taciiturns

[taciiturns]

"why are they all selfies?" said @woesbegone !

"shut the fuck up," kaela retorts ( in the way that only two women who have been friends for decades can get away with ). nail taps against her screen, scrolling through all the photos that didn't make it to the instagram grid, before getting to the screenshots in question. "i want to go here. this summer. do you think you can get off of work?"

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have you ever wanted to be a mother?

"i can't say i haven't thought about it. there was definitely a time where the answer would have been a firm 'no'. i have enough people to worry about without a child being in the mix." kaela's lips press together in contemplation. "but there's also no trial run for being a parent and that scares me. i had these moments. . . sometimes, with theseus, which. . . obviously i'm not any kind of a mother - but where i thought i could maybe figure it out. where i did the right thing. but then there were others where i wasn't sure where to even begin. i think in another world in a different set of circumstances, i could want it, but i don't know if i would be any good at it."

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what of the 'typical' growing up experience do you wish you had been given the most?

there's a sort of absent look in kaela's expression that's most noteable when she's asked about her upbringing. like she's trying to recollect something that never really existed. she tries find something tangible to hold onto but truthfully there's not a lot that she can grasp. she can't remember moments like when she was happiest attached to anton's hip because the memory of it is gone. she doesn't know a father that isn't like who she knows today. no memory or knowledge of a mother. not a lot cements prior to her years at hogwarts, just her time with niko, but she doesn't recognize that experience as atypical. in her adulthood she has only begun to recognize that maybe there were things missing. "i don't know."

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if being happy with arturo meant denouncing your entire family for good, would you do it?

"that isn't fair." gaze falls as her lips twitch downwards - this isn't the first time she's pondered this question. would you give up everything you've known ( everything you've had ) for everything you want? "i reckon i would be better for it." she's doing her best to be evasive, but, alas, that's not the name of the game. "i don't think i could ever do that to my brother."

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if you had to pick one, who's your favourite weasley? (other than ned for being hot)

"you said it. it's ned - perfectly hot and sad. doesn't say much. owns a bar." and the only one not on her dart board. "though if i had to pick another, i guess it would be rumpert. that's his name, right?

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accepting ! honesty hour & sentence starters for grace & kaela!

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to be fair, everyone suffers in some way, shape, or form when the ministers daughter chooses to haunt the ministry offices. fleur is no different, though kaela did have to take a beat ( or two ) before materializing beside her and subjecting her to pointed commentary. time does not heal all wounds, nor is she the forgive and forget type. kaela tends to her grudges like a garden, keeping them as prickly as roses. though this one is an easy one for her to maintain - she remembers the sting of rejection all too well. "do i seem like the communal coffee type?" she maintains her cold indifference - from level tone to expressionless features as she glances, only to reach over fleur for one of the wrapped protein bars in the communal dish of snacks. "i'll let you enjoy yours, though. wouldn't want to be a bother."

𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙿𝚃  :  you don't even know what to say, do you ? 𝚁𝙴𝚀𝚄𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝙱𝚈  :  @taciiturns  ! 𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽  :  ministry of magic !

well... no. she doesn't. a friendly good morning is perhaps too blasé, considering the circumstances. ignoring her is especially cruel, for much the same. of course, fleur knows that it was only ever a matter of time before she & mikaela crossed paths, but that didn't mean that she was prepared for it to happen at 7am in the workplace cafeteria. the ministry of magic was an impressive sort of structure, all twists & turns & sea of identical office cubicles. she had found a new home in the farthest depths and her understanding had been that mikaela frequented few corners but the ones on level one, so she'd be forgiven for her misguided belief that they would avoid this unlucky collision for at least another few months. or at least until she'd actually had a sip from her morning coffee. fleur wrestles with herself for a long & pointed moment, tapping her teaspoon off the side of her mug and going out of her way not to meet mikaela's gaze. there really is only so long that can continue for, though, and after a lengthy deliberation with herself - and with a heavy sigh - she asks, conversationally, "would you like a coffee? there's enough for another mug."

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ALYCIA DEBNAM-CAREY Hair styled by Brad Mullins ahead of the 14th AACTA Awards, February 7th 2025

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meme night ! accepting botanical headcanons & sentence starters for grace & kaela !

