| Details for Corpses and Bones |
| Summary: | Briar and Xander cause the loss of some appetites with their morbid conversation at lunch. |
| Date: | March 25, 1938 |
| Location: | Great Hall |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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Briar once again joins Xander at the Hufflepuff table for lunch, this time however she has a couple of books and a big grin like he might expect a Christmas present from her or something. "I remembered our talk with how long does it take before a body starts to smell bad…" Cue a couple of underclassmen putting down their sandwiches and pressing the plate a few inches away. "Look…" She opens up one of the books to show off a picture of what looks like a calla lily of gigantic proportions as it's bigger than the human standing next to it. Then another book is opened and put down before him with a tap to the picture of another large flower, this one looks like an inside out 'fairy' mushroom with five thick meaty like petals all red with white spots. It's also next to a human and looks like it can get quite large too. "Both called Corpse Flower. Guess why."
Xander couldn't be happier to have a conversation companion with an appreciation for the finer points of decomposition. He eagerly leans in to look at the flowers, grinning knowingly. "Because they smell like carrion?" He marvels at the gigantic one in particular. "Imagine if this were bred into a carnivorous species like your lilies. That would be a great way to get rid of irritating party guests. Just take them for a stroll in the garden."
Briar looks like she could hug him, "Absolutely right! Nice going!" She gives his shoulder a little clap and then leans over the books. "They smell like rotting meat so flies and other carrion insects and creatures will go from flower to flower to polinate it. The first one here, down at the base of this spathe…the long pokey bit is two rows of flowers, at the top is a ring of male flowers, the bottom ring is the girl flowers, so when the things go crawling about it fertilizes. The second one here also known as the meat flower, has boy flowers and girl flowers and so they have to rely on flies carrying pollen from one place in the jungle all the way to the other side. Do you live in London?" Out of left field! But she looks like she's going somewhere with this.
Xander nods along with interest. Herbology may not have been his best subject, but the actual process of the life cycle does interest him. He chuckles at the sudden left turn in the conversation. "Lived there all my life. Why?"
Briar hasn't gotten giddy in months, but here she is clapping her hands and making an excitable noise. "Come with me to Kew Gardens over Break?" She's even bouncing a little.
Xander blinks in surprise, staring disbelievingly. Chatting about dying plants in the Great Hall was one thing. But now a girl wants to meet him during flowering season at the royal gardens? Words…they are…not of the now.
Briar's giddiness fades. She tilts her head to gaze with a bit of worry at the stunned teenager. "Xan?" A hand is waved in front of his face. "Yello?" She's looking quite sheepish at the moment. Not quite realizing that she did just ask him out.
"Um…yes? Yes!" Xander gives her a crooked smile, shaking off his momentary stupor. "That sounds great. So…you live in London as well?"
Briar is suddenly bouncing and dancing in place again when he says yes. "Fantastic! It's going to be so much fun." Then she settles down after giving a few more venting of excitement claps. "I do, you been through Notting Hill at all?"
Her enthusiasm gives Xander a bit more confidence, and he sits up straighter. To her question, he shrugs, "Been through. Bit on the posh side for my fam, though. Bet you love it, with all the flowers and such about."
Briar gives a preening little dance and smile. "Course the flowers are wonderful. I do my whole street when I'm off. Taught everyone how to take care of what I planted. We live in the purple house with the wisteria nearly covering it all. To hell with 'posh', you should come visit. Where do you live?"
"You know, Diagon Alley. Thereabouts, anyhow." Xander gestures roughly southward, as if indicating directions to his home down in England. "Hey, I didn't mean to say there's anything wrong with Notting Hill. Just that we don't get up that way very much."
Briar smiles, "I didn't take offense or anything Xan, my parents are rich 'posh' types. I'm not. So if you would like to come visit, I don't want you to feel like you can't or anything. That must be really nice living in the center of it all for the Wizard World. I love the Leaky Cauldron. Don't you?"
"Sure, it's grand. But what I really love? The cinema. Muggles have us beat on moving pictures, hands down. Talkies are amazing." Xander pauses for a breath. Then, as casually as he can make it sound, offers up, "We should go see one when we meet up in London."
Briar goes all wide eyed excited again and nods, "Oh! There's this one at the theater by me that had a coming soon poster for 'Old Bones of the River' don't know what it's about but…" She thinks it's right up his alley anyways, it even has bones in the title! "It's going to be the best break ever. Corpse Flowers and Old Bones of the River. How wonderfully grim is that!?"
Xander's eyes light up at the title of the movie. Surely, it must be some horror film about the dead rising from a river and menacing the locals. Better still, she suggested it! "Merlin…Easter's nearly here, isn't it? Seems like the year is flying by ever since Christmas."
Briar smiles, "Does it? Seems to me it ground to a snail's crawl since Christmas. But I think it might just be starting to look up again. So what should we do first? Corpse or Bones?" She hasn't noticed that there's an empty berth at the table around them, partially eaten lunches still on their abandoned plated.
Xander gulps down a bite of his sandwich. Unlike their unfortunate housemates, his appetite is unaffected by the macabre topics at hand. "The garden first, definitely. For the daylight. The movies are better at night. Um…I mean…if it's alright that we go at night."
Briar starts to finally build her own sandwich which is mostly bread, cheese and an inch or so of meat. "That sounds like a great plan. There's other movies we could see to." The implication in her tone is see movies together over the course of the 14 days away from Hogwarts.
The corners of Xander's mouth curl up as his smile growing to beaming proportions. "Sure, lots of them. I'd like that." With time for lunch running out, he focuses on finishing his meal, and letting her eat her own. But he finds himself glancing her way more frequently, noticing little details about her for the first time. It's going to be an interesting holiday.