| Details for Greenhouse Gathering |
| Summary: | Elise and Cillian are jumping at shadows, and Douglas gives Arian advice about girls. |
| Date: | 1938-10-16 |
| Location: | Greenhouses, Hogwarts |
| Related: | Mechanations at the Clocktower |
| Characters |
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Elise had woken up from her haemophobia-induced swoon some time between being dragged off by Strings and arriving at the Ravenclaw common room. The explanation for her scrapes? She'd tripped, that's all. Children do that. Soon enough someone fixed them, and she's good as new.
This morning she looks bright and alert, there's a blush of excitement in her cheeks and a sparkle in her eyes. The greenhouse is deserted for the moment - classes won't start for a half-hour, yet. She's summoned Cillian to join her with their charmed coin, and while she waits she putters around the plants that she knows, tenderly caring for those which need it. She hums a bit, too, snatches of a tune not quite remembered but hauntingly familiar, as if from a dream.
Its not time for nighttime liaisons, but while tying his tie he saw the small gold coin turn black and so he flipped it and tucked into his pocket before heading for the greenhouse with a thoughtful and almost troubled expression, hand tucked into his pocket and he rests a his other hand on his overstuffed satchel, looking around warily before slipping into the greenhouse and looking around with concern. Cillian, has arrived.
There is a thump against the glass of the greenhouse, followed by a hurried scrabbling to get inside by a certain Gryffindor 6th former, barely closing the door behind him before three or four decent sized owls swoop down into the glass after him, leaving almost comical marks on the window, wings outstretched. Douglas brushes himself off as he looks back at the owls with some concern, letting out a breathy sigh of relief as each of them wander, slightly dazed, for a bit, but do take off unharmed.
Elise turns at the sound of Cillian entering, and grins brightly. She opens her mouth to greet him, but he's followed almost immediately by Douglas. Some of her enthusiasm subsides and she looks back and forth between the two boys for a second. "Er, good morning," she says a moment later. Then the owls bang into the glass, making her flinch. "What on Earth?" she wonders.
The little pirate captain to see Douglas make his entrance and his eyebrows raise a fraction when the owls hit the glass. He blinks his good eye and just inquires rather deadpan. "Aww…Sir Chipmunk, did ye let down all of them as well, its like ye can't keep the birds off of ye." Cillian smirks softly before shaking his head and grinning, tugging an apple from his satchel and moving over to Elise, offering the apple.
Douglas straightens, looking back at the younger students with a half grin. "Hey, you know how it is, pal. The birds love me." He glances around the place, ambling over to a watering can, there to wash some kind of brownish gunk from his hand. "Owls, anyway. Women, not always so much."
Arian has never hesitated to stick his nose where he didn't need to. So, naturally, when he spots a small crowd gathering in the Greenhouses (one of them chased by owls, for some reason), the young Ravenclaw can't help but see what's going on. Immediately as he walks in he spots Elise and Cillian, two of the culprits in last night's craziness, and he approaches them first. "Well, glad to see the two of you are up and at 'em this morning," he says with a half-grin, like he's made some sort of poor joke.
Elise takes the apple and bites into it. "Mm," she hums quietly as she chews. Her eyes crinkle in a small smile when Douglas makes his pun. "Cil," she says. "Last night after I got to bed, I had the most wonderful dreams. Just — oh," she sighs. "I didn't want to get up, this morning." When Arian arrives she nods at him politely. "Yes, we're fine, thank you," she tells him. "Good morning." Then, for some reason, she quickly turns her head and stares hard at a shadow to her left. There's nothing there but a couple of buckets and a small rake. She blinks, and turns back to the people around her.
"Ye'll 'ave to tell me yer secrets then one day." Cillian grins and takes his own apple out of the sack, raising it to take a bite before pausing upon Arian's arrival and he looks around warily before taking a deep breath. "…ahh, g'morning Hissy, how are ye feelin' this morning?" He narrows his eye though at the joke and then tenses up as he turns to look at Elise, eyebrow above his eyepatch raising a fraction. "W-what?" A pause as he takes a deep breath. "Ah, did ye?" He also looks behind him very quickly and then exhales before looking back to Elise. "T-that's ah, that's good."
Douglas looks up, giving Cillian a raised brow, then nods towards Elise as surreptitiously as he can manage. Just in case he wasn't entirely clear enough, he then points at her, shrugging a shoulder and waggling his brows in question, mouthing, "Her? Nice one, kid."
