pure of heart

Father Silas Camden Savage. 45. He/Him. Auror Corporal. Points: 275

[camdensavage]

francievandoren‌:

If there was one thing that Francie didn’t understand, it was organized religion. Her family had never really been the religious type, but she supposed that had to do with most faith groups’ general dislike for witchcraft and the lack of interaction between the Van Dorens and no-majs. The idea of some divine being and plan was somehow a little bit too fantastical for the young woman who grew up in a strictly magical community. 

So when the possession case landed on her desk, she wasn’t really sure what to make of it. 

Fastening a gold necklace around her neck, she frowned at her reflection as the cross came to rest just below her collarbone. She would have to play a part - a difficult one since she would be dealing with no-majs. Difficult if only because the pureblood had little experience with their culture. “Don’t you dare mess this up, France. This is your chance,” she mumbled to her reflection as she smoothed out the rather drab frock she’d chosen for her “disguise”. This was a far cry from the colorful and patterned silks she normally chose to wear, and she couldn’t help but frown at the dowdy look. If this is what it meant to be Christian, she refused to sign up.

Tearing away from the full length mirror, she took one last glance over the file before disapparating. The last thing she wanted was to keep Camden waiting. She wasn’t sure she’d ever had an interaction with the corporal, but she was incredibly intimidated by him. It wasn’t in her best interest to start off on the wrong foot, especially given she was only recently assigned to the case as his partner. Apparating to the scene, she had a grin on her face, ready for action, but it quickly dissolved at the other auror’s reaction to her arrival. Apparently he hadn’t been alerted to the switch up. 

“Settle down on the excitement, partner. It’s positively embarrassing,” Francie deadpanned, arms crossing over her chest. So much for not starting off on the wrong foot. “We don’t really have much choice but to ‘make it work’, Corporal Savage.” Her gaze couldn’t help but wander to the things he’d had in his arms - religious artifices she figured. “Or should I be calling you Father Savage for this case?” 

He raised an eyebrow at her words, but said nothing for a long minute, simply smoking his cigarette. “Funnily enough, to a great many, I’m always Father Savage,” he said finally.

It was rare to come across someone in the department who was unaware of the Savages and their heritage, but it was possible. No matter how hard their parents had tried, no matter how much they both had tried, the name didn’t hold the same power that it had been the original Silas had brought religion to the wixes of America generations ago. There were plenty of wixes, even purebloods, who heard the name Savage and merely thought it was a strange last name, nothing more. He had to remind himself not to fault her for something she had no way of knowing, but he was already annoyed enough to realize he had been given a partner he didn’t know that that was difficult. 

“I take it you’re not religious?” he asked, frankly. It wasn’t so much a question, though, considering he could practically see it in her eyes, from the way she stared at the things in his arms. “I’m not overly familiar with no-maj religion, but from what I understand, it’s hardly different from our own, simply without the magic involved. How they believe the words of the Bible were possible without magic is beyond me, but at least they are believers in God. We should be just fine if you follow my lead.”

At least he wasn’t worried it would be a terribly complicated case. It had magic written all over it, as most so-called demonic possessions did; the real trick was fixing the issue without the no-majs realizing, and without the girl in question coming to any harm. But the collar around his neck, the crucifix in hand, made Camden confident in his ability to do just that. 

“What’s your name?”

[camdensavage]

beckersavage‌:

The tree-cover around where the coven was located was sparse, just enough to cover them from the road, but the dirt path leading there was long – long enough that the tight feeling of nerves in the pit of his stomach only worsened as they walked. Before reaching the door, he had to stop and take a breath, reminding himself that these vampires were the ones who had been wronged, in this case, the victims asking them for their help, and he needed to treat them like he would any other victim.

     “Ready?” he asked Camden, as they finally reached the door of the coven’s home – an old looking but not quite dilapidated mansion, its white paint aged to yellowing with time, its front wooden stairs creaky and off-kilter between the tall columns that appeared to hold up a second-story balcony. 

