Felix's mind wandered as he listened to the sounds of the castle. His enhanced hearing gave him that ability, and for the most part it ended up hurting him. So when Emerson yelled at him, the young man flinched visibly before glaring at him. "You don't have to shout. I can hear just fine." He then got up, looking completely healed, eyebrows included, before walking over to his bed. Granted, there was a slight limp, but he healed faster than most. Once he sat down, the young man's gaze swept over to Emerson before continuing.

"As for food, I can smell a salad for sure. There's also fresh chicken noodle soup, with carrots and celery." Felix concluded as he watched the matron bring out exactly that. She leveled a glare at him for being up, but the young man just stared back until she relented and brought both their things of food over to them. He ate in silence, preferring to listen to what Emerson had to say before his gaze casually swept over to the entrance. "I can imagine that Summer is going to beat these doors down before long to figure out if I'm ok." He said with a small smile. He knew that it was no secret to the other Cervus that Summer truly cared for Felix as a brother, and the young man was sure that he'd be getting a stern talking to later from her for sure.

He chuckled a little after that before the matron came in, demanding that the two newcomers leave. Setting his bowl of soup down, Felix put himself squarely in her way. "Now you listen here ma'am. The two of us are hardly taking much room at all. That in itself nullifies your argument. However, Emerson and I are enjoying some small talk, and good company helps heal wounds, since you aren't as easily stressed. So, just turn around, and leave us in peace." Felix watched with inward amusement as the woman just stared before huffing and turning around to go back to her office.

Transfiguration was an elegant way in which to start the day, or so Delilah thought. The room was full up by the time Professor Ryther arrived, sorting herself out at the head of the room.

"Of course," Victor replied. She could feel the blush spread across her cheeks intensely. Who thanks someone for showing concern? she thought, almost kicking herself mentally before the Vulpes added, "I'd be willing to wager that by the end of this class, we'll have some far more entertaining mishaps than a simple fall."

His comment made her smile widen and Delilah couldn’t help but agree with a low giggle. It was hard to imagine laughing when this morning had gone as it had. With an elegant cursive she titled her book as well, filling in her name on an information card on the front before mentioning if he’d gotten her note. He was quick to respond.

"I did," he replied. “Oh good! I wasn’t sure, the hall was busy this morning,” she told him. It was doubtful that Screech would ever fail her, the barn owl was smart enough not to dawdle or get lost. Still, she felt obligated to ask, if only out of curiosity and a desire to keep the conversation flowing.

"I would gone to speak with you then, but I was preoccupied, as I'm sure you saw. I probably should have talked to you, though, instead of wasting my time with Abernathy," He explained dismissively. She nodded, licking her lips and knowing full well that the two boys had been deep in conversation, serious looks plastering their features, when she’d sent it over. Victor had seemed almost…momentarily pleased when Vance had approached him. Now he seemed as if the boy had pissed him off. Delilah was attentive enough to catch the change in his demeanor then. Her curiosity was in full swing but she merely shrugged in response to his words. “Everyone hates him,” she thought with a sigh. She had enough reason to be part of that club, given how lowly he looked upon Cervus students and above all, halfbloods. Yet she didn’t. Maybe I believe too much in the good in people.”

"I have the book back in my quarters. I could... meet you in the library after classes today, if that works for you?" he asked. She nodded again. “That’s perfect. I don’t have anything planned and the clubs won’t be starting up for a week or so. That and I have some things to return that I was allowed to take home for the summer,” she concluded.

Delilah’s attention was whisked away quickly as Vance Abernathy entered the room as Professor Ryther moved to close the door. He took a seat close to them but between a pair of dour looking girls from her own house. Delilah knew them both enough to feel disheartened. No wonder he thinks so little of us. The girls were shy creatures and tight lipped at that. She knew they weren’t the best at magic either, nor did they care to excel.

As Professor Ryther took them through the basics of conjuring, Delilah tuned into the lecture. She wrote a short paragraph in her notebook, reminding herself of the essentials. When they were tasked with conjuring a small stained glass object – with the goal of being appealing and of having an assortment of colors present – Delilah sat back in her seat to watch momentarily. As usual Bliss was first, twirling her wand in a knowing manner. Vance followed suit, as did Sam. Victor was quick as well. Delilah was in no rush. No sooner had Vance conjured his creation than the girl next to him sent an explosion of glass across the table. Another shattering sound came from the front and soon after Delilah conjured with ease a red, black and gold glass violin. The object was not typical to her but she’d made enough flowers and hearts for a lifetime. It was a thank-you gift to Lloyd and as class ended she was quick to stow it safely in her bag. Victor was quick to depart without a word, as was Sam. As Delilah slowly collected her things she watched as the room emptied out. Professor Ryther gave her a low smile as Delilah was last to depart, stepping into the halls and off to the remainder of her morning classes.

