Sweat covered his brow as the metallic training dummy shook under the force of Talbott's punches. Despite his schedule ending for that day, he had lingered as per usual, trying to busy himself, before deciding to at least make some use of his time and train. There was only so much one could do relating to paper work, especially since he already finished all his reports, went over them several times, rearranged them neatly in their files before taking them out for a final one over.

Every job had its boring parts, however lately he found himself wishing to be out there more than stuck inside the stuffy office. It felt as if the Ministry was suffocating him, slowly boxing in all his freedom. He never really had a taste for small talk in the past, now more so than ever, his colleagues' constant complaints, about the windows, the pay, the hours, the office space, everything appeared to rub him the wrong way.

Grinding his teeth, another punch landed, the metal clank reverberating through the room, pain travelling though his arm, causing him to squint to eyes. For a moment, a memory flashed before his eyes, Talbott sending it back where he believed it belonged as his knuckles broke against the hard surface, yet the voice still travelled through the confines of his mind "I told you to wrap your hands."

"I fucking did." He whispered under his breath as the memory blossomed in full force, eyes lowering as he sighed seeing the state of his hands. Apparently he did not perform a well enough job, binds coming undone, leaving room for error, allowing for the skin to break. Undoing the wraps, he tried once more, this time working more meticulously. Once done, he tested, a couple of punches rapidly being thrown. He could still feel the pain, however it was more numb. It would have to suffice for a few more hours until he would take time to heal the damage done.

Ignoring the door opening to the training room, he continued to attack thinking that whoever decided to walk in, would just turn around and leave him be "You do know that your schedule ended, right Talbott?" there was no reason for him to look over his shoulder in order to put a name to the voice, instead choosing to act as if he did not hear her "Very cute, but I do know your hearing is far better than mine."

"What do you want Mirunna? Can't you see I'm busy?"

She kept silent, watching him closely at how his body tensed as each punch appeared to have more force put into it. If that was a real person instead of a training dummy, they would have been knocked unconscious long ago "Come on, what's up with you?"

"Nothing." He hissed through his teeth, Mirunna's heels clicking on the floor as she approached him. As he felt her hand grab his wrist, he turned to glare.

"This is not nothing." Holding up his hand, she analyzed the bloody wrappings "You can talk to me, it's just us here."

Wiping away at his forehead, she let him go, obviously waiting for a response, one he was not willing to provide her with "Stand back, I don't want to accidentally hurt you." Taking a few steps back, Mirunna reached in her bag, pulling out some candy, watching him with a blank expression as she chewed absentmindedly.

"Have you tried the last ones received? They're excellent." Oh he knew what she was talking about, he knew damn well. But between Tonks trying to pull a fast one on him and Mirunna trying to steer the conversation in a direction he did not wish to allow, his nerves were getting closer to a breaking point.

Lowering his arms, he took a deep breath in, deciding to abandon the training since she was going to hinder him either way "All yours." He dryly added as he picked up his bag and went to the showers.

By the time he had finished, he did not expect for anyone to be there anymore, however look at behold, there stood Mirunna yet again, waiting for him to come out "We aren't done talking if that's what you reckoned."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, he just tried to wrap it up quickly "What would it take for you leave me alone?"

Smirking, she tapped a pointy nail against her lip, faking actually considering the answer to her question "I will take you actually talking about your feelings for once, talk about Talia."

It was the last straw, Talbott gripping tightly the handle of his bag. He could feel the strain on his body as he tried to hold back, however it just tripped everything in him, anger spilling as he raised the tone of his voice "I don't want to talk about her. I want to be left alone, for you to tell her to leave me all alone!" dropping the bag to the floor, his hands clenched to fists as he glared at Mirunna and her unimpressed faced that only served to anger him further "I am tired of you messing with me."

She nodded once, hands resting on her hips "Aha and all that anger inside of you, do you think it's doing any good? If you want her to actually leave you alone, do it yourself, I won't give you the easy way out." She noticed his body relaxing slightly, wide eyes watching her "Now, let's go grab a pint."

"I don't feel like it." Talbott quickly retaliated in a last attempt to get her off his case.

