me vs. your ego | grey

[Claire Evangeline Slater]

never enough.

march 2028.

THE ELEVATOR AT GREY'S CRUMMY HIGH RISE was 'out of service' according to the handwritten A4 sheet of paper sellotaped to the metal doors. Once again leaving Claire feeling utterly sickened by the lack of magic in muggle properties. She couldn't be caught flying more than half a dozen flights up, after all. She'd have to arrest herself if she did. It just made Claire's mood even sourer as she stared at it angrily for a good handful of seconds, before turning in a strop and starting up the stairs.

After eight flights of stairs, Claire was out of breath, flushed and sweating heavily in her cream coat. She didn't even stop to knock as she pulled her wand, unlocked the deadbolt and marched right into Grey's modest little flat. The 'Alohomora' barely out of her mouth before she pushed on the door with a flourish of sharp magic and a face like a slapped arse. "Grey?!" Claire yelled in the dark hallway. She pulled off her coat with quick, angry hands, holstering her wand in the sleeve of her jumper as she hung her coat by the door.

"Grey, I know you're home!" She declared haughtily, her boots clacking on the wooden floor as she made her way through the flat with marginally more comfort than was deserved. Claire didn't make a point of visiting Grey often, he worked too much and they didn't always have an awful lot to talk about. Not at least since he had ratted her out to the Prophet, resulting in her demotion from field operative to border patrol. That still smarted more than it should have. "I checked you're schedule, I know you're at home!" She revealed with a smugness that was perhaps too confident.

Peering into the living room, Claire felt as if she were playing a very unfortunate game of hide-and-seek. The living room was empty, as was the kitchen. Claire turned her nose up at the sparse dirty dishes in the sink, judging him silently as she made her way toward the bathroom and small bedroom off the cramped hallway. She did this was a bit more tact, having the decency to knock on the door rather than barge in. The last thing she wanted was to catch her brother in his pants, forcing her to pluck out both of her eyes. "Stop ignoring me, we have to talk!" She shouted through the door, her voice high and tight with tension. 

grey xavier slater

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[grey xavier slater]

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The damn elevator had been out for two weeks now. His calves had grown accustomed to the eight flights up and down multiple times per day. There was no denying he was in better shape now than he had been before. Was it annoying? Absolutely. Forgetting something at the store simply meant he wasn’t going to casually pop out for it and his wallet was thanking him for not ordering delivery as much. His only options for that were calling it in before he made the trek up for the night, loitering around the lobby of the muggle apartment building, or simply not buying it. Had it been a building owned by magical folks, he could have had a floo network installed or utilized apparition. For the foreseeable future though, he was going to be stuck doing the walk up. It wasn’t too bad unless he was completely drained from work or spent all day running up and down the stands of Quidditch pitches, which happened with some frequency these days.

His hand’s finding the door that led from the internal stairwell onto his floor, Grey pushed through and down the final drag towards his flat. He’d been there for so long and only in this two-week period had he ever taken the stairs. No sane person would regularly walk eight floors. Now he was sort of contemplating it even once the elevator was back in working order.

Pulling out his keys as he leaned heavily against his apartment door, he was confused when the deadbolt turned loosely, as if it was already unlocked. His first thought was that he may have forgotten to lock it that morning, but he’d been religious about checking the handle every time he left. He’d always been like that. The knob was also unlocked, and he felt a large lump form in his throat. There were very few personal belongings in the apartment that were worth anything monetarily; if it was, it was kept hidden and behind magical means. Having a muggle break in and finding old Potions textbooks would definitely draw a lot of questions by both magical and mundane authorities.

That didn’t stop him from drawing his wand as he carefully pushed his front door open and stepped inside, avoiding the creaky floorboard directly to his left. It had been noisy since the day he moved in. Wand anchored against the side of his leg and out of sight in case it was a muggle, Grey moved further into his apartment, peeking around each corner to make sure it was clear. Everything looked like it was in the right place. He nearly jumped out of his shoes when he heard a voice call out, but not at him directly.

”Did you break into my flat?” he demanded as his wand flicked aggressively, turning all of the lights on in the apartment instantly. Claire was standing in front of his bedroom door, apparently assuming he was inside. ”Because I’m sure your department head would love to hear how you’re harassing members of the press again.” Familial relationship aside, of course.

Claire Evangeline Slater ● 517

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[Claire Evangeline Slater]

never enough.

march 2028.

FROM ALL THE WAY AT THE BACK OF THE FLAT Claire did not immediately realise her brother had come home behind her until the squeak of his shoes on the hallway floor. She turned sharply, field instincts making her raise her wand in defence as the figure turned the corner and brandished his own at chest level. Claire sighed, relaxing her arm and immediately rolling her eyes as she marched up to her brother and passed him all at once.

"Thank goodness," She declared, minutely ignoring his disgusted accusation as Claire turned into the living room and found a seat on the edge of the lumpy armchair. "Honestly, don't be so bloody full of yourself." Claire tutted, sitting back slightly as she lifted her hands to gesture wildly with her hands and huff at the sheer audacity of the assumption. "You're hardly the press, standing there in your ratty jeans and a t-shirt."

Jerking her chin at him, Claire crossed her legs and waved her hand impatiently, as if assuming that Grey would sit. "If you're not going to offer me a cup of tea, at least sit down." She muttered, restless with agitation. "Where were you?" Claire asked curiously, her eyes running over him as if his appearance with glean some kind of answer as he was sure to withhold all that he could. "Bit early for a lay about." She teased, unable to help herself as she crossed her ankles delicately. 

grey xavier slater

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[grey xavier slater]

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Even with his brief Auror training, now years ago, there would never have been a point where he could have deflected a spell launched from his sister. The speed in which she whipped around to face him was reminiscent of the trainers he'd lazily watched, knowing full well that he was never going to follow through and enter law enforcement. Claire, at least, was quick witted enough to lower her wand when she realized it was him, though it was ironic that she was on such high alert when she was the one doing the breaking and entering right now. Nothing was worse than a scared cop. He'd seen how the MACUSA counterparts reacted to trouble. Somehow, they were worse.

Claire found her way into one of his chairs and began mocking him, as per usual. Her superiors wouldn't care about a sibling squabble unless one of them ended up dead. He didn't think either of them really had it in them to do that. It wasn't worth it. Grey refused both getting her tea and to sit down, instead putting himself a considerable distance away from her. Or what would have been, but his flat was small so it wasn't actually that far. And why did it matter where he was? Grey folded his arms in front of him, narrowing his eyes at his sister to try and figure out what her play was. She didn't just randomly pop over for a chat. That wasn't Claire.

"I'm not allowed to take a day off now, is that it?" His tone was accusatory, only because it was impossible for it not to be around her. Every one of their conversations devolved into a fight these days. Being on the defensive from the start was sort of his thing now. "So, what do you want?" Grey purposely avoided saying where he'd been, because it wasn't any of her business anymore. If they were on better terms, maybe.

Claire Evangeline Slater ● 326

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