Lunch came upon her quicker than she would have liked. Delilah found herself engrossed in the material. Her lessons had always proved to be a good distraction. Sam slipped from her mind entirely. She found herself making her way to the Great Hall, her stomach growling from how little breakfast she’d managed to eat. As she turned the corner she paused briefly in her step as right before her was Vance (who else as of late?) and another of the Aretiem boys, one she recognized as often hanging around Abernathy. Delilah wasn’t intent on listening, she was merely surprised to have come so close to him without really noticing. Her hesitation in walking only spelt trouble however as the person behind her wasn’t paying much attention and walked right into her.

"Was there anything else?” she heard Vance say before her body unceremoniously lurched forward. Her foot slammed into the stone floor loudly but it wasn’t enough to stop her from being hurled forward by the person behind her. Their hands gripped her shoulders and as they tried to prevent themselves from falling by bracing themselves on her, Delilah was crudely pushed to the floor. She squealed, she couldn’t help it. She threw her hands out to catch herself but as her palms connected with the floor, her own weight and that of the person on top of her bore down on her wrists. A sickening crunch emanated from her right hand and the blond couldn’t help but inhale sharply. She didn’t scream, but her eyes watered immediately as pain shot through her fingers and up the length of her arm.

As she slammed into the floor, her face was forced to the concrete as well. The boy who was on top of her was muttering fierce apologies. “I didn’t see you, I’m s-so-sorry,” he was stammering. “Fuck,” Delilah cursed, her eyes narrow as she fought her desire to cry. As he rolled off her, the seventh year Cervus recognized the boy as a sixth year Vulpes, tall and well built. She recognized him from their Quodpot team and without a doubt he weighed over two hundred pounds. "No wonder I was pushed to the ground," she thought angrily. Delilah tossed her shoulders back and forced herself up off the floor, cradling her right hand towards her chest. A slew of other students were pausing and stopping to see what the chaos was in the midst of the hall. “Are you okay?” a first year girl asked innocently. “That was quite the fall,” another replied. Delilah felt herself paling as she leaned up against the wall, her eyes again downcast as she avoided the stares and pitying glances. She felt humiliated, especially with Vance there. Well, she didn’t know if he was staring or still standing there. She didn’t expect him to but if he was still there it made things worse.

“Do you need to go to the hospital wing?” someone asked. She shook her head, shakily withdrawing her wand from her bag with her left hand and gripping it tightly. Her knuckles were white as she held the ivory handle of her wand close to her chest, extending her fractured wrist out slightly but wincing from the wild burning pain emanating from her hand. She could barely move her fingers, she noticed. This was far from the first time she’d broken a bone, but it was still a shock to her. She hadn't anticipated another spill so soon.

“Brackium Emendo,” she thought forcefully, repeating the spell to herself twice in thought as she began circling her wand around her wrist. She concluded with a slight flourish before dropping the point which glowed white and blue into the joint. She hissed in pain as her arm seemed to shift. The bones cracked loudly, enough for the first year girl who’d displayed concern to gasp. Delilah clenched her teeth shut, focusing her attention on her wrist wholly. As the pain subsided and the glow from her wand became subdued the blond slowly flexed her fingers. It had worked, most fortunately. “Ferula,” she continued, watching as her wand conjured a slew of white bandages and a splint base for her wrist, wrapping the recovering injury quickly before she covered it with her sleeve.

With that handled, Delilah stowed her wand in her pocket, bowing to collect a handful of books that she’d dropped during the fall. The Vulpes scratched his head and looked at her speechlessly. As she stood, she looked up at the boy with a fierce stare. “Best watch where you walk next time,” she said sharply before quickly walking towards the Great Hall with her chin tucked and her hands clutching her books tightly.

Lyle was in the midst of assembling the food he’d gathered into a rather unconventional sandwich when Lloyd arrived. The art of sandwich making required utter focus, so he didn’t do much more upon hearing her voice than look over and offer a big smile (his earlier fit of mopeyness was completely eradicated, by this point, or maybe it had been washed away after the fifty-third water balloon of the day had hit him; there really wasn’t any way to be sure) before plunging back into the task. After a short while, the monstrosity on his plate had ceased to be merely a sandwich. That classification was nowhere near adequate. It was a small tower of bread, meat, cheese and gravy. Four pieces of fresh bread, layers of thick-cut roast beef, mashed potatoes, and gravy, three different kinds of cheese. As he lifted it to take a bite, he realized that he’d probably missed something and looked over. His overlarge sandwich sort had started to sag in the middle, so he had to reposition his small hands around it to keep it from falling apart entirely.

