Pseudo-rebellious Tiny Stray Kitten

Tristan Alexei Erikovich Lavrentyev Twenty Second Year Runes Student Ex-Gryffindor Animagus

[the-dark-marks]

New Year’s Eve

[tristan-not-naive]

the-dark-marks‌:

*looking sympathetic when Tristan talks about difficulties and then amused when subject turns to his mother*  I’m glad. My father and I have reached a harmony too. *Tristan had to have heard of the elder Marks’ arrest*

*He’s heard some of it before, but he doesn’t interrupt* I was hoping Mercy would be here. Give her my love when you see her. Tell her to come get it herself next time.  I would like to see her and Colin’s son too, but I had thought that might be stretching the expectation too far.  Does the child favor Mercy or Colin more? How is Mercy adapting to motherhood? *approving, as he seldom would be when saying the following words* You have a soft heart. I’m glad you have retained it, and that you are looking out for those that lost at Knockturn. I heard about what happened when everyone else did. I can assure you I had nothing to do with it. 

You stuck with the runes course then and it’s going well? You always did have a talent. I hope you’re enjoying it. 

Do you think managing the family will be enough for you? *It’s never a question of whether Tristan would be up to the task in Jonathan’s mind. Tristan is more than capable*

I miss my wife. I miss law school though by now I am far ahead on the curriculum. I’ve traded more than I wanted to, not for the purpose I wanted to. Killing that girl, killing Evelyn Lockhart, was a mistake. I don’t claim it was an accident, but it wasn’t a murder either and I would take it back if I could. 

I won’t say I would take back other decisions. I did what had to be done, what I was driven to in some cases, and I will continue to do so no matter how few I can make understand. I could have let Evelyn Lockhart climb out of that fountain however. 

,,,But then perhaps she would have struck me in the back and she would be the one giving you regrets if she even felt them. Forgive me if I consider that reality poorer.

They do say distance makes the heart grow fonder. *The joke is cautious, as is his smile, but the longer the conversation continues the more comfortable he feels.*

He has Colin’s colouring, and his eyes, but he looks more like Mercy, I think. Has the Lavrentyev curls, too. Mercy...she’s doing well with him. Better than she thought she would, from what I can tell. *She was as worried as he gets, sometimes, that their mother’s post natal depression would haunt her children, but she loves her son. Tris sees it in her face every time he goes to visit.*

I know you didn’t. *There’s not doubt in his face or his voice.* Knockturn Alley was meaningless destruction. There was no point to it but panic, and hurting people who’ve done nothing more wrong than carry a bad reputation in a long time. You’ve never done anything without reason. Mindless destruction isn’t you. *Even if he can’t yet grasp Jon’s reasons, he knows he has them, and that his choices are always justified, and logical. Knockturn Alley wasn’t. It was...angry.*

I am. I think I’ll keep doing it; keep up with the work I’m doing right now. I don’t think I could be content just taking over my grandfather’s responsibilities. You’re right, in that it wouldn’t be enough.

*He nods at the mention of Delphina - even Tris misses her, if just for the simplicity that was bickering with her. Life was easier when Delphina West was the greatest frustration in his everyday life - before freezing when Jon talks about Evie, blinking up at him, stuck for a moment.*

She never would have apologised. *It comes out as a whisper, and he swallows hard.*

She would have had no doubts it was the right and just thing to do, and considered any grief on my part just more proof that I tried to kill her when we were teenagers. Evie was...she didn’t deserve to die, and I loved her, but she was never going to be my friend again.

I don’t know which reality would have been better. I loved her, but you...I’ve known you since I was toddling. You’re more my brother than Josef ever was. I can’t imagine a world without you.

*His next breath shudders, and his fingers itch with the urge to rub at his face with the heels of his hands, but he resists.*

I don’t understand any of this, why all of this is happening. I feel like I’m going crazy, sometimes, worrying about you and then about Roxanne, remembering Evie and the memorial and then hearing Roxanne talk about the people on Knockturn Alley like they don’t mean anything.

