long suffering propriety [hazel]

[FELIX CICERO TELLER]

Mid April 2029

The lump of questionable substance sat on Felix's desk, almost taunting him in its anonymity. It winked at him, the late afternoon sunlight glinting off the silvery surface. When the substance had first landed on Felix's desk two hours ago, he'd been confused as to why he was the one to sort it out. Surely there would be an alchemist or a specialist who was better versed than him? But as he ran through several tests to identify the metal (or at least he thought it was a metal), Felix discovered that it did not, in fact, match any known substance. He'd tested it for traces of platinum, silver and palladium, which seemed most likely based on first glance. But it had an even lower melting point than palladium, stumping him.

Felix eyed the mysterious metal for a long moment, before resigning himself to failure. While two hours wasn't a huge amount of time in the grand scheme of things, he'd tried everything he could and he didn't have the bandwidth to dedicate any more time to trying to understand what it was. An idea struck him as he picked up the metal - it didn't melt at his touch, which was no surprise considering the similar qualities to other noble metals that needed a much higher temperature to melt. Felix pulled out a quill and a bit of parchment, scribbled out a quick note, and sent it off with one of the departmental owls for long distance letters. It read:

Hazel,

I find myself in need of your expertise - I loathe to say it, but there's something here that I can't figure out. Please could you join me at the department of mysteries as soon as you can?

Felix

Felix knew that Hazel wouldn't be able to resist the lure of showing off in front of him - and Felix admittedly wanted to see her again. They'd not been able to make much time for one another in recent months, both busy with their respective jobs and whatever else life threw at them. However, since breaking things off with Hanna, Felix had found his mind wandering to Hazel more and more. But this would be a strictly business meeting. They just had to figure out what the metal was.

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Mid-April 2029

Okay, there was playing hard to get and then there was Felix…who was playing the game so hard it seemed he was unaware that there was a game at all. The chemistry had been totally bonkers between them and Hazel had actually maybe sorta been into it? He’d, like, totally swooped in from nowhere and driven Hazel up the wall during her class by contradicting her theories and shooting down every other point she’d made. But he’d done it in a way that made it obvious he knew what he was doing, teasing her to the brink without ever quite diving off the edge. It’d driven her wild and then things had just…tapered off.

She supposed it was her fault too, but she wasn’t used to a guy playing it so cool. Hazel had just never had to try that hard, so maybe she’d gotten a little lazy with the whole thing. She put her feet up on her desk and critically studied the note she’d gotten from Felix. “Worst booty call ever,” she complained to her cat, turning to pout at Sapphire as she stretched casually and ran her claws over the stone floor. Her spoiled cat didn’t seem to care about her whiny tone and tucked herself into the luxury cat bed Hazel had specially ordered (because Sapphire only sported designer brands, thank you very much). Hazel huffed and turned her attention back to the note. ‘I find myself in need’ – the note started off great, but the rest seemed boring. The only thing that potentially interested her was the chance to pull one over on Felix and get him back for all those witty remarks he’d shot off in their last exchange.

Hazel always thrived off attention, and she fed off it now – even if the wide-eyed looks were certainly at the sight of a Burke wandering down the halls of the Department of Mysteries again. The scandal was too delicious and Hazel smirked to herself as the Unspeakable led her down the corridor, clearly uncomfortable with the attention they were getting. “Thanks cutie,” she called out after him as he all but fled seconds after leaving her in front of a door. She watched with satisfaction as his ears and the back of his neck turned red, then she twirled around to consider the office in front of her.

It had once been Asher’s, and that was a strange thought to turn over in her head. Her brother had never quite recovered from his stint in prison, and there was something about the fractured look in his eyes that sometimes sent a shiver down her spine (and not even the fun kind). But Hazel put it out of her mind and pushed the door open. She didn’t knock, because like…why would she? The office still belonged to the Burkes, as far as she was concerned. She soaked in the sight of Felix hunched over his desk, absorbed in who-knows-what with that look of concentration in his stormy eyes. But she’d rather he focused all the intensity on her. “Sorry to keep you waiting, babe,” Hazel said languidly. Her movements were unhurried as she shut the door behind her and moved towards the desk. She glanced around the office and the whitewashed walls. “Didn’t do much with the place, hm?”