”Huh? Oh, I’ll be busy?” He never lacked for things to do, between his myriad causes, hobbies, and running a newspaper, but he wasn’t aware of anything pressing that needed his attention. Had he forgotten something that Lloyd was aware of? A dollop of mashed potatoes slipped free from between the second and third pieces of bread to land on the table with a plop as he furrowed his brow and tried to think what he might be not remembering. He was lousy with keeping appointments and the like, and trying to maintain some sort of schedule had only made things worse. Schedules were very easy to lose in the shuffle, especially for someone as scatter-brained as Lyle, and even more especially for someone as scatter brained as Lyle who kept reams and reams of notes and ideas stacked about.

He knew he didn’t have any interviews today. He’d remember that, since it was the first day of classes and he’d only chanced to get Demetrio’s story in the first place. He hadn’t set up any events for any of the organizations he was a part of either. The wrinkling of his brow grew even more intense, and then suddenly, his eyes shot very wide open. Naire! In the excitement of the early morning, he’d utterly misplaced his misgivings about the night before and how he’d been unable to find his friend until just before bedtime. Then, in class, Hughes had set them right to work, and he’d been paired with Vin entirely across the room from the Vulpes shutterbug. He’d been so despondent afterwards that he probably would have forgotten to eat, had it not been for Vin’s intervention. He shot up off the bench, his head popping up over the other Ferre students in gopher-like fashion as he tried to find a particular mop of dark brown hair amidst the more bookish House’s lunch-goers.

”You two go on ahead,” he said quickly, the words practically tripping over one another, as if the extra second he would have lost speaking them normally might be the difference between finding Naire and not. He swung one leg over the bench, then the other, taking a quick bite of his sandwich, which he was obviously going to take with him... wherever it was that he was going. Lloyd and Vin would have to guess, because the only explanation he offered for his rapid departure was a food-muffled ”Haf vun! Jeers!” before he finished chewing, swallowed, and took off as quickly as he could without causing his lunch to explode from his hands in a shower of mushiness.

He did a more thorough appraisal of the Vulpes table on his way by, managing to get another few bites in on his way out of the Great Hall. His plan was to backtrack to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, and hopefully run into his chum on the way. It turned out he barely needed a plan at all, since the very boy he sought was standing not too far at all from the entrance to the Great Hall. ”There you are!” he exclaimed brightly, before using his tongue to work a bit of stubborn roast beef out from between his teeth. ”Hughes-“ He paused, glancing around quickly to ensure the man wasn’t looming in earshot, then continues. ”Hughes got me in such a state after class I didn’t even think to wait up for you. Sorry, mate.” His brow creased. ”You aren’t mad at me, are you? I mean, last night and all, and Vin’s right, I’m sure, but I worry, you know…” Even he realized that he’d just made no sense at all. ”I mean, well, just, you aren’t mad at me, are you?” Another gob of potato, now mixed with gravy, dropped out of the forgotten sandwich and landed on his shoe. In hindsight, he probably should have made two smaller sandwiches and brought one for Naire.

Victor Calza

Victor returned Teiver's hey with a close lipped smile, due to the fact that he was currently chowing down on a sandwich. She was apparently just as hungry as he was, as they began eating in relative silence, more or less oblivious to the chatter of students coming and going around them.

But then Teiver's fork clattered to the table, she stifled a swear, and panic wrote itself over her features. Victor had been expecting her to do something sudden after that, so it was little surprise to him when she snatched him by the arm and pulled him along with her. The pleading in her voice worried him, as Teiver was almost always as cool and collected as he was himself. She asked him to come along with her, with no questions. Victor of all people could understand the need for that. There was something Teiver needed to do immediately, and she wanted his help with it. She was one of the few, perhaps the only, people at this school he was willing to assist without question.

He kept pace with her as she stormed out of the Great Hall, his wand ready to slip into his fingers at a moment's notice. He couldn't help but wonder where Teiver was taking him. She'd shown him a good deal of hidden areas in the castle, but there were indeed still some secrets they kept from each other. He didn't tell Teiver everything about his life for her own protection. Her reasons for holding things from him were her own, and he would respect that until she decided otherwise.

Garrett Flint

So it was terrible what had happened to Emerson and Felix Two, of course, but very few people in the room had noticed that Garrett Flint had almost choked to death on a bunch of beetle legs when the explosion went off. Well, maybe not to death, but startling explosions were not healthy when one was trying to down something inexplicably disgusting. He really hadn't expected them to taste so bad. Maybe they were dung beetle legs or something. The thought made him want to go wash his mouth out again.