Please. You promised you’d explain this to me, or explain what you could, your intentions, at least. That you’d tell me the why of it.

[the-dark-marks]

New Year’s Eve

[tristan-not-naive]

the-dark-marks‌:

“I would have understood. It would have disappointed me, but I wouldn’t have been angry. Come on, let’s find a quiet place to sit. The party can go on without me for awhile. There are other priorities. Whatever other lessons I’ve had to reflect on the past few years, I’ve learned something of how sentimental doesn’t have to be followed by the word fool and the small picture shouldn’t be lost for looking at the larger one. I was sorry to hear about Mariya. I guess we should start back that far. Tell me about your life.”

*He follows Jon, smile the tiniest bit strained even as he forces away how conscious he is of everyone who will look on this interaction with disapproving eyes - though he comforts himself with the thought of Colin and Olivier, and the impossibility of either of them finding fault with him talking to Jon - before biting back a slightly incredulous, and maybe a little bit hysterical, laugh at the question.*

Thank you. It was...it was difficult for a lot of reasons, but some things are easier now, too. I don’t think my relationship with my mother has ever been better. *Which is not to say it’s quite good, as evidenced by the wry twist to his mouth, but the point stands.*

Since Mariya? Well, I broke up with Lawrence, though I figure you probably knew already. I’ve seen Mercy; she returned to the world at Josef’s wedding, with Colin’s baby on her hip, so she’s still dramatic as ever. I’ve started doing commission work for most of Knockturn Alley, since the attack; protective circles, and such. I’ll do them for just about anyone who hires me, really, but the families on Knockturn are the ones who need them most at the moment, and no one else will take their money.

*There’s the barest thread of tension in his voice as he touches on that, and he presses his lips together, visibly displeased, before refocusing and looking back at Jon.*

I went back to Russia for a little bit, before the attack. Spent some time with my Grandfather, let him teach me some more about how he leads our family. He misses Mariya, but he’s doing well.

I confess, nothing really exciting has happened outside of everything happening in public. No near death experiences since the last one.

How have you been?

[the-dark-marks]

New Year’s Eve

[tristan-not-naive]

the-dark-marks‌:

“Does it sounds insincere if I say I am especially glad you made it tonight? I think  those words have come out of my mouth too much in the past hour. I’m not trying to come across as political. It’s a true statement for so many people.”

“It doesn’t,” he assured him, smiling uncertainly. “I am...glad I decided to come. I almost talked myself out of it, for a little while, but I...yeah, I’m glad I came. I would have been disappointed at myself, if I’d missed the chance to see you.”

[tristan-not-naive]

*Flourish and Blotts*

[tristan-not-naive]

deeper-end-of-dupond‌:

“No, not bad at all, at least not all the time to be in a different place zan you expected.” The words were quiet and only half believed. “Maybe it’s where you were meant to be to begin wit’ “ For those who could still remember what they wanted or what they thought they were meant for after how many times it had changed.

“I’m afraid I’m not looking for protective runes, but rather advice or training on ‘ow best to break or disarm some of the more complex ones.” He put his hands up to forestall misunderstanding. “Or at least detect some of the ones that trigger zah nastier curses. In tracking down some old sources for the paper I’ve found many of the more reclusive ‘ave  become a bit paranoid to put it mildly.”

Honest intentions and a happy New Year are everything Olivier wants to believe in and he’s glad that at least one other person reinforces the idea it’s not beyond reach. “Who do you think sent the invitations?”

“Fate works in funny ways,” he agreed, smiling, before his expression slackened in surprise at Olivier’s clarification of what he was looking for; and he blinked, humming in understanding.

“I can do that. Or, well, I can talk you through the different methods of going about it. It depends on how the runes are constructed, how complicated they are; if you can see them, and read them first, that will always help. But I can run you through a crash course on recognising the really dangerous ones, and how to disable anything nasty. So long as you promise not to use my precious knowledge for nefarious means,” Tris tacked on as an after thought, grinning at his friend.

He hesitated a moment at the question, smile fading a little, turning sad and introspective, and lowered his eyes to stare at his hands while he tangled his fingers together nervously.

