Closed Nipped in the Bud

[Professor Angel Castillo]

Angel hadn't exactly thought teaching would be a walk in the park, but if he was being really honest, it thought it would be a bit easier than this. But hindsight was 20/20 and he probably should have guessed that teaching a bunch of 16 year olds about plants with teeth was going to come back to bite him eventually. Though he wished maybe not so literally.

The fanged geraniums he had collected for his sixth years were proving to be a bit more feisty than he'd anticipated, and Angel's forearm was currently paying the price. He'd never been particularly good at healing spells, and though most of the fairly impressive selection of bites he'd received were pretty minor, Angel'd decided he'd rather just smear some dittany on his arm and call it a day. Besides, if he'd had this much trouble with the geraniums, then he was almost certainly going to need a good supply of dittany in the greenhouse for his student's too. The Hospital Wing seemed like his best bet to get enough dittany fast, so after changing into a shirt without any teeth holes in it, Angel had made his way up there, hoping to catch one of the nurses. "Hello?" He called out into the empty ward, giving the door frame a gentle knock as he stepped in.

 

[Josephine Arora]

The hospital wing had been quiet today, which was both good and bad. It was obviously good that not many students had injured themselves today, but it did make the hours pass slowly. Josephine sat in her office, her hair pulled back in a bun. Her door was open so she could hear anyone entering the Hospital wing, and she was reading a book during this more quiet time. She snapped it shut once she heard footsteps and someone calling, as well as a knock. Josephine put the book in her desk drawer, then smoothed down her skirt as she got to her feet. The person didn't sound in grave danger, but it also didn't sound like a student. Josephine stepped out of her office and looked at the vaguely familiar man there. "You're one of the new teachers, aren't you?" She asked him, remembering him from the staff meeting. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't remember your name. I'm Josephine. What can I do for you?" She wondered which subject he taught. Josephine knew most of the other professors and their subjects fairly well, but not the new ones yet.

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

Angel smiled when one of the nurses appeared, greeting her with a nod and a quick once over. She was awfully pretty and Angel figured maybe a little harmless flirting couldn't hurt. "It's nice to meet you, Josephine, we must have missed each other at the staff meeting, I feel like I would have remembered," He might have been laying it on a bit thick, but if he was going to get hurt, he might as well make the best of it. "Call me Angel. I'm afraid I got myself on the wrong end of a fanged geranium," He said gamely, rolling back his sleeve to show his sad little collection of bites and scratches. "That being the end with all the teeth. Was hoping I might make off with some of your dittany supply in case my students are as careless as I am."

 

[Josephine Arora]

Josephine recognized the way the man looked her over quickly, it wasn't entirely new to her. He didn't seem to care much about being subtle, as he immediately started flirting with her. It would be a lie to say she wasn't flattered, though she wasn't one to flirt back just because someone paid attention to her first. Perhaps, if she decided she liked him. He was handsome enough, but that was all she knew about him so far. "I think we must have." She said simply, walking closer to him. She raised her eyebrow a little as he introduced himself, a hint of a smile on her face. "I'll only call you Angel if that's actually your name, I hope you realize that." She said. Perhaps that was a little more flirty than she had intended at first, maybe a little bit wouldn't hurt. The hospital wing could get rather boring. "I assume you're the new Herbology professor, then." She said as the man rolled back his sleeve and told her about what had happened. "I can give you some dittany, though I assume you want these healed as well?" She gestured to the bites and scratches on his arm. "What happened?" She added as she looked more closely at the scratches. "If you're the new Herbology professor, this couldn't be the first fanged geranium you worked with." Perhaps she had been wrong in assuming he was the Herbology professor? But she couldn't think of another reason for him to get near such a plant. "Take a seat, I'll take care of this and then get you some dittany for your students. Though you should still send them to the hospital wing even if you help them out with dittany. If anything happens, it's best to let a nurse look at it." She wouldn't have said something like that to a professor who had been working at the school a while, but she wasn't yet sure if this man was very competent. The bites seemed to indicate in the negative, though she knew she shouldn't judge him too badly from a single incident.

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

Angel could tell Josephine wasn't totally on board with his flirting, but there seemed to be a part of her that wanted to play along and that was all the encouragement he needed. "Only name I've ever had, I swear," He said, placing his non-mauled hand over his heart. "Though I've been told I don't always live up to it," That might have been coming on a bit strong, Angel realized. Something about Josephine gave him the impression if he pushed too much too fast she'd shut him down immediately and then where would the fun be in that. Trying to play it a bit more demurely, he nodded when Josephine offered to fix up his arm now as well as the dittany. "Thank you, greatly appreciated," He ducked his head when she questioned how exactly someone in charge of teaching herbology might end up a fanged geranium chew toy, which was a fair question. "Ah, well that might have been my mistake I suppose, second you think you know what you're doing and get careless is the second they get you. A suitable punishment for a bit of hubris I guess," He said with a bit of a laugh. It would certainly be awhile before he let his guard down around any of the greenhouse plants, though he could swear the fanged geraniums in particular were out to get him.