Smirking, she grabbed his bag holding it out to him "Oh no, that wasn't an invitation, it was an order Winger." He did not like the sudden use of his last name in such a tone "We might both be Aurors, but my experience outweighs yours yeah?" accepting defeat, he sighed, taking his bag from her grip and silently followed.

She had been a mystery for Talbott ever since her first appearance at the Auror training camp, there was just something about her he could not truly put his finger on. She appeared rather laid back, however he quickly learned that was not the case and that her bite did hurt. She appeared to be easy to talk to however and it was clear she poured her heart out whenever she felt someone needed help.

One pint, one pint and then he would go home. He would let her do the talking, grind his teeth and just get it over with since she would surely get bored of a one-sided conversation. As the cold liquid hit his parched lips, he was suddenly grateful for the free drink offered to him, despite the crowded bar.

"Just so you know, me and Talia haven't talked that much ever since she left, a letter here and there but nothing worth mentioning." she lowered her glass, leaning against the bar, eyes lost somewhere in the distance "I honestly think she had decided to keep her distance ever since she learned I used to have a thing for Jasper." That time, Talbott actually rolled his eyes however Mirunna payed no mind to him "Guess she has me on the potential enemy list, I don't know."

Following the trajectory of her gaze, he considered there was nothing of interest for him out there in the crowd "Why do I need to listen to this?"

Scoffing, she turned to look at him "You can at least humor me five minutes while you drink a beer right?" waving her hand to dismiss him, she took a big gulp before resuming "You need to listen to this because your feelings are going to get the best of you and it will show in missions. In case you forgot, you became an Auror due to your success with that mad man, but there is a reason why we keep recruits in training for three years."

That did spike his interest, brows lifting slowly as she continued.

She was right, that much he could admit. If he could not find a proper way to deal with everything that haunted him people, innocent people would be hurt due to a mistake he would make. And there would be no taking that back.

"You're only angry at yourself aren't you? For not being able to do more, save her, be happy?" for a moment it felt as if she was reading his mind entirely, his eyes turning to dangerous slits, however he soon found the idea ridiculous. She was just speaking from experience and nothing more "Look" she turned his way offering a small smile as she finally sat on the tall stool "It's alright to be angry, I get it, but also know that you are acting as if she ran away without telling you. You're showing an ugly side Talbott and I know that's not you. Being a victim isn't your color."

"I have been losing myself." He found himself admitting "But I just don't know what to do anymore to not think of her."

Her hand gripped his shoulder "Why are you trying so hard to forget her? You made a choice, but you two didn't break up." Patting his shoulder, she offered him a sly smile "You need to choose, either write to her and tell her that it's all over or tell her how you are, give her a sign, don't let your pride guide you."

Shaking his head, he washed down the bitter taste of her words with a mouthful of beer "It's not pride."

"Oh?" she cocked a brow, urging him to continue the statement however for once that day, she did not need to force his hand in order to receive an answer.

"I failed her." His words chocked him, having them verbalized like that tore new and old wounds alike. It felt as if he was exposed, bleeding and there was no potion or spell in the entire world to heal him "Please don't tell her." His eyes reflected panic for a brief moment, Mirunna picking up on it.

"Tell her what? I thought I told you we don't really talk." Downing her entire glass, she gently dabbed her lips with her fingertips "It's alright to worry, just not every damn time. Well I need to go, got a date."

"Excuse me?"

Mirunna tried not to laugh at his innocent expression, but still failed slightly as a smile bloomed "I told you all that I had to tell you. Now go home and think it over. Ta!" she waved, turning on her heels and just exiting the bar.

Talbott blinked a couple of times, the situation catching him off guard entirely, however he still smirked as he shook his head before turning to the bartended to order another drink.

It served him well, to get some things off his chest, to actually verbalize them, even if at the end of it all he did not really say that much. He still had not told her anything really, yet as he stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, he opened his mouth to speak "Guilt. Shame. Inadequacy." Sighing, he turned on the cold water, splashing his face over and over again before looking back to analyze himself "Love…"