It was always good to see those he had trained, getting the chance to see their progress and development. He especially liked to see just how far they would go, what impact they would make. He supposed it made him a bit proud to see their development, getting to see just how far they had come. If they left the career, it wasn’t like he would be disappointed; he wanted everyone to go where they felt better used or more directed to go. Everyone had a different skillset and it was important that they learn how to utilize that. “Having money to pay my rent is my incentive to work,” he deadpanned, giving her a look.

“Deal with my mess? Feed me supper? Funny, I seem to have survived the past few years just fine,” he mused jokingly, laughing lightly. It was good to have his friend back, and his employee, he supposed. It had been a while since she had been around these parts, but he knew her to be an asset to his team. He was still surprised he managed to pull enough strings to get her back on the team, but it all panned out…for now, anyways. He really had to watch his own back now as the Minister was watching him closely. That would be just what he needs to happen, he thought to himself.

“Lady friend? Girlfriend,” he corrected, laughing lightly. “And I assure you, she is neither,” he laughed, shaking his head. “I’ll bring her around soon; not everything has to be right this instance. And besides, things are a bit crazy right now. I doubt bringing her around the family so they can critique everything will go over well,” he replied, quirking his eyebrow at her.

Persephone arched an eyebrow at her friend as he gave her a look. It was nice to come back home and things to fall right back into a place. She did love Russia, and she was going to miss her friends and surrogate family but nothing could compare to home. She still worried slightly that Nikolai was having issues adapting to such a big change, but she knew he could handle it. If she could handle being an English woman in a male dominated Russian auror department he could handle this with little problems.

”You only survived because I told Ma and Leo to keep an eye on you while I was gone.” She said with a laugh before taking a sip of her drink. She was concerned about leaving Ben behind though she knew that was absurd. It was a mothering mentality which was almost comical seeing as he was her superior almost a decade her senior. Now that she was back home she was more troubled when it came to her friend having to deal with the Minister. She hadn’t been back long but she already despised him.

She swirled the wine in her glass, taking time to lift it up to admire it’s color before taking another long sip and setting it on the table with a shake of her head. ”You could at least let me meet her. Honestly, it’s not like I bite or anything. Not to mention, I’m pretty sure you have met my husband so it’s only fair.” She said crossing her arms with raised eyebrows. They shared the same office; it wasn’t like he would have to go out of his way to bring her around. She always stopped by the office after she got done at the castle if he didn’t want to bring her to the house. She gasped putting her hands to her face in faux shock at his next comment. ”Benjamin Luke Duncanson… I am offended that you think we would critique the poor girl right in front of her… in English.” A smile cracked through as she laughed lightly. ”Do you really think I’m that mean? You know me better than that.”

Benjamin had still yet to meet this husband of hers though he supposed he would at one point. Unfortunately, he had been really busy lately and had missed a few family dinners that he really should have been going to, but he knew that he would meet him eventually at one of those crazy gatherings. It would definitely be interesting to see how everything worked out, that much he knew. Nikolai couldn’t be all that bad if Persephone married him quickly without even having her family around. He supposed a lot did change in just a few years as he would have never pegged her to do that…though, he would have never pegged her to not write her family much, either…but that was not something he would think about now.

“That must be why Ma kept dropping food off at the apartment. Doesn’t she know that I’m not COMPLETELY useless in the kitchen?” he asked, chuckling lightly. Well, he supposed he ate out a lot, but only because it was more convenient for him when he was at the office most of the time. Really, he should be contemplating getting a bed for his office instead of that couch that seemed to be growing uncomfortable by the day.

“I haven’t met Nikolai yet,” Benjamin shrugged. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to one of the dinners,” he stated. “Though, I will definitely be there this weekend before Ma kills me,” he stated. “I’ll bring her by, definitely,” he added on, knowing that he would have to bring her by there soon before they really did kill him. “I really do need to start brushing up on some Italian, don’t I? I’m past due at this point,” Benjamin replied, sighing. “Or are you going to be using Russian more? You know I’m too old to learn both,” he laughed.

Persephone was sure it was probably jarring to everyone that knew her on a close personal level that she came back home married to a man they never met or heard of. He was a good man, and as much as she didn’t like to admit it he had saved her arse several times out on the field. While she could hold her own he was always making sure she was protected at the same time. If something went wrong he was always there which made the incident with his stabbing all the more upsetting. She hadn’t been there to protect Nikolai, as ridiculous as that sounded to others upon seeing the large Russian knowing that if he hadn’t been able to fend them off it was more than likely neither would she have been able to.

She laughed lightly with a bright smile at his comment on Ma bringing him meals. ”Hey I never said you were completely useless in the kitchen. But to be fair, how many times have I had to kick you out of my kitchen for being useless?” She joked with a shake of her head. It wasn’t so much that he was useless as it was how frantic she was while cooking, zipping around the kitchen doing a million things all at once and having to bump him out of the way constantly.

Her eyebrows rose as she realized he hadn’t been to the house for dinner since she got home from Russia. ”You’re lucky Ma hasn’t come to the office to drag you out by your ear.” She laughed imagining the petite older Italian woman taking the Head of Aurors out of his office by his ear. ”I should have realized you haven’t met Nikolai yet. You haven’t pulled me aside yet to question my sanity, or question my marriage. Bells and Gino are convinced he’s a hired bodyguard.” She said with a roll of her eyes. Her husband wasn’t what anyone would have really seen coming. She remembered the look on half of the family’s faces when they finally saw the large Russian. It was pretty amusing for her actually. ”Don’t make me go looking for her. I need to be sure you have yourself a good one.” She said arching an eyebrow at her old friend.