“I...I think it’s Jon. Jonathan Marks. It sounded like him, the way it was written, and I just...I don’t know. Have a feeling.” He shrugged helplessly, feeling a little silly now he’d said it aloud.

[tristan-not-naive]

*Flourish and Blotts*

[tristan-not-naive]

firebrand-roxanne‌:

“Yeah, like your family,” she unapologetically parroted the words back to him, not exactly trying to pick a fight, just being blunt as a battering ram and making an unfunny, obvious low joke that wasn’t exactly a joke either. “But not like you. Bullshit.” Tristan was one of the good ones. She knew that with every bit of certainty she still used to sort “good” and “bad” with very little room for the spectrum of gray. She let most of his words wash past her without taking in anything that challenged her point of view., only making the barest attempt to look abashed and then only so he didn’t continue about the poor, desperate people of Knockturn Alley. There were no damn children living over those shops, she would have known. She wouldn’t have endangered children. It was too uncomfortable to fathom he could be right, much easier to believe he had his facts wrong, taking someone’s sob story as fact. 

“I know just how to deal with passive aggression, though one may think that I’ve outgrown it,” she hummed happily, waiting for Tristan to snort at the picture of her levitating paint balloons over Jonathan Marks’ head, almost presenting the idea as a type of peace offering, ready for them to be on common ground again after the few moments diversion.

“You forgot to question whether a balcony would count as within the walls. Even simpler than waiting in the elevator.” Though Tristan may have gotten more apprehensive as he cataloged the loopholes, Roxanne grew almost giddy, “Question would be how we would safely test some of those out. Hate to keel over if interrogation under veritaserum counts as causing emotional harm or something silly.”

Tris bit back the impulse to argue the point, to keep protesting - and buried the niggling urge to push at her distaste for the occupants of Knockturn Alley, and refusal to sympathise with them even a little, to dive into that rabbit hole and the revelations it might lead to - and instead just pressed his lips together in a firm line, letting it slide.

At the mention of her particular method of dealing with passive aggression, however, he did let out an amused huff, and offered her a brief, warm smile.

“I look forward to half the guest list being covered in various colours of paint. The throw back to simpler times might be just what everyone needs.” It would lighten the mood for him, at least, and he half hoped Roxanne was planning a slew of pranks that were that side of well-meaning for the night.

Just something ordinary. Something familiar, and easy.

He hummed when she carried the thought on, before snorting softly, smile dry and sardonic.

“Well that’s when we start leaning toward spell theory, and how the Vow itself works. When it comes to breaking it - or, on the other hand, keeping it - must all those involved have to agree, or does it break as soon as one of the people involved thinks they have done? For example, say it was between you, me, and, oh I don’t know, Diana. Say I cast the Vow between the two of you. Your old prank with the paint balloons likely wouldn’t count as harm to either you or me, but almost certainly would to her, if you were to cover her in blue paint. Would her thinking you’d broken the terms of the Vow be enough for you to suffer the consequences? Is it dependant upon my opinion of what harm is, as the one casting the Vow? Or does it require mutual - or at least majority - agreement either way? Whichever way it falls, it leaves more room for either extra loopholes or a higher risk of breaking it.” He shrugged, and then sighed, leaning against the bookshelf behind him, arms crossed over his chest.

“I know you’re not usually one for advice, but if you’ll take mine, and if you’re looking for loopholes for the reasons I’m imagining, I’d advise you err on the side of caution. I’m no expert in spell theory, but the vagueness of the proposed Vow is more likely to get you hurt than anything else if you try and take advantage of it. These things are tricky, and I...I’d like to come out of a party with everyone I care about alive and intact, for once.” His smile was tired, and he fiddled restlessly with a loose thread in his sleeve.

It shouldn’t have felt like such a big ask. And yet.