He waited for Camden’s go-ahead before knocking on the door – a firm and certain movement, three quick but loud raps on the peeling wood of the door. But time seemed to stretch out for ages, before he began to hear noise on the other side of the door, before eventually the handle turned and a shadowed figure appeared beyond the partially opened door.

     “Sergeant Becker Savage,” he said, holding up his badge. “We’re here to speak to Ariana Astrid, she asked us to be here.”

The walk to the old mansion where the coven lived wasn’t anything special, but it somehow felt ominous. The worry settled in the pit of his stomach causing his hand to go instinctually to the place where the medal sat against his chest, pressing the palm of his still-bandaged hand there, saying a silent prayer for their protection as they finally approached the house. 

He nodded silently, although he wasn’t certain he was ready, in any sense of the word. There was no use waiting, though, and despite who the case had been given to, he was more than glad to let Becker make the first move, knocking on the door firmly, waiting for someone to open the door. A small moment stretched into an eternity, and for a second he had the urge to grab Becker’s arm and leave now, before the door opened. Before he could follow the urge, though, the handle turned, and the door opened partially, revealing nothing.

Again, it was a relief that Becker was there, speaking first, as the sight, the little that was there, froze him at his core.

“And this is your brother?” a voice inquired, after a pause. And if the sight had frozen him, the sound of the voice, low, but musical, lit the fire that fear had seemed to dampen, as if recalling what they were speaking to.

“Corporal Camden Savage. And you are?”

The door opened wider, finally enough to see into the dimly lit entrance, to see man who had opened the door, but perhaps more importantly the woman just beyond his shoulder.  It felt nearly impossible to look away from her gaze, and it was as if he could feel the eye on his palm burning in response.

“I am who you seek. Thank you for coming. You may let them enter,” she said to the other, eyes not leaving the two of them even as the door opened wide enough to let them in.

[camdensavage]

early morning, on the corner of a quiet neighborhood, ashburn, virgina     ( @francievandoren)

It seemed like, lately, every single case that Snow saddled him with, was designed specifically to get on his every last nerve. When he had seen this one land on his desk, before even starting on the vampire coven case, he’d been as close to marching into Snow’s office and demanding an explanation as he ever was. He didn’t though, because reading through it, he wondered if maybe the local aurors who had been on the case up until this point were wrong, that it wasn’t magic, but exactly what the parents believed it was. So maybe it was a sort of perverse curiosity that made him silently start researching the case without complaints, nearly thrilled at the chance to dive back into that world, when it felt recently like the goodness that had come from his time in the church was slipping away slowly.

All the better that he’d been given a case partner he could actually stand. Not that he thought she would be particularly pleased to be playing his assistant, while he acted priest all over again, but at least she was better than anyone else they could’ve stuck him with over his brother.

And so he’d donned the disguise, reveling in the feeling of the collar around his neck once more, even as an act, and had apparated to the appointed spot, with research and holy weapons in hand, ready to begin sussing out if the possession was just that or not.

When he heard the small crack indicating she’d just apparated in behind him, he turned, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth, already ready with a quip. Camden stopped short, though, when he realized the woman standing in front of him was certainly not who he had been expecting. He let out an indignant breath, despite himself.

“You’re…I was expecting someone else. They must’ve done some switching without notifying me. No matter, we’ll make it work.”

[camdensavage]

beckersavage‌:

He looked at the medal, for a moment, in Camden’s hand, the familiar embossed figure of Saint George starkly visible even in the quietly dimming light of dusk. Back in the office, getting ready to go, he hadn’t been thinking about the danger of his case, of dealing with part-humans like vampires, not really. Consciously, he knew it wasn’t any more dangerous than any other case – the kinds of cases involving wix and no-maj that he worked every day. An ordinary wix had been responsible for the case that cost him his leg, no part-humans necessary. 

But the sight of the medal, and maybe something about being back in Kentucky, his priest of a brother by his side, made the superstitions he’d grown up with come back, just a slight tightening in the back of his throat, a not-quite-nausea passing through him. What if Camden was right, what if he was wrong? What if the vampires really did mean them some kind of harm, if this was a trap? 