Justin had gotten a little freaked out when Emerson nearly blew himself up, which was understandable. Flint liked to look on the bright side. They'd be fine. Worse things had happened to him, like that time in fourth year Transfigurations when his hands had turned into canine paws, and for some reason they just wouldn't turn back. It had taken them three days to figure out how to reverse whatever magic Flint had stupidly performed on himself.

Okay, so maybe that wasn't worse, but it had certainly been more embarrassing. Emerson and Felix would be up in no time, and laughing about this, as would they all. He found Justin and Bliss making their way away from the infirmary, and judging by the look on Justin's face, they were fine. Flint figured Justin was just angry at himself for not keeping a closer eye on Emerson's potion, being the master of the subject as he was. He could have easily prevented this whole thing. But hey, no harm had been done. All was still well. The only reason Flint was late on the scene was, well... he had to wash out the damn beetle leg smell. Friends being injured was awful, of course, but literal bug-breath was something he was not willing to bear for very long.

"We can't go see them? Good. It would feel wrong if I was visiting someone else in the infirmary, to be honest. I'd feel like jumping in a bed next to them to make things seem more normal."

“Sorry, man. Maybe my ears were damaged in the blast,” Emerson said while smiling and probing his left ear with a finger. As Felix walked over to his cot, Em sat up folding his legs indian style and listened to Felix as he sniffed the air perfectly determining their lunch menu. The matron came and left the food, but Emerson was slightly amazed. “That's, uh, quite the sniffer you have there, spot on,” he said, repulsed by the awkward...compliment he offered. He knew of the slew of magical traits uncommon to most witches and wizards and an impossible sense of smell wasn't a very good sign, but he stopped himself there. Felix's sense of smell was nothing that Em had any right to speculate on so he focussed on his soup instead.

While spooning mouth fulls of soup and slurping up noodles he decided that it was time to get anecdotal. Silly stories about one's past were always a great way to encourage friendship.

“So, one time in elementary school we had chicken noodle soup,” he started, “I promise that's not the whole story, see there was really mean kid, like typical movie-style bully and I hated him. He would always tease me for hanging around girls and weirdos too much or the way I didn't always get the movie reference or how to work all the Muggle stuff. Anyway, one day I was so upset I went out and bought a potion from a gag shop that makes whoever drinks it act like a chicken, for about 20 minutes or something like that.
So the next day we were having chicken noodle soup for lunch and I did that not-so-casual-walk-by-and-pour-in-the-potion thing and it worked, I think because he was a little preoccupied dealing with someone who looked at him funny. When it started working I was back at my table with a bunch of girls and weirdos and I chuckled when he started pecking around and stood up to scratch at the floor, but then he started screeching out horrible chicken noises and I cracked up mid soup drinking and one of those long thin Campbell's noodles went up my nose. I laughed even harder then with a noodle dangling out of my left nostril, you know ten year old comedy....wait, no, I'd definitely find that funny right now. So he kept acting like a chicken all day (probably because I put it in chicken noodle soup) and he got in big trouble. It was one of my proudest moments.”

With his awesome soup story over he saw Felix look to the doors behind him, Em turned back to see what it was but after Felix spoke he said, “Yeah, if a bright smile and kind words could beat down doors. She'll probably be out there with Justin, who, from the sound of his shouting match with the nurse, he nearly did break in. He didn't look very happy when we...left Potions.” Emerson smiled, Justin was furious, for whatever reason, he probably was just upset because he could have easily prevented any of that, he probably could have made the whole class' potions long before the class was over.

When the matron came in Em was nibbling away at his salad like a rabbit and lifted a hand to his brow and found that the swelling had gone down and that a few patches of fuzz had started to grow back in. He marveled at how assertive Felix had been, Em had never pegged him as the type to talk back to authority but he supposed that there were different sorts of quiet. Speaking of which he thought of Felix and Rosie, sure he and Summer hung around a lot but they didn't sneak off like he and Rosie did. He figured he might ask, hopefully prompting some of Felix's own stories or defensive coverups, either way worked. With the huffing healer gone he asked with his mouth full so to sound casual, “ I see a lot of you and Rosie together, what's that about?” He wiggled the fuzz patches before swallowing and going on, “I specifically see the two of you running off to some undisclosed location whenever a bunch of people show up in the common room.” He kept up the fuzz exercises and was grinning at the other Cervus. Em wasn't big into romance and stuff like that but he hoped it would get Felix talking and he couldn't help the prying middle school girl part of him that just plain wanted to know about people's private affairs.

