conduit.

Anna winced in sympathy. “Yeah, I’m familiar with that… non-conversation. Well, if you do get married in Japan, you could always quietly get divorced later. Look into whether or not they have those stupid consummation laws, or something. File for divorce for ‘irreconcilable differences’ maybe. Oh! Or, your husband could have a tragic mysterious accident.”

–

there was a hard edge in the gleam of kaz’s eyes. “I will not get a divorce in my lifetime.” she said with pointed finality. that would not be in her cards. “nor do I have any intention of being a murderer by any means. I will figure something out.”

a month. elijah’s insides clenched unpleasantly at the thought. several emotions hit him at once, though his expression remained the same as it always had. resignation and despair; the urge to both scream in frustration, and run away from it all. “proof is a matter of perception; we’d make it work.” despite their long standing friendship, her mother did not know him and he did not know her well, but for the information kaz had provided him with over the years. he had never thought of kaz getting married, to some stranger or even to himself, but the idea that she would be forced to do so, in order to avoid being cut off from such an important part of her being, made him both furious at the woman and desperate to take action. a jolt of something unfamiliar through him as she twisted her finger around his, and yet he felt no desire to break contact. “well, people our age don’t usually get married, kaz.” elijah wasn’t sure what he was offering. marriage had never been on the cards for him; the fifth born son who, for the most part, hated people in general. and there was nothing he could do without leading them both into the even murkier waters of their relationship, but still he couldn’t help but question; did that matter?, when he was already becoming distracted by her proximity, at the idea of taking her into his arms and into his bed? “what do we do?”

-

kaz inhaled deeply. okay. ground those thoughts. a month could be enough time to either come up with some sort of plan to successfully avoid her mother for a few years or to resign herself to the wishes of a woman who was divorced before she turned twenty five who was attempting to regain some sense of control through this. which one of those routes sounded ideal? yeah. right. she paused and turned her head completely towards elijah. “we?” she asked. he had no idea what he was offering. kaz shook her head. it wasn’t a real option. “oh? you didn’t get your swanky invitation to the malfoy-black wedding? look around. in these circles, people our age get miserably married all the time.” it was why they all seemed so keen to impose their misery onto others. the wheel kept turning and churning. “we can’t do anything.”

elijah turned his head slightly, eyes cast down at the parchment as she pointed. lips twitched with brief amusement. “okay. one thing.” he corrected himself, placed his hands either side of his legs, finger tips lightly gripping the edge of the concrete fountain edge. elijah didn’t know what to say for the best. there was a conflict inside him that grew louder with every passing second that he remained quiet, thinking about the delicately traced words across the parchment. “surely she doesn’t expect an answer right this moment. you have at least a few minutes.” his tone was teasing, though when he looked up from the parchment, his eyes were sombre. no smile could have reached them. “if you need to buy some time; find a suitor, or elude to the idea that you already have one.” he wondered whether the expression on his face reflected the pain he had felt while uttering those words. before, this would not have troubled him. before, the idea of kaz with some faceless suitor made him want to tear his eyes out. “the trees.” he echoed. elijah knew how important they were to her. things still felt awkward between them. he couldn’t quite bring himself to place his hand over hers, but he did stretch out his pinky finger and brush it gently against her own. “you won’t lose them, kaz.”

“I can probably stall her from getting too seriously involved in this for about a month, maybe a bit more if we’re lucky, which we never actually are. so... it’s a little better than a few minutes but-” elijah’s eyes conveyed the same listless hopelessness that kaz felt taking root deep inside her. “like who? I’d be a proper bitch to resign any stranger into having to deal with my mother, and she would want proof one way or another.” she was a woman of high expectations, most of which were eventually met over time. kaz felt the brush of his finger against hers and glanced down at where their hands rested against the stone. then looked back up at his face and finally away to the horizon again. she entwined her pinky with his almost like making a promise. “I don’t want to marry anyone el-” kaz sighed. “I don’t want to marry just anyone... I don’t even know if I want to get married yet. it didn’t exactly go well for my parents or about fifty percent of the population. you know?”

Anna chewed her lip, considering. She didn’t quite understand the dynamics but she knew what it was like to not be able to put words to relationships that mattered. “Alright. Different tactic. Talking’s off the table. Is there any way to… redirect her in some way? What else does she like talking with you about?”

–

“talk with me? ha.” kaz’s barked laugh was not that. there was no humor or life in it; just a sharp, sardonic beat. “my mother doesn’t talk with me. she much prefers to talk at me, occasionally down to me if she’s had a particularly rough morning. this isn’t a solvable problem, but it is a survivable actuality. I’ll figure something out... or I’ll get married in japan. we’ll see.”