Yin and Yang (Claire)

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

June 2025

Cas was diligently cataloguing the store’s newest sales, writing all the relics in his ledger alongside their descriptions and price. It was one way of keeping track of everything that passed through his shop, and the ledger made it easy to identify and flag potentially dangerous artifacts that Ouroboros needed to track. He was midway through a description of a cursed mirror when he was stopped short by one of his shopkeepers, who looked incredibly nervous.

He quickly tapped his wand on the page and all the ink disappeared – the book was for his eyes only. Although annoyed at being interrupted, he kept his tone smooth. “What seems to be the issue, Theodore?” The boy stammered out an explanation of a customer who was demanding to see the store owner…another relatively normal occurrence, usually for their important clients or difficult customers. Based on the expression of his young employee, this seemed to be the latter.

Slowly standing, Cas took his time to properly enchant the ledger and return it to its secure location. He sent Theodore off to the storeroom to polish silverware before entering the main room. He had barely rounded the corner before he began speaking. “Many apologies for the delay, how may I be of serv--” he cut himself off suddenly as he made eye contact with said difficult customer. In a rather unprecedented display of his true thoughts on a subject, he grit his teeth before letting out a single word. “Claire.”

Claire Evangeline Slater

[Claire Evangeline Slater]

never enough.

WORK WAS SUDDENLY THE LAST PLACE CLAIRE wanted to be. This had never happened in all of the time Claire had trained and been licensed as an auror. Apparently, Finn Nottingham was a very multi-talented witch. If only she had channelled that in to her work in the first place, then maybe Claire wouldn't despise working with her so much. She had been demoted, humiliated and ousted from the job she had so revered. Border control... Claire could gag at the thought. So, when she was avoiding work, she was finding other ways to keep herself busy - Claire had never been an idle girl. Luckily, Heliopath were busier than ever.

Taking any opportunity she was given, it was no surprise that Claire eventually found her way to the shady little shoppe on Knockturn Alley. Ouroboros had some particular members, but none quite as unusual as Casimir Karkaroff. The son of a former Death Eater, Claire had never trusted him. But, even in the order she was forced to play nice. And if Claire was good at anything, it was being polite.

The bell rung overhead, and Claire was met by a skinny looking boy who looked half waif. Not at all the dark-haired brute she was so familiar with. She demanded that Casimir see her, quite proudly and frightening the poor boy around the back. He had owlish eyes and scampered. Claire might have felt bad but she was very tense, her nerves balancing on a razors edge. She had very little patience at that moment. She'd been sent for an update and to collect any possible leads filed at the shoppe for Heliopath and Ouroboros liaisons. Casimir's appearance was merely circumstantial.

"Good of you to turn up." Claire sniffed as he rounded the corner, the picture of ease among his contraband and dark artefacts. "Don't worry, I'm not here to buy or sell." She ran an absent finger along a dusty orb with a skull gaping inside. "You have such interesting taste, Karkaroff." Her tone was sickly sweet and terse, but her mouth was tight, eyes narrowed gently. 

Casimir Elias Karkaroff

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

Cas’s jaw tightened as the reason for his assistant’s skittish behavior became crystal clear. He had never been able to stand prolonged interactions with the Auror, but things had been different when they’d worked towards a common goal. He could suppress his distaste when it had been about teamwork, and utilizing distinctly opposing talents and careers to do good work. But the tensions within the team, and the eventual split into Heliopath and Ouroboros, perhaps demonstrated that there’d never been much commonality between them at all.

So he’d happily disregarded any news about Claire Slater until the moment when she stood imperiously in his shop, stiff as a board and looking more distinctly unhappy than he’d ever seen her before. That was probably the thing Cas disliked most about her – that she had had everything, as well as so much potential, but that she’d spent the last year of her life spiraling down into new and lower depths. That fact only compounded on how lowly he already thought of Heliopath’s recklessness and their doubtlessly growing list of problems to create a perfect combination of disdain and calculated aloofness.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead adopted a dry half-smile. “As usual, Claire, your tendency to judge objects by their outward appearance means you miss things of value.” He didn’t need to tell her that the relic she was currently appraising was heavily cursed and that that made it very valuable – she was an Auror, and if she couldn’t recognize a Dark object then she had no business working in her current profession.