Bliss Turner

The entirety of the situation seemed to be taking over Justin's composure as Bliss arrived next to him. He seemed to have his attention on Emerson as usual, so Bliss knew she'd barely get any words in between his quick remarks and pacing. Pulling back her arms from the brief hug to bring him back down to Earth, she placed both hands at her mouth as if praying to listen to the news of the two boys. She knew Justin knew every little detail, so questions would be at a minimum for her during this conversation. Letting Justin talk out everything that had happened would also prove positive for him, so he would get everything off of his chest. ”They got some burns, but they’ll be okay. At least that’s what that hermaphroditic sawbones they call a nurse told me. He/she won’t actually let me in to see him. Err. Them. Something about the place being too full for visitors. And then I was yelling, and then we were both yelling, and…”

Bliss was thankful that the two boys were safe, but especially Emerson. She knew Justin would be nothing without Emerson safe, so she gave imaginable Emerson in her mind a high-five because she'd have to warn him to never do anything stupid again for the way Justin ends up. She remembered how she thought it was her felix, but not she remembered that her sister was very close to the one in the infirmary. Shit. The word shouted in her head as she now fully knew who the boy was. She thought about running off to get her sister, but it seemed Justin was getting ready to go on another long leg of words. I’ll be fine. Do you want to take my wand or something? Because you have that ‘Don’t Do Anything Crazy, Justin’ look on your face, so, if it makes you feel better, here.” Maybe it was the look that she had been feeding him the whole time she stood here because he was having to reassure her he was fine. She washed the look off quickly so she could gather herself, barely smiling when he pulled out his wand. "Or you can just distract me. Or… oh, Sorkin-walk.”

The eye roll that Bliss was given to Justin was due to the actually idea that she was good at the whole walking and talking. Even Justin knew she seemed to just spill out nonsense until he wanted to rather escape than anything else. She let the thoughts of Flint come to mind again before she knew it. She let her hand slip from Justin's as his words shocked her. ”You should talk to Flint, by the way." The color drained from her face at the idea that Justin knew what she'd thought earlier. She knew that couldn't be possible, so she brushed off the idea quickly. "I know." Emotionless, she pulled Justin to a still. This was probably the only time she'd get actually get to talk to Justin about Flint, so she let herself open up to her friend. "I still have feelings for Flint." The words came out more as a whisper as she thought of all the reasons she shouldn't voice the truth aloud.

She wanted to wait for Justin's response, but it seemed her timing was worse than she knew. Flint was headed their way, and Bliss felt like the world was at a stand still. "Don't say a word." She said to Justin as Flint closed the distance between them. "Please." She mouthed the word because Flint would hear it as he spoke up. "We can't go see them? Good. It would feel wrong if I was visiting someone else in the infirmary, to be honest. I'd feel like jumping in a bed next to them to make things seem more normal." She looked at Justin with a look of question on her face. "You've already been to the infirmary? Who'd you see?" The confusion filled Bliss to a point where the awkwardness she feared would boil over soon turned into the three friends just talking.

---

Zackariah Everett

I still have feelings for Flint.

Several responses came to mind when his coaxing Bliss to speak with Flint resulted that bit of very revelatory verbal diarrhea. The first was to roll his eyes at her and drag out a very long Duuuuuuuuuh. Justin sometimes forgot that he often had a better grasp of his cohorts feelings than they seemed to. Part of it was the instincts of a born Legilimens, yes, but much more of it was the tawdry intellectual love affair that he’d been carrying on with the harsh dominatrix known as human nature for years*. Not really in the mood to be slapped, he shuffled through the other responses. Well, you should talk to him about that then was the one he ultimately decided on (with Well, you should probably talk to Summer about that then coming in a very close second; it was a photo-finish, really).

He didn’t have time to give any response, though, because Flint was upon them. Bliss all but begged him to play dumb, which was completely unnecessary. Justin may have been a first-rate ass, but he wasn’t particularly cruel. He cared about both Bliss and Flint much more than he cared about, say, himself. Probably not as much as he cared about Emerson, but they were right at the top of the list. Well, it was more of a pile than a list.

He smirked as Flint poked fun at his own tendency toward injury. Good ole’ Flint, always ready with a dose of self-deprecating humor. One would think that Justin didn’t deprecate him enough, if one was completely deaf. ”Nice to see you again, Beetle-breath.” He dug into his bag for a silver sickle and flipped it into the air neatly for Flint to catch. He’d technically won their little betting game, but the explosion had pre-empted Justin either beating him or paying up, and no one could say that Justin Hardy didn’t pay his debts. He couldn’t think of any Lannister references that wouldn’t be non-sequitur, but fortunately, Bliss stepped in to provide all the comedic fodder he’d need.

