Cash wrinkled his nose at her, his mouth twisted; it would be obvious to anyone looking that he did not believe her. For one thing, he already had too much background information. And for another, Tiberius' wife would know far too well that keeping anything from him was a fool's errand, and Antigone did not strike him as a fool.

He drew from the cigarette and blew a puff of smoke in her direction. "Romantic fling," Cash said, "It ended poorly." That did not encapsulate the issue.

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MJ made this!

It was clear from the look on his face that he hadn't bought it which irritated her, why was it such a stretch of his imagination to think she was pregnant? Did he think the gap between the last time she'd publicly been pregnant was too suspicious? What did he know about reproduction anyway? He wasn't even married, he didn't know whether she'd had a miscarriage every month since or not. Maybe he just doubted her because of the perceived coincidental timing but that was incredibly unfair!

Now she couldn't trust his answer. He might be lying to her because he thought she'd lied first. Which yes, she had, but he couldn't know that! "I told you something I haven't even told Tiberius yet and that's all you have?" She was trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice but she was only mostly succeeding.

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"You really expect me to believe that?" Cash said quizzically; his tone wasn't offended or even particularly harsh, just on the baffled side of neutral. He had thought that she was smarter than this.

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MJ made this!

"Why wouldn't you?" She wasn't hiding her suspicion at this point, she couldn't fathom what possible reason he had to doubt her lie. Tiberius would probably buy into her lie more than his cousin was at present!

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"Come on now, Antigone," Cash said; he wanted to laugh at her, but he didn't think she would take it very well, so he restrained the impulse. "If you're a part of this family, you should be a better liar."

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MJ made this!

Well that was offensive.

She took another drag of the cigarette and raised her eyebrows at him. "Why shouldn't I be in the family way, Cassius?" For the first time there was a harshness in the way she spoke. He couldn't know about her complicated reproductive facilities - not unless Tiberius had said something but that was ridiculous - so why was he so adamant that she was lying?

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"Well I don't know," Cash said; he rolled his eyes at her. "That's why I asked, keep up." He was being a bit of a dick and he knew it, but her lying was such a waste of both their energies that he could not help it.

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Her eyebrows came crashing back down into a scowl. The more he accused her of lying the more determined she was to convince him that she really was pregnant, not that that was something she could really prove immediately. Or at all.

"Look," she spat, "I gave you an answer, it's not my fault if you had a stupid pointless question!" Tig was adamant that his suspicion couldn't have come from her delivery of the lie, she hadn't given him any physical cues to suggest his question hit a sensitive subject! At least not from her recollection. "I'm so sorry to have disappointed you with the news of my forthcoming child! What were you hoping I'd say?" If she wasn't careful she was going to forget that she actually wasn't pregnant.

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She was starting to make him feel tired, and bored, as well as annoyed. Cash took a drag of his cigarette. "First of all, I wouldn't care even if you were pregnant," Cash said; he was disinterested in children even when they were his actual nieces and nephews, and he didn't like Antigone or Tiberius so - really, his non-reaction was accurate. Except: "Second of all, I know you're lying, so I have truly no idea why you insist on wasting my time like this."

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MJ made this!

Tig hadn't expected to find this conversation frustrating which made it all the more frustrating to her. She couldn't quite understand why and how their conversation had derailed so suddenly. What was she missing?! There were so many things he'd said she could rail against but she had to hone in on the one thing that was bugging her most of all. "How can you know?"

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Cash ground his cigarette out on the railing and flicked the remainder out into the darkness beneath them. "I've lost interest in this conversation," he announced to her; if Tiberius hadn't shared Cash's part of the scheme with her, then Cash certainly was not going to. He stepped past her, intending to head back inside and - ugh - subject himself to the rest of the family.

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MJ made this!

There were two options available to her: let him leave and go right back to where she'd been when she'd found him or take the more confrontational route. He admittedly wasn't one of those people who riled her so easily she'd take leave of her senses with the slightest provocation, but every instinct was telling her he knew something she didn't and if she let him go now she might never have the chance of finding it out.

If the cost was ruining whatever accord they'd struck up between them then so be it.

Tig swooped in and barred his way with an outstretched arm. What remained of her cigarette was clenched tightly between the fingers at the end of that arm. "What do you know?" There was probably a more diplomatic tone of voice to address him with but it was eluding her at present.

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Cash stopped at her outstretched arm, although he was fairly certain he could get past her if he tried. "Fuck off," he enunciated at her, politeness disappearing with the arrival of her confrontation.

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MJ made this!

Aside from simply being frustrating, he was jeopardizing their peaceful not-friendship which was surprisingly important to her when she was trapped with the entirety of his family for days on end. Why did he have to be so uncooperative and offensive?!

Her free hand came to rest over the pocket containing her wand but she didn't draw it. "If you don't tell me what you know I will force it out of you - I've learned a lot from your family." She hoped she'd be able to intimidate him or at least wear him down first, he was hardly the most imposing Lestrange how hard could it be? She was used to fighting with and threatening Ellory but Tiberius was really the only other person she unleashed her temper upon. Not that she was enraged now exactly, but she did feel off, as if she was wearing mismatched shoes or her corset was on backwards. Tiberius would be... Tig cut that train off thought off abruptly as she remembered it was definitely not Tiberius she was cornering now. "In the interest of our... rapport, I'd really rather you didn't make me get my wand out."

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It was almost offensive to have Antigone Lestrange threatening him; even if she was good with a wand (which: maybe) there was nothing she could do to Cash that couldn't be outdone by his father, that hadn't already. He rested his own hand over his wand pocket, equally ready to draw his wand if she pulled first - offense aside, he wasn't going to just stand on the porch and let her hex him.

"Let me pass," Cash said. His tone was more mellow this time; he was entirely confident he could duck under her arm and flit past her before she could stop him, being very much more versatile than a housewife, but he wasn't interested in turning his back on her if she was going to hex him.

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MJ made this!

Why did no one ever take her threats seriously? Also, more importantly, why was Cassius so damn stubborn? Tig huffed and reluctantly drew her wand. "If you don't tell me I will not stop until I find out. I'll use any means necessary." She looked him dead in the eye to psyche him out but mostly because she was planning on attempting legilimency in a few seconds time. "Any means."

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