Open nothing like the breakfast rush

[Professor Benjamin Kaster II]

*open after Conan

One of Ben's favourite times of the day, was breakfast. It had been for years even before he'd met and married Sam. Though he no longer got to see her of a morning, it didn't change too much of his routine, because instead of having coffee and a chat, he would have coffee and write her a letter. Mostly these letters consisted of the entire weeks worth of events so he tended to write them entirely on a Sunday morning, but it was helped by the fact that he didn't have much to do on a Sunday morning, Monday's, they were busy because he would be starting to deal with the new fifth years, and then Tuesday would provide him the seventh years, but he was still looking forward to it. He had some exciting lessons coming up, especially for the fresh faced fifth years, since they would be coming into the course with a brand new Professor. Ben was looking forward to the challenge, he'd enjoyed his sixth years last year, even if he'd only been here a semester, he'd learned a lot with them and thankfully in a moment where it wouldn't have cost them their end of years exams if he had messed up. He didn't think he'd messed up, but he also hadn't really the opportunity to talk to any of them about it, so it was one of those moments where he would see how things went. "I heard about Taylor over the break from Elsa, I assume both are doing well?" Elsa had her baby a couple of months ago too, so he'd gone to see Emiko first and then heard about Taylor.
​

 

[Professor Conan Edogawa]

Conan was trudging into the Great Hall, making a beeline for the Staff Table. He needed a coffee after the morning he'd had. He was tired after having to figure out the changes he needed to make for his lessons this year, and he'd not slept well, so he'd woken up a bit later than usual because it was still so weird not to be sleeping at home. He missed his wife, and he missed the kids. And to top it all off, he'd just seen his nephew give his boyfriend a kiss, which made him grumble a little because he couldn't even kiss his wife to say good morning. He needed coffee. And so, he'd practically inhaled the first cup - how he'd not burned himself was a miracle. But it was a little easier to face the world now. He'd just started on his eggs when Ben, who was seated beside him, asked about Taylor. "The twins are so big now," he was both excited and complaining. He was so used to being the one at home for the baby that it was so weird not to be there for his two youngest. "Taylor's excited because these Kai and Jeremiah just might get to say mama or kaa-chan first. At least a baby variation. I don't even think I'm in the running for this competition this time," he lamented before taking a bite of his eggs. And then his eyes widened because he had more news than that. "James and I are grandpas now can you believe it?!"​

 

[Professor Benjamin Kaster II]

Ben was casually listening to Conan, in the way you did in the mornings when you were interested in the conversation, but trying to also do your own thing. He'd pulled out his parchment and a quill to write Sam a letter, letting her know all the things he had planned this week and how he thought they were going to go. He was always so pleased that his classes were towards the afternoon, most of them, because he often found that it was so much easier to engage the students when they'd had time to spend with their friends and do whatever it was that they did in the morning to wake themselves up. So he was nodding at the appropriate times mostly because he was expecting all of the information he was getting. He had seen the twins just before he'd gotten to Hogwarts because he'd been over to see Elsa and she had a picture of them that Taylor or perhaps Conan had taken that morning, one of the twins rolling over onto his side and the other curled up beside him. It made sense that Taylor would be excited to have some of her kids say her name first, because from what Ben had been able to pick up just in general conversations with different members of the family, it was usually Corey or Conan who had that honour, but since she wasn't playing Quidditch anymore, she was taking a little extra time off, even though she was the coach. What threw him was some news he hadn't been aware of. James and Conan were both Grandparents? He thought about Jai at first, but Jai was Ai's son, and not Conan's and to his knowledge, Corey had not adopted. So he didn't know who could have had a child, not to mention how James somehow came into it. He turned to look at Conan, bewildered. "What? I mean, you know, congratulations, but... what?"​

 

[Professor Conan Edogawa]

It had been a very stressful break for Conan really. Rewarding because he'd gotten to spend time with his newborn twins, who were very, very quickly becoming not newborns anymore. But the stress of Jericah's pregnancy had weighed on a lot of people. And then there was that boy that had gotten his daughter pregnant and by some misunderstanding - how does one even misunderstand getting someone pregnant - didn't even know about the pregnancy until the end of the Durmstrang school year. It was an adjustment, trying to accept Crispin Applewhite. The culmination of the stress was probably when his daughter had given birth early. From the stress, the healer had said. Thankfully, Rica and his grandson were now in perfect health even if Sora was still very small. "James' nephew and one of my daughters got together and now James and I are grandfather to a perfect baby boy."​