He shook his head, trying to push the thoughts out of his mind. It was never productive to assume the worst of people – human or not – that he’d never met. It wasn’t useful to be worried over nothing.

     “Thanks,” he said, taking the medal, and his voice came out tight. He cleared this throat, for a moment, and then turned to Camden. “Generous or not, whenever we get there she’ll complain that we’re late.”

There was something there in the moment that he took the medal, almost a silent acknowledgement of the potential danger, in a way that he had been very good about not showing before this moment. It was hard to say if that made him feel better or worse. Maybe in a strange way it helped; it felt as if even the smallest acknowledgement of the danger these part-humans could pose meant they would be better prepared, if it was the case. Because, despite the preparations he had made, Camden knew well enough that he had never been the fighter of the two of them, and no stake, or holy water would change that.

Still, at least for now, there was no use in lingering on the worry before they even arrived at the coven. There would be plenty of time for that once they saw what they had in store, why they had called aurors down to take care of their problems.

He let out a scoff of laughter; his brother was right, no matter when they came, she would find a reason to chide them for not coming at the right time, even if they arrived precisely when he had said they would. The thought of the visit, at least, might help get him through dealing with the creatures more easily. “Of course, so let’s give her less reason to complain, take care of this as quickly as possible,” he nodded, taking a drag of his cigarette. He let out a breath of smoke in a sigh, and then turned towards the dirt path leading into a not-quite woods, the way towards the coven’s home.

“Suppose we should meet these creatures first, though, God help us.”

[camdensavage]

margotbrendanawicz‌:

She wasn’t sure which was going to be worse for the Savage brothers – Camden’s self assured idea that some God was gonna protect him from whatever the worse the vampires could do was, or what she was sure was Becker’s twisted position about morality and immorality when it came to part-humans…. she was exhausted just imagining the two of them trying to plan for something like this. A case like this needed decisive action, and if she’d been a better person she’d have insisted on going with them, just to make sure they didn’t both get themselves killed.

Luckily for her, she wasn’t a better person, and she had no plans to pick up more work than Snow was already piling onto her just to make sure some quaint southern gentlemen didn’t get half the blood drained from their bodies by being idiots. At least Camden sounded prepared to take advice. 

     “You’d better hope so.”

[camdensavage]

sunset, the outskirts of bowling green, kentucky       ( @beckersavage​ )

There was some small part of him that had been hoping that whatever problems the vampires would be miraculously solved before they could actually leave for Kentucky, but there was no such luck, of course. That did nothing for the sense of impending doom that seemed to throb within his very soul in time with the throbbing in the palm of his hand. All prayer had seemingly fallen on deaf ears, and he had found himself packing something of a holy kit, for the event that Margot was right, and there was no before of a bad situation with creatures such as this. Holy water, crucifixes, stakes, the medal of Saint George worn around his neck, the cold medal of the pendant pressing against the top of his sacred heart, and yet somehow it still didn’t feel like enough.

For now, though, worrying would be pointless. That was best saved for entering the domain of the creatures. Now, though, they had just apparated to the designated spot, a safe distance from both the town and the coven, just as the sky was beginning to turn purple. As soon as they touched ground, he reached into his pocket, first pulling out a cigarette and putting it between his lips, then, before lighting it, holding out a silver medal just like his to Becker.

“Here, I had this blessed for you, just in case,” he explained, pausing after to light his cigarette. “Told Mama we’d be round for breakfast tomorrow mornin’ and to have the cornbread ready. Too generous of an estimate?”

[camdensavage]

beckersavage‌:

     “As soon as I finish this paperwork,” he answered with a nod, gesturing down at the file he’d been filling out, ink smeared across the page from where Camden had knocked his fountain pen out of his hand with the new case file. It was going on five, now: he should have been finished, would have been finished if Camden hadn’t interrupted, but he didn’t mind. He wasn’t the type to leave work with anything unfinished, and Elena was used to his being late for dinner. 

