dersunder:
Johann was - and remains - first and foremost a man of realism, and of realistic expectations. He might well only had to be, given his occupation – to simply hope for the best in such matters as corporate corruption could only fair badly, no matter how much one wished the contrary. Luck will only carry one so far in life; to achieve anything of any real substance, they have to work for it. He is staunch in this belief.
…And yet, when it came to this matter of meeting again with his brother, after having spent decades apart, he found himself only acting against this long-standing worldview of his.
Truth be told, their fleeting encounter in and of itself proved mentally exhausting enough for Johann. Yes, a week or so before even that, he had had the (genuine) pleasure of meeting his brother’s son - of all people! -, in circumstances not dissimilar in their sheer happenstance; while that, too, was not without its awkwardness, on both his own and his nephew’s part, he would still admit that the encounter ended better than he had expected it to, in spite of any initial anxieties… But, where a second meeting with März was concerned, he could not muster the optimism to think it would bear any fruits.
The brothers’ relationship is a complex one, to say the least. No matter who wronged whom, however, Johann found himself rather wanting to avoid the meeting. He would indeed hope for the best, that some professional meeting or another would be scheduled atop the proposed meeting with his brother. He had the grace to at least not actively pursue alternative plans, but this he might well owe to an underlying dread for being responsible, for being purposefully antagonistic. If anything, he did not want that.
In the end, he resigns to meet up a second time as März had arranged. He could certainly be grateful for the ‘neutral ground’ he had chosen, as little as he personally cares for coffee shops (and even less so the chain ones)– But otherwise, he sees nothing else for which to be thankful.
“…März.” There is nothing warm about his greeting as he moves to meet his brother – though nor is there any conscious hostility, either. Whatever it might have been that caused them to fall out of contact (never mind, of course, what sins he himself might have committed), he knows better than to let any simmering resentment he might feel towards März get the better of him, much less as early as this. With that said, he nods back towards the table saved for the both of them, before lowering himself into his seat: as business-like as ever. “I have kept…well. Yes. Busy, but well.” He frowns, supposing it only proper that he return the courtesy, “–And yourself? How are the boys…?”
...Unlike last time, where he saw his brother anxious and surprised, the qualities of their father were present this time around. März vaguely remembers him, he was callous, lukewarm and capricious and when it boiled down to it: a coward. While he resents him, he could never find himself to feel the same about his brother– perhaps annoyance, with his dismissive attitude concerning his sins, but never hate. He swallows, then moves to quickly seat himself across from Johann now.
“I’m glad, I hope work hasn’t been too stressful.” A nod follows, while his hand hovers toward the cellphone he left on the table, setting it to silent, then moving it to his back pocket. So he was well? But it was too vague to discern how brother might truly be feeling. “Myself? Well, as well– work tends to be tedious however.” Between being a social worker and a hacker for King’s Crown, he’s found himself wrapped up with both leaving him exhausted. Additionally, the stresses that added up when dealing with Ehrenberg–– it was a stressful cycle.
His brows raise when Johann asks about his sons. They spoke at bare minimum about it last time, but because of work he didn’t get the chance to talk with them directly about it. He feels guilty that he hadn’t, hopefully tonight at dinner if his Majesty didn’t pull one over him.
“Wolfram and Ansel? They’ve been well, but I noticed they seemed preoccupied by something recently, they haven’t talked with me about it directly yet.” It could be either about the secret twin business or business at Quincy Lee, he suspected the former. “...You mentioned before you dropped by their shop in the shopping district, yes? What did you think?” He pauses, then asks, “their wares are handcrafted.”
