his hand as if he'd been stung by a bee. How disappointing. On those of the female gender, a kiss on the hand also had a stinging effect but like that of a Billywig {a much more favorable reaction in Romulus' own opinion}.

Of course, seeing a fellow staff member acting so giddy might inflate his ego to even higher unhealthy levels. Also, the Italian had a lurking suspicion that Aldrich and giddy are rarely found in the same sentence. Which made him determined that, once this man was his complete best friend for life, he would get him incredibly drunk simply for the sake of seeing him giggle. He knew that would be so cute.

"I would love some coffee, thank you ever so much for the offer Ald." Yup, his mental tangent was interrupted and he was forced to act in the present. Still, he continued his smiling and merry demeanor. "My theory is that it breeds like rabbits every time you look away from it."

Aldrich didn't like the cocky expression on the man's face. Clearly he was used to most people, probably even males, swooning under his kiss. Well, he was Italian, but he certianly wasn't that suave, not to Aldrich. And now his hand felt funny; he would secretly wash it when he could to avoid seeming rude. Damn Italians, trying to touch him, he didn't like being touched at all. Mind you, the man probably needed his ego taking down a peg or two.

"Fine." He said, "how do you like it?" He asked, charming the water to boil again, to make sure it was hot enough, and picked up the cafetere. He was getting coffee for an Italian; he had better do it right. They were supposed to be the greatest country for coffee. He didn't care if it was instant; he just needed the buzz of caffiene, he didn't care what it tasted like." He started to make the coffee.

He snorted, "A good theory."

He was sad to see that any sort of smile or amusement was ages away from the the other professor's face. Was hand-kissing that offensive a gesture to young people? What a tragedy! Romulus' face fell into a pout again before he was asked how he preferred his coffee.

"With milk and sugar, please," his pout dissolved into a smile. No use to hold an unpleasant expression; wrinkles may set in! That'd be a shame of epic proportions.

"I wonder what would happen if I stopped giving assignments for a week.." Romulus pondered aloud. The students would definitely be pleased but maybe not the administration. It would be worth it to have some extra time to himself. Maybe even get to visit Hogsmeade! Or spend time his his grandsons...

"Oh! Do you have any relatives at Hogwarts?" He was curious and it was a way to continue talking to Aldrich and therefore, avoid his own work.

Okay, perhaps he had over-reacted a little to the hand kissing. But it wasn't something he expected and his pride may have been somewhat hurt as it seemed the sort of thing that one would do to a girl, and he was certianly not a woman. (He's also a little touchy about being treated as one as he knows he has feminine looks.) He didn't say anything to apologise, however, as he was too prideful.

Nodding, he took the other man's coffee order, busying himself in the kitchenette, "You like sweet coffee then, I see." He said, accioing the sugar. A helpful little charm, that one. Dangerous sometimes, but helpful. "I hope my coffee is up to the standards of an Italian."

"Your students would love you and you'd have more time on your hands. I think for a week, you could probably do it. But more than one or two weeks at a time and the administration wouldn't stand for it. But surely you have a work schedule to keep up - which assignments which days and which class to make sure you have covered all the work and have evidence that they understand?" He said, thinking about what he'd learnt in his short time teaching.

He blinked. What a sudden question and odd - why would the other teacher think that it was a question that needed to be asked? After all, he was German, any relatives of his would surely be going to Durmstrang or the Hanover Institute. Although, with the foriegn exchange programme currently running, perhaps it wasn't quite as odd. "Yes, actually. My two nephews are currently on the foriegn exchange programme. Maybe you've seen them? I'm sure you'll recognise Gilbert. Loud, albino, likes playing tricks. Ludwig, on the other hand is quieter and more hard working... I don't know if he takes Ancient Runes." He explained. "What about you?" He asked, curious. Perhaps that was Romulus's motivation to ask - to see if he was the only one.

Whether a person was male or female, if Romulus wanted to kiss their hand, he sure as hell would kiss their hand. That wasn't to say he on all fronts treated men and women the same, no way. Only 20 years ago, he stopped viewing any other male as a threat {unless, of course, they were bad ass enough for Romulus to follow them around in an idolizing manner and demand to be taught their ways}. However, that really did not matter at the moment. What mattered was trying to get this guy to like him.

He gave a laugh at Aldrich's presumption that he was a coffee snob. His culinary elitism was only in the field of Italian food. [color]"I wouldn't worry about my standards, as long as it's sugary."[/color] He did try having coffee black once. He near scraped his tongue to get rid of the disgustingly bitter taste.

Romulus listened to the other professor's helpful advice. "So, if I do the no homework thing every other week with review every day, things should be okay!" He declared happily. Anything for the sake of a little extra personal time! " Aha, I'm new to this teaching thing so thanks for the help Ald."

"Oh, they do sound familiar.." he nodded. He was happy he was not alone in the having family at Hogwarts field. When he attended, it was rare but, with the current exchange program it was increasingly common. " Yup! Lovino and Feliciano. Lovi's a bit surly and Feli is as. . .spacey as Lovino is grumpy. They both look just like me!" Of course, in a more delicately framed way but Romulus accepted that the burliness was unique to him. "They're my cute little grandsons."

He nodded, "No sugar, I think I can manage that," He gave a soft sort of smile and kept working, "Italians and the French in particular seem to fall pray to cultural and culinary snobbery, though I suppose any person with some patriotic tendencies will fall prey to some cultural snobbery." He said thoughtfully.