FELIX CICERO TELLER

[FELIX CICERO TELLER]

There was something oddly unsettling about reaching out to Hazel Burke for help with a problem. Not that she wasn't completely capable of solving aforementioned mystery, but the last time a Burke had walked the halls of the department of mysteries, it had been when Asher had been escorted out to serve time in Azkaban. While Felix had liked Asher while they had worked together, he was in no doubt that Asher deserved the time he had gotten. He vowed not to bring it up in front of Hazel - no matter how fraught her relationship with her brother might have been, it was never nice to hear a bad word against family. Unless the bad words were brought about by Hazel herself.

In addition to the strange situation in itself, Felix forbade himself from feeling awkward about spending time alone with Hazel. After all, he was reaching out an a purely professional capacity - the fact that they had spent a night together in the past didn't matter. Felix was determined to behave himself and not fall into another honey trap set by a girl who was much too good looking for polite society. Felix sighed, picking up the compound before him and examining it once more to see if he had any miraculous brainwaves. He was quickly lost to his observations, and didn't hear Hazel enter.

Straightening abruptly, Felix narrowed his eyes slightly at Hazel. She looked magnificent framed in the doorway, backlit from the corridor outside like she was some ethereal nymph come to answer his prayers. She greeted him in her usual, casual way and Felix dipped his head. "Thanks for coming anyways," he said after a moment, his eyes drifting over her face. His lips twitched at Hazel's stinging, but accurate observation. "Haven't had the time, I'm afraid. Keeping an entire department afloat is rather hard work," said Felix. "Besides, I feel like my taste is much too dark. Uninviting. Imagine coming into an office and it's overbearingly full of books and the smell of parchment. Haven't even got myself a window," he said, shaking his head. "I'm sure you were vocal in decorating the place's previous iterations, were you not?" asked Felix, quirking a brow.

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Stepping into the office felt like going back in time, and it hit Hazel like a tidal wave all at once. Things didn’t look quite the same – all of the personal touches that had made it Asher’s office were gone, and the place had been stripped bare. It still looked empty, like it was waiting for somebody to step into it. But as she stood in the doorway, Hazel could almost see her brother’s silhouette at the desk, pointedly ignoring her while she droned on about what Xiulan had seen in the tarot cards that day or a constant monologue of complaints about her older brother’s boring suits. It felt like a long time ago. It was a long time ago, because that had been a different Hazel with a different family. Before everything had fallen to pieces. She felt off-balance for a moment, but Felix’s eyes were still on something in his hands so she quickly composed herself and let herself fall into that familiar persona. The gold-touched girl without a care in the world.

She made a show of looking around while she did a slow circle around the office, as if she was totally absorbed by the bare walls and cluttered desk. But it was really an opportunity for Felix to get a good look at her, like ‘see what you’ve been missing’. Her casual stroll around the office took her closer to the desk, and she crossed to the other side so she could continue her walk around the perimeter. “Oh, is that what’s been resting on these shoulders?” she teased at his dry comment about keeping the department afloat. She ran a finger across his back playfully while she spoke, but let her hand drop while she passed him and moved back to the other side of the desk. Hazel didn’t bother to look over her shoulder. She knew he was watching.

Even if Felix had given the place a minimalist look, she could picture everything he was describing. It suited his style completely to surround himself with books while forgetting the outside world completely, and Hazel turned to face him again as she finished her inspection. “You make that sound like a bad thing,” Hazel challenged, raising an eyebrow at him. “But of course I did. This place looks like a clinic. You could go mad here.” She paused. Let herself really look at the office again. Her lips curved downward as she remembered what things had been like back then. “He should’ve listened to me,” Hazel said softly, but her eyes were distant as she looked around the office – since she wasn’t really talking about interior design anymore. A moment later she came back to herself. Hazel’s eyes dropped to the strange metal in Felix’s hands and she felt the exact moment the curiosity in her sparked. “What’s that, then? A gift for lil ole me?”

