zhoucassie-blog - Tumblr blog

[zhoucassie-blog]

4. lola, lola, lola

“This is ridiculous, please stop sending me memos and go back to work.”

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5) Janus, Winter, Lobo

“I’m not fond of these options, in all honesty. First of all, I would never kill or betray anyone; and I have no idea what a zombie is and why there’s an apocalypse caused by it or why I need a team when I can perfectly work alone. But I guess I would kill Lobo with kindness because he needs some, I would betray Janus by not following any of his advice, and I would have Winter on my team because have you seen him fight?”

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2) Salem, Lola, Jo

“I suppose I’d marry Lola, because that’s the only way she will ever survive. Besides, I don’t think Salem wants to marry me and Jo… well, it would be too much to say I want to marry them. Not that I don’t think we would make a good marriage or anything but you know, it’s a bit overwhelming. Anyway, moving on. I’d cuddle Salem because they probably need a hug but they’re too shy to ask for one. And uhm, I’d sleep with Jo. But, don’t get me wrong, it’s not like just a sexual thing or anything. Those were the only choices I had! Honestly these questions leave a lot of room for interpretation and little space for proper explanation.”

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Send me three names + a number...

fuck, marry, kill

marry, cuddle, sleep with

fuck, take a bullet for, murder

adopt, be adopted by, marry 

kill, betray, have on your zombie apocalypse team

seduce, steal from, serenade

[zhoucassie-blog]

It hadn’t been her fault, it had been Lola’s. She had taken care of the whole thing and practically thrown a random key at her when the night was coming to a close. Well, maybe it had been a little bit her fault because she had never said no, but in all honesty there was something about the mystery that had caught her attention. Deep down, and this was something she was never going to admit, she was actually grateful that her friend had decided to do this for her. It was definitely something she wouldn’t have done herself. 

Not that she wants to spend a wild night with a random person from the squad, obviously. The thought of the door of room 609 opening and Chief Snow’s face appearing made her shudder, but as she sits on that bed with her shoes off and her hair out of her usual braid, she finds herself both nervous and eager to see who’s going to be her partner for the night. 

A few moments pass, and nothing happens. There’s a mild panic settling now. What if no one picked the key? What if they bailed? Her heart pretty much jumps up and down her chest when she finally hears the door unlocking. She recognizes the voice instantly, and her stomach twists. 

“Jo? I- I’m in here.” She giggles, shifting nervously. “Uhm, hi.”

location: room 609

time: 12:06am

@zhoucassie

They’d spent a good deal of the night- far more time than they’d like to admit really, thinking about whether or not they were going to pull a key from the infamous cauldron. By the time midnight rolls around and everyone has either found a room or headed back home, Jo finds themself torn between the door out to the main street, and the cauldron of keys, which was quickly diminishing little by little as auror after auror decides to temp fate for the night and pick a key at random. 

And maybe it is that slight sense of adventure that causes them to cautiously walk towards it after they see Cal pull a key for herself. They weren’t exactly looking for a night spent in the bed of some unknown squad member, but the allure of the mystery seems to be tempting enough that they decide to fuck all and just do it. Saying a quick prayer to whoever was listening, they squeeze their eyes shut as they plunge their hand into the cauldron, and grab the first key that touches their finger. 

With the key in hand, the walk up actually turns into a bit of a fun one, their head swimming with all the possibilities of who could be behind their door. They honestly had no particular favorites, okay maybe a couple, but they weren’t going to let their hopes up for that. Twisting the key in the lock, they push the door open gently, and gingerly pop their head into the room. 

“Hello?” they call in, waiting for the occupant’s response before they enter. 

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janusharley‌:

Janus nodded thoughtfully along with Cassie’s explanation. It was certainly a tangled web of intrigue, and maybe he was so interested because it sounded like the sort of situation he had to navigate out in the field, back in a time when he had no backup to speak of, or even a partner for that matter. He’d forgotten for a while what it was like to have someone to bounce his ideas off of, and it had likewise surprised him that Cassie had approached him for his advice. He knew she and Jo were close, and since he valued his friendship with Jo so much, he wanted to get to know their friends and be on good terms with them if he could. And from the way they talked about her all the time, he felt a little more familiar with her aspirations than he might have been otherwise. And because of them, he realized this was something that had to handled delicately, in a much different style than the way he tended to handle things…

“I’m glad to hear you and Jo are sticking together on this,” he commented lightly first with a little smile. “That’s the key to this I’m sure… whatever the two of you discover, and however you choose to spin it, it’ll rely on the two of you being a cohesive team and having each other’s backs.” He thought briefly (and completely unintentionally) of a former partner of his own, and took a moment to swallow down the uncomfortable feelings on that exact subject that he began to have as a result.

