I’m a little crazy underneath this (roslyn)

Every once in a while, Azalea had no qualms about coming home to Scotland. Her family always welcomed her with open arms. She'd been graduated and working under the British Ministry for six months now. She'd learned so much but knew there was still a lot left in store. Roslyn had become a quick friend in the industry. She served as a mentor showing her the ropes and helping Azalea catch on to the process and tricks to get the job done. She was grateful for the help but even more for the comradery shown by her.

Though she was nine years younger than Roslyn, the two hit it off almost instantly. Not only was Roslyn Scottish as well, but they shared a connection, Azalea's eldest sister. While Azalea hadn't hung around the two of them in their youth, they saw each other when Roslyn would come to the Reed's home.

Now the two were both here and had decided to take their dogs on a hiking trip to one of the old crumbling castles. Azalea was thrilled for the activity and dressed appropriately for the winter cold and ocean spray. Apollo and Artemis, her two Doberman dogs, walked ahead of the two. They played with Roslyn's never going too far ahead or out of sight. "Thank you for inviting me to come," she panted softly as they trekked uphill. Azalea was quite active and in good shape, but hills always proved to be her worst enemy. She wasn't complaining, however. She loved hikes and being outside. "That case we're working on is crazy, right?" Her cloudy breath in the cool air floated above her head with ease. "It looks like it's an easy one though. All of the evidence adds up and we have the suspect in custody. I would have never thought I'd see something like what we're working on now."

@Roslyn Hayes

Roslyn had taken quite a liking to Azalea. As the youngest child in the Hayes family she’d never really thought about mentoring anyone younger. She figured her protective instincts in regards to this particular Reed were not at all dissimilar to the feelings one would have for a younger sibling.

It made wanting to grab the younger witch and smoother her in affection quite difficult at times. Roslyn didn’t think her fellow Auror would take very kindly to her ruffling her hair and pulling her in for hugs. She also didn’t want to make it seem like she thought of her as less than competent.

A department like theirs could see her attachment as favoritism she was sure.  Or like Azalea couldn’t hold her own without Ros looking after. Which she did, quietly. She could be subtle when she wanted, thank you.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t coddle her a bit when they were just out for a hike. Roslyn had a tendency to let her affections for people pretty loose when she wasn’t in uniform. (Her one exception being when she bothered Fergie at his office. But he was too adorable not to glomp constantly.)

Walking along with a grin on her face was easy, though. “Moose play nice!” she hollered, eyeing her Australian Shepherd. She had a sneaking suspicion that her little monster had to be mixed with something else considering how truly humongous he was getting. She didn’t worry about it too much considering he was around two Dobermans, though, so it wasn’t like he was likely to crush them with his high spirited playing.

Moose definitely resembled his master when it came to both sprinting and likelihood of crushing his friends in expansive hugs and playfulness. “You’re quite welcome!” She said enthusiastically, playfully bumping Azaleas shoulder with her own. “It’s always nice to get out and not focus on things.” She admitted with a bit of a sigh. “It is.” she agreed, her face blank for a moment, before she focused on Moose. “It makes me angry but mostly it just makes me sad.” her tone was flat and some of the anger bled into it before her face softened. “Not much we can do now but see if the charges stick.” she’d make absolutely certain they would, of course.

No one escaped justice in the end. And certainly not this particular cretin. “How are ye settling in? Anyone heckling you too badly?” she asked, casting curious sea green eyes on the other witch.

Roslyn's confidence the case would be closed soon was admirable. One day, Azalea hoped to be on that same level. For now, while she could see evidence pile up and all of the pieces come together, there was always a slight doubt in her mind that the closing of a case and achieving justice where it was needed most would slip through her fingers. Too many times she watched people in her past get away with heinous crimes. Justice had yet to be served for their victims-Azalea being one of them.

Azalea looked up at the other witch and shook her head. "I'm settling in easily. I've already been here for six months, which is almost impossible yo believe." Had it really been that long? She did the math mentally and was right. "I remember being terrified that I wasn't going to make it in the beginning. So mamy quit simply because they couldn't handle it. There was one that was quite..... Intimate to put it vaguely, and I remember thinking that it was going to make or break my career. I made it though," she offered a half-smile in Roslyn's direction.

Azalea was never super chipper and ecstatic with her emotions. Not like Roslyn who had an endless amount of energy and optimism that was too contagious. "It's been a little rough, I'll admit. I was talking to my cousin, Edan about it and he encouraged me to compartmentalize. That's something I'm still working on but I think I'm getting better at it."