There's a bit of a raised eyebrow when Elise mentions her dreams, which Arian is pretty certain weren't really dreams, and then turns and stares at a bunch of rubbish. "Yes, that's very nice," is all the boy can think to say. Then he notices Douglas mouthing something, and making indications. "What's all THAT about?" he wonders aloud to the Gryffindor.
Elise gets a strange look on her face at Cillian's request to learn Douglas' bird-attracting skills. Then she blinks. "Right, /owls/," she mutters to herself. "Of course." She has another bite of the apple, completely missing Douglas' pantomiming. "Yes, the dreams were… I don't know, just… the best." She's at a loss for words. "My roommates had to drag me out of bed, this morning." She pauses to frown. "Really, that's the first time /that's/ ever happened before." She blinks at Arian. "What?" she asks.
Cillian just eyes Douglas for a few moments. "…really there be ladies present good sir!" He hmphs and tosses his apple in the air before catching it and then he looks between Elise and Arian for a few moments. "…I dun ever 'ave good dreams…" And Elise would know why. "But last night, or some reason I 'ad somethin' close to a good one it was…" He shudders and takes a deep breath. "M' sure it was due to something I ate. I…" There's really nothing to say to 'drag me out of bed' except for a slow blink as he looks to Arian. "What about you then?" He looks back to Douglas. "And you?"
Douglas shrugs amiably. "Oh, aye, my dreams are good ones, thanks. I'd explain why, but there be ladies present, good sir," he adds, flashing a grin. "Oh, when you've got a minute, Captain, I've got a bit of business for you."
Arian appears to be growing more confused by the second. The conversation is going more awkwardly than Arian could have expected. Maybe he should have just walked past… "My dreams were fine," he says bluntly. "I don't remember most of them, except in this one part there was a really big ladder and I couldn't figure out where it went. I'm not sure what that means, though I'll have to make something up for divination." He sidles over, closer to Doug, and whispers, "What was all that pointing you were doing, mate?"
Elise looks back and forth between Cillian and Douglas. "Clearly, I missed something," she says as a prompt for them to fill her in. Cillian's declaration of lack of good dreams causes her to pull a rather sad expression. If he'll let her, she'll lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. Douglas' mysterious statement catches her attention and she tilts her head curiously. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean," she says. "But it's really rather tiresome to listen to all these strange and probably improper hints being dropped." She simple accepts Arian's lie at face value and nods. "Perhaps the ladder means that you've got a lot of hard work head of you," she suggests helpfully. "In order to arrive at your goal."
"Aye, good sir. Always got time for business." Cillian then looks slightly worried as he focuses on Arian for a few moments, narrowing his eye and then nodding, looking almost relieved. When Elise makes a guess at what it means he just offers. "Or….ya know, he's just weird." He shrugs helplessly before tossing his apple towards Arian. "'ave an apple mate." Then he looks back to Elise, patting her hand on his shoulder gently.
Douglas shakes his head, waving it off and murmuring towards Arian, "Shh, never mind, pal. Never mind. I think I got the wrong impression is all, and Blackbeard over there'd managed to drop anchor in her harbour, so to speak. Maybe he hasn't, after all."
Arian isn't as old as Doug, but he's certainly old enough to understand what Doug is referring to, and that brings out the most awkward look that Arian can summon. "I'm sorry I asked," he mutters, mostly to himself. He's only too happy to take Elise's suggestion about the interpretation of his dream and run with that as a reason to change the subject. "Yeah, thanks, Elise. If you don't mind, I'm going to use that for divination. Professor loves that sort of metaphorical rubbish."
Elise giggles at Cillian, and nods. "Or that," she agrees. Once he pats her hand she gently removes it, still smiling at him. She nods at Arian. "Of course," she tells him. "Feel free." Then she does a double-take a shadow to her right. Nothing there but a small potted mint, giving off delicious scent.
"…" Cillian just looks at Douglas…his Da runs and works in a pub and he just facepalms for a moment before looking back to Elise and taking a deep breath. "See, yer bein' helpful already." Okay, so he's a little tense as he looks around and ahhs softly. "Well." A pause. "Excited for the Halloween Feast when it be gettin' here?"