Cas had been avoiding any unnecessary movements – he’d received some unfortunate injuries at the Quidditch final that hadn’t completely healed yet. The bruising had faded, and his chest was on the mend, but he still moved stiffly. It was unlikely he’d be able to hide it from Claire, but he certainly wouldn’t bring it up first. He leaned casually on the counter to study her seriously – so she wasn’t here to buy or sell, which meant she’d come to do business. “And why would you think I have anything for you?”

Claire Evangeline Slater

[Claire Evangeline Slater]

never enough.

THE FLAT REPLY CLAIRE WAS GIVEN WAS FAIRLY typical and she took no offence. Instead, her brows lifted delicately before she rubbed her dusty thumbs on a corner of velvet that was draped over a broken table. "How philosophical of you." Claire tittered, her expression almost taunting as she took a turn about the room, before coming to the front desk where he stood, still as a statue.

"You look stiff, Cas." Claire said suspiciously, speaking to him almost as if they were friends. But, it was true, his shoulders were drawn tight, posture straight up and down. It almost looked as if he weren't breathing. Claire's eyes narrowed. "Are you afraid I might bite?" She scoffed, a hand coming to rest on the table top, stopping that childish part of her that wanted to jerk forward to see if he would jump. She was a professional after all.

"Don't play stupid." Claire snapped, her curiosity waning as her undeserved expectations soared. "You know what this place is." As rough and dark as it could be, Cas's position in Ouroboros made it a neutral zone. Untouched by Ministry or terrorist organisations. It was simply a shoppe, or so it was supposed to be. That meant that Claire could gather supporting information and give the same. Heliopath and Ouroboros were not friends, but they weren't enemies either. They had a common goal. Simply uncommon methods. Claire found Ouroboros lazy - and so Cas, as well.

"Give me what you have and I'll get out of your hair-" She demanded impatiently, reaching out a hand before snapping, "Oh, what on earth is wrong with you!" She exclaimed, her brows pulled together. "You're moving like a petrified pixie!" Her palm slapped hard against the wooden display case between them, her brows pulling in reluctant concern as she watched him more carefully now. "Are you hurt..?" This, of course, could mean a breach of security and she found herself leaning back carefully, on guard. 

Casimir Elias Karkaroff

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

It was just like Claire to assume his stillness had anything to do with her, and Cas would have rolled his eyes if he weren’t more practiced at self-restraint. As it was, he didn’t see the dignity of feeding her ego with a response, so he kept an unimpressed expression on his face and his mouth shut. It was a rare talent, knowing the right time to shut up, and Claire unfortunately didn’t have it.

As well-trained as he was to avoid giving away his true thoughts on a subject, Cas grit his teeth as Claire pushed forward with demanding he know ‘what this place was’ and for him to ‘give what he had.’ This was the problem with owning a storefront on Knockturn Alley – there wasn’t a single trustworthy wizard around who was willing to conduct business in such a sketchy area, and it was foolish to assume your secrets were safe. He could never be sure who was listening, or how information might leak, and so he made a point of not conducting Ouroboros business anywhere near Borgin and Burke’s.

He was torn between telling her off and strongly encouraging her to leave when she (unfortunately finally) caught on that he was hurt. Cas wasn’t in the mood to explain what had happened to him, and potentially open a new avenue for ridicule, so he held a hand up to stop the tirade of exclamations she’d tossed at him. “Stop.” It was only a single word, spoken between gritted teeth as he narrowed his eyes and pointed his wand at the door separating the front room from the back. Cas coolly regarded his assistant as the door banged open. “Take your lunch break,” he suggested roughly as he stepped aside.

Cas didn’t watch his shopkeeper leave the shop, instead closing his eyes as a sharp pain erupted in his chest at the movement. He took several moments to inhale deeply and wait for the pain recede before opening his eyes to stare at Claire. “It’s not stupidity, it’s tact,” he snapped, keeping his wand out so he could flip the sign to ‘closed.’ He shook his head at her. “As inconceivable as it might be for you, I know better than spoiled children how to conduct business here. And your behavior continues to show why I do not share information with your lot. You’ve become a liability.” As long as he’d been waiting (dreaming) to rebuke her, Cas still didn’t dare say Heliopath out-loud. He couldn’t deny that there were things Heliopath was better-equipped to deal with than Ouroboros -- but Knockturn Alley continued to be his forte.

