Originally Posted by Felixir

Tea, ooh yeah. Tobias never really drank tea out of choice, but he usually always accept it when he went to visit his professors. Unless it was chamomile. Bleh.

"Thank you, Professor," the boy grinned as he took the china cup, and proceeded to put a few sugars into it. He wanted more, ideally, but he was learning to ignore his sweet tooth. He was still into working out and running every single day, so piling in the sugar whenever he had a cup of tea seemed a bit detrimental to that. Tobias took a small sip before deciding the tea was a just a smidge too hot, and set it down to cool off some. "Oh for sure, sir. I love exploring. Finding new things is like a magic in its own right, I reckon."

Woah, slow down there Tobes. You're in danger of sounding philosophical.

At the question, Tobias shrugged one shoulder and looked over at his tea again. He traced the rim of the china cup with one index finger from the hand that had been playing with his head, whilst his other hand and his feet continued to drum and tap, though almost silently.

"I'm okay," he responded, glancing up to Botros and then back to his tea again, where he was now tracing the handle of the teacup. Toby didn't feel any urges to hold back on this topic at all, not when speaking to Botros. He also never suspected for a second that Cutty might be listening out specifically for details about HIM. If anything, Tobias believed the younger boy would soon forget the things Toby spoke about. "It's just that I live with my grandparents, see? And my grandfather got ill and, well..." Tobias took up the tea for another sip before setting it down again. He thought about finishing the sentence, but changed his mind. Sharing information about things that were sad was still something he was trying to work with. The only person he'd outright told was Forrest, and suddenly saying it out loud again felt a bit overwhelming, so Tobias flashed a smile at the Professor and simply said, "This is good tea, sir."

And promptly started thinking happy thoughts.

Ooooh. Summers. Botros sounded like he had had a good one. Tobias had never been to Egypt. Never been abroad at all, actually, so somewhere like Egypt really DID seem magical. At the mention of Feo, the third year blinked and looked around the room. Well well well. Now the professor had mentioned the lack of crup this year, Toby suddenly realised the poignant absense. N'awww. He'd miss that crazy little canine. The first time he'd properly spoken to Professor Botros was because of Feo.

The Hufflepuff gave a smile (because Feo was adorable okay and it didn't take much to make Toby smile) and looked over at Cutty to hear about his summer too, unwittingly mirroring Botros as he sipped his tea again.

Originally Posted by SlytherinSistah

Still in his euphoric daze, Cutty plucked the teacup from the air as though it were a low-hanging pear. Sugar? Why yes! The wee Slytherin partook of that as well in a portion probably too generous for the amount of tea he had in his cup. He drank, nonetheless, and even seemed to enjoy it. This professor, Botros, was paying him mind and Cutty did not seem too bothered by it. All he felt was a hair-induced elation, though it was slowly starting to dissipate in light of the curiousity caused over the Professors comments.

The wee Slyth considered Botros's remark about his family living in Egypt. He couldn't have meant his own parents, could he? No. They wouldn't have been alive still. Well, maybe he meant his grandchildren? Did his son or daughter marry into an Egyptian family, perhaps? Was the Professor himself Egyptian? It was somewhat hard to tell after people reached a certain age for Cutty.

Tobias was talking. And saying things that were horribly, terribly, pestilentially intriguing to Cutty. And then he stopped talking quite suddenly and Cutty looked incredulous for a moment before assessing what that meant. Interesting. So Tempus had some secrets to keep. It was about time that Cutty check out that Lonely Potioneers Diary book Mr. Kitridge had been going on about anyway.

The younger boy sat there, sipping his tea unaware of social pressure (or perhaps simply unbothered by it enough) to respond to the expectant sipping and stares of the Professor and the Puff-Puff, the latter projecting his mind into a whirlwind of plans and ideas. So inspiring! Finally, noticing the silence, the boy turned to the two of them and was all like, "Wot?" as if he were missing something. Cutty didn't get it.