It's a Family Thing (Athena)

[Athena Graves]

"Good. The last thing you need is some love-struck fool holding a grudge against you. That sort of thing never turns out well for anyone involved," Athena said. She should know. "You are absolutely correct, he should not monopolize her time. But I think, when you fall in love, you'll understand. It's new and exciting, and, for a while, it's the most important thing in the world. Give it time, the 'new' will wear off, and they won't spend every waking moment together. Besides, it's high school romance. It probably won't last beyond the 'new' wearing off."

Athena may not have dated in high school, but her friends did. And how! There was perhaps one that had ended up marrying their high school sweetheart. The last time they spoke, her friend was miserable, regretting never having 'sewn her wild oats' or whatever.

"Me, jealous? Of a little girl? As if," she made a face. "It's okay. I get it." Her headache was gone, she realized. Thank goodness, because he went off on a little tangent that she wouldn't have had the patience for if her head was still pounding. "Now, there's an idea," she chuckled. "It's the job you were born to do."

[Lucco Graves]

"Quite literally!" Lucco laughed as they finally reached the dining hall. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Smells like waffles. I wonder if there are strawberries and whipped cream? I know that's a bit fancy for every day but they are so much better like that." He led her down to the table furthest from the door, plopping down in a corner area that would make them less noticeable.

"So, classes today? Or are you taking the day off to recover?" He asked, grabbing the nearest plate of waffles before plopping four good-sized ones onto his own plate with relish. Then he set it down in front of her to take if she liked. There were probably other things. Usually there were at least two options for breakfast and not everyone was in the mood for warm, delicious waffles. His eyes scanned the table further down, looking past the syrup for the condiments he much preferred.

[Athena Graves]

"They've got whipped cream," she answered, knowing because that's how Bastian ate his waffles. "I don't know about strawberries."

Athena sat beside her brother, glancing up at the dais. No Bastian. Was he avoiding her? Good. It was easier to avoid someone that was trying to avoid you, too. "Hmm? Oh, yes, I'll still have classes today. Better to keep busy. The show must go on," she answered, grabbing a waffle for herself, spreading on some butter, and filling every square hole with syrup. "Accio strawberries," she commanded, a bowl down the table hopping up and heading straight for her outstretched hand.

Athena caught it and set it down beside her brother's plate. "I'd summon the whipped cream, too, but... oh, what the hell. I'm a student, again, after all," she smirked and accio'd the bowl of whipped cream. As it whizzed past students, chunks of the fluffy cream broke off from the mound, splattering faces, hair, and food. "Oooops."

She set that on the table, too, next to the strawberries. "It's good to be back," Athena said, meaning it in more ways than one.

[Lucco Graves]

"Isn't it?" Lucco laughed, grabbing the whipped cream and plopping it down on his waffles before dropping his berries down in a symmetrical pattern that made sense to him. Largest on the lower two layers, smaller on the top - each layer earning a spackling of whipped cream. A perfect waffle building. "Adulthood and maturity has it's time and place but right now..." He flicked a bit of whipped cream at his sister, managing to hit her on the cheek.

"So, you are enjoying your classes then? You like being a teacher? You aren't just staying here to be closer to me?" He asked. "Because there are a lot of things that you might rather do but from what I have heard, most of your students like you. They know that you are smart and know what you are talking about. You don't coddle them like many of the other teachers do. But if you wanted to leave at the end of the year..."

[Athena Graves]

Athena gasped, feigning shock and disbelief. Then she laughed and wiped her cheek with a napkin. This was as good a distraction as any. It felt good to goof off with Lucco. She had missed this long before she had had her memories modified. "I'll get you for that. You won't know when, you won't know how," she warned, still smiling. "But sleep with one eye open, maybe?"

"Yeah, I am, actually. Or was. I guess we'll see how today goes. It's good to know the students like me, though. It's not like they just come up and say it or anything," Athena cut into her waffle and took a bite. "I'm not just staying here to be close to you. That's a big part of it, of course, but it's not so bad here."