FELIX CICERO TELLER

[FELIX CICERO TELLER]

Try as he might, Felix couldn't keep his eyes off Hazel as soon as she drew his attention. He'd pretty much forgotten about the substance in his hands as she slowly revolved around the room, taking in every minute detail. Felix recalled that she probably had spent quite a lot of time in this room during her brother's tenure as head of department. He had a wild, momentary thought that he should have asked her back here months ago - but what excuse could he have given? They'd both somehow become too busy to keep up with one anothers lives. And Felix for one was not someone who admitted weakness easily. Hazel, I've missed riling you up and watching your cheeks flush in frustration, please come round my office so I can do the same and possibly more. It just didn't make sense.

"That and the weight of the world," said Felix dryly, though his mind had immediately gone elsewhere. To a pair of long, toned legs... Felix shifted his gaze so he was looking at the metal again and reminded himself that this was strictly a business meeting. He took two steadying breaths, affixing to his face a mask of calm before looking up at Hazel again. "I don't wish to be intimidating. Though I suppose clinical cleanliness could also be as much," Felix mused. "I'm open to suggestions," he added as an after thought, though perhaps he was opening a dam that he wasn't prepared for. "No more than ten percent of the room can be gold though," he amended.

Felix didn't know what to say to Hazel's murmured admission - he suspected that Asher had gone against Hazel's advice in revealing himself to be a purifier. She had that distant look in her gaze, the one that said she wasn't really with him here and now, but a million miles away in a different lifetime. One where her brother hadn't gone to Azkaban, where her sister hadn't been outed as the whistleblower, and where the only worry Hazel had was whether she should wear Louboutins or Jimmy Choos (a fact that he had learned first from Maddie, then had been reinforced by Hanna). So instead of commenting, Felix remained a silent observer. When Hazel came back to herself, the atmosphere in the room had shifted. It was no longer so charged, but much more comfortable. Perfect for conducting business.

Felix offered Hazel a crooked smile, and slid the lump of metal over towards Hazel. "Sort of. It's safe to touch," said Felix quickly. "This came across my desk not so long ago. We've run it through heaps of tests, but... well, it's in the department of mysteries for a reason," said Felix, glancing between the substance and Hazel. "It's got properties similar to platinum and palladium, but with a higher melting point. And there's no known substance that quite matches it, and we even considered it was a partially transmuted metal. But, we've got no way to test that," Felix explained. "And there's only one alchemist I know with such extensive knowledge of shiny objects, so I thought I would phone a friend."

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Once Hazel had completed her perusal of the room, she completely lost interest. But then again, she’d always been that way. She could latch onto something with an almost-obsessive intensity, at least for as long as it proved to be interesting in dynamic. But when she was done? Yeah, then she was really done. The thing didn’t exist anymore. It could exit stage left and leave room for something new and better to make its way into her life. She was always chasing the high, making the ultimate decisions on what was going to happen and when. It was a strange feeling not to know what was going to happen next, though. In that sense, Felix was a great big question mark (and his horrid posture really strengthened the visual metaphor). He existed outside all the normal rules, and his self-control was ridiculously more developed than Hazel would’ve liked. She’d have to work on that.

“Oh, I think you’ll come around,” Hazel said nonchalantly as she carelessly waved off Felix’s protests about not having too much gold in the room. She did like a project, and she’d eventually won with Asher, hadn’t she? Sure, it meant taking advantage of his staycation in prison to throw out his old wardrobe, but he’d grudgingly accepted her fabulous advice and the fact that he now owned no other clothes except what she’d bought for him. Sometimes people just needed a bit of persuasion. Hazel stood across the desk from Felix and wondered idly what he would need to be persuaded. He was stubborn, with an apparent single-minded focus on his work. It was a challenge, but she’d already learned what seemed to rile him up. Philosophical musings put him in a certain mood, and the forceful arguments clinched it. Felix had zeroed in again on the strange metal in his hands, and Hazel tuned out some of his long-winded explanation so she could take a proper look at it. Because it did look like her kind of thing, didn’t it?