Claire Evangeline Slater

[Claire Evangeline Slater]

never enough.

THOUGH EVERY PART OF CLAIRE REBELLED AT Cas's stern interruption, she still 'stopped'. Her careful stroll stilling, hand frozen in mid air. The only movement made was the sharp intake of breath, her nostrils flaring as she smelled a fight in the air. The electric tension raising the hairs at the back of her neck. Her eyes following the skittering exit of the assistant. The bell above the door rattling hollowly. She shook hair from her face, preparing her own retort when he crossed the room stiffly and flipped the welcome sign to 'closed'. She did not feel threatened, but her eyes still narrowed.

"Don't call me a spoiled child." Claire said in a deceptively calm tone. "You don't know me." Claire had not sacrificed her very freedom and childhood for perfection and ambition, to then be labelled by Cas. She would not take that kind of criticism from a man who sold shady wares to shady persons. She took a side step towards him, her mouth very thin and very terse. "I think you should mind who you call a liability, Karkaroff." She said his last name like a curse. Her arms hanging at her sides, fingers curled in to two tight fists. "I'm not the one running a shoppe that specialises in the trade of dark artefacts." She turned her delicate chin to face him, one brow lifting in challenge.

And with one final step forward, Claire was within touching distance of Cas and his ramrod spine. "But, Cas, I think you're trying to distract me." She felt her lips lift as she reached in to the short space between them and carefully pressed in to the meat of his side, where he seemed to be most lame. It was a brief touch, but enough to alert of any injury he was hiding. "Are you hiding something from us?" She was almost gleeful as she hopped out of his reach, unwilling to believe that Cas was too prideful to lash out in turn.  

Casimir Elias Karkaroff

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

Once he stepped to the other side of the counter, the dynamic of the room shifted. It was an almost palpable change as he crossed the room to flip the sign, then lingered to look out the window before turning back towards Claire. On the other side of the counter, he was the owner of Borgin and Burke’s. A clear position of power. On this side, he was on more equal footing with Claire Slater. In his normal condition, it wouldn’t have been a problem. But, as it was, his injury meant he wasn’t at his peak condition, and was in fact far from being in control.

The content of her response wasn’t surprising, but the calm tone that she used was. It made Cas consider her for a moment, although her message – ‘you don’t know me’ – was juvenile enough to disregard any momentary maturity. His dismissal was evident in his tone. “Call yourself whatever you like. All I see is a girl who lost her way and can’t cope with it.” He matched her cool tone with one of his own, although the calmness it was delivered with seemed at odds with the steel behind the words. Once he’d crossed the counter, she’d begun to step closer to him. He resisted the urge to step away.

“No, you aren’t,” Cas agreed firmly. She’d flung his name at him as if it were a weapon, and it wasn’t an unfounded observation. He was good at hiding his weak spots, but anybody from the Order – whether they were with Heliopath or Ouroboros now – could guess at that particular vulnerability. “And that makes all the difference, in the end. What utility can someone provide if they’re exactly who everybody expects them to be? Who would ever think to search Borgin and Burke’s for the rot?” He was adept at using pureblood language, if nothing else, and it served him well in maintaining his disguise. “So don’t forget it. You won’t find anybody willing to help you with more connections or more experience than me. Think about that next time you find yourself in Knockturn Alley. Or facing an artifact you don’t know how to identify or use.”

He could feel his self-restraint slipping. If there was anything he despised, it was being overlooked. Or finding himself in a position of weakness. It reminded him too much of his family life and everything he’d run away from in Prague. So when Claire, close enough to touch, pressed her hand on his side and ignited another round of fiery pain, Cas couldn’t help himself anymore. As she danced out of reach he caught her wrist and felt the anger burst out of him: “Enough!” His earlier command ‘stop’ had been less oriented towards her behavior and more towards the possibility of someone listening, and so it had been stern but tightly controlled. Now he felt all the anger and frustration he’d been repressing (towards her, towards his injury) erupt in that one word. He let go of her to press his hand to his side with a gasp, and he felt his patience slip away as the fire entered his words. “No more games, Claire. What gives you any right to my secrets anymore?”