[tristan-not-naive]

*Flourish and Blotts*

[tristan-not-naive]

feather-ed‌:

Ed heard Runes mentioned a few rows away and immediately closed the book he’d been browsing, with his thumb as a placeholder, and walked over to listen in. The joyful spring in his step on the way faded when he was close enough to realize there was another focus to the discussion: Knockturn Alley. He suddenly felt sick and knew his face had sudden gone pale, so he cast a silent Transfiguration charm on his cheeks to regain the color. The pleasantly warm feeling that crept through his cheeks almost felt like two hands pressing gently to his face and it brought a smile to his face. 

The party. This wasn’t the first time he’d heard a stranger talking about it. The more people he realized were going, the more torn he became over attending himself. He’d never been one for big crowds (outside concerts, but those were totally different experiences), and over the last few months found himself becoming even warier. Even in the cafeteria at the Ministry, he felt uncertain about who might be looking his way too much. It was a skeptical feeling that left him feeling uneasy more often than he wanted to admit.

“It could also just be a fun party,” he suggested with a hopeful smile, stepping forward to join the conversation when it seemed most fitting. “Everyone enjoys a fun party.”

He blinked in mild surprise at the new voice, before smiling briefly at Ed, and shrugging before he replied.

“I hope so. I hope it turns out to be everything the letter said. It would be nice to just...have a fun New Years.” It would be nice to have the opportunity to talk to his old friends without making everyone think he’d leashed himself to their new cause, he half wanted to say, but didn’t, sparing Ed his emotional turmoil.

“Are you planning to go with anyone, Ed?” He wanted to ask how he’d been, even it had had been so long since Evie, now, but dared not mention her name aloud.

Tris was invested in Ed’s happiness, in the idea he might be moving on, a little, with his life, but not so much that he was willing to risk conjuring the ghost of Evie between them. Better to leave her in peace.

[scxrpius-malfoy]

[tristan-not-naive]

*Flourish and Blotts*

[tristan-not-naive]

nottexactly‌:

He was ready to take Tristan’s words for granted, not too interested in the social aspects of the disaster, but emphatic enough to place a hand on his heart and smile fondly of his former brother-in-law… though it was odd to think of Tristan that way. ‘’Congratulations, Tris. I knew you had soul, but this is great,’’ his voice contained enthusiasm over the gesture. ‘’Do you think they accept donations?’’ he felt the need to ask, wanting to help without getting involved in any physical work. It was his way of mirroring the good gesture. 

‘‘Merlin help us,’‘ he smirked, doubting it was the case. ‘‘And even if we do get there, let it be in an alcoholic coma.’‘ Granted, Colin didn’t drink, but it was a nice joke for the moment. 

He paid more attention as soon as Tristan started talking about his sister. ‘’I wouldn’t say she’s too happy to leave W-Wyatt with me either, but we’re getting there,’’ he sighed, a resigned yet hopeful smile passing on his lips. Something in the blue of Colin’s eyes felt sorry for Mercy. ‘’It’s a shame she doesn’t plan on attending. She’s gotten pale inside Bath.’’ 

‘‘We haven’t discussed it per se, but I don’t think there’s a question to it. We tend not to miss a good one. And I’d insist on this one.’‘ The voice behind the invitation was impossible to miss, albeit in the same key half of the pureblood community spoke in. However, there was something to it that couldn’t remind him of anything but his old friend. Intrigue was swallowing Colin whole. ‘‘I don’t know if Diana is attending. I know Scorpius is. Giving the fact that they usually go together… my money would be on yes. Watch out for the bridal collection,’‘ he flashed his eyebrows, clearly not into his best friend’s relationship with his sister. The wedding dress joke was more about how Diana always wore too formal attire, but the allusion to Scorpius and her also functioned well enough, though bothering Colin slightly, scratching at the bottom of his indifference.

“I think if they’re not currently accepting them, setting up a fund would be a really good thing to do,” he offered, grinning back at Colin.

His mouth twisted, a little, at the reminder of the disconnect between Colin and Mercy, how his big sister’s stubbornness and possessiveness of her son made her reluctant to leave him with his father, before he sighed and shrugged a shoulder helplessly.