With a flick of his wand, he cleaned the smudged ink off of the page, taking some of the writing with it so that he could start over, more cleanly, and passed the Bowling Green case file back to Camden. Then, he switched his wand out for his fountain pen, pausing for a moment as if to remember where he’d been before he’d had to stop and focus his attention on something else. 

     “Twenty minutes,” he told Camden, before letting his gaze move back to the paperwork. “Let me get this to Snow, and then we can head home.”

[camdensavage]

millerjuliette‌:

He seemed surprised at her words, and that made her even more uneasy. Was it not normal to offer some coffee given that they were the only ones left there? Had she crossed some kind of line? Juliette couldn’t really hide the fact that social interactions weren’t her strong suit. Nonetheless, she had grown up being taught manners, and how to be charming, and politeness was a hard to break habit. 

She released a breath she didn’t know she was holding when he finally spoke, and didn’t reject her offer. His southern accent was strong, much more present than hers. She had intentionally let it wash out after leaving New Orleans, and after a couple years of marriage it was mostly gone. For a second she wondered if he was going to be able to hear it, though. 

“Tea can be done, yes.”, she nodded. “If you’re stuck, then it’s beneficial to take a break. Whenever you’re distracted with something else, your brain keeps working on the side, and you’re giving it time to settle and organise information. That way when you pick up the case again, you’ll have a much clearer view.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, pursing her lips. She was saying too much. “I’m sorry. I- yes, Juliette Miller. I arrived a couple weeks ago. It’s nice to meet you- Auror Savage, isn’t it?”

His eyebrows raised as she went on, apparently unable to keep herself from going on. It seemed like he had been right to guess she might be the sort who would actually listen long enough to hear his message, even just out of some misplaced politeness that the aurors hadn’t yet been able to break her of, because of her newness. Either way, it was still strange enough that someone had approached him, much less offered a drink, that he hardly knew how to start.

“My view is clear enough. What I need is a different case, but there’s no use in hopin’ for something I won’t get. So tea, it is,” Camden explained, looking at her with a vague curiosity. She apologized for all her talk, but finally confirmed who she was, and just how new she was to the squad; that made it all make a little more sense. New enough that she didn’t yet know the ins and outs of the delicate, invisible lines drawn by various aurors. Not necessarily a bad thing, but different, at least. 

He started off towards the break room, assuming she’d follow. “Auror Savage, sure, I suppose that’s right. Camden is just fine, though. My brother’s more of the Auror Savage. Some people around here still think it’s funny to call me Father Savage,” he said, with a humorless laugh.

[camdensavage]

beckersavage‌:

     “Then I suppose we’ll have to ask them,” he replied, simply. Really, there wasn’t much use jumping to the worst conclusions before they left. If things were bad, down there, they’d handle it like they did any other case: carefully, deliberately, and with the good judgment at least one of them had inherited from their parents. 

He wasn’t sure, really, why he was so determined to give these vampires the benefit of the doubt, while Camden was already so set on the fact that whatever this was was a trick or a trap. Well, he knew exactly why Camden was so certain of it – because Camden was certain that anything unholy was also, automatically, evil. Not the most nuanced of understandings of morality, but it was what the church had always taught them. Becker, on the other hand, was more of the mindset that morality was determined entirely by actions – it didn’t matter if the vampires were unholy beings, if their actions could prove they were capable of being good,  of being moral beings.

Maybe, just maybe, he was hoping these vampires were going to prove Camden wrong.

He let out a humorless laugh, and shook his head slightly. Just ask them, like it was that simple, and beings with no souls would be happy to tell them the truth behind their secret plans. “Sure, Beck, we’ll just ask them once we get there,” he said, only barely holding back an eye roll. The thing was, though, that he knew in the back of his mind, no matter that Snow had thrown this case on his desk, not Becker’s, that whatever his brother thought was the best course of action, he’d gladly follow it. Even if that meant asking them what they were truly trying to get from calling aurors in to settle a petty squabble.