“Oh, Bliss. Bliss Bliss Bliss,” Justin lamented, reaching over to pat Bliss on the head like she was a child. “Vulpes should not come in blond.” He shook his head and retracted his hand, bringing it to rest clutching the strap of his messenger bag, just below his clavicle. ”See, when you have to explain a joke, you know that someone’s doing it wrong. He meant that he spends so much time in the infirmary, he’d feel weird going there to see someone else.”

Okay, maybe he was laying it on a little thick, but they’d forgive him. They always forgave him. Bliss, especially, would forgive him, since he’d managed to completely blow the conversation off of any meaningful course relating to her rhymes-with-peelings about rhymes-with-splint**. He wet his lips; time to lend them yet another helping hand. Someday, he needed to write down a big list of all the incredibly manipulative nice things he’d done for people without them realizing it. He’d have that list stored in his vault, and only revealed posthumously. When Flint gave his eulogy, he’d read it out loud to everyone there, and there would be a magical moment where they all realized that he was the sole architect of most of their happiness. Or something like that.

”I actually need to run. I have a date with the school’s sexiest professor.” It was, not strictly, a lie. He did indeed have some business with one Professor Nolan Pilsworth, with his piercing blue eyes, boyish good looks, and very impressive arms. Justin always found himself looking at the man’s eyes, then the man’s arms. He was thankful he never had to pay any attention in the man’s class, because really, he’d probably get absolutely nothing done. ”That’s right,” he intoned, as if they were actually wondering who he was talking about. ”I’m off to tap me a piece of that sweet, sweet, wrinkly Rockwell ass.” That was… definitely a lie. He didn’t want them getting wise to his Emerson scheme. Or did he? It was getting a little convoluted even for him. At any rate, he didn’t want them aware of this particular segment of it.

He broke away from them, treading a few steps backward while he waited for parting shots. After that, he’d be off.


*If this relationship were not metaphorical, their safe-word would be existential crisis
**”Carrot” would also have been an acceptable rhyme, if anyone actually called Flint “Garret”

Vin chuckled and chattered with Lyle as he grabbed various foods from the table. Helping himself to some chicken, then some turkey, he made sure to add a little veggies to his plate as well. He wasn't a huge fan of fruit, but he managed to talk himself into a couple strawberries to round out his meal. Proud of himself, he began his feast as Lloyd appeared. She sat next to him, but farther away than normal. Vin smiled cheekily as he shook his head, supposedly to get his hair out of his eyes, but mostly to rain droplets of water on Lloyd. He turned to wink at Lyle in camaraderie but chuckled instead at the beast of a 'wich his best bud had made. He was still a little giddy from the high of being attacked by a billion water balloons with seeming minds of their own. Still chuckling, he turned back to Lloyd at her "Heya guys!"

"Heys." Vin replied on the end of his chuckle as he returned to his food. The fuel he put in spelled out more hours with the salt water on his skin and the sand between his toes later. With that calming thought in mind, he added mashed potatoes to his plate, then realized he was slightly jealous of Lyle's sandwich-creation skills and poured gravy over everything, including the strawberries.

"Hey, Vin? If you aren't busy, do you mind if I steal you for something? Lyle, you can come too- er... if you want to, y'know. I'm more convinced that you'll be busy though." Melvin's interest was piqued as the girl he'd shared a moment with that morning was already asking for one on one time. He knew she didn't mean to be rude, which was why she'd included Lyle, but it seemed to be a bit of an after thought. He decided to wait and see how his friend reacted before making his own decision, not in the market to leave a bro behind in the battlefield because of a woman. He turned to his friend and watched with concern as Lyle seemed to strain with concentration over his manwich, then stood quickly and looked around as though he'd lost his mom in a supermarket. ”You two go on ahead,” Lyle commanded and was gone before Vin could really comprehend what had just happened. He was used to this sort of behavior though, so, shrugging, he turned back to his meal and Lloyd.

"Awright," he said before taking a bite of gravy-covered strawberry and finding he actually quite liked the pairing. "What's the 'something' chickadee?" He offered her another of his now-gray strawberries indifferently. It was probably the absolute weirdest combination he'd ever come up with in food, but that didn't bother him, he'd liked it, so he'd share it. If he could talk Myra into eating a Lays potato chip dipped in mustard and spaghetti mixed with mashed potatoes, then he could get Lloyd to eat this strawberry. Or not. He really didn't care. Half the joy of getting his twin to eat the weird food concoctions he made was the fight, Lloyd was almost as go-with-the-flow as he was, so he assumed their wouldn't be much of a fight.