Claire Evangeline Slater

[Claire Evangeline Slater]

never enough.

CAS'S OPINION OF CLAIRE SHOULD NOT HAVE effected her as it did, simply put. She was supposed to be a pillar of composure and professionalism. Lately her growing discontent with her professional and person life was making her quick to temper and irritation. She hadn't lost her way, as he had said, but it reminded her that she'd never had a 'way' to lose before. Most of her opinions and battles were carefully hung around her neck by others. By her parent's, her superiors, the people she idolised.

"Then I suggest you turn your face." Claire said around ground back teeth. "I'm not here to be psychoanalysed by you, Cas." She warned him carefully, her swallow hard like a rock at the back of her throat, choking her. She was a natural people pleaser, despite her dislike of Cas, it bothered her that he simply did not like her. She fought her desire to impress him, focusing instead on her agitation. It made her very tense.

"I see you've got it all figured out." Claire drawled sarcastically, running a finger over a dust ridden shelf of artefacts and rubbing her fingers together in disgust. She had ceased looking at Cas, his expression made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "You've got an in with the enemy, you know the enemy... you know me." She forced herself to look at him, her eyes blue blazing angrily. The only outward indicator that she was fuming internally.

It was perhaps this bold surety that made her lash out at him. Looking for fault. He was hurt, from what? If she could not find his professional weakness, she would find his physical one. His reaction surprised her, his hand burning a ring around her wrist, her own reaching for her wand and brandishing it at her side before he even let her go. His commanding voice stilling every other muscle in her body, preparing to fight, as she never fled from a confrontation.

There was a side of him he did not wish to be seen, for it fled as quickly as it came. Making his shoulders sag slightly with the weight of it. That hot Karkaroff fire that made him once formidable where he was now composed. She took a very careful step away from him, never blinking once as she stared at him, her wand straight and sharp at her side. "I want it on the record that you made this personal, Cas, not me." She told him, though this was perhaps untrue.

"You presume to know me, you withhold important intel, you won't even interact with me unless to quarrel and I'm- I-" Claire's whole frame seemed to vibrate as she faced off with him, watching the way he pressed his injured side with a pale, pained face. "I'm sick of it!" She raised her face, her face going terribly red as she slide her wand back up the sleeve of her coat where she kept a strap along her forearm. "If you don't want to tell me, just say so." Her chin wobbled slightly with pure, eye watering frustration but she drew in her breath and held it. "I don't know what I've done to earn your scorn, other than disagree with you." She did not like to appear stupid, but he had a way of making her feel just that. "We're still both on the same side."

Casimir Elias Karkaroff

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

Time and time again Claire found new ways to goad Cas into losing his temper. It was a unique talent of hers, as Cas was notoriously difficult to coax into showing his emotions. In his business, with his old school friends, it didn’t matter – he was actively interested in keeping every thought and emotion locked tight inside him. But every time – every time – the two interacted, Claire always found every right word and every exact action to make him fume. This time, as she pulled out her wand in response to him gripping and releasing her wrist, he wondered if it would end in a duel. If there was anyone who could push Cas into such an extreme manifestation of his emotions, it was this goddamned Auror.

As attractive as the possibility was, he was in no shape to do so. And as galling as it was, Cas needed to focus on breathing through the pain. He didn’t dare close his eyes at such a critical moment, but his attention focused inward on managing the pain until he no longer felt dizzy from it. Claire’s face and tone made her anger abundantly clear, and the underlying emotions at play heavily suggested this was a dangerous encounter. So Cas forcefully kept his voice level. “I made it personal? What were you expecting would happen the moment you threw my family name at me? What were you hoping to remind me of? As if I don’t know who I am.”