Thankfully no one had been giving her a hard time. There were a couple of girls in the beginning who did everything they could to get under her skin. Azalea had been better than thrm in every way- wealth, blood status, wardrobe choices, patience, holding her tongue, processing and analyzing crime scenes and evidence. She worked hard and made it a point to never let them know just how much they made the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand frigid in annoyance and dislike. Their presence was only temporary. After they were shown a crime scene of a dismembered body, they had left being too overwhelmed. Azalea remembered feeling triumphant at their squeals of disgust and winning when they failed to show the next day.

"Everyone has been helpful or they've kept to themselves. I'm still one of the newest members so some people like to try to use me to go get their coffee or turn in their paperwork. If I like them enough, I don't mind. If I don't or we've barely spoken to each other, I stir in a packet of salt and they never ask me to do it again." Her behavior was a little childish, she knew. Azalea could understand how someone would see her as being immature. She liked to see it as her setting up lines and boundaries and marking her spot as an investigative auror.

"How long have you been an auror? Have you always wanted to go into magical law enforcement?"

Confidence was definitely something Ros had in abundance. Mostly she was pretty sure of herself and her abilities and tended to just ... forge on through whatever situation came at her. Part of it came with experience, of course, but part of it was also how success bolstered that feeling. The more success you had under your belt the more you could feel confident in your work. It worked the same as anything else. Roslyn firmly believed that justice won out in the end, it just took a bit for it to catch up to the lucky ones. Eventually, though, everyone paid for their crimes one way or the other. Those that committed violent crimes had a tendency to surround themselves with the unsavory types. Violent delights had violent ends, she thought quite grimly.

"Glad to hear." she said, approvingly. "A lot of people find they don't have the stomach for crime scenes and they definitely don't expect to confront victims the way we do, sometimes." especially when there was nothing to be done. It was... difficult to examine a crime scene after a creature attack, for one. Some wizards tended to really like wreaking pain on their victims, too, getting creative about applying certain spells or curses to maximum effect. "Thats good advice." she said, very much agreeing. The job would be unbearable otherwise. She couldn't help the laughter that bubbled out of her throat a moment later. "They'd deserve it." she said with a lopsided grin. Definitely a witch after her own heart. "Eight years now." she said, doing a mental tally. "It was either this or curse breaking. My brothers and my dad are all curse breakers. I wanted to help, though, and this seemed the better way." she wasn't sure what cinched it for her, probably the war, though. That sense of wanting both to survive and also help those that were too weak to help themselves. "How about you?" she asked curiously, well aware that they grew up in different times.

"My initial plan was to be a potioneer. It's my family's business " How interesting it was to think of how her family followed that path. Roslyn's had too, most of them being curse breakers. Curious how this seemed to be the tradition with so many families who were financially stable to one degree or another. It was the safest way to ensure a job and develop a skill that they had been taught since childhood. From an early age Azalea was taught how to brew harmless potions. With her father's shop and his ample knowledge, she was able to learn easilyat home and get help with summer assignments when needed.

"I was at school during The Great War." Flashbacks came to mind but she wore a mask to cover the pain that still lingered. Without getting into too much detail  she continued on. "I saw a lot of punishment get avoided for those who deserves it. Not every victim was able to have justice rightfully served on their behalf. I want to change that."

Azalea chewed the inside of her cheek quietly. "I'm a victim of this myself." She allowed the words to hang in the air as they climbed over some bigger rocks in their way. "I guess you can say I have a personal agenda. A personal vendetta is probably the best way to describe it. Despite whatever you want to call it, I keep it professional. I'm not investigating old happenings, but I want to ensure people get what they deserve no matter what the consequences may be."

There was at least an 8-year difference in their career paths. Azalea was still so new and felt so much younger after hearing how long Roslyn had been an investigative auror. For being nineteen, she already had so much baggage on her shoulders. Mentally it weighed her down. Physically, she kept her head and shoulders high so no one would know the difference. She liked Roslyn and was growing closer with her every day. Their Scottish origins made it easy to connect and she was glad for the instant friendship and mentorship she received from the elder witch. Perhaps one day she'd tell her if her past? She certainly wasn't looking for opportunities to do so or to have someone pity her because of it.

Years ago, Azalea gave up in happy endings for herself. She was convinced she had drawn the short straw in life and it was only going to get worse. Despite whatever life had in store for her, she wanted to help others get some what of a happy ending for themselves-seeing that justice was served properly-even though she may never have that chance for herself.