Either way, there was no use in complaining any more about it now. They were going to have to go, whether he liked it or not, and they were going to have to deal directly with the vampires. There was time to prepare, to make certain that even if Becker was certain these vampires deserved the assumption of innocence until proven guilty, he would be ready for when they inevitably proved differently. For now, though, he just felt exhausted, thoughts threatening to turn back to the uncertainty, the worry that he also would prove that he’d never deserved that benefit, either, and soon. The stinging of his palm, and the words on the case file seemed to confirm that.

“I’m tired of thinking about this nonsense. Are you heading home soon?”

[camdensavage]

margotbrendanawicz‌:

     “Oh sure, the best laid plans of mice and men. If you ask me, there’s no before a problem with vampires. They’re always looking for trouble. I had a case with some running foul of the law back when I was a cadet, and let me tell you, it’s all problems.”

She’d been assisting on a case, some murders somewhere near Montauk, and when her lead auror, a Lieutenant, had realized it was vampires who were responsible for the bodies that were piling up he’d almost pulled her off the case and had someone more experienced step in. Luckily, it seemed to only be one vampire, but unluckily, she ambushed the two of them before they had a chance to call in for backup.

Ever since, she’d been wary of vampires, even more wary that they were allowed to live in big groups and govern themselves. To her, it just seemed to spell obvious disaster. But who knew, maybe a talking to from Father Savage would be enough to set ‘em straight. 

     “Not personally, but trust me, it ain’t a pretty sight.”

He listened with a frown, cigarette hanging between his lips burning away slowly. It wasn’t a surprise to hear that that’s what it was like with the unholy creatures. Even the very reason this case was sitting on his desk in the first place sounded like trouble. Why else would they have called MACUSA to send in aurors for help, other than to stir up trouble. Something wasn’t right about the whole thing, and he was glad to hear that she had the experience to prove his assumption right.

Still, the idea of having to kill, even a soulless creature, wasn’t something that he wanted to consider too deeply. Whatever it was that they really needed them down there for, he planned on solving it with firm words, and a bit of holy water, if necessary, nothing more. He trusted in God’s strength to protect him and his brother from harm, but that wouldn’t change what the devil’s beasts did in return.

“Maybe I should borrow a stake, then,” he said, eyebrows raised. “Although, if it did come to that, I’m certain Becker would have the better aim. I doubt he’ll let it get that far, though. In and out, with enough time to spare a visit back home, no dirtying of the hands. God will be watching over us in the den of the devil, after all.

[camdensavage]

beckersavage‌:

He listened patiently to Camden’s explanation, again brushing the leftover ash off of the case file on his desk and taking a second look, matching up the facts Snow had given them with the details Camden was recalling.

     “Then it’s a question of what, exactly, is being hidden that we need to worry about, right now,” he said, decisively. 

He had no real love for vampires, but neither did he harbor the hatred for them that Camden did. Part-humans couldn’t exactly be held to the same standards for morality that humans, both wix and no-maj, could; he’d come to terms with that early on in this job, as much as he didn’t like the idea of it. So while he knew Camden would be certain that the vampires were hiding something in order to trick them, in order to get something from them, he wasn’t quite so sure that was the case.

     “It’s possible that things have gotten worse than they’re letting on. That things have escalated in a way they’re not at liberty to file in a formal report of the situation, for whatever reason.” 

It was always a comfort, of sorts, just how sure Becker was always able to sound about things. Of course, that was what they needed to worry about, now. The tone that he had, certain, plain and simple, made everything seem that much more obvious, without any sort of condescension or pride. Just decisiveness. He’d never been as good at that part, always something judgmental in his own certainty. He had thought, on more than one occasion, perhaps not with such pure intentions, that if his brother ever wanted, he could easily use that skill of his to his advantage. If it ever came to it.

And now he wondered, vaguely, if that sort of confidence would work on vampires. 

Camden had about a dozen different unholy ideas of why a horde of vampires might’ve called in a group of aurors to take care of something like this, and each one he liked less and less. This was the sort of case that seemed simple enough on the outside, but had too many unknowns, too many risks attached.