 

[Professor Benjamin Kaster II]

"James' nephew?" He still wasn't entirely sure he understood what was happening but this was one of those things that he felt like he was never going to have proper clarity to. James' nephew wasn't one of James' kids, which meant it wasn't James who was the Grandparent, he wasn't sure how things worked in Japan, but he wasn't quite sure it equated the same way of Conan was saying it like this. "Uh, well, if he's James' nephew then wouldn't it be James' brother who is the Grandfather, and not James himself?" Ben hadn't had many conversations with the man and he didn't think he'd gone to school with him, they probably hadn't crossed paths at all, he felt like that was probably more up Uncle Sam's alley though, it was had to tell because there were so many people in his family, it could be hard to keep track of the cousins sometimes. Not that anyone would admit it to anyone else. Half the family were still in Germany, but the majority of them had immigrated years later. He hadn't done a lot of research into it though. "Still, Congratulations, to you both I guess, what was the baby's name?" He wasn't sure how old Conan was, or how old his daughter was, but he was sure James wasn't old enough to have a kid old enough to have had a child with one of Conan's children. It was hard to say, the man did have a lot of kids. He wasn't quite sure how Taylor did it. Although, he had heard about the extra Cade's that has shown up last year too, and how that had been a bit of a shock for the Gryffindor head of house. Ben was pretty sure he wasn't going to be up for any surprises. Any Kaster's showing up for the moment wee cousins and Nieces and Nephews. ​

 

[Hinata Edogawa]

Hinata had just arrived for breakfast and gave her dad a wave as she sat down in the Hufflepuff table.

 

[Professor Conan Edogawa]

"Yep. James' nephew," Conan said with a firm nod right before he took another sip of his coffee while he grabbed a croissant from the table, giving a wave to Hinata as she sat at the Hufflepuff table. "Hey, pass the butter, will you," he gestured to the butter that was out of his reach, and he didn't want to have to stand just to grab it. Anyway, he nodded as Ben tried to make heads or tails of what he had been trying to say about him and James being grandparents. He knew of course that James wasn't really his... co-grandfather? That was apparently Ezra, James' brother whom he'd also met when he first met Crispin. "Yes. But I don't know Ezra that well. And he looks grumpier than James," he complained to Benjamin. It wasn't like James was a bubble of rainbows and sunshines, but he liked to think James was a little more... chill. Mostly because they both work in the castle. "And do you know anyone else on staff that's also a grandparent because I don't want to be the only old guy," he lamented. It wasn't like he was the oldest on staff. But he usually doesn't hear about the others' grandkids except for Professor Styx who'd just retired. But also, Professor Styx was ancient because he'd been a student of the old professor. And comparing himself to Professor Styx was just wrong on so many different levels of wrongness. He did soften though when Ben asked about his grandson's name. "It's Sora, I think it meant sky," he says as he pulls out a wallet - useful little things - and takes out a picture of his daughter holding and looking down at her teeny, tiny newborn. He hadn't seen Rica go that soft in forever and he hadn't been able to resist taking a picture - which of course made her annoyed until she saw the photo and he promised her a copy.​

 

[Professor Benjamin Kaster II]

Ben still wasn't sure he completely understood how this pertained to James at all, even with Conan explaining it. He waved his hand when Conan asked for the butter and levitated the condiment to his fellow professor, all the way staring at him as if the man had just told him that dragon gave birth to live young. "Conan, you're a wizard, you have a wand. You've clearly spent too much time in that classroom," he laughed lightly, teasing in jest only. His grin faltered into something more pensive as Conan went on about Ezra. "Grumpier than James? Merlin, that's saying something. I think James saves all his good moods for when there's a Quidditch match," Ben joked, leaning back in his chair. He considered Conan's lament for a moment before offering a shrug. "I don't think you're the only grandparent around here, though if you're asking me to organise a grandparent club, you're out of luck. I already have enough trouble keeping track of who still owes me a drink after the last staff meeting." When Conan mentioned Sora, Ben's expression softened, his teasing giving way to genuine interest. "Sora," he repeated thoughtfully. "Sky, huh? That's a good name." He leaned forward to glance at the picture Conan produced, a warm smile crossing his face as he took in the sight of the tiny newborn and Conan’s daughter. "Well, would you look at that? He’s got your scowl," he teased lightly, though his tone was affectionate. "But Merlin, Conan, you're done for. That kid’s going to have you wrapped around their tiny little finger faster than you can say Accio bottle."​