"Yeah! Because he was totally in love with Western culture or something, right? I read somewhere that he imposed a beard tax on beardy dudes in Russia? Like if you shaved your face and looked more European, you didn't have to pay, but if you wanted to keep your beard, you had to pay tax. Either way, Peter won!"
He, too, turned back to their work. "Okay so we talked about ninjas. They're usually Japanese, or at least Asian. Maybe instead of ninjas, the goons could be Russian. Beardy Russians." He giggled, and the bell rang for lunch. Once Mr Nicolaides dismissed them, he began gathering his things.
"Hey, have lunch with us," he invited impulsively. "Me and Julius I mean. Maybe Sam too. You're cool, and I like talking to you about books and history and stuff."