“She’ll return to the world. Make her entrance dramatic as possible, of course; but just...it’ll take her a little while. Especially with how dangerous attending parties can be these days,” he mused, smile wry.

“Only Diana would ever dare turn up to a New Years party in a wedding dress,” he offered, rolling his eyes fondly.

[tristan-not-naive]

*Flourish and Blotts*

[tristan-not-naive]

firebrand-roxanne‌:

“The variables are insane,” Roxanne sympathized. “Accounting for every possibility could drive you around the bend. Better you than me. I’m pretty sure you have longer to go.” She kept it light. “Why are you accepting commissions from Knockturn Alley business owners though?” She was careful to keep the judgment to a minimum in her voice, though harshness crept in with disdain as she continued, “You know what kind of wix set up in Knockturn.” 

She flipped through a randomly selected book to give her something to look at that seemed more nonchalant than directly staring at Tristan and trying to read him. “I’d put my money on worse, though worse could be pretty fucking hard to attain. I’m excited about the possibilities though.” Whether she meant for the party, for peace, or for hostilities was up to interpretation. “Notice any loopholes in the whole swear to do no harm spiel?”

Tris offered her a quick, slightly sharp look before he responded to the line of questioning she’d taken.

“Yes, I do. The kind like my family; like everyone I grew up with. Like me, to an extent. They’re not actually all terrible people; most of them are just old, and traditional, and stubborn, and have had businesses there for over a century. A handful of sketchy businesses doesn’t make everyone who lives there sketchy; and there are children living in the flats above some of those shops.” His eyes eyes caught on another book, and he pulled it half off the shelf to examine it, before putting it back, and continuing in a softer voice. “No one else will help them. Knockturn Alley’s reputation combined with the attack means no enchanting or rune casting business of repute will even read a request for a property there right now, and the only one on the Alley itself went out of business over a year ago. I’m still in university, I don’t even have a degree to prove my worth. I’m the very definition of desperate measures. If I say no, and something else happens, and people die, then that blood’s on my hands.”

He finished with a decisive duck of his head, a sharp nod as he repeated what he’d been telling himself since the first of the shop owners had approached him, a tired woman who had gone to school with his mother and already been turned away by four different people; before the fight left him, and he rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his hand.

“I imagine at the very least the air is going to be thick with passive aggression. It’ll be like all those parties we went to when we were kids, only magnified.” He snorted under his breath in dry amusement; and then looked back at her, a touch puzzled.

“Loopholes?”

He pondered for a moment, chewing at his bottom lip, before grimacing.

“I mean, there’s plenty, if you’re pedantic. Raise no weapon is hard to get around, sure, but harm entirely depends on your definition of the word. Is kidnapping harmful if you’re gentle about it? Or interrogation, or mind control spells, or spiking peoples’ drinks with veritaserum? That’s the problem with things like Unbreakable Vows; the broader you are with your wording, the more wriggle room you leave for anyone who wants to get around it. There’s also that caveat of ‘within these walls’, and whether that’s the walls of the penthouse itself or the hotel in its entirety. If it’s the hotel, there’s nothing stopping people waiting outside the building; if it’s the hotel, you could wait at the elevator itself. It’s impossible to know whether the entire hotel will be fitted with anti apparition charms, though I’m sure the penthouse itself will be, to avoid anyone getting around the Vow, and so it leaves open the possibility of the point of entry being easily trapped.” He blinked; and then grimaced.

“Maybe I won’t go after all. I feel like I’ve just talked myself out of it.”

Tris would go regardless, if just for the chance to see and speak to Jon, but he was finding himself less excited for it the more he thought on loopholes.