“I think the easiest way to get the information you need is to make CJ believe you’re harmless… If you can get close to him somehow, it’ll be easier for you to gather information after he lets his guard down a little… And then, whatever truth you discover, if it does happen to point to him… well, you’ll already have all the evidence you need to prove it. Then the question is just who to give it to, that will have the appropriate reaction… I’m no expert on Quidditch obviously but isn’t there like… a league commissioner? You could go over Snow’s head and give it to them… anonymously if you don’t want it getting back to you, of course…”

So maybe Janus understood more than she was giving him credit for. Cassie had to admit what he was saying was right. Both her and Jo needed to be a cohesive team if this case was going somewhere. That wasn’t even the problem, though, but it was definitely a start. She didn’t really want to talk much about Jo. She knew they were close to Janus and she was pretty much terrified of saying too much and somehow end up revealing the embarrassing crush she had been keeping a secret since they were at school together. It was pretty pathetic, to be honest, and it made her feel like a teenager. She had to treat the subject delicately. After all, even if her partner seemed to like Janus a lot, she herself hadn’t decided if she could fully trust him yet. He was way too much like Jo and Lola, without the obvious charm and way more mysterious. It wasn’t a personality Cassie felt comfortable around. There were a lot of things she didn’t know about him, and that made her uneasy. 

“Well, I’ll always have their back so that’s not something to worry about.” She said, perhaps a little more firmly than intended. Her expression softened a bit after. “I think we are a cohesive team. I mean, I would never throw them under the bus, no matter what we find, and no matter what Snow thinks of what we find. I’m their friend. But not only that, I’m an auror, and we have to stick together. That’s part of our job:” There was something about standing there, talking about an Auror’s honor, that made her feel a bit silly. 

“I think we could get closer to him, yes, but we’re going to have to do some real digging if we want to get the information we want. So far we’ve learned the quidditch team is a close knitted family. They aren’t being as open as we initially thought they would. We need to find a weak link.” At his next words, her eyes opened like plates. “What? You’re seriously suggesting bypassing Snow?! Is it even legal for you to be saying that?”

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jerusalemblanchard‌:

When they had realized that Cassie had ended up on the same squad as them, a relief they couldn’t even really describe had flooded over them. Knowing someone was going to be around who understood who they were, and accepted it, someone who loved spending their time sitting in silence studying away together, barely speaking unless either of them found something helpful or of interest. It was a fantastic feeling. And it felt good again, now, to do the same, to have the chance to help Cassie try to find something helpful to her case now, and do what they did best.

It was tough, though, because nothing quite fit the case, especially in a case where their boss was telling her that she couldn’t actually take in the real culprit because they were friends. It made Salem sick to think that was how things worked sometimes. “Don’t give up, Cassie. We’ll find something that’ll make it happen…” they insisted, more confident than they felt for once. “Snow can’t let his friend off the hook just because they’re friends. This is, uh, well, it’s MACUSA, it’s not some local auror division. We can’t be the corrupt ones. If you have enough evidence he can’t go against it.”

Cassandra huffed, rolling her eyes. Salem was right, she knew they were. She had grown up believing in this system all her life, she trusted MACUSA - because it was what they were there for. What would the wixen community do if the ones who were supposed to protect them had corruption in their ranks and played favoritism? And yet, the feeling that going against Snow’s words was going to harm her career was impossible to shake off. “You’re way too nice sometimes. I don’t think now is the time to act like an optimist.” It was a strange thing to say to them, because usually these roles were reversed. She was the one bringing all the positive vibes to the table. 

“I know Snow is not going to try to cover anything up if we find out the guy’s guilty, but he’s definitely not going to believe us until the evidence is absolutely irrefutable, and that alone can harm the case.” She crossed her arms, tilting her head back and closing her eyes for a second. She had had an ever-present headache for days now, and she was almost getting used to it. “Maybe we should just leave it alone for a bit. Try to talk about something else. Are there any interesting cases you’ve been working on lately? I’ve heard they’re looking at you for a promotion. That must be exciting.”

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aurormolina‌:

“I mean it will be a little tricky.” It will be a more than a little tricky, they think, but they’d fared better with less odds than this before. Besides, the chance to do a little snooping around just seemed too fun a chance to pass up. “We’d want to do it when no one else would be around but just our mark, maybe catch a player off guard while they’re training on their own. Then we go in, do a quick sweep while CJ isn’t there, and off we go? What do you think?”, they ask, genuinely wanting to know what she thought. They were all too aware some times their half-baked plans were not always the absolute greatest, and they trusted her opinion enough to know that if Cass was down with it, then they should be fine.

“Don’t worry I’ll do all the quidditch talk, and you can be the cute back-up”, they grin, and bump her shoulder with their’s.

