reunited at last ;
Darius had to be called out of his isolation at some point - and of course, it wasn’t for something that was supposed to be fun and celebratory like his birthday, it wasn’t when his friends sent owls, asking how he was and if he wanted to go out with them, no, it was purely the promise of guaranteed bloodshed that dragged him from relentless training and disgusting diets; the promise that he’d be able to test his newly-honed prowess out on living, deserving targets, not just indestructible training dummies. (And the fact Cassandra had been assigned as his mission partner certainly didn’t hurt, either. Perhaps this was an opportunity for the two of them to get back to being proper friends.)
And a summon from the Dark Lord, especially after the partly victorious result of the attack on Gringott’s, was nothing to ignore. He had a new sort of fire in his scarlet eyes, Darius had mentally noted, a ravaged desperation that indicated failure would be brutally punished, even more so than usual. He wasn’t worried, however - he had trained enough for both of them, so even if Igor hadn’t been training Cassandra properly, (of course he was still sulking about that new discovery), he had this mission’s success guaranteed.
So he waited, cloak on but mask still hanging from his fingertips, at the agreed mission spot that he and Cassandra had agreed on in their latest owl exchange. He would be lying if he admitted he wasn’t nervous; not about the mission, of course, but about seeing her again. Their last meeting hadn’t been disastrous, but it certainly hadn’t been pleasant, either. If she insisted on being so noble and irritating, he doubted this mission was going to be much fun either. Suddenly, the crack of Apparition brought him out of his thoughtful daze, and he nodded at the sight of her, his face softening. “Avery. You’re here. You ready?” He looked behind her purposefully, his tone almost apologetic. “No fiancee? Doesn’t he worry I’m going to knock you to the ground and steal your virtue?” There was less bite in his tone, for once - he had missed her presence, and he didn’t want to spend another few hours arguing with her, but he was still Darius.
@bloody-avery