“Sure, it’s possible. Maybe they’ve already started takin’ care of things the way part-humans usually do, with violence and vengeance, but they want us to see. Could be a chance to send a message, or a warning,” he shrugged. “I don’t think we have much precedent for vampires callin’ in aurors on humans. It’s hard to try to think like a soulless creature, what secrets they keep.”

[camdensavage]

aurormolina‌:

“Oh is that why, I got bit?” they ask with a chuckle, this time though there is a bit of bite behind their bark. They could take the whole hound from hell talk just fine, that sort of thing they’d grown used to ages ago, but it was the bullshit rationale they could never swallow down. If there really was a god such as his, one who stripped a fifteen year old of nearly everything they held dear, all to simply to serve as a cautionary tale for others- well then, that god could just go fuck himself. 

“Well you better watch yourself out there then, preach. Vampires can be mighty convincing when they want to be, before you know it you might actually like ‘em if you aren’t too careful.” Ha, that’d be something, although entirely uncharacteristic of the wizard. More than likely he’ll probably find a way to make the situation worse than better, but it wasn’t their place to tell the chief that. It didn’t matter if they’d just fought off a fiendfyre dragon, they were still fairly low in the pecking order to be giving any advice on things like that. 

Thinking they’d probably ruffled enough feathers for one afternoon, they slap both hands down on the tops of their legs before standing up. “Well, I’ll let you get back to your brooding session, should you need any advice on handling the unholy and damned creatures of the world, you know where to find me.” 

There’s an argument there just waiting to happen, one that he’s certain they’ve heard a dozen times before, and refuse to accept due to their less than holy ways, but surprisingly enough, it doesn’t seem like they want to push down that path today. “God’s plan,” he shrugs simply, not looking to get into it deeply if they weren’t just now, either. He had a case to plan for, after all

“I’d like to see them try with me,” Camden says, with a little chuckle, harsh, almost, dark. The idea is laughable, though, that a creature as unholy as that could exert their will over him. No matter how much he worried for his own soul, worried for his own goodness, being manipulated by a bunch of part-humans isn’t something that he’s worried about. No, he’s more worried about witnessing their evil up close and personal and what that might do to him, that they might try to hurt his brother, despite the seemingly benign intentions behind the call. Either way, at least it seems this creature is done for the afternoon.

“A pleasure as always. And if you ever need someone to pray for the salvation of your soul, you know where to find me too.”

[camdensavage]

fawnward‌:

More and more, Fawn was finding herself absolutely devoid of any goodwill toward her colleagues. It wasn’t fair, she knew, because it wasn’t their faults. They weren’t doing anything more annoying (than usual). She had just been with waning patience lately. And, if she was to be honest, it all stemmed from an anger and frustration she had with herself. That was another topic altogether, though, and either way she wasn’t able to handle even the most well-meaning of small talk or actual shoptalk. So she had retreated to the Closed Case File room with the folder from the Pensacola case and a few packets of Chuckles Chuckling Jelly Candies (charmed to no longer chuckle, though).

She was still searching for a perfect little corner to hole up in, debating whether she should forgo the candy and case review and just shift to a puma to take a nap, when she ran straight into a body. The file slipped from her grasp, but she managed to save her box of sweets – obviously the more precious of cargo. Under her breath, Fawn cursed a blue streak. As she bent to retrieve her slightly scattered papers, she recognized the voice, the particular Kentucky drawl, as Camden Savage. “It’s all right,” she replied, getting the last of the pages in order. Her own slight accent came out as it often did when speaking to someone else with an inflection.

She smiled a little at her feet at his last comment. “Yeah, I know. That’s kind of why I come here, I guess. Sorry, too, for sneaking up on you. Like you said, not a lot of people come here so you probably weren’t expecting…me to be here.” She suddenly felt silly, with her boxes of candy and her bad attitude that sent her hiding away. “What are you doing down here, anyway?”

He bent down to help her gather up her papers, and then straightened up again, offering the few that he had picked up. “Wasn’t expecting anyone, but the house elves. No need to apologize, though,” he said, waving off her apology. “I’m lookin’ for information for a case. I thought I’d see if there was anything like it that had already been solved, make things easier, so we can tie it up with a bow nice and simple once we get down there. The more cases we can solve with clean hands, the better.”