They weren’t too surprised when she turns down their offer to take the blame, she may have been a little miss goody two-shoes at times, but she was a good friend, no matter the situation. “Alright, sounds like a deal,” they grin, “Do you want to see CJ first? Then we can come back later when he’s gone to do a search, see if what he tells us matches up with what we find there? It’s up to you, boss.” 

“Wait, I think I have something here that could help with that.” Cassie nods. She was pretty sure she had this covered in her binder. Tapping the files one more time, the pages start moving frantically again until they stop at one of the section, highlighted with the color blue. “Here. These are the schedules of the entire time, both training sessions and personal. Many of the players utilize the pitch on their own to train by themselves, especially when CJ decides their performance is not as good as expected; which according to what I found out is often, he likes to keep the team competitive even among themselves.” She immediately shifts the binder so Jo can observe the neatly crafted schedule she has constructed. “You know them better than I do - who do you think our victim should be?” 

A little giggle escapes her lips at their next affirmation. “I’ve never been the cute back up in my life, but it’s alright, I think I can accept it.” In reality she’s just surprised Jo has just called her cute. 

Cassandra nods. “Yes, let’s do that. Let’s go see Jones and then we can do a little research of our own. Then we can compare and draw some conclusions. I think that will at least put us on the right track.” She rolls her eyes, but laughs immediately after. “Don’t call me that. I feel ridiculous.”

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( location: auror offices // time: lunch break // closed to @janusharley )

“So basically that’s the main problem. CJ is looking really bad right now, but Snow advised us not to even go for him in the first place. He’s got a reputation, he throws chairs, he acts like a maniac, and he doesn’t have a strong alibi, but he’s also the chief’s friend.” Cassandra huffed. This was kind of pointless anyway. She had a pretty clear idea of what Janus was going to say, that she needed to follow her intuition, that Snow was going to have to get over it if his friend was the one stealing stuff from his own team, as ridiculous as that sounded. Sometimes he suspected Janus didn’t understand a thing about the invisible and delicate threads of politics that wrapped around MACUSA like a fine spiderweb. 

“I already told Jo we have to do our job no matter what, and that whatever we discover will be on both of us. But this is a lot of pressure and I’m not really sure what to do anymore.” She shrugged, playing with her pumpkin juice’s straw. “It’s not like you’re going to help me anyway. You probably agree with Jo as well.”

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( location: macusa archive // time: morning // closed to @jerusalemblanchard )

Salem was a familiar face. They were someone Cassie didn’t have to pretend with. They had been friends at school, then the Salem Academy, and even despite the circumstances of their birth and her family’s views on that, they had remained somewhat close. At least as close as two people like them could be, considering their friendship mostly consisted of them sitting together in a corner reading in silence. Still, Cassie valued that more than she could explain. It was definitely a change compared to Jo’s boldness or Lola and her way too loud personality. Somehow she had ended up with friends that acted like hurricanes, but Salem was different, they were calm, serenity, and quiet winds. 

Here they were, once again reading in silence, trying to comb the archives for some proof to utilize in their respective cases. Dealing with one of Snow’s friends was driving Cassandra insane, especially because CJ Jones was looking guiltier and guiltier by the second. “I give up.” She said, sighing and setting the file she was reading aside. “This case is ridiculous.”

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aurormolina‌:

“Yeah, if C.J doesn’t let us look around, we’ll have to find more sneaky ways to get in….” they muse, brows furrowing as they try to come up with a plan. Just simply asking one of the players wasn’t going to go over well, that was if they presented themselves as aurors anyway…. But maybe they didn’t have to, at least not in the beginning. “Oh I got it!”, they exclaim, as they look over to Cassie, giving her a look that spelled mischief. “We could pose as a couple of quidditch fans, see if we can sweet talk one of the players into showing us around. We’re both plenty cute enough, I’m sure we could find someone willing to give us a little tour.” 

Jo shrugs their shoulders in response to her next question, honestly unsure of the answer. Snow seemed like enough of a bullheaded ass to get pissed at them for going against his word, on the other hand he seemed like he cared enough about their work to want to get the job done right. Or at least they thought so anyway. 

“If he gets pissed you can just blame it on me, say it was my idea for going after CJ or whatever. Like I said, he gets pissed at me all the time, no need to get you in trouble too. Besides, I’d love to see him try to find another werewolf with my nose for justice and adorably spunky attitude, so I think I’m safe.” 

In all honesty she hadn’t thought of the possibility of going undercover. It seems risky, especially if Snow has told CJ that aurors are coming. What Jo is saying is true, though. If someone’s going to pose as a quidditch fan, it might as well be them and not a couple of older aurors that will definitely be more likely to be discovered immediately. Still, the idea of getting rid of the instantaneous safety that her badge provides unsettles her a little bit. Then again, she doesn’t want to look like a coward in front of Jo. “That’s a good idea.” She says, tilting her head to the side. “We will have to reveal ourselves eventually though if we want to conduct any serious interrogations, but it will surely be easier to get ourselves in as an overexcited couple of enthusiasts. You will have to do most of the talking though, because I barely remember anything about quidditch now.”

