one woman army

Rhea rolled her eyes at the other girl’s remarks. she knew that she was being perhaps a touch dramatic and any other day she would have reeled her attitude in, but unfortunately for everyone she’d crossed paths she wasn’t doing it that day. “Because you standing there and judging me is far more astounding. Really you should give yourself a medal or something.”

“I tried to help. Twice. And got glared at both times.” Talia rolled her eyes. She wasn’t going to get blamed for doing what the other girl had wanted of her. Talia didn’t have a bleeding heart and she wasn’t desperate to be as helpful as possible. They were both adults. They could both deal with the outcome of their actions. “I may not be telepathic, but I read that ‘Fuck you’ loud and clear.”

Rhea came close to swallowing her pride and letting the other girl help her with the scattered pages, but then she spoke again and something about her tone made her even more irritated. “No! I told you I don’t need help.” Rhea was happy to play the role of the helpless girl if she was getting something out of it but she couldn’t stand the thought of someone thinking she was completely incapable of looking after herself. With a sharp flick of her wand, the letters glided back to her in a neat pile. “See?”

“Truly a remarkable feat.” Talia quipped. While she understood the need to be independent and not seem weak in front of strangers, she also thought that the other girl was being stupid about it. What was the harm in letting someone else help in picking up paper? It just made her seem stubborn and foolish. 

She had chosen an unfortunate time to take a sip of her tea however, as a member of the party to her left said what had to be the most disturbing line of dirty talk that she had ever heard. Talia choked, the tea burning the inside of her nose as it went the wrong way out. Coughing and sputtering, she smacked her chest, trying to clear her airways. “For Merlin’s sake! Take it somewhere else. People are trying to have a nice lunch, you prats.” 

“Thank you.” Rhea said, though her voice had no kindness in it. She continued to gather up the papers she’d dropped, but just when she’d almost gotten them all a gust of wind sent the last few pages flying. “Seriously?” She groaned to herself, glaring at the other woman as if she was somehow to blame for this. 

“Am I still not allowed to assist you?” Talia waved her wand in a small circle, ignoring the glare being sent her way. She had offered to help and it had been denied. This was no fault of hers. “Or can I summon those pages back before they end up on the other side of Britain?”

Rhea was in an irritable mood, to say the least. A late night and an early morning had not been a good combination to start out with, and the sidelong glances she’d been receiving from ministry workers all day had done nothing to liven her mood. She was on her way to deliver a bunch of letters to one of the ministry departments when something knocked into her and sent the letters flying. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” She muttered under her breath, waving her wand to ensure none of the letters flew away before bending down to gather them back up. “I don’t need help.” Rhea snapped when she sensed someone nearing her and the pile of parchment.

“Alright. If you insist.” Talia held her hands up in a mocking gesture of resignation and stayed where she was; the pity she’d felt towards the other girl disappearing within an instant. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with attitude that was undeserved. 

“I do hope so, I’ve been missing having people to practice with. You’ll tell him as soon as possible, yeah? And until then, you can come over whenever to practice. I’d never turn you away if it meant a good fight.” Truthfully, she’d never turn Talia away period. She was the one person Aislinn could stand to be surprised by.

“I’ll likely see him tomorrow. Stop in at the shop during my lunch break and ask him about it.” Talia shrugged. “If he agrees to it, I’ll try to drag him along with me by the end of the week.”

“Exactly my thinking. But apparently that seems to be their logic, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing something like this so soon after.” Loraly had once believed she was an optimistic person, but that had changed when she had. Now optimism seemed to be a death sentence, and though she did appreciate that people could still find happiness in times like this, it frustrated her to no end when they seemed to forget the danger that surrounded them at all times. “Good. I’ll take unemployment over missing something big going down.” Especially if it happened when she knew her friends - and everyone - were completely intoxicated. 

“Part of me hopes that they’ll realize how stupid they’re being, but that seems like almost too much to ask at this point.” Talia played with the bracelet around her wrist. “Well, if something big goes down, I’m not sure that your job will care all that much if you don’t just hang around for the remainder of your shift. Unless they’re assholes, I suppose.” 

He shook his head. “We’ve got another hour before he’ll show up for work and it doesn’t open until I get there to unlock the doors.” It was gnawing at him already that he hadn’t already been there to do paperwork, but some things just took precedence. Even if he had his doubts that Alix would accuse him of something, he had to be safe. Not for himself but for Talia and Ramona, for Lux and Griffin and everyone they had been slowly recruiting. He started to lead the way, growing impatient, the fidgeting feeling in his fingers tempting him. His restraint was badly shaken. 

“That should be enough time for us to search it.” Even with how thorough she knew that both of them would be, it couldn’t take all too long just to search a couple of rooms. Talia doubted that they would find any evidence of Brennan’s allegiances, but she didn’t want to take the risk. “It’s going to be okay Brennan. If we find anything, just give it to me and I’ll get rid of it. If she’s told the Ministry you might be watched. And it’ll look a little suspicious if you start burning documents."

