words are wind

lucinda talkalotall warfare is based on deception.

[lucindatalkalots]

prewett estate lucinda + edgar | @bonafideedgar​

get in, grab the jacket, get out. 

she repeated it like a mantra as she walked, counting off each statement on her fingers instead of paying attention to her surroundings. it was late, so she knew better, and yet the closer she drew to the hq of operations, the less she felt any real fear. that was exactly why, as she rounded the corner a bit too sharply, she didn’t spot the obstruction to her path until her face was flush with the material of their shirt. she reacted swiftly, backing up with a leap, hand shoving into the back of her trousers before recognition took hold. 

“edgar,” she breathed, her extremities tingling as the adrenaline receded. her chest heaved, once, twice, and the comfort of his presence then morphed into a grating realization. her chin raised, and she even managed to give him a smile that she hoped covered her unease. 

it wasn’t his fault, the way she felt when near him. in fact, he only deserved the best parts of her, if their past counted for anything, but since when did anyone get what they deserved in their world? “you scared the piss out of me.” an accusation laced through her tone. “what are you doing out here?”

[lucindatalkalots]

godric’s hollow lucinda + james | @perniciouspotter​

the drink in her hand was warm, and as she walked down the homey road, she focused on that rather than the ever constant questioning of her mind. some frilly doctor called it anxiety, tried to recommend she do some reflecting and healing, and that was about all she heard before she tuned him out for the rest of the appointment. despite the downfalls of the knot that never unwound in the bed of her abdomen, she found it helped her more often than not. kept her alert, vigilant to her task, and that was well worth the pitfalls that sometimes left her a bit nauseous as a result. she adjusted her grip on the cup as she came to a brief halt at the gate of her destination.

if she paused any longer, she might have found reason to keep moving, which was never the outcome she wanted. failure. the taste alone would choke her out, and so spite alone might have been the driving force behind the three sharp knocks her knuckles landed on the front door. when the door opened, she held up the drink like an olive branch, her lips teasing a smile that they probably both knew was a cover and a half. 

“i thought you might could use this today,” she said. her weight shifted under her feet, as if she wasn’t talking fast enough to appease her nerves. “and i also thought i had a better chance to get inside if i came bearing gifts, so—” she looked beyond him, wordlessly encouraging the invite out of him. 

[lucindatalkalots]

frcnklongbcttom​:

Location: The Flaming Dragon. Time: Early to Mid Evening. 

Frank wasn’t the person who could hold his liquor. Sure, he had been able to tolerate a bit more when he was younger- when the hangover hadn’t lasted well into the evening and he managed to get out a lot more than he did these days. Or perhaps it was simply the fact that looking at a glass of wine resulted in Moody’s voice going off in his mind about Constant Vigilance and Lowering your Inhibition. He really didn’t mind being the one to get everyone home at the end of the night, or to make sure they didn’t do anything too stupid that would get them all in trouble. It had been his job for a long time now and it hadn’t changed all that much with age.

That did mean however, that nights like tonight when he did let loose, it took very little to get him a good buzz. He hadn’t even been here all that long, came late after getting stuck at work hours after he should have left. Frank had tried to catch up to the rest before heading over; the two drinks he had while changing from his work robes to something more appropriate and then the shot he had taken right as he had gotten in. And here he was giggling over nothing like some bloody 15 year old after their first real drink at a house party. Merlin Longbottom, pull yourself together.  

He was going to regret it in the morning, there was little doubt about that. But that was a tomorrow Frank’s problem. Tonight they were letting go and worrying about being with the people around him. If someone had to push back his hair for once… so be it.

He reached over the bar when no one had been around, grabbing some tequila bottle he remembered little about other than drinking it in the Gryffindor Common Room a lifetime ago. He had gotten absolutely smashed then too. He poured the contents into two shot glasses, passing one over to a presence next to him and grinned.

“If Doc asks, it wasn’t me who spilt this all over the bar.”

She didn’t mean to stare. 

At first she was simply trying to figure out if he was alright, but it didn’t take long to suss out the actual dilemma. As with most parts of the world that took more effort than it paid off, she felt very little need to intervene. Besides, staring was rude, and lately that wasn’t on her list of do’s, was it? 

Life within the Order had proven to grate all of the nerves she came in with, and as if that wasn’t enough, the situation proved to be a massive over achiever in that creating new exposed nerves happened so swiftly it felt like child’s play. Because her mission was so important, she easily found a way to make sense of the cold front she met every time she tried to insert herself further into the faction, but that hardly meant stopping in her crusade to make them see her as something more than her past. 

Sometimes that meant staring and taking a shot from a man who looked as if he needed his taken away. With a smile, even. 

“Secret’s safe with me,” she said, as she turned the shot up to drain its contents. The ghost of a burn slid down her throat, and it was yet another reminder of how nothing was the same anymore. She gripped the small glass in her fist, smiling as if she needed a moment to allow the drink to settle, but that couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

Then she turned back to Frank. “Though, I don’t think his bartenders will feel the same if you’re caught with that in your hand.” She nodded at the bottle he still held.