 

[Josephine Arora]

Josephine hadn't talked to many of the teachers at Hogwarts yet, as they usually seemed busy with each other or their own personal subjects. The person she saw most was Lucius, her fellow nurse, along with a string of students who got themselves injured somehow. So while she wasn't really sure what to make of this man just yet, she had to admit she enjoyed the conversation. It wouldn't be bad to have a good relationship with the person in charge of the magical plants at Hogwarts, though that did immediately raise a question. "Is there no dittany in any of the greenhouses?" She asked him curiously as she took some from the storage. She had never really given them a close look, so she wasn't sure. "I'll take your word for it." She added with a small smile as Angel ensured her it was really his name, even if he didn't always live up to it. There was a definite flirtatious edge to his voice, and Josephine couldn't quite hide the smile it brought on her face. She applied some dittany to Angel's arm, nodding when he explained how it happened. "A lesson you can teach your students." She told him as she watched the wounds on his arm heal themselves. "Perhaps I should leave one to become a rugged scar? So you can show it to them as a cautionary tale?" She asked, though she was really teasing. She had already applied dittany to all the bite wounds, which had healed as they spoke. They hadn't been very deep. She turned to pack up the rest of the dittany before handing it over to him. "This should last you for a while, as long as your students are as careful as you will be from now on." She told him with a smile. He was rather handsome, and she had to admit his flirtations lightening her mood.

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

Angel tried to deflect the question of the greenhouse dittany supply with a smile, trying to find a way to phrase his laziness in setting things up in the best way possible. "I haven't had a lot of time to get my bearings with everything just yet, though I think this might be a sign I should move that up my list," So far, Josephine seemed to be playing along with Angel's jokes, smiling back, if a bit tolerantly. He liked that she wasn't immediately flustered or cowed by anything, clearly very competent. "Do what I say, not what I do, right?" He said, raising an eyebrow at the offer of a rugged scar. "I'm sure I could pull off the scarred and roguishly handsome look, but perhaps my ego is scarred enough already from all this," He knew Josephine was joking with him, and he aimed to keep everything light, but the idea of any of the greenhouse plants doing permanent damage down the line was not a pretty one.
"My hero, thank you," He said as Josephine finished up, admiring the now smooth and healed expanse of his arm before taking the dittany. "Hopefully you wont' be seeing me back here anytime soon, but perhaps I can return the favor sometime?" Making friends wasn't necessarily something Angel struggled with, but he hadn't had too much time to get into any of this colleagues' good books just yet, and he wouldn't say no if Josephine ever wanted to chat again sometime.

 

[Josephine Arora]

Josephine nodded as Angel told her he hadn't had a lot of time to get his bearings yet. She had been working here for a little while now, but could still easily remember how things had felt at first. "Ah yes, I can understand that." She said, giving him a small smile to show him she had merely been curious. She laughed softly as he joked about his ego being scarred. "I can't put any dittany on that, I'm afraid." She told him, amused. "I do hope you won't need to come here anytime soon. With injuries, at least." she said with a last glance at his arm. "As for returning the favor... Perhaps you could." She met his eye and smiled. "You'll be first on my list to ask for help if I hurt my own arm in a similar manner." She said jokingly.

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

It was a relief with Josephine didn't push too much on his lack of organization. Angel wondered how long he could ride an excuse like that before he started getting in trouble. Minus a few, fanged exceptions, teaching hadn't been terrible, but it was certainly a bit more of a struggle than he'd been expecting. He laughed when Josephine once again played along with his jokes, still teasing him too, which was a definite bonus.
"I can't make any promises, but I'll do my best, for you," He said warmly as she mentioned not coming back injured again. Leaning in a bit, Angel hadn't missed the added note of potentially seeing her for non-injury related circumstances. He got the sense Josephine might not mind his shameless flirting, but there was definitely a line he was toeing and Angel knew it paid not to push too hard, especially if they had to work together. "Well, hopefully our next meeting might be under a little different circumstances, but if you ever find yourself in need of some company, greenhouse door is open, injured or not," He said instead, letting her brush him off if she wanted, but the offer was still on the table.

 

[Josephine Arora]

Josephine started putting things away after treating Angel, surprised to feel a little sad to know he would soon be leaving and ending the conversation. It wasn't like she had nothing to do, she had plenty of work to catch up on, but it had been a fun diversion for a moment to talk to him. "I'll count on it." she said as he told her he would do his best for her, the small smile gracing her lips again. She wasn't flirting as much as he was, but she wasn't encouraging it either. His offer to visit him at the greenhouse was intriguing, and she had to admit she was a little tempted. "Perhaps I'll visit sometime. I've been curious about the greenhouses since I started here." Her little sister had always loved gardening, and Ella had tried to accommodate that best she could. It would be nice to see what the greenhouses were like at Hogwarts. "But I'm sure we'll see each other around on more occasions." She said with a small smile.