That was the truth, at least, in his mind, but it was more of a selfish truth than any real desire to worry about efficiency in a department this bureaucratic, with the amount of paper work that everything seemed to take. Mostly, he wanted to make certain he had all the information he needed to keep his brother out of harms way, and deal with the creatures as quickly as possible. He wasn’t sure how much help he’d be able to find here, though; it seemed like the sort of case there wasn’t much precedent for.

“Awfully good place for some peace and quiet, it seems like, though. Did you come down here to have a private snack?” he asked, with something close to a smile slipping across his lips, as he nodded at the box of candy, half hidden.

[camdensavage]

margotbrendanawicz‌:

She’d never understood, really, why Camden even bothered to be here. He spent half his time complaining about being an auror and the other half lusting after the priesthood he’d abandoned and, frankly, Margot couldn’t imagine choosing to be an auror if you didn’t want to be a damned auror. Half the time, she was pretty certain she’d quit except that there wasn’t anything else in the world she could see herself doing. It wasn’t the kind of job you half assed – well, okay, maybe one or two members of the squad did. But she couldn’t imagine risking life and limb to do this job if you didn’t really want to. 

Camden did it because…. hell, she didn’t know, but it sure as hell seemed like he was a reluctant school boy and his brother had made him try out for the school play and now he was stuck. Except, so far as she understood it, he’d voluntarily given up the cloth to come play superhero with Becker and was just too stubborn to admit that it’d been nothing more than an idealistic mistake. 

     “Yeah, yeah, I get it. Still, I’d put money down on at least one or two good stakings before your paperwork’s wrapped up.”  

He was halfway to bringing his cigarette to his lips as she spoke, but he stopped, when what she was saying actually registered. “Stakings,” he repeated, eyebrows raised. In all honesty, he hadn’t actively considered the possibility that things might turn south on this case, seeing it more as a nuisance than a real danger. The annoyance at being given a case like this had been blinding to any real issues that the case might bring up until now. But these were vampires, soulless, unpredictable, selfish, there was no knowing what they might do even if things were going seemingly well. 

The thought of killing, even if what he might have to kill was a being of evil, was odd, to him. He had been confronted with many sins in his time as an auror, but those were the sins of others, being forced to commit something so atrocious was different. He had no love for creatures like vampires, but there was a difference between disgust and murder. And yet, he knew that if doing so meant the difference between keeping Becker safe, and putting him in harms way, he would do it in a heartbeat.

“We’re going in to solve a problem before it becomes a problem, you think it’d come to that?” Camden asked. Before she answered, though, he went on. “You ever had to stake a vampire before?”

[camdensavage]

midmorning, closed case files, floor 57       ( @fawnward )

He had no real desire to do any actual work before leaving for the case back home, but he was also woefully aware how ill-equipped he actually was to handle things if they did get out of hand, a thought that he had realized once Margot mentioned stakings. And while he doubted he would be able to drastically improve his aim with wooden weaponry in a matter of a day or two, he had his own strengths. The plan was to make certain there was no possible way the beasts would have a chance to escalate things and put either of them in danger, by knowing exactly how to handle them.

And so for the first time in his years as an auror, Camden ventured down to the closed case files, in search of any previously solved cases involving the part-humans, and how they were solved. He turned the corner the house elf had instructed him to head down to find the right house elf to give him the relevant files, when he nearly ran right into someone else, scaring him half to death.

“Shit, Jesus Christ,” he cursed. It took a second to regain his composure, registering that it was Fawn Ward he had nearly hit. He didn’t know her personally, but there was plenty he had heard, still he reserved judgement for God. And himself. “Forgive me, Miss Ward. For the language, and sneakin’ up on you. I didn’t realize anyone actually came down here.”

[camdensavage]

beckersavage‌:

He kept his gaze on Camden’s hand as he finished cleaning it, tore a clean new bandage and wrapped it firm but not too tight around his brother’s hand. A meditative gesture, winding the bandage carefully, tying it securely, tucking the loose edges away where they wouldn’t get in the way.