Talia stood in front of the doorway for a moment, her hand hovering uncertainly in the air in front of her. She hadn’t really thought through her plan until that moment, which was rather unfortunate timing on her part. Standing on the front step of a woman she barely knew in the middle of the night wasn’t how she’d anticipated ending the pub crawl. But there she was. Looking like a complete idiot all the while. Summoning up her courage, she finally forced herself to knock before tucking her hands into her pocket and waiting for Esme to answer the door - hoping desperately that she as home and not already in bed. 

“If it wasn’t obvious, people are idiots.” Yes, she did include her friends in that statement. After the last few attacks, she was hoping they’d have gotten the hint. But she had a feeling she knew why they seemed to think they were in the clear. “I blame that big house party for this. Did you hear about that? James Potter and Lexington Brighton threw a party and the worst that happened was people got heavily intoxicated…” And pregnant. “So now they think they’ll be fine.” Honestly, it wasn’t the partiers she was upset with, it was the people who attacked them. She hated the bastards who continued to take advantage of people letting their guard down for some fun. “Just do your best should anything happen. I’m trying to get off work early to join at some point but I doubt that’ll happen; my boss was very set on having me work all night.” 

“Oh, it is very obvious. And also very depressing.” Talia shrugged at the mention of the party. “I saw flyers around. But I’m not really the house party type. But it seems incredibly foolish to think that just because one party went fine, the rest will. No wonder everyone keeps getting caught of guard.” Leaning back in her chair, she turned her attention back to Loraly. “If something happens, I’ll send up a signal. And I’m sure everyone will be able to hear it.” 

“You don’t think I’ve been doing that? And honestly I don’t give a shite about the other bars, all I care about is ending the night with as little mess to clean as possible.” Loraly didn’t mind, for once, someone she didn’t know all too well getting in close to her. The noise in the pub was deafening to her and having someone’s voice to focus on - to amplify - helped drown out the rest of it. “Good plan. The rest of them seem to have conveniently forgotten about the war or imagine there’s no way a huge group of people getting drunk would be a target.” Though her words were sarcastic, she really was grateful there was someone keeping their head. Andrew was there. Frank was there. And knowing Rose, she’d be there too. Loraly didn’t want to hear that anything happened to them when they were incapable of fighting. “Thanks. For keeping an eye out.”

“I’ve noticed that people seem to be very willing to endanger their personal safety for a night’s worth of fun. And doubtless, the other side has too. Every time more than a handful of wizards get together an attack always seems to follow.” Talia eyed the crowd with slight disgust. “Don’t thank me yet. Merlin only knows how the night is going to go.” There seemed to be only a few people that weren’t partaking in the drinking and Talia had sincere doubts that they would be able to hold off a complete slaughter should anything go down. 

“If that’s alright? If everyone just stuck to cola that would make my night so much better.” Loraly rolled her eyes as she glanced around at the others that were steadily filling up the pub. She couldn’t remember if it’d ever been this full since she’d been working there. “Honestly I feel like I ought to thank you for not getting wasted here.”

“Just start watering down the drinks. They won’t be able to tell the difference. And I’m sure the other bars will thank you for it later.” Talia had leaned in closer to Loraly, her voice lowering as if they were speaking conspiratorially. Which, in a way, they were. “No alcohol for me tonight. I’ve decided to just keep watch tonight.” 

Loraly hadn’t been pleased when she’d heard her pub was taking part of the pub crawl. The one thing that made it somewhat okay was the fact that they were the first pub, so presumably, most people wouldn’t be completely trashed. She was on waitressing duty for now, but was told if things got a bit crazier, she’d be asked to help behind the bar. “What can I get you?” 

Talia looked up as she was addressed, smiling when she recognized the girl in front of her. Loraly was a part of the Blood Thieves as well and it was comforting to have another member nearby in case of trouble. “I’ll just have a cola, if that’s alright.” 

Esme’s eyes widened at the suggestion. It was an involuntary response, most certainly caused by the fact that she’d never been propositioned that way before. “Your apartment?” The clarification didn’t sound like a rejection. Maybe Esme had had too much to drink but, truthfully, she thought she sounded hopeful. “I mean, I would enjoy meeting him…” She couldn’t believe herself but she wasn’t going to backtrack now. Talia’s hand was warm and comforting and she liked it right where it was. She didn’t want to ruin that already.

“Yes, my apartment.” Talia repeated, shifting closer to Esme as her hand drifted further up the woman’s thigh. She smiled dazzlingly at her and bit her lip, a trick she’d used against Steven plenty of times before. It had always gotten her what she wanted. And what Talia wanted in that moment was Esme.