The question took him aback for a moment, the surprise unfortunately plain as day on his face. No one had asked him that in a long time and he hadn't wanted to stop and think about the answer in almost as long. After a delay that felt longer to Spryly than it had actually been he forced a weak smile onto his face. "Course I am. Never been better. Got a new job 'n everything'." No amount of wishful thinking could let him unhear how hollow his words sounded. It sounded so false he felt as though he was actively insulting Lestrange's intelligence. He slid his face into his hands and kneaded his brow line with his fingertips. He sighed. "Pretend I didn' just tell you the biggest fuck off lie, will ya?" If he stopped lying to himself it'd all catch up with him and he wasn't ready to stop running from it all yet. Of course he never would be because the longer he ran the bigger the monster chasing him grew and the less equipped he was to confront it. What good would it do anyway?

Spryly lowered his hands and forced another smile that didn't reach his eyes. "How was the world cup then, eh?" Goddamn why was that the first thing on his mind, he didn't want to hear about the missed opportunity of a lifetime that he was still beating himself up over. At least if he'd turned up to try outs he could've known decisively whether or not it was meant to be. Now he'd never know for sure.

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