He shrugged meekly at the compliment, "I'm fairly new to it either. Mostly, I just like logic and puzzle solving," He said humbly, "Thank you, though," He smiled slightly. He certianly didn't give homework all the time, but he had so many classes, as his was a compulsory class, that he still had a lot of work to do.

"You know, now I think about it, there's a striking amout of teachers who have relatives in the school, isn't there? Emese, Rosin, Aleta. How strange. I suppose, it might be something to do with the exchange programme." He chuckled lightly,"I think I know them," He said. Lovino was in Slytherin house and he worked closely with Slytherin so he recognised Lovino, just about. Then suddenly... Romulus said something, "Gransons...?" He said slowly. Romulus did not look old enough to have grandchildren.

He smiled back at the blond. "Well, I cannot speak for the French, but Italians and brought up from the womb being taught that they live in and are the heart of all major cultural, culinary and architectural greatness. Even being brought up in Rome, the feeling of living in the very heart of the Ancient world and the pride that accompanies such a thing resonates throughout the very air to this day," he joined the other man in his musing aloud, a little impressed even with himself. He forgot that he did in fact have a brain beneath that wonderful head of hair. "And yes, every country does have things that inspire patriotic tendencies, I think."

Romulus was pleased that their interaction was at least currently, quite friendly. To keep that up, he supposed more smiling and compliments along with listening to the man were in order. "Logic and puzzle solving? Wow, I'm impressed, that sort of thing tends to go straight over my head." It was true. although he could be intelligent on occasion, his area of expertise was anything in either the creative or physical field; not cold hard logic. Then again, it could be argued that Ancient Runes completely dominated that area of his brain so thoroughly, he could not do anything else with it.

He thought about the other teachers and the fact at least eighty percent of them had some sort of relative attending the school. It was sort of nice not being the only one. Besides, family was the most important thing to him; such a revelation gave him a bit of delight. "I think maybe an incentive was offered," obviously, it was not Scotland's weather that was the draw he noted as he remembered the grey weather that greeted him in the morning. 'You know them?! Aren't they adorable?!" Cue overly proud grandfather mode.

Speaking of grandfather mode, now was the inevitable shock of Ald discovering, well, not really hi age, as he was still young compared to the typical lifespan of a wizard, but what a jump start he had family-wise on most men his age. "Yep, this incredible specimen of masculinity right here is 53," he gave a little wink. He was vain, he knew it and had no shame. Before Aldrich had the chance to do the math about the age of his grandsons versus his own age, he decided to help him out. "I settled down within two years of graduating from school, as is accidental family tradition."

Aldrich tried to understand the same feeling; of being heir to some kind of cultural inheritance. He recalled the elven community; he had to be proud, part of a dwindling pride. He learned to hunt, archy, swordsmanship. He supposed that it was somewhat similar... "My people are not known for their food." He said vaguely. "As you probably well know. It's somewhat infamous. Not quite as much as British food but still, not good." It was fairly light conversation, which was good.

Looking at Romulus, it didn't surprise him that he found puzzle solving difficult. "It's not that difficult if you know the right method, the right algorythms." He explained, "You could, in theory be taught puzzle solving," He explained.

"Well..." he thought, "I don't know about the other teachers, but it was pure chance with me. I needed a job and this came up, it just so happened that around the same time, my nephews got their letter. At least, I assume it's a coincidence," he frowned lightly in thought. Then he let out a very small laugh; Romulus was sauch a grandfather, the way his eyes glittered when he was talking about his grandchildren. He thought about it... adorable? Feliciano was probably adorable, a little weak and useless when it came to doing anything vaguely physical. But Lovino was too surly to be cute, too snappy. Aldrich liked him wel enough but still, not adorable.

He was amazed at how old Romulus actually was. Not old, not by wizard standards in any case, but still, he didn't expect it. He rolled his eyes as Romulus winked, he was so Italian, vain, a flirt, it was amusingly sterotypical. He seemed like a good person and he hoped that they could get on well; it didn't seem like Romulus would have a problem with it but it all depended on if Aldrich frightened him off or not. "Family tradition?" He was momentarily confused, not understanding, but a moment thinking about it, it made sense that he had teenage grandchildren because his son or daughter (he assumed son, as they shared a last name) "Oh, I see." He wondered if he would look as good as Romulus did when he was 53... probably, as his kind usually lived longer than humans and stayed beautiful for most their lives, like psirens and veela. "I'm only 37..." he hoped he didn't make Romulus feel old.

"I'm sure it isn't that bad. Maybe starchy but probably not the worst." Not like he's ever subject himself to it, of course. When he can make some of the best, why settle for anything less? Romulus choose to omit that as a punishment as a child he was forced to eat German food. That may not come off the right way to this future friend.

"In theory but who knows what I'd lose if I learned a new skill at this age!" There, back to laughing. "I'll leave the brainy stuff to others, like you." There was a reason the Sorting Hat back in his day didn't even consider putting him into Ravenclaw. It's not like he wasn't smart; he in fact was obnoxiously good at acquiring and using new information but the thought of having to sit down and work things out was close to causing his very skin to itch.

The Italian listened as the other explained how he was working at Hogwarts. Oh, that made sense. He liked his conspiracy theory more though. However, either way it was nice to get a family atmosphere in the school. It probably prevented most of the students from fully enjoying themselves, knowing their uncles, aunts, parents and the like were lurking around the corner.

"Thirty-seven!" Now to try not to think that he could be the other man's father with that age. A very young father but still. "You're in the prime of your life, what are you doing teaching! You should be spreading your oats or whatever that phrase is!" Romulus was nothing if not unfiltered.