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ACCEPTING on KAELA and GRACIE : sex education sentence starters & tiniest details !

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"i don't know that you should waste your galleons like that. it's fiscally irresponsible." it might sound like hubris to a nearby ear, but it is anything but that. she just knows her father and how his mind works. i'm thankful to my family, she thinks. my daughter kaela, who if things went differently a few short months ago, wouldn't be here. it would tear at the heart strings, despite how curated his story is. "me, personally?" her voice drops to hushed tone, "would be more interested in betting on how long into his speech he makes a promise of things being under control."

𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: level eight, the atrium. 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐒: closed to mikaela karkaroff ( @taciiturns )

a small flute of champagne is dwarfed by pax's hand as he observes the minister from the drinks table, a look of smugness almost forcefully placed upon his features as he watches the older karkaroff schmooze and act the minister the wixen world waited for. he'd laugh if he weren't surrounded by those blinded by his act. "i'll bet you 5 galleons he boasts about you during his speech, kaela," playfully elbowing the younger karkaroff, pax smirks.

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she's not the hopeful type, but for the few moments of waiting she certainly comes close. gray hues study his features and for once in a long while there isn't concern etched into them. a win. she'd gotten so few of them lately. "you tell me," she quips, passing through the now wide open space in front of her. "if i recall right . . . you're wearing the cologne i got you . . . two christmases ago?" one of the handful she'd forced upon him during all of their years of familiarity. she moves through the entry hallway with an ease and confidence that one might never see from her in the house that bares her surname. after all, there was a time where this was destined to be their home. she knew where the glasses were, already, for the champagne they were due to consume. where arturo's keys always ended up if he didn't toss them onto the dish that lives on the center island. which corner of the couch was theseus' favorite to curl up in. she gives pause before pressing further - "that being said, i hope so."

maybe it was chance that theseus was staying with her dad, tonight, and he had tomorrow off. maybe he'd just decided on a whim to get his place in order, a swish of a hand here & a bit of elbow grease, there, all to be able to say that for the first time in a while, his house was in an acceptable condition for guests to visit. he'd bought a bag of ice for the freezer / lit one of those ridiculously named yankee candles, in the living room / changed his bed, for good measure. maybe he'd been expecting it, all along. arturo can't quite bring himself to admit it, not even to himself, but maybe he'd been hoping. maybe that was the point. there was 'being nice' and 'being romantic', and the difference lay in that grey area between whether he was being a good friend because they were amicable exes or whether he was being a good friend because they were amicable exes. he wasn't fully sure which it was, but when the moment comes to answer the door, he isn't slow to do it because he's busy elsewhere - it's cause he got stuck at the mirror in the hallway, making sure he looked put together. "some guy, huh ?" bemused and playing it cool, the fact that he pushes himself close to the wall and opens the door that much wider for her to pass says it all, "do you think he had that in mind ?"

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when: june 1st, approx. 11:00pm where: arturo's home ! who: @iustitiias

cautionary tale: you can light the match and throw it at something you love, convince yourself it is for everyone's own good, but what do you do when that fire is done burning and nothing has turned to ash? you end up on their doorstep, apparently. perhaps knowing better, but ignoring that thought all together. lit only by the porch light stands kaela - in her arms is the gift bag received earlier that day. when the front door finally breaks open, she smiles ( a far cry from how she was the last time she found herself in this same spot ), reaching for the bottle within her bag. "some guy bought me some birthday gifts and i'm in the spirit of sharing, if you'll have me."

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if life is a spectrum of emotions, kaela is not sure she's ever felt grief. maybe for an old version of herself, or for an unfortunate circumstance, but never prompted by another. kaela didn't know lucius well - didn't care to. there were enough men with big personalities and questionable morals that she never bothered to welcome another. . . but the same could not be said about his wife. there's a certain fondness kaela holds for narcissa that she can't quite explain and a twisting feeling in her chest as she watches her float through a home that surely feels emptier, now, to her than it did a few days ago. even despite all of the mourners.

kaela mentally kicks herself for not catching the glass of one of the visitors earlier. she fails to intervene before words are exchanged - hand lightly landing on the backside of the culprit. narcissa's smile coupled with her own cautionary glance to go literally anywhere else, coaster in tow, was luckily sign enough to remove themselves from the situation. "i can find a replacement side table for you if the damage is done. just say the word." lips press together to offer the closest thing to a sympathic smile that one kaela karkaroff is capable of mustering up. "anton. . ." it was her idea, but she'll give him the credit. "anton is having someone drop by with some meals from my favorite restaurant. hopefully we share more than just similar taste in furniture."

𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽  :  malfoy manor, wiltshire  !

HER HUSBAND IS DEAD. when narcissa gives herself those few & far between moments to try and digest this unacceptable truth, the fathomless chasm that threatens to swallow her whole is so uniquely terrifying that she immediately steers herself towards something she can control. kingsley tells her, 'he didn't suffer,' his voice wavering on the lie, and she clicks her fingers for an elf. lucius is gone, but that's no reason for bad manners ; he should have a glass from that expensive bottle in the study, he looks as if he needs it. a mediwix informs her, 'we can have him transferred by saturday,' her eyes trained upon the sickly tile, and she pulls out her cheque book. what's left of him lies in the depths of st mungo's, and she won't stand for it ; they'll have him moved to their home by sundown, or she'll pull their very generous funding. draco remarks dryly, 'it's not as if it's wrong', the prophet lying between them at the dining room table, and the force with which she hits the surface sends her glass flying. he watched it happen, she knows, and grief makes monsters of them all, but that's no excuse to speak ill ; she'll send an owl, she'll send a thousand, they'll pull the rest of the issues from newspaper stands today or she'll give them hell to pay.

HER HUSBAND IS DEAD. when narcissa gives herself those few & far between moments to try and digest this unacceptable truth, she's startled at how little she really feels. it's meant to hurt. she figured it would, but then, she also hadn't - even when they were farthest apart, she doesn't think she'd ever imagined a reality in which they were actually separated by a lungful of breath & a steadily beating heart. she isn't even remotely prepared to confront it, now, so it's little wonder that she keeps herself so caught up in these meaningless moments, so as to avoid slowing down. she is, as ever, a perfect host. moving through the crowded room of faceless wix, she's unforgiving when she spots even the most miniscule of issues. "if you're going to set your glass down on my antique mahoghany, i'd appreciate it if you'd use a coaster," she tells them through a venemous sort of smile, not waiting for them to respond before she has already given her wand a wave and conjured one, "i expect better of guests in my home. i'm sure you understand."

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ACCEPTING : thematic headcanons & magicians sentence starters !

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" i think you know exactly what i’ve been up to, kaela. " said ezekiel ! @hoggleswart

if looks could kill zeke would likely be a dead man ( and she is sure he'd probably have been dead long before she even came along ). gray hues turn to daggers at his response to her pushing a question. "that's probably true," she agrees. here's the thing with zeke - if not for. . . well, the everything of it all, she probably wouldn't have such strong feelings about his existence. but alas, the two are sums of their situations. "between licking my fathers boots and canoodling with my best friend. . . i'm not sure how you'd have time for much else."

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"tough day?" kaela pokes the bear - this likely won't help in paxton's outright show of misery, but she has never been one to hold back even for favored company and even on her worst of days. what a juxtaposition they are - as he leans back to sink further into his chair she sits up, eyes alert as she scans the bar for a waitress to take their order. "beer or strong? those two things aren't synonymous." quick glance catches his before remembering his plea just a moment ago - no decisions. she orders two whiskeys over ice and it's not long before they're placed in front of them. "so, go on. what plagues you?"

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭: ‘the  choice  is  yours .’ 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: the leaky cauldron, interior !! 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬: closed for mikaela karkaroff ( @taciiturns )

"i am done making decisions today, karkaroff." pressing closed fists into his eyes, he attempts to rub away the exhaustion present, however, when hands move away to lay flat against the table his bags are all that more accentuated. leaning back into the torn, plush of the chair, paxton rolls his head back and closes his eyes. an attempt to shut out the world for a moment. "i just want to go home and hide for a little while. from everything." a pause and he looks at the witch through a peeking eye, "i'll have a beer, anything as long as it's strong."