Myra's day had been long already, but quite fun. After finding another spell she excelled at and having helped quietly tutor some of her classmates through the water balloon drills, she'd successfully caused one of her brother's pranks to backfire on him and made it to lunch with enough time to eat quickly and catch up with her best female friend before doing some quick studying for her next class. "Let them have this one. They won't expect a thing." She smiled playfully at Summer, then whispered conspiratorially, "Bet they don't know this spell!" and pulling out her wand she waved it stating confidently, "Exaresco." In an instant both girl's clothes were completely dry and smelling lightly of lavender. "It's going to be tough for them to have to go through the next few classes sopping wet!" She giggled in a playfully malicious way. She followed as Summer picked a spot slightly farther away from the rest of the Cervus table and decided to follow and sit with her. It wasn't as though the Vulpes table would miss her. She could tell something was bother Summer, but not what. Hadn't she been about to tell Myra something just before the failed attack?

"So now that we know who our enemies are... What will be our next attack, Captain?" Summer laughed and the happiness in the sound caused Myra to smile a toothy grin. Her chest tightened as she realized just how much she'd missed her friend over the holiday and, instead of answering her question, pulled Summer into a tight hug, "Oh! I missed you!" She held her there for a moment, just enjoying the hug then pulled back, and placed her hands on Summer's shoulders. "We'll plan our next attack when the time is right! I'm thinking shoe-laces might be involved." She winked then turned toward the table to pile her plate full of various fruits and veggies, a small baguette, 2 chicken legs and handful of french fries. Her mind was on fire, tracing backward through the recent happenings to try and figure out what it was her best friend had been trying to tell her. Summer wasn't really one to waste her words, however talkative the girl may be, so Myra was determined to be there for her if she needed. Suddenly her brain clicked everything into place as she remembered Summer's exact words just before the war cry.

"You were in the library!" Myra looked up from her chicken and pointed at Summer, her eyes narrowing in mock accusation, "With someone!" Then, without warning, her mind shot to the morning's run-in with Vance and a blush lit up her cheeks. Her brow furrowed, what was up with that? He'd nearly avada'd her for all she knew, the look was in his eye. But then it had... gone. He'd... softened, or something. And that look in his eye that usually made her want to reach out and tell him everything would be okay had been there for a split second. Biting her lip, she gave her head a tiny shake, Not my place. Besides, he's terrifying! She had to keep reminding herself, she had to. Turning back to Summer, she popped a grape in her mouth, "Soooo? Spill!" She demanded in the way that girls do, getting back in touch with herself and her friend and the life she was used to, while leaving the morning's confusing moments behind.

Lloyd remained silent as she watched Lyle construct his oversized sandwich, forking random pieces of fruit from her plate occasionally. Once he finished slapping random food items onto the two pieces of bread, her eyes scanned over his work, scrutinizing his ability.

”Huh? Oh, I’ll be busy?” Lloyd blinked, about to open her mouth and make a comment before she sealed her lips back together, realizing that her words would probably be overlooked as that thoughtful look filled his facials. It wasn’t misplaced that Lloyd should think that such a boy as Lyle would be constantly busy, so she really didn’t expect him to make such a comment as he had.

His sudden action surprised her, thus causing the Ferre girl to jump a little before rubbing her arm distractedly and returning to what she had previously been doing, relief rushing through her as he obviously had remembered something or other. ”You two go on ahead,” The girl blinked once more, her hearing working at following the fast-talking boy’s speech, shrugging as he disentangled himself from the bench of their table. ”Haf vun! Jeers!”

Once Lyle had wormed his way out of the hall, Lloyd licked her lips before speaking. “Was it just me, or did that sound oddly like a Transylvanian accent?” She turned to Vin, bringing her index and middle finger up to her face and mimicking fangs.

Once more she picked up her fork and stabbed a piece of cantaloupe, bringing it up to her mouth and chewing it thoughtfully. ”Awright,” Lloyd flashed him a small grin, but dropped it as she watched him plunge a strawberry into gravy. Her right eyebrow arched in questioning, and wrinkled her nose slightly as he proceeded to eat it.

"What's the 'something' chickadee?" Even though she wasn’t too keen on his new food combination, she sunk her fork lightly into it, accepting the offering anyway. “I’m not much of a gravy girl.” Her tone was thoughtful, though it was nothing more than a side comment as she bit down on the strawberry. She stuck her tongue out, quickly washing the taste down with some water and clean fruit.