The fact that she had put her wand away didn’t make the situation any less wrought with tension, and in fact Cas felt something inside him snap at her final tirade. There were clearly unresolved issues between them, because he felt himself yell. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d raised his voice. “No, we’re not on the same side anymore! We were, once, and even with our opposing methods we could still accomplish something. And then the moment you walked away with Victoire, you changed the game!” His voice grew deathly quiet and his face was pale from the exertion of staying upright. “That’s when you showed your true thoughts. You don’t trust me. And you don’t trust me to do my part in stopping the real enemy. So that’s it, then. I’m playing by the rules you set.”

Trust, loyalty…these were rare commodities in his line of work. Cas could count on one hand the number of people he trusted with his life. The number of people he trusted with secrets was a slightly larger number – those in the Order, now primarily in Ouroboros. Claire had once been one of those people – rare, but not unheard of. The split into Ouroboros and Heliopath, and her choice to walk away, had hurt Cas deeply – it had reinforced his first rule in life, something he’d once relaxed until becoming the fool. You could always trust someone – until they betray you. He wasn’t sure he could make a dignified retreat to the counter, so he leaned against a display case to alleviate some of the effort of standing. “You need to ask yourself why you really came here. Because this,” Cas stopped to motion between the two of them, “was your choice.”

Claire Evangeline Slater

[Claire Evangeline Slater]

never enough.

CLAIRE HAD NOT COME PREPARED TO DUEL IN such a confined space, but she felt she could do it if it came to that. The more she interacted with Cas, the more likely the scenario seemed to be. Her eyes catching the many encased, magical artefacts, when she could stand not to look away from Cas. Sure that he would use some underhand tactic against her.

"You- you invite that kind of attention!" Claire exclaimed, brandishing her hand expressively. "Telling me that I am below you because I have a different opinion!" She was almost screeching, her face flaming red, a stark contrast against her pale blonde hair. After a harried moment she drew in a steadying breath and paused, holding it there until it hurt.

But, Cas was far from done. He barrelled on, his voice at a pitch Claire had never witnessed before. He put Claire to shame with his stellar composure, she'd admired it of him once upon a time. Now, to see it fractured, was to see something entirely inhuman spew forth at her feet. She did not shy away from it, though. She got in his face, toe-to-toe as she retorted, just as quick and as infuriated.

"You're a coward!" She yelled back at him, jabbing a finger in to his chest as she refrained from drawing her wand. Her nose wrinkled and lips sneering past bared teeth. "You think you're better because you follow the rules." She spat, her jaw squared and drawn so tight it looked as if it might shatter. "Sometimes the law is wrong. Sometimes..." She drew in a breath, eyes wide as she admitted something she had not said allowed since she had followed Victoire all those months ago. "It's not enough." She muttered, her voice dropping all of a sudden.

Pulling away, she felt the fight leech from her bones at the sight of Cas's face. His expression far more vulnerable in anger than it had ever been. "I never said I didn't trust you." She shook her head, eyes narrowing in to sheer suspicion. "It wasn't personal." In reality, Claire had hoped that Cas would come with her. That he would side with Victoire's more upfront approach than the undercover, snail's pace of Ouroboros. Instead, he had disappointed her and their camaraderie had been shattered ever since. She hated to think that she missed it.

In Cas's eyes, Claire had come to realise, she had not just left the Order. She had left him. She didn't know how to tell him otherwise and so they came to blows instead. Dropping her gaze, Claire felt a weariness overwhelm her. He did not look well enough to fight, nor did he look willing to give up his prideful stance. Claire chewed on the inside of her cheek, regretting her decision to even come to the wretched little shoppe. But, she couldn't stop looking at the place where Cas's hand pressed deep in to his side. When she approached him this time, it wasn't to point or prod.

"Let me see it." She demanded, reaching for his pressuring hand boldly. "I'm not asking myself a thing until you let me see it!" She grumbled, determined as she tugged at his wrist. Not hard enough to force, but enough to prompt should he allow it. "It's really annoying me." She practically whined, her previous scorn replaced with frustration. Finally, she drew her eyes up to his and stared at him. Almost imploring. It was hard to look him in the face in the wake of their argument, but she managed. "Please..." She whispered, her nostrils flaring as every instinct inside of her rebelled against the thought of pleading with him. "You can't duel me if you're mortally wounded." 