But she wasn’t ready to dive into the complex intricacies of alchemy and metal-charming yet. Hazel had wandered around in those circles for years and she had tackled some mind-boggling problems in her time, which made her fairly confident that she’d eventually unravel this mystery too. It certainly beat judging her students’ half-baked platinum (quite literally, in some cases). But she wasn’t done playing with Felix yet, and his use of the word ‘friend’ at the end absolutely riled her. Hazel smiled crookedly and perched herself on the edge of his desk, adjusting her skirt and absolutely refusing to give him the satisfaction of laying her eyes on the twisted metal or considering the problem at all. “So, you’re saying you need my help,” she summarized succinctly, eyes glinting with the possibilities. “I don’t believe you’ve said that yet, or perhaps I just missed it.” She locked eyes with Felix, pronounced each word carefully so she could watch the annoyed frustration spark in his eyes as she spoke. “You don’t know what it is, and you need me. Say it.”

FELIX CICERO TELLER

[FELIX CICERO TELLER]

As Hazel gazed around the room, Felix took the opportunity to study her. Her golden brown hair curled gently down her back, flicking around her narrow shoulders as she twisted her head to peruse his choice (or lack-thereof) of decor. Her full lips were pursed in distaste, her eyes sharp as they assessed his space. When she was quite finished, Felix was not ashamed that she caught him observing her so closely. Even after years of knowing one another, Hazel was an enigma for him. She gave him whiplash with her decision making, always somehow prepared to unsettle him. With her, it was always a game of cat and mouse, which left Felix wondering if he was the cat or the mouse. He had a sneaking suspicion that he was the latter.

Felix idly commented that he didn’t want too much gold in the room, silently thinking that it would look gaudy. If he knew Hazel at all, which he liked to think that he did, she would be put off by the comment. However, she took it on the chin and simply dismissed him. Felix arched a brow silently, abstaining from comment. For now. Instead, he expounded on the reason why he had asked her here. The lump of metal sat between them, suddenly charging the energy in the room and reminding Felix that this was in fact, an unknown and potentially dangerous substance. Maybe it wasn’t even a metal. It certainly was shiny enough to be… but was he just jumping to conclusions? Had Felix been looking for an excuse to call Hazel?

As Felix ruminated, Hazel examined the aforementioned metal(?). She spent a few long moments inspecting it, before glancing back up at him with a wicked grin. That should have been Felix’s first indication that he was the mouse. But he was far too distracted by the two inches of bare leg that revealed itself when Hazel perched on the edge of his desk. His eyes were drawn to her skin like a moth to a flame, and as she spoke, Felix managed to drag his gaze up to meet hers. There was the expected fire in her blue eyes, igniting something deep in him. Hazel captured him in her gaze, and Felix was understandably putty in her very capable hands.

But when Felix finally realised that Hazel was giving him precisely nothing he had asked for, his lips flattened into a thin line. ”Hazel,” he warned. He should have known better. Frustration sparked in him, and Felix was certain that Hazel could see it by the slight upturn of her lips. ”I believe I said as much in my letter,” said Felix shortly, hating the way his voice strained with the pressure of keeping cool. ”However, if you wish to play games, I can always summon another expert on the subject. But I don’t think they would do quite the same job as you…” he added after a moment, never taking his eyes off her.

Felix rose from his desk, the lump laying forgotten as he leaned forward towards her, palms flat on the mahogany surface. He searched her face for weakness, and found none. The stubborn set of her mouth was almost identical to the one he often saw in the mirror. He leaned closer to Hazel so that their noses were barely two inches apart. ”Hazel,” Felix murmured, delighting in the taste of her name on his lips. He paused, letting that ever-present tension rise between them. Merlin, he ached to close the distance between them, to swipe his projects off the desk and make sure Hazel knew just exactly what he needed. ”I need your help.”