[tristan-not-naive]

*Flourish and Blotts*

[tristan-not-naive]

deeper-end-of-dupond‌:

Olivier held the ladder to steady it while Tristan looked for his book and until he was near the end of his climb back down. It was almost certainly unnecessary, but details such  as that didn’t matter. “Are you complaining or bragging?” the Frenchman teased, eyes warm. It was only in this context, happy for his friend’s success and oddly proud that Tristan was so brilliant with runes it was already being recognized, that Olivier could smile over anything to do with the destruction in Knockturn Alley when every time it was brought up, he saw broken and charred bits of the sign for Borgin and Burkes lying in rubble in his mind’s eye. It hadn’t been Scarlet’s store–that was Zonko’s which still stood albeit as an abandoned shell–but it had her name and thus its destruction added more weight to his shoulders, though he would hardly be able to articulate why. “You should be bragging. You’re ‘elping to protect and restore, one of the few lights in darkness.” 

That’s how Olivier saw Tristan personally too, and not just in the world, but in a more personal context too. So many people had left his life, and most by their own choice, that it was beginning to weigh again that it was stupid of him to keep opening up, but Tristan was still there, not quite constant, but someone who kept coming back. 

“I ‘ave to confess zat I was going to use you for your runes knowledge too, but don’t feel obligated. I wouldn’t ask you to commit yourself if you’re already overtaxed.”

Olivier turned more thoughtful as Tristan changed topics to the party they’d both received an invitation to. “I want to believe it can be taken at surface value. I still want some ‘ope of normalcy, of ‘aving nothing greater to worry about at zah turning of the year but oo to kiss midnight even if no ‘ope of a calm assembly wit’out enchantment or a lasting resolution.”

He grinned back at Olivier, and waved his free hand idly.

“I’m just...pondering. Wondering at the difference to how things have played out. I don’t really have anything to complain about, after all; different doesn’t mean bad.”

Olivier’s next words piqued his curiosity, and he blinked back at him, before humming in thought.

“Most of what I’ve been working on should be easy enough to apply in numerous places. It depends on what you need. And you know helping you is never taxing; you’re my friend, which makes you my priority.” He nodded to punctuate the statement, before his countenance softened at the party talk, and he scrubbed his hand back through his hair.

“It would be nice, to have things be normal, even if just for a night. Even if it is just pretending. And I...if the invitation was send by who I think it was, I’m inclined to believe it to be genuine, the desire to just have a normal New Years Eve party. I can’t speak for how others might try and take advantage of the situation, but I believe the intention is...honest.”

[tristan-not-naive]

*Flourish and Blotts*

[tristan-not-naive]

nottexactly‌:

‘‘You should get to translate if that’s what you want. Why did they send you for the job? Isn’t anyone else who can do this… field work?’‘ he was nothing but compassionate and interested in Tristan’s well-being. It was probably bound to be a permanent side effect of Mercy, caring about her little brother more than passingly. 

The party talk brought the smile back on Colin’s lips, knowingly and in expectation. ‘’We always need a little fun in the bleak times we’re living in. I mean, look at what you’re doing…’’ He thought back on the night of the attack, remembering Roxanne burning a black cloak while her curls smelled of smoke, but that thought was to be locked somewhere at the back of his mind. What he didn’t want to know, he didn’t know.

‘‘It can turn out decent, I’m sure. I don’t know the guest list, but the measurements seem effective enough. Now, it might get a little boring in the given setting, but I’m sure most of us know how to light up a party.’‘ A silent speaking of passed through his mind. ‘‘Is your sister attending?’‘ Your sister while addressing to Mercy was unexpected and sharp from him, but he asked the question as curiously and tenderly as he knew how. It even was heartfelt.

He shrugged a shoulder, adjusting his grip on the book as he smiled back at Colin.

“The Ministry are focusing on government buildings, landmarks, that sort of thing; anywhere that might be targeted next. They’re thinking logically, not subjectively. The families still living on Knockturn Alley aren’t high on their list of priorities, and most freelancers won’t work for anyone who lives or does business there. You know the reputation the kinds of families that live there have; half of wizarding London thinks they deserve what happened.” Tris let out a breath, expression turning grim. “Even more than that, I’d feel bad if I didn’t do what I can to help them. It’s different to what I originally wanted for myself, yes, but the way I see it...when you’re able to help people, but then you don’t, when they get hurt the responsibility falls on your shoulders as much as those of whoever is directly responsible. It’s a lot of work, but I don’t mind, not really. I even enjoy it, most of the time. It’s just...not what I would have imagined.”