Plus, there was Bastian. So much for distractions. Athena sighed and cut another triangle shape out of her waffle. "As for staying past the end of the year," she stuffed the rather large bite into her mouth and mumbled the rest of her sentence with her cheeks full. On purpose, so he would have a hard time understanding.

[Lucco Graves]

Lucco smirked. Famous last words. If it was one thing she had taught him, it was to be ready for anything.

"Yeah, I wasn't quite so certain that I would be happy with you here but actually, it's kinda nice. We do have some limits and, well..." Lucco considered the situation. "I might actually be needing more of your help in the next few years. My Junior and Senior years are going to be really important towards preparing for my future career. And as of right now, I have no idea what I am going to do.

"How does someone prepare for something they aren't certain about?" He asked her. "What if whatever I decide upon is going to be wicked difficult and I need the best Dueling teacher alive? I am sure that there are other good teachers out there, of course but don't you want me to have the best?" He asked innocently, stuffing a big bite of his waffles into his mouth - almost too big too chew but it would give her time.

Maybe she didn't want to be here because it turned out she was wrong. Maybe she could not love Bastian as much as she had hoped. Maybe there was no hope for them...and if that was the case, Athena likely wouldn't want to stick around and see him every day. And Lucco would not ask her to do that; not if it caused her pain. And he didn't really want Bastian to go. He liked having a buddy to work with in the shop. Was there a possibility that this was what he was going to have to do: bring them back together and make Athena realize that love would always be stronger than hatred and anger.

He didn't want to do it. He wouldn't enjoy it. But if they needed each other, Lucco would make that sacrifice.

[Athena Graves]

She wouldn't stay if she and Bastian were anything less than friends. If they were anything more than friends, then she supposed it depended on how far past 'friends' they went. And how lucky (or unlucky) they were with preventative measures. Pinkness rose in her cheeks out of nowhere. She coughed into her fist to feign like something got stuck in her throat.

"My plan was to be a professional freeloader. It's not like I have to work," she smirked. "But here I am, twenty-seven, changing career paths. You don't have to decide now. It helps to have at least a general idea, though."

Athena furrowed her brow and put her fork down, cutting her eyes at him sideways. "You've had the best your whole life. And you'll have me whether I'm here or not," she said, picking her fork back up to resume eating. "And you're not even in my class. Are you saying you'll take it if I stay?"

[Lucco Graves]

Lucco nodded. "I am considering it for next year. Astronomy is good but I do not believe that it will have a practical purpose. It might be better to switch to Dueling, at least learn something that will be of use. If nothing else, I can teach a potential mugger not to mess with a former student of the indomitable Professor Graves!

"I can't see you wanting to be a professional freeloader," he said honestly, studying her closely before taking another bite. "Really, if I hadn't been born...?" He stopped talking, nearly choking on the food in his mouth.

[Athena Graves]

Mugger reminded her of the incident in Crimin Alley, which reminded her that she hadn't been able to defend herself. She was drunk though. Her reflexes were retarded by the alcohol. Bastian had come to her rescue. Again. Athena stared down at the last couple of bites left on her plate, reliving the memory. She'd come to in his arms. Kneed him in the face. She pulled one of her sleeves up to look at her wrist. The bruises were gone, but she could still see them as clear as day.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, she looked over at Luc. "I would probably be dad's campaign manager or something," she shrugged, stuffing the last two bites into her face, trying not to consider the possibility that she'd have run off with Bastian given half the chance. "But you were born, so whatever. I wouldn't change a damn thing."

[Lucco Graves]

"So I saved you!" Lucco finally said after swallowing what was in his overfull mouth. "Lucky you, not having to deal with the sludge that makes up our government. Better than the No-Maj government but not by much." He sighed, taking another, smaller, bite.

"You know, I have to say that overall, this has been one of the most mundane first month of school I have had yet. I've been working on my Herbology crap and am caught up on everything. This weekend, Bec and I are going to go up and start on the decoration of the doll house. I am going to see if she will paint a special mural on the wall of the children's playroom. You should stop in and see it when we are done. I really think it is coming along quite nicely and it is giving me other ideas for different houses I could build. Maybe that is what I will do with the rest of my life - build doll houses." He grinned. "Can you imagine me making toys for little girls? I can just imagine the look on his face if that is what I decide.