Casimir Elias Karkaroff

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

Claire met his raised tone with her own and it didn’t take long until they were yelling at each other. It was the sort of scene Borgin and Burke’s wasn’t prepared for – every silencing charm had been put in place for the privacy of the client and the anonymity of the sale, not because the owner frequently engaged in shouting matches. But in the moment, Cas could forget about that or the fact that despite closing the shop his assistant might choose to walk back in at any moment. His entire world had narrowed down to Claire, and this argument, and the need to prove his point.

The distance between the two had closed again and her stance was the most aggressive he’d seen since the disintegration of the Order. When she’d first walked in, there had seemed to be an un-crossable distance between them, and the only point of contact had been the sharp blows of her words and his quick responses. Now, they were almost touching as she screamed the word ‘coward’ at him and jabbed her finger into his chest. He’d been leaning on the case, but he straightened to his full height and narrowed his eyes as he processed what had become an old argument between Ouroboros and Heliopath.

“I’m the coward?” he repeated in an outraged tone. “Running away from your problems and hiding behind your destructive behavior doesn’t make you brave, Claire! This past year has been a descent into madness. How much farther will you fall before you wake up!” His voice began to rise again. “And what has your bravery accomplished? Where are all those daring feats to make Gryffindor proud?” He grit his teeth. “An Auror who doesn’t even have faith in the law. You don’t believe in anything you follow. How much longer before Victoire isn’t enough either?”

He didn’t reply but scoffed in disgust as Claire claimed that it wasn’t personal, or an issue of trust. He didn’t doubt her decision to leave had been fueled by her own chaotic life, a culmination of the bad decisions he’d seen her making for years. But the truth of the matter was that she didn’t trust him, and he could see that as clearly as with everybody else in Ouroboros that couldn’t move past his name and profession. He didn’t expect most people to understand why he was here, the fine line he walked between upholding his family’s legacy and upending it completely. But he’d shared things with Claire that he hadn’t with others, and they had been able to work together once. The fact that she still didn’t understand him after all that hurt him more than he cared to admit.

Some of the fight left him and he sagged back against the display case as the desire to yell diminished. There was just no point to this, was there? They were both stubborn, equally certain in the decisions they’d made and the role of the other in making them. Cas didn’t see any way to bridge a gap that wide. Claire continued to bring attention to his injury and he didn’t fight her this time as her hand tugged his away. Fine, fine, fine – her prodding had eroded his patience and if seeing his injury would spark some revelation or move this conversation past the unbearable tension – fine.

Cas didn’t break eye contact as he exhaled sharply. “You are infuriating,” he whispered as he forcefully shrugged his blazer off and began to unbutton his shirt. St. Mungo’s had treated the worst of the injury, but they’d been inundated with patients and had left the superficial things to heal naturally. The bruises were only just starting to yellow, which made his chest look worse than it felt (which was an impressive feat considering it felt like death). He finished the last button and without pausing led Claire’s hand to press against his ribs. “There,” he said, voice rough. “No mortal wounds. We’ve both seen worse.”

Claire Evangeline Slater

[Claire Evangeline Slater]

never enough.

CLAIRE CARED ABOUT CAS'S OPINION OF HER. That was the crux of it, really. There had been a time when she had learned to respect him. As an Order member and as a person. Time and distance had degraded this, but she still cared what he thought of her. And for him to question her integrity was hurtful, flaring her indignant anger so furiously that she truly considered reaching for her wand. If only to prove to him how brave she could be.

"Because of the Purifiers!" Claire shouted back at him, her brows pulled together in disbelief. "Not because of- that has nothing to do with Heliopath." The decision to split the order came down to a difference in approach. "We have the same goal." She maintained, frustrated by Cas's pig-headedness. "I would have faith in the law if anything had been accomplished." Claire sighed, her chest heaving. "You are so afraid of how you will be perceived..." She muttered, her mouth pursed as she shook her head - almost sadly. Nobody understood the fear of a reputation like Claire did. "That they're getting away with it." Claire thought of Casey and her heart seized painfully.

Unwilling to concede, Claire had grabbed for Cas's pressing hand. There was a moment where she truly thought he would refuse. Shake her off and make her leave. When he reached for his blazer, her shoulders sagged with relief. Cas's expression was far from happy, his words biting, but at least he didn't push her away. "Your point?" She answered him sourly. Claire didn't care, she just wanted to see for herself. The fact that he was wounded at all concerned her. They stared one and other out stubbornly, neither willing to admit defeat.

