astor-reyesā:
Coming to places like this is always more than a little strange, but thereās a kind of glee in it that sheās always been able to indulge in when she does it with Becker. This is the kind of place her mother would love, where Cassandra might have been taken by any number of men who were vying for her hand in marriage. And it was somewhere she never would have gone on her own, not dressed up in the way she is now, as if that old life is something she takes part in all the time. Sometimes, here with Becker, it feels almost like a game. But itās more a special treat than anything else, two people with something to celebrate and enough money to do it well.Ā
It seems like her world is moving and changing so quickly. Several weeks ago, she was a Corporal and everything seemed steady. There was drama, and all the things she was used to, but she could never have foretold the way her world would have been rocked after the incident in Scotland. Now she had Abel, and she was a Sergeant, and there were suspicions about Becker Savage that kept running around in circles in her head. Sometimes she looked up at him, saw him walking across the room at work, and remembered standing next to Abel and gazing down at a tome that made it clear the world was a horrible place. Sometimes she remembered that, and then recalled her brothers strange obsessions with conquering death, achieving longevity, bringing people back from the brink of non-existence. A horcrux wasnāt quite necromancy, but it made her skin itch in exactly the same way. She really didnāt want to believe that Becker could have been capable of something like that. She didnāt want to believe that Abelās accusations about this man who she loved like a father could be true.
He was like a father to her. He had done more for her, been kinder to her than her own father ever had. Heād believed in her when no one else did, so she saw it as her duty to believe in him in return. Loyalty, it was a concept that had been drilled in to her for a long time. Loyalty to her family, to their ideals. She had thrown those things away, but sheād given all of her loyalty to the new people in her life, the new people that she loved. Given it to Becker, given it to Athena, and given it to Abel. It was a delicate balancing act, but she hoped she didnāt have to let any of them down.
āYouāll at least get more peace and quiet, without all of us bothering you and filling up the room with noise. Things are so much more lively now that Everhart and McMahon have fallen back in to their double act.ā She smiles, softly, and lets out a soft hum as she considers it.Ā āI think weād better. Weāre celebrating, after all. What better excuse is there than that? Plus, Iāve been looking forward to this all day. Good food, good company.ā A bright smile, she puts her menu down for a moment. So many good options.Ā āI feel like we havenāt seen very much of each other, lately. Like weāre getting pulled in completely different directions by the universe itself.ā
.
Itās true, the rest of the officeĀ hasĀ been particularly lively as of late. Itās part of the reason he doesnāt mind leaving behind his old desk as he once might have: it feels a bit like, with everything so strange, the office is moving on without and around him, half their coworkers not even bothering to be subtle about the way everyoneās little blossoming romances seem to have fallen into place around the drama that was Scotland, and several dangerous cases, and the impeachment trial, in the way so many young aurors heās worked with in his time seem to take near-death experiences as license to finally hop into bed with whomever theyāve spent the past months or years eyeing up. McMahon and Everhart had each gone through slightly more sobering periods, after their respective wold encounters, but both were back to their ordinary selves again, not to mention Jack Monday, and Hades Falconer-Quinn, and Deliverance stealing every glance he can at the back of Camdenās head, and whatever the new no-maj with the computer was doing leaving love letters on Hadrian Vernierās desk. Itās exhausting, even just to think about. Heās glad Baron has the decency to at least keep their personal lives privateĀ and out of the office.Ā
But it has rather pulled him and Cassandra apart, just like everything else has since theyād finished up their last case together. Itās harder, to stop by her desk to check in when heās heading to the break room for more coffee, or to meet her eye across the room to give her a reassuring nod if he notices she looks stressed out about something sheās working through. It feels like there are a million reasons he hasnāt seen her, a dozen dozen excuses, none of them good enough. Not when thereās a part of him that feels like the careful order of his life is slipping away and he wants desperately for this to be one of the pieces of it that he doesnāt let fall out of place.
Because sheās important to him, this bright and brilliant woman heās known for so many years, who he canāt help but be so proud of.Ā
Ā Ā Ā āChampagne it is then,ā he agrees with a smile and a nod, and then a look to the waiter, who nods and glides off to get it for them. A foolish indulgence, yes, but one they both deserve tonight. A celebration. Maybe heāll make a toast and along with it a quiet promise to himself that heāll do better, in the coming weeks, to make sure of this, to go out of his way to find time for her.Ā
Ā Ā Ā āI know, I feel like I havenāt had a chance to ask how youāre doing since... since the end of our case, at the very least, and even then we didnāt exactly have time to chat,Ā with a serial killer on the loose,ā he says, setting his own menu down. He doesnāt come here oftenāreally, only with her, for their occasional celebratory dinners, ostentatious and over the top in a way that feels like an inside joke they share.Ā āBut how are you? How have you been? Any exciting new developments in the life of Cassandra Astor-Reyes?āĀ












