warmandstill:
Admittedly, Mr. Podmore felt weird coming out of his mouth… but was he supposed to first name Sturgis after he’d last named him? No. At least, he didn’t think so. Besides, they hadn’t seen each other in forever, and when they did, it was just in passing. Did that warrant formality, or did their friendship at Hogwarts negate that?
“I–” Did he just check him out? “Thank you, what have you been up to as of late?” He asked, trying to act normally. Not that he was very good at that anyway.
“Right, yes, of course. That makes sense.” Obliviators would be busy right now, it really wasn’t that surprising to hear. “I get what you mean, though. I’ve been working most weekends lately, it’s my first day off in a while.”
As the other’s smile changed, Elijah tried to keep his expression the same, before shrugging slightly. “Oh, I am. Just let me…” His attention moving back towards the bookshelf, he reached up and pulled down a copy of the book. “I doubt it would be very exciting for anyone not involved with dragons. What book are you here for?”
An eyebrow quirked at Elijah’s abandoned thought, a single syllable that could have gone anywhere but ended with a question that landed a little too close to “small talk” for Podmore’s liking. “Some of this, some of that,” he supplied, thoughts on the Order and how much of his quote-unquote freetime it consumed. The corner of his mouth kicked into a smirk, and he dared to expound, “I’ve been staying active, cardio, physical training, some… what do the muggles call it? Mixed martial arts.” His shoulders bounced. “What about you?”
Nodding, Sturgis sympathized with how much Eli was working. While his “days off” were reallocated for Order Business, Elijah seemed busy with actual work. And work with bloody dragons, no less. That was sure to take a toll on anyone. “You’re being sure to take care of yourself, yes?” There was an edge to his question that he had no right to. He knew he didn’t. He and Elijah Bones had a passing friendship at best, a near acquaintanceship at worst. He didn’t get to make demands like ‘You better be getting enough sleep’ or ‘Have you eaten today?’
He didn’t move to make room for Elijah as he reached for a book. SP stayed exactly where he was, smirking brightly as the other wizard pulled his desired book off of the shelf and proceeded to call it boring. “It’s about dragons. I very much doubt that,” he said, tone lower than he meant it to be. Peering into the warm, earthen depths of Elijah’s brown eyes, he heard himself say, “So much so, that I’d love to hear all about it. Over drinks. What are you doing tonight?”
Question thrown back at him in classic Elijah Bones fashion, Sturgis shook his head unabashedly, confessing with just as much cheek, “The same one.” He reached for a twin copy to the one Elijah was holding, and held it up indicatively. “For our book club.”




