Claire broke first, her curiosity out winning her obstinance as she dropped her gaze. Brows pulling together unhappily as she stared at a great flowering of yellowing and brown bruises. His ribs splattered angrily, the mottled skin stretching as he breathed. Her shoulders jerked slightly when he reached for her hand, pulling it to his injured ribs so that she could feel for herself. The blistering heat of his skin shocking against her chilled fingertips. She hesitated momentarily before she allowed her fingers to press lightly against the skin, watching the rush of blood when she stopped.

"I do trust you." Claire whispered in the ensuing silence, knowing that he disbelieved her. But, he had given her something, had showed her his injuries at her request. Claire felt the unnerving lack of balance and rushed to even the playing field. Her eyes pinned to his chest, lifting with every expanse as she pulled away slowly. "I just don't trust them." She forced herself to look at him, her mouth terse but her eyes wide and afraid. "What happened?" She asked tentatively, knowing that she had not earned that kind of confidence with Cas in a very long time. But, unable to help herself for asking. 

Casimir Elias Karkaroff

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

Claire did have a point. There were very few things that weighed more heavily on Cas’s mind than how others perceived him. The idea of his secret being discovered paralyzed him, and he worked diligently to cover his tracks at every opportunity. He viewed it as prudence and caution, but really it could be called paranoia. But the knowledge of what might happen if his family or the pureblood community became aware of his activities – social ostracization, undoing years of his and his siblings’ work to rebuild the family name, not to mention potential backlash from Purifiers – kept Cas cautious. And suitably repelled by every one of Heliopath’s reckless and potentially endangering activities.

None of this was worth shooting back at Claire, if only because she just wouldn’t understand. The game that was played by Europe’s remaining pureblood families required careful footwork and keeping your secrets close to your chest. Even one misstep could be catastrophic and Claire had never been one who understood how to keep her mouth shut. Being bold might be an asset in the Ministry, but it proved troublesome when it meant overstepping your bounds. And Merlin, Claire was an expert at that. She never knew when enough was enough, when she’d overplayed her hand and got caught losing everything. She knew how to push relentlessly, and while Cas was an extremely patient man she still managed to find his limits.

He hadn’t meant to say those last words out-loud – no matter how often he thought them – but her answer was predictable anyway. “It’ll get you in trouble someday,” Cas murmured in response, eyes locked intently on her face as he watched her study his injuries. “You can’t expect to keep pushing people until they break.” It was an aggressive and short-sighted way to live, one with no concern for the damage she would take as long as it meant she got her way. Eventually it would break her down the moment she stopped pushing back. That moment wasn’t likely to happen soon – Cas had worked with Claire for years since the Order had developed the annoyingly persistent habit of pairing them on missions together, and she had never let him get away with anything. But some small part of him worried.

It’s not true, Cas reminded himself as Claire whispered that she did trust him, But it might be nice to pretend for a moment that it is. Cas knew the truth – he wasn’t a trustworthy man. He only served his family, and ultimately himself. He could always be counted on to do what was best for his immediate circle over what would might better serve a collective cause. Joining Ouroboros – being one of the angels – wasn’t in his nature, only identifying which way the wind was blowing and adjusting his course accordingly. He’d been leaning against a display case for support, but forced himself to straighten even as he didn’t break eye contact with Claire. He ignored her question (as he was prone to do) and asked one instead. “Why?” he matched her whisper with his own. “Half the Order must have thought I was a spy. And the other half certain that I would cut and run at the first opportunity.” His hand was still pressing hers to his ribs, and he tightened his grip. Unwilling to think that if he let go, she might pull away. “What would make you think any different?”

Claire Evangeline Slater

[Claire Evangeline Slater]

never enough.

THERE WAS NO MALICE PRESENT ON CAS' FINELY structured face. Just an oddly defeated finality. 'Trouble', the word used to keep Claire up at night. Her overwhelming desire to impress her professors, to exceed all expectations and then some. Now, it just felt like a necessary evil. "I'm not-" Claire's hand was gently probing gently against his bruised side. "It doesn't feel like I'm pushing." She admitted, her gaze intentionally pinned firmly on his wounds and not his face. Eventually, she looked up, unable to stop herself. "Not with you."