He offered the last part dryly, smiling again, before starting the search for a second book.

“I hope it goes well. At the very least, it’ll be nice to go to a party and not end up immediately in St Mungo’s afterwards.”

The question made him pause; before he huffed out a laugh, and looked back at Colin.

“She’s confirmed neither way, but I don’t think so. Between you and Roxanne, and seeing half our childhood friends turned fugitives, plus the fact she’s reluctant to leave Wyatt with anyone that’s not you or me these days...no, I don’t think we can expect her particular strain of drama. Not that it wouldn’t liven things up, of course.” Not that it wouldn’t be nice, to go to a proper party with his sister again, to watch her move around a room; but he doesn’t expect to see her there.

“But you and Roxanne will be going, obviously. Will Diana come too? I feel like I’ve not seen her in weeks.”

[tristan-not-naive]

*Flourish and Blotts*

“...but it’s of course more complicated than just standard fire resisting runic circles. Knockturn Alley exploded. Protection against that requires circles to do with spells, and with combustible potions, not to mention the half dozen different muggle ways there are to blow something up.”

Tris climbed down the ladder he’d scaled at the start of the discussion, the book he’d been searching for tucked securely under his arm, and huffed out a brittle laugh.

“When I chose Runes as my focus for university, I never imagined I’d be commissioned by half of what’s left of Knockturn Alley to come up with protection circles to stop their shops and flats from being blown up. I thought I’d spend my life as a linguist. Doing translations.” There was a touch of ruefulness to his smile, under the exhaustion brought on by the last month, by the last three years, and he shrugged a little helplessly, his smile wistful.

“Perhaps this party is exactly what everyone needs.” He pondered for a moment, before scrunching up his nose, “of course it could result in hostilities getting worse afterwards, but it’s anyone’s guess.”

He, of course, was attending because it was the only way to speak with half his childhood friends without looking like he was joining one cause or the other. Politics and party aside, he was just...lonely.

Tris missed his friends.

[tristan-not-naive]

After Diana’s Party

[tristan-not-naive]

cash--in-hand:

Keep reading

Tris almost purred, leaning into the hand petting through his hair while he peered up at Cash through his eyelashes; and grinned up at him, stretching up to steal a kiss before he obediently laid back on the bed.

“So you don’t want me to suck you off? Well, alright. I guess I can do it later; maybe wake you up in the morning that way.” His smile widened, and he cocked his head; before his expression got a little more serious, a little more intense, and he sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth.

“I’ll never say no to a show, Cash.”

[tristan-not-naive]

*Outside Gringotts*

[tristan-not-naive]

weasleyvictory:

It’s not up to me, I’m afraid. I have no authority over this building so… it’s not something I let do anything, if it helps. Here for my salary.

...right. I was very much talking to myself, but okay, Victoire.

[tristan-not-naive]

*Outside Gringotts*

[tristan-not-naive]

deeper-end-of-dupond:

“I’m quite sure they were blown away by ‘ow well you presented yourself and backed up your CV. ‘Ow could they not be impressed? Now, are you ready for lunch?”

*He offers Olivier a grateful smile, before nodding his head.*

Yes, I’m ready. What are you hungry for?

[tristan-not-naive]

*Outside Gringotts*

[tristan-not-naive]

aurorluck:

Everything alright? Something that I could help with?

*He straightens as he looks up at Luca, mustering a brief, slightly strained smile.*

Ah, I’m fine Auror Anton. Just over analysing my job interview. I’m nervous I didn’t do as well as I hoped I would.

[tristan-not-naive]

*Outside Gringotts*

[tristan-not-naive]

nottexactly:

Hiding the sack of galleons he’s just taken from the bank in his robe, Colin didn’t expect to be bumping into somebody familiar, but he was glad to. ‘’Trissy. What have you done? Robbed this old place? You look great.’’

*With a slightly strained but gratified smile*

Something like that. Job interview. I’m mid obligatory post-interview breakdown.