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Alchemy wasn’t the type of subject that could simply be learned through books – a fact that seemed to frustrate a good portion of her students, especially the silly kiddos that asked what the homework was at the end of class. If you couldn’t innately understand the true nature of alchemy, if you didn’t feel the elements in your hands ringing the same notes as the ones inside you…then you couldn’t be an alchemist. There was one principle that wove itself throughout the subject, that was at the core of what it meant to be one with the mysterious forces all around you – everything changed, but none of it was random. Every little atom wanted to be something, positively fought tooth and nail to become what it was always destined to be.

Learning to bend the elements to your will wasn’t an issue of dominance – the control came from letting them do as they wanted within their limits, and yours. And learning how to flow with the current until it took you where you wanted to go. That flexibility dominated Hazel’s life, because without it…she might’ve fallen apart ages ago. People thought that stone could weather any storm, but it could also become brittle and break if you forced it to act against the same forces of nature that had shaped it. People were the same way. Hazel studied Felix as he withdrew into himself, too busy contemplating the strange transmuted metal to see what was happening right in front of him. But she studied this mix of elements that formed the man in front of her, and the right way to encourage it all to come together in a way that worked for her.

The mischievous smile stayed on her face as Felix finally looked up at her with a deadpan look that said he knew exactly what she was doing. The warning tone in his voice, the strain in his eyes as if he was barely keeping all his emotions in check – it excited her and she didn’t even bother to hide it. “Felix,” she responded in a sing-song voice as she casually brushed the hair out of her eyes and tilted her head at him. “I love to play games,” Hazel teased, “But I don’t think you’re ready for a ménage à trois.” It was a total misinterpretation of what he’d meant to say, but Hazel chose to misunderstand what he’d said about bringing in another expert and hear what she wanted to hear. It was more fun to see if she could make him blush, and she liked fun.

She felt her cool begin to melt away a bit as he came closer, and her breath caught in anticipation as Felix leaned forward over the desk. Hazel could feel her pulse racing because this was exactly what she wanted, but he was still too far away for her liking. And there was always that one critical moment that the whole transformation depended on – where it all came together or just broke apart. She could see every detail in his gray eyes as he stopped barely a breath away from her, and one hand came down to support her balancing act on his desk at the heady dizziness that came from the lack of distance between them. Then he said those words and she felt something in her snap. “Oh, f*ck the transmutation,” she breathed, pushing any thoughts of the twisted metal out of her mind as she brought her other hand to grab the front of his robes and close that last inch of distance. She liked alchemy, but she loved intrigue and Felix was a riddle that begged to be undone. Hazel kept a tight grip on his robes as she deepened the kiss, unwilling to break the moment for as long as it would last.

FELIX CICERO TELLER

[FELIX CICERO TELLER]

Felix ought to have expected their cat and mouse game to continue. He’d been naive to think otherwise. Admittedly however, he wasn’t adverse to playing. Hazel intrigued him endlessly, making him question a lot of things. Such as all the seemingly random events of the past few years. His romantic life had been undeniably perilous, and yet Felix couldn’t keep himself away. Hazel was weaving her web, and he was like a moth to a flame, ready for slaughter. It was so different from his non-relationship with Hanna. They’d fallen in easily with one another, though their differences had grown starker the more time they spent together. With Hazel, Felix never knew where he stood. She kept him on the back foot, always needing to react, often before he was able to think thoroughly through his next steps.

Felix knew exactly what Hazel was doing, looking down at him with those siren eyes of hers. He couldn’t resist a mystery, and her gaze promised no answers. He met her eyes for a moment, before glancing pointedly back down at the substance between them. He tried to even the beat of his heart, certain that Hazel could hear it from where she was sat. Felix arched a brow at her blatant disregard for his comment, drawing a smirk from him. ”Is that what you think?” said Felix. He licked his lips, unable to deny the raw desire for the woman who lounged so tantalisingly before him.