In Claire's eyes, there were few nudges that could break Cas. Ever since she had first worked alongside him, there had always been an air of stability. A pillar of stubborn, impenetrable stone. To hear him criticise her for it was surprising, stinging like a backhanded slap. She didn't tell him this, reluctant to open up any more than she already had. It was a vulnerability she had no desire to share that beyond her vague hints. Like he would figure it out on his own.

With her fingers still lightly pressed against his wound, Claire felt the weight of her confession like a shackle around her neck. Wondering if she would regret revealing such a thing to him once she'd left the confines of his shoppe. When he opened his mouth, Claire frowned, lifting her gaze to his face in case he was playing around. He wasn't.

"Wh-" She scoffed, shaking her head at him. "Why not?" She countered. The heat of his callused hand burning in to her skin, Claire took a personal offence to his generalisation of her. Like she was just another player in a twisted game of wizarding chess. "There were plenty of times you could have made yourself the hero." She sniffed, her face suddenly very stern. "You could have left me for dead, for all a mission was worth." Claire leaned towards him, staring up at him in a very similar way as before, like she was arguing with him. Just to prove a point. "You always had my back, Cas." She told him, her cheeks flushed. "I'll never forget that." 

Casimir Elias Karkaroff

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Casimir Elias Karkaroff]

Cas was a master at Wizard chess. How could he be anything but, when his whole life had been one never-ending game? He’d learned to view the world as his board, and to identify his pawns and his enemies. His father had reinforced early on that people only existed to be used. His mother had taught him how to become the perfect mastermind, untouchable by anyone. He had refined his strategy at Durmstrang, acquiring the knowledge that not every player’s style was similar and he would have to adjust accordingly. To be what people needed from him. His time with the Order and then Ouroboros required every one of his abilities to survive – predicting the enemy’s next move, learning where his squad members should be moved to reach their maximum utility. He was careful, calculated, always prepared with his next move.

Claire Slater was a wrench in the plan. An unpredictable variable, someone who didn’t fit where they were supposed to. A piece that refused to be moved, because she wasn’t a piece at all, or even another player. She existed outside of the game Cas had been playing his whole life, and after years of re-calculating Cas had never been able to pin her down. She was too…honest. Too direct. She said what she thought, and she meant what she said. When they’d first met, Cas had thought that was a flaw. That she would never be able to survive with a strategy like that – eventually someone more clever would come along and outmaneuver her. He thought he had been proven right with everything that had come after – the split into Ouroboros and Heliopath, her reassignment at work.

And yet. Here she was, standing in front of him, barely any distance between them and gazing at him with fiery eyes. And he felt like the one being proven wrong. He was solid, immovable. He didn’t let anyone dictate his actions but himself, and he had grown comfortable in the fortress he had created for himself in Knockturn. She had been knocked down so many times, but she found a way to keep pushing back. There was something irresistible about a quality like that, someone who found their way back even after so much punishment. His lips quirked into the barest hint of a smile as she told him off. That he could have made himself the hero at others’ expense. That he had always had her back. They were nice thoughts, thoughts he didn’t hear anywhere else.

“You mean that,” Cas observed quietly, something in his tone oscillating between disbelief and awe. He barely even noticed the way he leaned forward slightly to close the distance between them. “You do,” he said suddenly, referring back to her earlier comment that it didn’t feel like she pushed with him. “You always challenge me. Always push to get your way. I have never had anyone test my patience like you. Never had anyone push me to my limits like you.” His tone had dropped, and he could feel his heart pounding. Like he was in the middle of a yelling match with her, or pacing furiously as he responded sharply to her arguments with his own counterpoints. “It drives me wild.” Cas felt something surge inside him, break through the self-restraint he always maintained with an iron will. One hand was still on Claire’s, and he wrapped the other around her waist to pull her close against him. He leaned down and kissed her hard, the way he’d thought about for years but always held himself back from. There had always been a million reasons to resist. He couldn’t think of any now.

Claire Evangeline Slater