Even at school, the only reason she followed the games was because of Jo anyway, even if she isn’t going to admit that. She nods, more to herself than to her partner, as a reassurance that this plan is indeed a good idea. Their next words, nevertheless, make her shake her head. 

“I’m not going to blame anything on you. We’re a team, we’re working together. Any decision we make right now it’s on both of us.” Cassie sighs. “If he gets pissed, we’re going to have to deal with it. Don’t worry, I won’t let your nose or your adorable spunky attitude get in too much of trouble.”

[zhoucassie-blog]

favorite characters: sabrina fairchild, sabrina (1954)

― i have learned how to live, how to be in the world and of the world, and not just to stand aside and watch. and i will never, never again run away from life. or from love, either.

[zhoucassie-blog]

aurormolina:

“Of course you did,” they tease, lips forming a grin around the straw of their shake. The binder she pulls out has to be the largest one they’d ever seen, and that was saying something when it came to Cassie. But they had to admit it was pretty impressive, and much more organized than the mess of a file they had on them, which already contained several stained pages from merlin knows what. Sipping on their shake absently, they watch closely as the pages flip through the massive binder, each one seemingly more detailed than the next. 

“I’m on Snow’s shitlist at least once a week, what’s another,” they shrug, “While we talk to CJ we can look around the place too, maybe ask the other players about this Alex/Ray thing. I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m all about the whole gay star-crossed quidditch lovers thing, but I feel like we should confirm it. If only to appease my curiosity.” Tilting their head to the side they read the overviews of each of the main three suspects. Out of the three of them they had to admit they’d rather book CJ, Ouma seemed too much like a cool badass, and Ray sounded like just some wix who went to get his broom waxed in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

“Are you okay with getting on Snow’s bad side? If this turns out to be Jones, I doubt he’ll be happy about it.” 

Their teasing makes her blush, but she does hope Jo won’t notice as she pretends to look at the pages intently and some stray hairs that have escaped her braid try in vain to cover her whole face. Pursing her lips for a second, she tells herself to truly concentrate now. This is her first leading case, and she can’t mess it up just because she’s acting like a silly teenager. She needs to impress her superiors if she’s even going to leave her desk again. It’s enough that she looks like a secretary already, but she isn’t going to allow people treating her like one when she wanted to be something else. She was there to be something else. 

“Yes, yes, of course.” Cassie nods. “It doesn’t seem like there’s too much on the place in this file. Something tells me CJ doesn’t like people snooping around his territory and Snow is probably doing nothing about it.” Their next suggestion causes her to chuckle softly. “And we must definitely do that. I don’t really follow quidditch anymore but it does seem like a cute story, and maybe it can lead us somewhere, who knows? At least to a possible enemy of the team or something like that.” She shrugs. “I hope they are willing to tell us, though. Teams are usually closed off when it comes to secrets like that.”

It’s a valid question, one that makes her a bit uncomfortable when she truly thinks about it. “He won’t, but I’m hoping he’s professional enough to realize we are only doing our jobs, and we’re doing them properly... right?”

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It was her first time leading a case since she had started as a Cadet, and having Jo as a partner of all people was a bittersweet feeling. On one hand, it was always preferable to work with someone she knew, and the two of them had been friends since school, albeit being in different houses. But at the same time she couldn’t shake the feeling she got every time she saw the other, a feeling that had been there for a long time, and that she had completely forgotten about until they had found each other again working for the Eastern squad. Her silly crush at school had been useless, and now it was even more so. 

“It isn’t last second. I came prepared.” Cassie smiles, fixing her braid and taking out the massive binder she had spent weeks compiling with a charmed index that went back and forth on its own. The image of both files on the table was a very accurate representation of both their personalities. “Personally I would start with the trainers.” She taps the binder as she speaks, and the pages start flipping by themselves. “I’ve been doing some research, and CJ Jones has a reputation. I read Snow’s notes on the case and he says not to go for Jones first, but that would be negligence.” She sighs. “I’m open to opinions though.”

location: the dairy barn ice cream parlor / fitchburg, massachusetts  

time: noon

@zhoucassie​

“Okay, I call last second milkshake runs a new tradition for whenever we have a case together, sound like a deal?” Jo smiles, as they approach a picnic just outside the small wixen establishment. This was the first time the two had had a case together since Jo first joined the squad, and honestly they were already looking forward to the next. It wasn’t that often they were paired up with a wix actually close to their age, let alone one they’d been friends with since Ilvermorny. 

Taking a seat, they lay out the case file between them, and spread its contents across the table’s sun bleached surface. “Alright, so who are we liking for this right out of the gate?” they ask, before taking a sip of their butterbeer flavored shake.