There was a sort of wildness in Felix’s normally controlled gaze as he rose from his seat, placing his palms flat on his desk and leaning towards Hazel. If she wanted to play a dangerous game, he would indulge her. Their faces were barely a few centimetres apart when he breathed his request. His plea.

It was with triumph in his heart that Felix responded to Hazel’s hungry kiss. His hand tangled in her golden hair, drawing her closer. He wanted to taste every bit of her, to spend hours memorising each movement that made her gasp. He wanted to devour her, to take everything she offered. Kissing Hazel was like a desperate and parched man finding water - and Felix couldn’t drink enough. His free hand slid up the side of her leg, drawing her robes up as well until he could feel the smooth skin of her thigh.

Though Felix wasn’t worried about any interruptions (it was his private office after all), he knew better than to allow this to go further. He broke away from Hazel, his breathing heavy and his lips swollen. ”Hazel…” he murmured, taking a moment to brush a stray lock of hair from her forehead. He sighed deeply, wanting nothing more than to kiss her again. ”I don’t think you’re going to solve my problem this way,” he finally said, leaning back slightly and offering her a smug look.


Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

There was a moment where Hazel thought Felix might back away after all, and she felt a twinge of disappointment as his gaze dropped back down to the transmuted metal. It was different, so different from the usual games she played. She’d never had a problem holding someone’s attention before, whether it was an entire room of students waiting to see what enchantment the next orb would release or whether it was some stranger she’d met in a pub. The apparent aloofness that Felix felt, or whatever could keep him away for months at a time…well, it sparked a new feeling in her chest. This strange notion that maybe she wanted to try a little harder, to look outwards long enough to see what was going on.

A moment later, her heart started to pound as he looked up at her again with a whole new range of emotions in his eyes. Hazel kissed him forcefully, stealing her prize for as long as she might be able to get away with it. Years of Divination sessions with Xiulan, as well as a healthy dose of respect for the branch of magic that offered a quick little peek into the inner workings of the universe, had taught Hazel to appreciate what she had in her hands before it disappeared. She hadn’t done that enough with her family while she’d had it, but the fear and longing to have something solid caused her to tighten her grip on Felix as she wound her legs around his hips and locked him in place. Even after the kiss was broken, they both stayed in place while Hazel panted and fought to find her breath again after the air had been stolen from her.

She let him go as he pulled away, and instead let her hands fall back onto his desk to support herself. Hazel still felt terribly off-balance, and it took her a second to find the usual crooked smile she always sported. “I don’t think you even know what your problem is,” Hazel teased, shaking her head at him and making the same ‘tsk’ she did whenever a student answered one of her questions incorrectly (like no, Hermes Trismegistus was not a brand of purse – as much as she wished that were true – and definitely no, vertical black-and-white stripes were a travesty and nobody thought they were cool except her older brother – who maybe liked the prison clothes trend more than he was willing to admit). Still, if Felix insisted on being his own worst enemy, then she could entertain these new rules…until the next time she got bored. Maybe in another few minutes.

It didn’t mean she had to play along nicely, of course. Hazel slipped off the desk – very gracefully, mind you – and snatched up the oddly transmuted metal again to look it over. She breezily sat herself down on Felix’s chair, which he’d conveniently vacated, and cheekily smiled at him as she gestured across the desk. “Take a seat, babe, and we’ll get your problem sorted out.” Hazel winked at him and then brought her attention back to the lump of metal, slipping her wand out from her sleeve so she could tap it a few times at random intervals. She thought she knew which two elements had combined, but she’d never seen them interact together like this – it was practically a new substance, which meant it’d have new limits too. But she already knew she wanted it, and she’d just have to ask Felix nicely for it. She was rather good at that.

FELIX CICERO TELLER

[FELIX CICERO TELLER]

Hazel was intoxicating, like an addiction he couldn't shake. Her family was everything Felix had sought to prove he wasn't, even if her brother had once been his superior and mentor. Felix had grown up with a silver spoon firmly in his mouth, though he'd worked hard to get to the place that he was today. Hazel, at first glance, seemed to be the sort of woman who graciously accepted every opportunity afforded to her, whether it be because of her unparalleled beauty or pureblood name. At some point however, Felix had learned that there was a whole sea worth of salt more to her.