"But I think I could be happy doing it. Really happy. I know it's not really a magical job but maybe it wouldn't be so bad to step onto the other side. It wouldn't mean that I would have to leave the Maj world. Just that I would use it more for my private life than my professional."

[Athena Graves]

Athena chuckled, taking a drink of milk to counter the sweetness left on her tongue by the syrup. "Yeah. You saved me."

She listened to him go on about how ordinary his month had been. Compared to her first month there, anything was mundane. "You'll have to let me know when it's finished. I'd love to see it," Athena smiled, cramming her feelings deep, deep down. "You could. I think every little girl would be begging for a Lucco Graves custom doll house for Christmas. You could probably make other things, too. Dad would shit a brick, having his name attached to a toy company. If you really think you could be happy doing that and make a good life for yourself, you should do it, Luc."

[Lucco Graves]

Lucco nodded. "It's just something I have been considering. First I will have to see how Dean's little sister likes hers. That will likely be the defining factor.

"Oh, Dean is a first year in Wampus. He has some learning problems so we have been giving him a hand. He's got a kid sister so I thought I would give it to her for Christmas. I know that you probably have plans of your own but I think I am going back to the apartment this year, so that I can deliver it...which means, I will need your help for an hour or so. He lives down south so to get it down there on my own would be literally impossible. Unless I decide to get on a train or something. Honestly, I really don't want to take a two day train ride there and another back but if you cannot get away..." He frowned, wondering if he really would mind spending that much time on a trip. It would be the first real trip he would have taken on his own. Before, it all seemed too scary to go traveling by himself but now - to help someone else, he believed he could do it for Dean.

[Athena Graves]

"Oh, so now you'll know what it's like to have a little bother. I mean brother," she crinkled her nose. "That shouldn't be a problem. I should probably start training you for your license, anyway. I know your birthday is a long way away, but we won't have the opportunity to practice while we're here. So we should do it whenever we can. Not for such a long distance, though. That'll have to be sidealong, and done over a few shorter distances."

Luckily, she'd traveled all over the country, and could probably jump from big city to big city until they reached the closest one to his little friend. Athena took another swig of milk, wiping her upper lip with the back of her hand. "Unless you'd rather wait and take a summer training course. Which is fine. Whatever you want to do," she smiled apologetically. Old habits died hard. She was just so used to teaching him everything that the school didn't. Maybe he'd rather have professional instruction. Besides, she wouldn't be able to live with herself if he got splinched under her tutelage.

[Lucco Graves]

"I would prefer if you taught me," Lucco replied honestly. "You know me better, which most people don't think matters but it does. You know how to motivate me, how I correlate and understand things because you are the one that taught me how to do all that. Honestly, I think a lot of kids would be ahead if their guardians took a hand in their education. Maybe not all the time but simple things - when we are younger. Maybe story books that would get us ready for our lives as Maj. Teaching us the words and intentions behind them.

"IF we learn the words when we are so little that it stays with us... I mean, I can still almost perfectly recite 'Bunnies on their Own', I heard it so many times." He smiled, remembering back to the nanny who had first read it to him. A No-Maj book about little bunny children who were left home alone for the first time. For months, it was the only story that he would listen to. "Imagine if a child heard a story about simple cleaning spells or things to shut down a house for the night or..." He took a deep breath, refocusing on his sister.

Lucco gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I've been too easily distracted lately. Mike swears that I would be a great dog; I get distracted by the damdest things."

[Athena Graves]

Athena couldn't help but smile at that. It felt good to be needed. And to hear it out loud. "Alright, then. Splinch tending lessons courtesy of Athena Graves it is," she laughed. If he insisted, she couldn't say no. Even if she was worried half to death that she'd just get him hurt.

"Maybe you should write magical children's books," Athena suggested. "That's a really good idea. And, yes, you're easily distracted as of late. What's up with that?"

That reminded her. "Oh, I meant to talk to you about the other day, in the gardens," Athena screwed up her mouth. "Great prank. Terrible timing. And thank you for taking care of that... greenhouse pest."