As soon as she was satisfied with her mouth being clean, she finally spoke up. “Well, er, I kind of wanted to do some hiking to find a new place to practice. I’m… not… really, well I don’t like it when other people-….” She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to get the wording right. “It’s easier for me to practice alone somewhere I know people won’t bother me much. I mean, sure, I could find somewhere inside the castle, but I prefer it outside. And, well, I’m not asking to go all the way to the other side of the island or to the tallest peak or anything like that. Somewhere close by of course.” Lloyd nodded, nibbling on some pretzels. “Plus I’d rather have a partner in case I get lost or fall of a cliff or twist my ankle, y’know?”




Naire was still standing there, his hands stuffed into his pockets again before he finally took one out long enough to bring it up and gently push Chopstick’s beak together so the bloody bird would stop killing his ears. “It’s fine buddy.” He muttered to the bird, returning his hand to its cloth den.

He was still a little dazed by the whole ordeal, so he forgot what he was doing, simply staring at the puddle in the middle of the floor. ”There you are!” The Vulpes boy was shaken out of his blank state by the loud call of his friend. He blinked a few times as Lyle came over with a very large and unruly sandwich in his clutches. And it seemed to be leaving a trail of goop. “Yes, here I am.” His eyebrow rose a bit and he shrugged.

Naire looked up into the Ferre boy’s face as he began to speak again. ”You aren’t mad at me, are you? I mean, last night and all, and Vin’s right, I’m sure, but I worry, you know…” Naire was about to answer him, and also ask him what he meant by Vin being right, but Lyle kept talking, cutting off the action before it could even be started. ”I mean, well, just, you aren’t mad at me, are you?”

He shrugged again before answering. “Eh, it’s fine, you looked pretty busy anyway,” The Vulpes was referring to Lyle not meeting him after class, and then continued to settle the boy’s unreasonable fears. “Nah, I’m not mad at you. I didn’t catch a reason to be?” His eyes got caught by the motion coming from his sandwich, and his eyes strayed down to the glob on his shoe. “You should probably put a napkin under that or something. Maybe more bread.” He nodded, walking around the pool and into the Great Hall. “I haven’t eaten yet, so I hope you don’t mind heading back into the Hall again.” He turned his head to look at his friend once more as he spoke.

Chopstick chirped again, and Naire turned his head, jumping a bit and shifting over to the side, narrowly missing an unseen small puddle of mush left by that sandwich. He wasn’t about to slip twice in the same twenty or what minutes. Naire sighed, rubbing his head and heading towards the Vulpes’ table, hoping Lyle was following him.




At least a little relief presented itself to her when Victor joined; she wouldn’t have to take care of it on her own then. She rubbed her left arm worriedly, quickly taking a left once they went down the hall a bit, her hand coming into contact with the railing of one of the staircases.

Her lips were pressed tightly together as she scaled the steps, her mind preoccupied with exactly what needed to be done next. They just had to get up to the third level and into the deeper parts of the library. To say the least, it was fairly uneventful getting to the library on the second floor.

Mutely, Teiver made a swift walk past the rows and rows of bookshelves and past one of the many areas for the desks. She peered back every so often to make sure that Victor was keeping up and following closely. She was fairly quick about getting to the internal spiral staircase, and once more her hand clutched the railings as she hopped up it, skipping two at a time until they finally came up to the opening of the third floor.

The Vulpes gave fair pause to look around fully, and make sure that no one was doing any reading, which she doubted considering it was lunch time anyway. She let out a huff of breath before striding promptly towards the back, keen eyes scanning one bookshelf in particular. It had a fair coating of dust to her dismay, but she really didn’t have time with which to spare in cleaning. Her index finger traced the books without actually touching them until she came to an old gray-blue tome with it colors and words faded.

Teiver leaned forward until she was about two inches away from touching it, and made sure to control her breathing so she wouldn’t inhale dust. Bringing her hand up to her mouth, she muttered something between her fingers before reaching out to the book’s spine and carefully pulling it out from its aligned position with the others. However, she only pulled it out so much, not actually wresting it from its place.

And without doing anything else, she turned around and hurriedly made her leave of the library, passing a few rooms and abandoned classrooms out in the hall to the fourth floor staircase. Of course from here on it only got complicated. Nonetheless Teiver led Victor onwards. If they chanced upon getting caught, her mind was already working on reasonable excuses. At least she hadn’t seen or run into Hardy; Her hand, unbidden, clenched slightly, and she rolled her eyes at the thought of the boy. Well, she was pretty certain she hadn’t seen him. It wouldn’t have been surprising, as her mind was definitely focused on more pressing matters than the immature dealings of Justin.

She quietly slipped into a room, dragging Victor in with her, as a prefect walked past. She twitched her fingers quietly before poking her head out, then abandoning the momentary place of hiding. She blinked, looking over at Victor for a second before continuing to walk down the halls to the corridor where the winding stairs of the forbidden levels awaited.