The problem was that Becker wasn’t sure how to help. Being an auror had always made perfect sense to him. It still did. Even in the worst moments of his recovery, even the morning he woke up in a hospital missing a leg, even through the pain of learning to walk again with the prosthetic that had been fitted to replace it, he’d never once questioned what he was doing. He had never once in his life questioned it, from the moment he set foot in the New Orleans Academy to this very moment at his desk.

     “Speaking of things we’ve got to do,” he said, hoping that now would be the right time to turn his brother’s focus back to the case they were supposed to be working on. There would never be a good time, but at least now it was more likely Camden would react to it with a sort of baleful resignation rather than with righteous fury. “Tell me about this new case Snow’s sending us on.”

The act of Becker wrapping up his hand, bandaging the wound again with fresh gauze felt appropriate. A solemn, intimate thing that said more and gave more comfort than any words he might’ve said in response could have. Even if there was little to be done about the creeping dread that sat in his very soul, knowing that whatever happened he would have Becker by his side, made it feel easier to swallow. This was what it was all for, after all.

He sighed, and leaned against Becker’s desk, pulling the silver cigarette case from his pocket and taking a cigarette out. Back to business, of course, but that didn’t mean he was any happier about the case they had to deal with than before. When he lit his cigarette this time, he smoked it with his unwounded hand. “A few so-called hate crimes, with no real suspects, but that one lost soul. No escalation, as of yet, so I honestly don’t see why they need us down there,” Camden explained, waving his newly bandaged hand vaguely. It didn’t matter, though, because they had to go, whether it made sense or not. 

“The creatures called us in; specifically demanded that MACUSA send aurors. I’d hate to assume the worst, but to me that detail makes it feel like there’s somethin’ being hidden,” he paused, semi-thoughtfully. A self-aware, humorless laugh escaped his lips. “I take that back. Assuming the worst is only fair when it comes to the damned undead.”

[camdensavage]

aurormolina‌:

They about fall out of the chair they’d been leaning back in the moment he makes the sign of the cross, and then even better, actually starts to pray. They’d been expecting him to chew them out over their crude words, but this, this was far better. Looking at him incredulously for a moment as he drones on, they cast a quick look around the nearby desks, looking to see if any of their coworkers had been enjoying the show as much as they had. Unfortunately today had been one of the more quiet days in the office, and what familiar faces they could see were all too busy in their own work to notice the scene. 

When he looks at them, they let out a breathless laugh. “No, not unless he’s got the results of next week’s quadpot matches.” They almost point out the clear hypocrisy of his quickly spoken prayer, that if either of them should be accused of treating another without respect or dignity, it would be him. That was an argument they didn’t quite feel up to getting into today though, instead they return their gaze down to the file before him, placed under the bandaged hand whose wounds they could sniff out even from where they sat. 

“Is that the same approach you plan on taking with the vampires then? Try to pray the bloodthirst away, and hope they don’t immediately kill you on the spot?” 

He stares at them for a few silent seconds after their laughter. It was no surprise that they took it all as one big joke, he doubted that there was one holy bone in their body, and not just because of their unfortunate curse. There was a reason, after all, for everything that happened, the good and the evil, and he had long learned that there were some evils not even a holy hand could protect from. Finally, he makes the sign of the cross again, and says a definite, “Amen.”

Looking back up at them, he has to wonder how it must be to live with such utter darkness weighing on the mind at every moment. To be so unable to see the grace of God, to be infected with the curse of a beast. In a way, he nearly feels sorry for them, or he would if they weren’t so utterly intent on trying to push his every button at every opportunity.

“Somethin’ like that’d give you a real tickle, wouldn’t it?” he asks, before taking a long drag of his cigarette. “No, sadly, we’re gonna talk to them. Not even I can cure curses like that with prayer, after all. There’s a reason God allows unholy creatures to exist as they do; without evil and temptation, we’d have no chance for goodness and salvation. All I can do is protect myself and my brother from the hands of evil.”