That didn't stop Hazel from playing the games as she had done her entire life. She was a cat, and like any good trophy hunter, she liked to play before claiming her prize. Felix was only too happy to indulge, though he wasn't so easy prey. Her kisses left him breathless, unbalanced. Like his centre of gravity had shifted lower, lower. And there was nothing Felix loved more than a predicament to mull over. There was no predicament quite like Hazel.

Begrudgingly, the pair split apart, both breathing heavily as their eyes locked in silent challenge. Felix broke the silence, commenting how this wasn't the way to solve his problem. Hazel's reply, while quick, was not unexpected. Felix pressed his lips together to hide his growing grin. "Oh yeah?" he challenged, tilting his head slightly as he did so. "Enlighten me. You know I do so love learning," he murmured, leaning forward to ghost his lips over the crook of her neck. But then, she was gone, slipping gracefully off his desk and putting some very needed distance between them. Felix took a breath to steady himself, settling back into his chair ad folding his hands patiently before him. He rolled his eyes at her obvious insinuation, though that problem was most definitely not going to sort itself out. Especially not when she looked at him like that. "Thank you, Hazel. I am... forever... indebted to you."

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

The office didn’t seem quite so blank and claustrophobic as it had a few minutes ago. Or maybe Hazel had just added a little spring to her step for no obvious reason at all, smirking at Felix as she allowed the distance to grow between them while she slid into an empty chair. She wasn’t a Seer, but it didn’t take a crystal ball to know that she’d be closing the distance again soon enough. It was all part of the game, and Hazel was very good at games. Especially one where she could make up the rules as she liked and watch others dance along to her tune. It was as natural as the tides pulling the beaches closer to them, like the sun pulling everything into its orbit. It just happened, and you could spend your entire life trying to find answers about why the world worked the way it did. But why fight it?

“Hmm, don’t think you’ve got the time for my list,” Hazel said, playing with the lump of metal in her hands as her eyes raked across the infuriating man sitting across from her. Her tone was a little mocking as she continued, “Got places to be and people to see, don’t you?” She’d seen how her brother had held himself as a department head, especially of this mysterious corridor full of secrets. Nobody could restrain him, and it lent a certain air of impudent authority to the person in charge of it all. But despite how many ladders Felix must’ve climbed and the battles he’d fought, he held himself differently. Quiet, distracted, hungry for knowledge that he’d do anything to acquire. He was a different kind of person from the kinds Hazel saw in her everyday life. And, well…she was also quite persistent when it came to wanting what she didn’t have.

The air still felt charged even with the distance between them, and Hazel leaned forward eagerly at his next words. Her breath caught because it felt like he might be whispering them into her ear, with the way goosebumps jumped up her arms and her breath caught. “Don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into, babe.” She smiled slowly, letting her imagination run away for a moment before reeling it back in. Hazel let herself enjoy every word as she spoke it. “I’ve got a problem too, y’know…so let’s make a deal. For every time I can help you with this, you’ve got to do something for me…” She let the statement dangle, but she wasn’t much in the mood for negotiations. Hazel didn’t negotiate, she just decided. It was probably the hardest thing she’d had to do all day (yesterday didn’t count, because she’d had to fix a broken nail and that’d been a tough little problem) but Hazel broke eye contact and let her eyes drop back to the transmuted metal in her hands.

She swallowed and forced herself to let the alchemist in her take over. It was like putting on a mask, a neat and seamless transition from one guise to another. Every pureblood worth their salt knew how to do it. Start with facts first. “You’ve got palladium and iridium here. But one of your amateurs doesn’t seem to have realized how tough it is to transmute iridium. This process has been totally botched.” Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she shook her head at whatever child they’d seemingly hired to experiment with these metals. Like sure, sometimes you could find beauty in unexpected places. But who’d look at something broken for that? She looked up again and raised an eyebrow at Felix. “So? Am I done?”

FELIX CICERO TELLER