”The fact that you still haven’t caught on to some Italian baffles me. Then again, how else am I supposed to insult you at work without getting in trouble?” She laughed lightly. ”I switch between Italian and Russian depending on my mood. Russian is much more satisfying to use when I’m angry. You know the saying… you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” She joked lightly.

Benjamin had missed his friend, that much was certain. He had missed his co-worker and his auror, knowing that she certainly was a fantastic asset to his team. She brought in a different aspect to the field as she was very obviously a woman and not one of the blokes. Benjamin was certainly not one to believe that women were the weaker sex, though when it came to physical combat, more often than not they were. There were other things that women were better at, like talking down suspects or bringing more of an emotional side during interrogations which was surprisingly helpful. Where Benjamin was more logical, a woman was more intuitive, balancing out nicely. This was why he saw it as an asset to have a mixture of both on his team and this was part of the reason why he was grateful that Persephone had finally decided to come home.

“I always thought you kicked me out because I tried to eat everything,” Benjamin retorted, raising his eyebrows at her suspiciously before chuckling lightly. It had been a long time since he was over any of the DiTraverso’s homes, though that had been unintentional. Work really had been picking up lately and going over was a leisure he couldn’t afford at the moment. “Lucky is quite the understatement,” he grinned. “Why would I question your marriage? I trusted your judgment before…I suppose you couldn’t have lost it completely since going to Russia,” he smirked jokingly. “A hired bodyguard? Wow, what firm is he a part of? I’m sure it has great benefits,” Benjamin continued before laughing, taking another swig of his drink. “Oh? Curious. You go marry someone the family hasn’t met and you’re curious about a woman I’ve recently started dating? Very interesting,” he grinned, raising his eyebrows at his friend. “I’m just kidding. I’ll bring her around when work gets a bit less busy,” he promised.

“I’ll keep that in mind…when you’re speaking Russian, I’ll be sure to leave the premises,” he stated solemnly.

Persephone hadn’t felt like she was really home until she got to sit down with her friend. Sure he was her boss, but he had meant a great deal to her before she left and it seemed he still did. He was one of her closest friends and the only person outside of her husband and family that she explicitly trusted. It had taken years and although they had been apart for so long she had no hesitation in saying that she still did. She really had enjoyed working for her boss in Russia though Nikolai was much closer to him then she was. But she missed her old department terribly.

She laughed shaking her head at his comment. ”I do believe that was one of the reasons. You have competition in the kitchen now. Nikolai took up your post.” She joked with a smile wondering just how amusing it would be to see the two men in her kitchen as she shoved them around trying to get things done. Persephone laughed loudly shoving Ben’s shoulder at his next few comments. ”My judgment is still spot on thank you very much. From what I’ve heard he gets excellent benefits, but he had to pay one hell of a premium…” She said lifting her left hand up to show her rings with a laugh. ”If any position opens up I’ll let you know.” She joked with a wide smile before rolling her eyes. She knew everyone was surprised about her coming home married, but she felt like Ben and Nik would get along and he wouldn’t disapprove. ”You better.”

She took a sip of her drink before a sly smile came over her face. ”So is that all I have to do to get the office to myself? I just need to speak in Russian to get you to go away? I’ll make a mental note of that.” She added with a laugh before glancing down at wrist and groaning. She hadn’t expected to stay so long and she wasn’t about to let her husband go to the healer on his own. She was sure he wouldn’t lie to her, but she liked to be there regardless. ”Speaking of Russian… I need to get home to mine.” She said with a light laugh as she drained her glass and set it back down on the table before standing up to say good-bye to her old friend.

It had been a long few years since Persephone had been absent from London, and it was good to have her back to the family. He had originally been confused why she had stayed away for so long, though that was her own decision. A part of him wondered what precisely came into play that made her decide to stay gone for so long, before determining that time was funny like that. It simply seemed to slip away and then one would wake up one day, and too much time would have passed on by. He was thankful that he still had this friendship with Persephone even throughout the years that seemed to slip past them. Although he hadn’t remained in contact with her, it was as if the time hadn’t happened. It was his hope that Isabella and Persephone would be able to work on their relationship for both of the ladies’ sake, though he knew that would take some time. Once that relationship fixed, he was certain that nearly everything will have gone back to being as normal as possible.

Benjamin chuckled at her response, shaking his head lightly. “Nikolai and I will just grab a couple whiskeys and wait for dinner,” he nodded at the idea. Benjamin eyed her rings briefly, rolling his eyes. It never seized to amaze him how all women were the same when it came to a piece of jewelry…and how men always spent a fortune on a bloody ring. Made absolutely no sense in the slightest. “Yes, do keep me posted,” he smirked, amused. “If I didn’t trust your judgment, I would have never hired you back,” Benjamin pointed out.

“I’ll make sure to lock my office afterwards,”he grinned. “They’ll have a cubicle up and ready for you within the next week,” he promised, remembering the information he had been told earlier. “You have a goodnight, Petrov. Don’t be late to work,” he added, giving his friend a hug and sitting back down to continue with his night.

--End Thread--