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"I wouldn't dream of forcing you." The corner of his mouth twitches with restrained mirth.

"Ahh, well, I suppose that's a good reason." He leans back. "Did you actually teach? In a university or something, I mean. Something besides apprentices." Because he already knows Balthazar has had those.

"Good." He's about to threaten potential bitings, but stops short of it, not wanting to call up distressing memories of previous fights. For either of them.

"I taught a grade school in the '50s," he says. "Before that...a couple universities between 1600 and 1820 or so. Other than that, mostly apprenticeships and informal tutoring."

Notably, Horvath does not open the floor to any questions about his own wardrobe. He assumes Balthazar wouldn't be able to give any good advice, there.

"Grade school? With little ones climbing all over you and clamoring for attention?" He rests his chin in one hand, both amused and touched by the idea.

Balthazar smiles, nostalgia creeping in. "Yes. And apples. All the damn apples I could eat and then some. It was a poor town. They couldn't pay much, but I didn't need much. I used to find fresh eggs and milk on my windowsill. But you know I like children."

"That sounds... positively idyllic." He smiles and sighs a little wistfully, but watching Balthazar relive happy memories makes him happy, at least at the moment. "I don't dislike them, you know, they just don't like me."

"It was. For just a few years." He shakes his head. "Have you had many students?"

"Fewer than you have, it seems." It's probably telling, how quickly his gaze shifts away, and he starts to play with his rings a little. There's not much to read in his expression, but that's because he's making sure there's nothing there. He's fidgeting, subtly. He's worried. "I've never been as much of a people person, you know how it is..."

"I do," he says quietly. "We all have strengths and weaknesses. You're not easy to get close to, but for a child who needs protection and guidance, you're more than enough. Believe that."

He glances up, and gives Balthazar a lopsided smile. "I'm afraid my track record rather speaks against that, but thank you."

"It's hard to be comforting when you're in pain." He shrugs, awkward and a little uncomfortable himself. "But you were good to me, when we were boys."

He's careful not to mention the way things went wrong since then, in both their worlds. But he doesn't blame Horvath for that, in either case.

That's a surprising answer, in its way, and his heavy eyebrows jump a little. He looks sheepish, but it does help, more than Balthazar might know. "Was I? Even when I was being a brat? Not that you weren't a brat sometimes, too..." He means that with the deepest of affection.

His uncertain look melts back into a smile. "Yes. I needed a brother. You were that for me, especially when we were both being brats."

"The griffin was your idea." It's an old argument, but again and again he's made references to their childhood, and they always seem to line up.

"No," he says patiently, "I'm sure we've been over this. I said if we could find a cat that could catch the rooks, they'd stop stealing our crops and crapping all over the cobbles. Then you said that would take a cat with wings. Which I correctly pointed out would be like a miniature griffin. And it was. At first."

He sighs, but with a nostalgic smile. "Mmmm... it was a piece of work, though. Pity we couldn't've kept it small and trained it as a pet..."

"Wasn't really fair of us, though. But it was pretty remarkable magic. Even Merlin agreed on that part." His expression is a good match now.

"Nnnoooo... Horribly irresponsible. Grievous misuse of power and and wantonly disrespectful... but it was fun."

"Kind of makes you want to try a similar project, doesn't it? Not with a living animal, of course. But some sort of magical game or prank. Animating statues or turning streetlights purple..." He sighs. "Did I tell you about the Chrysler eagles yet?"

Horvath strokes his beard, thoughtful. "Mmm... the eagles... you don't mean the ones on the Chrysler building? Oh Bel, you didn't...?" He's impressed,.

He gives a guilty, but rather boyish, grin. "It took a long time to build the spell. It's not just a matter of animating them, I had to give them body memory and teach them to fly, too."

It's charming when he does that, like having a little piece of their youth back. "You know, most people, when presented with all of that, would ask you why..." And he really isn't asking, because he already understands, but he still feels like he should point this out anyway.

"That's why I don't tell most people." He sticks out his tongue.

"...They really fly?" He's not bird-obsessed the way Balthazar is, but he's just as fearless and the idea of riding on one of those things is as intriguing as hell.

"They do. At about 65 miles per hour." He grins. "Why, you want to try it?"

He sucks in a slow breath, and tugs on his goatee. "...Do you think I could hold on all right?" Because he really wants to, but he's come to seriously doubt his physical prowess over the past few decades.