"Potioneering or dancing," she interjected quickly before Roslyn could have too much of a chance to poke at her history. "I would've followed in my father's footsteps or strive to be a dance instructor I believe." She summarized her answer quickly. "If I didn't become an auror, that's what I would have pursued."

"Potions, eh? Thats a bit different." she mused. Though she supposed since it was the family business it didn't necessarily mean that she was passionate about it. Just because her own family traditions aligned with her profession a bit more than Azalea's didn't mean Auror's didn't utilize potions. Inclusion into the academy was, after-all, dependent on your Potion NEWT. "Thats a good motivator." she admitted, letting Moose distract her with his happy grin. "You'll want to hold on to that when things get difficult." she added, because it was inevitable that they would. There was always a point when the questioned their own job sometimes. If seeing the things they did was worth it all in the end.

As soon as the response started to shift, that was when you knew that it was time to retire. She hadn't gotten there yet herself, and she doubted that line would be a place she reached anytime soon but it was definitely food for thought. The brunette blinked, a bubble of cold dread settling in her stomach for a second, as the rest of Azalea's words registered. She wasn't entirely sure how to take Azalea's admission. While she freely admitted it was personal her phrasing was a bit, well... Roslyn had spoken to enough victims to recognize something in Azalea's wording that set off a few alarm bells. "It's important not to stay stuck in the things you can't change in order to move forward." she offered gently, eyeing the girl with a good deal of concern, though definitely not pity.

Now that it was on her radar, however, Roslyn would be looking. 

"I could definitely see you as a dancer." she offered, grinning, and hoping to lift the somber mood, at least a little. "What sort of dance is your favorite?" she tacked on, genuinely interested.

Perhaps it was her pride, or ignorance, to purposefully ignore Roslyn's weary look. She continued following her dogs while still listening to the elder. She knew that the words Roslyn spoke were true. How was she to move on when she was reminded of him every day? How could she tell Roslyn that as much as she tried to move on, he was always there in the corners of her mind. "It a bonus if I can get justice for myself, but it's meaningful if I can help others."

She was grateful for the change in topic. It was getting far too serious and far too personal. Azalea wasn't ready to have that discussion with Roslyn-nit that she was planning to tell her. There were a select handful of people who did and that was how she planned to keep it. Not even her own family our cousin knew the extent of trauma she suffered.

She pulled a bottled water out of her bag and took a sip before placing it back with ease. "I typically do hip-hop or interpretive dance. I can do jazz, tap, and ballroom too but those aren't as fun. I'm in an experienced class, but if you ever wanted to learn some moves, we could find ourselves a practice room and I can teach you," she offered. She liked Roslyn despite her being a few years older than her. There was a certain connection between the two of them that Azalea hadn't had with others in sometime. It was difficult to describe but she was grateful for the company.

"Roslyn, what do you enjoy doing in y---" before she could finish her question, the dogs began alarmingly barking. Her dobermans seemed to go on high alert as they would run a little bit ahead, bark, and then circle back to Azalea keeping close to her to protect her. Something wasn't right. The witch pulled her wand out immediately and gave Roslyn a weary look. Apollo and Artemis both ran around a corner their warnings growing louder and desperate. At first, she wondered if what lied ahead had anything to do with her trauma she avoided for so long. She needed to think logically. Her dangerous past wasn't always around the corner waiting for her. Artemis came bounding around the corner again back into view and walked next to Zae. The hairs on the back of her neck stood with fright. Her breathing free heavier as they drew nearer. Azalea was in defensive mode as they rounded the corner.

Justice for yourself. What sort of justice was Azalea pondering, though? So many questions and not nearly enough answers but she'd make it a point to discretely look into it. Whatever it was didn't seem particularly harmless and it sent her instincts screaming.

"I've done ballroom before, actually, and I did a little bit of a ballet when I was young." she admitted, smiling. Her mother had tried making her learn an instrument but she hadn't been a particularly good student. She knew how to play the violin, sort of, but had just not been as dedicated as she should have been. She'd taken to dancing a bit better, since it was more active, but had opted out of ballet and begrudgingly followed through ballroom. "I'm a bit out of practice with some, so it would definitely be fun." she still would rather watch the ballet now days but she sort of enjoyed quite a few ballroom dances. Interpretive dance sounded interesting, too.

Then the dogs started acting up and it sent her into alarm mode rather quickly. She flicked her wrist, feeling her wand materialize as she gripped it and glanced around as they walked forward. Nothing seemed... out of place exactly though it was eerily quiet... "Keep a sharp eye out, something seems off and the dogs are reacting." she murmured, nodding ahead, as they walked forward.