ᴄᴏʟʟᴏᴘᴏʀᴛᴜs

               ——–IT WAS EASY TO NOTE HE HAD CHANGED, clear as the eye could see that he was far from the person he remembered, though in reality it had been  y e a r s , but there were just some who vanished, that he didn’t hear sight nor sound of. But he decided to  e n t e r t a i n  and answer his question, taking the spotlight off the other man for the time being.               ❛ I DIDN’T GO ANYWHERE——– I remained, I gained promotions and now I have influences with Ministry matters with wife and child safe, and not a fear to be had. Some would call us  C O W A R D S  too, but I escaped the  k i s s  of death that quite possibly would have been by fate. ❜               ——–HE SPOKE DIFFERENTLY HERE, but by masking his words with clever little tales it would have been hard for anyone listening to know of what exactly he spoke, but of course it was of  A Z K A B A N , the position he held once at the Dark Lord’s side would have earned his soul being torn from his body. He wouldn’t be one of those lucky enough to simply remain there in some pitiful cell.

          “ remained. ” a repetition of the word is the only indication he is amused by it. how nice it would be to remain anything. a different man stands in every pair of shoes he owns, and he almost envies lucius for the ease of his honesty. his attention wanders to the curve of his mouth nonetheless, watches it move instead of listening. talk of family, of safety, of COWARDICE --- it meant remarkable little to a man who had boxed away his sentiments many years ago. it was not until he spoke of death that cadmus’s attention was once again seized, and with it came the sudden  s t i f f e n i n g  of his jaw. 

gil-martin has a terrible habit of turning up where he shouldn’t be. he tends to go wherever he pleases, no matter what the rules of politeness dictate; this wizard intrigues him, and so he’s shown up, quite uninvited, in the man’s office, without a care in the world. he’s perched on the edge of cadmus’s desk like some sort of self-satisfied owl when the poor professor walks in. gil-martin’s only answer, at first, is a faint smile. 

when cadmus has finished speaking, gil-martin swings his feet slightly and lets the heels tap against the wood of the desk on which he’s seated, then turns his head lazily to track the professor’s movements. that odd, tiny smile hasn’t quite left his lips. “ my apologies. your door was open — i thought i’d step inside. ”

          “ open doors are not the same as welcome mats. ” he’s shrugging off his robe as he speaks, trying to emphasize a sense of ease he does not have. strangers put cadmus on edge. strangers who trespass are even worse. but he should have nothing to be afraid of, for he has no skeletons in his closet --- in these stone halls, he is just a MAN. he hangs the robe on a hook, but he is mindful not to turn his back. the stranger is smiling. this is more worrisome than a scowl.

@involent​

              ——–OF COURSE LUCIUS REMEMBERED HIM, Lucius remembered every  s i n g l e  death eater, everyone that had ever been loyal to the Dark Lord before he disappeared from their lives for good. Many of them  s c a t t e r e d , searching for lodgings where they would no longer be found, others found themselves locked away in Azkaban, and Lucius had been one of the lucky few to actually have a  B R A I N , getting away with his every crime.              ❛ IT’S BEEN TOO LONG——– but the real question is where you went? ❜

          to pieces, he wants to say. where he went is not as meaningful as what happened to the man before, for the person that lucius knew is scattered to the wind. what is left of him remains in  s c a r s  on knuckles, in the flickers of emotion that very rarely color a remarkably dry voice. the pureblood prattler is not himself. he fixes the other man with a gaze that is nothing short of curious. “ where i was supposed to go. ” 

      @involent​  ♡ ’d this starter-call

                                ‘C A D D I E, dear. Long time; no SEE.’

Spoken surface of civility, a undercurrent seethes. The cloying the faux saccharine ebbs, crowding a mouth. Honeyed tones perverse, a depraved turn of a known nature. Talon-ed nails coo, clamming over treasures. Rolling pallid palms over, slithers of silver bare over alabaster planes. An ingrained tally, they mare once flawless porcelain. 

                          ‘Might give off the WRONG  i m p r e s s i o n.’

Gaunt features shift, hues acknowledging. Obsidian curls bound at the movement, thick tangled ribbons tumble from a hood. 

                         ‘—may cause a question of LOYALTIES—’

Talons trail, mindlessly skulking.

                      ‘—&, we wouldn’t want that now. Would we?—’

Pallid flesh upheaves. Carved cheekbones protrude at a movement. Pouting. Final words garner a stung strand of baby talk. High vocals, apathetically sympathised as though placating a petulant infant.

          “ bellatrix. ” he’s entirely unprepared. of course he is. cadmus is RETIRED, he’s at peace, he’s been living out a war in the quiet of his home and now the dark lord’s most devout subject ( fanaticism colors her, hollows her out and leaves nothing left --- it makes him sick to see ) stands before him and questions his loyalty. or threatens to, at least. were he not a terribly gray man already, perhaps the color would drain from his face. instead, he stares, swallows what might be fear and lets his hand hover near his wand. “ i’ve been --- i’ve been terribly busy. ”

‘ I find that answer vague and unconvincing. ‘     //  Closed starter   ↷   accepting  !   (  @involent  ) 

– Severus could’ve died for how quickly his pulse slammed – ennui flipped to terror and a thin, jagged bewilderment.  He stood in the doorway of his office and stared, eyes locked on Cadmus’s silhouette and it’s contrast against his wet specimens.  Severus curled his lip, did not blink, but spoke in an even, measured drawl: “Cadmus.  Do be so kind to explain why you’ve wandered into my office?”

As memory served, all of those vitriolic radio specials had been in that voice.  Severus hadn’t been much fond of them.  They were too slanted towards riling the cause, where Severus, bitter and love-stunted, had been fighting for sake of inclusion.  Had left a sour taste in his mouth.  He eyed him, then swept round him, taking his place at his desk, where he sat with a flourish.  Placed his hand covertly on his wand.  Resumed his glare.  If Cadmus was planning on murdering him, surely he’d wait until Severus was out of the castle.  Yes?  Perhaps not.  “Well?”

          “ wouldn’t say i’ve wandered. ” he’s the same as always, a stark contrast to a man who’s swapped masks --- severus snape bears a foul temper that cadmus almost envies. at least he feels something. granted, that something is mightily unpleasant and makes for piss - poor company, but it’s something nonetheless. better to be poor company than a bit of fog. “ believe i walked quite briskly to get here, in fact. ” he lets out a thoughtful hum, a fragment of a thought dying at the back of his throat, and elects instead to examine the office as if it were an exhibit on something EXCEPTIONALLY boring. he was never very good at potions. “ a long journey to the dungeons. ”

     “WELL, THERE IS AN OPTION to get rid of it.” She had a feeling that the war would end soon, and she wondered if there ever will be a second one. It was by luck that she could walk about FREELY – she doesn’t know this man, and she doesn’t mind. “Not in these times, of course. If only the war would end, then we would have many opportunities to get rid of what we aren’t partial to.”

“ och. i am nae like a cartoon squirrel! is it ‘cos am ginger?” holly-ann grits her teeth for just a beat as she stares at the man, “ am just tryin’ tae tell y’about somethin’ interestin’, but if ye dunnae wanna hear, y’shoulda just said so, ‘stead’a bein’ mean! “ and here we see her proving his point, but she’s too proud to admit that.