A U G U S T U SÂ Â R O O K W O O D :
Sure, he noticed that sheâd barely touched her drink - Augustus noticed everything, after all - he really couldnât quite bring himself to care. Maybe the alcohol would numb his frustration, maybe it would amplify it, but either way, it gave him an excuse for whatever came next. Even if he hadnât even come close to drinking enough to lose his well-kept control, heâd found excuses out of less convenient things. And if the confusion and questions leftover from their carefully ignored last meeting was pushed even further down by the intoxicants, well, all the better. Augustus smirked, recognizing the silencing spell, and though he was grateful he made sure it didnât show. Already he was radiating weakness, vulnerability to be exploited in every line of his hard expression; he didnât need to allow any more.
Yeah, well, maybe I donât feel like lying to you. Augustus silenced that traitorous thought with another sip of his drink. âMaybe youâre finally learning to read me,â he retorted, a sly smile on his face. It still fell short. He was agitated and she knew it, and as much as he hated it he was lucky that only she knew it. Now that he actually had the chance to express his frustrations, Augustus found himself unsure of where to even start. âIâm just,â he began, then paused, running a hand through his hair with a huff of annoyance. Well, no going back now. âIâm not exactly thrilled by this public image nightmare that we suddenly find ourselves dealing with. And I canât imagine you are, either.â If he was going to come out with it, he would do his best to take her down with him. And then propriety and masks and far too many of the defenses he had between them were tossed summarily to the wind. âNo, fuck this. Letâs drink.â
The notion that she knew him wasnât an entirely new one when half of their rivalry had been caused due to the similarities that they shared. What was unsettling was the notion that she had begun to care about what she was able to read from him and so she was quick to attempt to create some distance between them with dry words. Hoping to echo their jibes and sparring of the past rather than whatever almost softened seemed to creep its way into their current meetings. âThen you really are becoming predictable.â Brow rose at his outburst, expression neutral as she took another sip of her drink. Coy words left her lips, filled with an innocence that she didnât truly possess. âAnd what would make you think that? Itâs hardly my place to begin questioning the choices of those above me.âÂ
A few weeks ago she might have revelled in the upper hand that she had now, with him not only so determined to drink but also radiating frustration in a way she would have been certain sheâd never witness. He was always too irritatingly poised for such things. But now instead of feeling victorious and smug in the wake of it, she found herself reaching around him for the bottle. Although she was still undecided about how much she would actually drink ( their last evening together singed into her mind when she hated how much the alcohol had clouded her choice ) there was an urge to level the playing field that she couldnât ignore. Sigh slipped from her lips followed by her own candid words which she tried to downplay with light tones. âBut if I were to begin to voice any misgivings, I would start by wondering exactly what they had hoped to achieve. And ask if theyâd even considered the repercussions for our image.âÂ