Douglas runs a hand through his hair, leaning back against a potted plant. "Taking your crewmate, are you?" he asks, grin still playing about his lips. "It looks like it'll be a good night out. Plenty to eat and drink. And dancing and music and all that." Not to mention the quiet rendezvous expected from just about every senior student with their date or another at some point in a tucked away corner.
Arian nods a quick thanks to Elise. He's thankful for the subject change from Cillian. "I'm always looking forward to a good party," he says with a grin. Thank goodness the conversation's turned from dreams and… whatever Doug was talking about… "I just need to make sure I get a date this year. I've… I've actually got my eye on someone this year, though… Just, need to see if I can get her to agree to it."
Elise watches Cillian facepalm. "Alright. /Clearly/ you are all talking about something that only boys understand," she says, starting to sound irritated, now. "I think I'll leave you to it, then." She sighs, exasperated, and turns to go, though Cillian's question about the Halloween feast has her pausing by the door. "Yes, of course, feasts are always fun. I'll probably dance with Luci like last year." There's a bit of a resigned tone in her voice - what girl really wants to dance with her female cousin at a shindig? None. "Cillian, I'd still like to talk to you about — about that book we, um, opened, last night. Alone, if you can manage it. Perhaps with the other pirates, if you think that's best. So I'll see you later?" She gives Douglas a strange look. She has no idea he's talking about her. "Good luck, Arian," she tells the boy. And out she goes.
Cillian just gives Douglas a /look/. "And who will ye be takin', one of the owls? I tink the tawny colored one was a bit of a keeper…" He drawls softly before looking between Arian and Elise before nodding to Arian. "The pirates could probably 'elp ye in getting her to agree." Then he looks to Elise with concern, sighing softly. "Ye and Needle are /pirates/ now luv. Ye get to dance with all of us." He flashes a grin before the smile falters for a moment and he nods quickly. "Aye, we'll 'ave an..emergency meetin' thats for sure." He then takes a deep breath.
"She's pretty fit, right?" Douglas agrees, grinning as he glances back towards the window and the owlprints left on the glass. "But naw, I've been claimed already by the gorgon. You know what girls like that are like, eh? They decide what they want, and they just go ahead and take it. We are but powerless in their hands."
"The Gorgon? Meaning Medusa, right?" asks Arian, eyebrows raised in surprise or alarm. Or both. "You can't be serious. That girl was on the verge of killing me not even a week ago. But, if you're dating her, maybe you can manage to get my juggling ball back." As for Cillian's offer, Arian nods, "Maybe I'll take you up on that. She's a Hufflepuff."
Cillian smirks at Douglas and shrugs a shoulder. "Ye older kids…hehe…" He chuckles and shakes his head before looking to Arian. "Ahh, the dark lady…" He trails off and then jumps as he looks behind him suddenly and then takes a deep breath and shakes his head. "Good…we'll…we'll start the plans, if ye gents will excuse me, I'm off to put peppermints down the boys toilets.." And off he goes, rather quickly.
"Oh, I doubt it," Douglas admits freely. "Everything that girl does is for one reason or another. What happened to your ball? Was she making a point in front of somebody? I swear you have to think in circles to understand women." He pauses, raising a brow. "Who've you got your eye on, though? You want to borrow a few of my best lines?"
Arian nods quickly in agreement with Douglas. "She WAS in front of people," he admits. "She seemed to want to scare me quite a bit. She was with one of her Slytherin friends." As for the question about who he's got his eye on, Arian just gives a shrug. "It's this Hufflepuff. She's a 5th year. Her name's Artemis. I… I just met her the other day. And she actually seemed to like my muggle magic. And my juggling. I just… don't know what exactly to do to ask her out. Like, on a date."
"Well, you've got to do a recce first," Douglas advises, nodding solemnly. "See which line'll do the trick. Can't say I know the one you're talking about in particular, but she's a 'puff, right? So go for the cheeky look, and a bit of a smile, and just ask her if she's busy for the feast, or if she'll go with you. Job done. Just ask, man."
"A recce?" asks Arian, screwing up his face in confusion. "What's that?" He's a little disheartened by the fact that Douglas doesn't know the girl he's talking about. He was hoping for an inside source with information that could help him. "Yeah, I guess I should just ask her. D.. do you think she'll go for it, though? I mean, what if she isn't interested?"
Cillian has disconnected.
"Reconnoitre. A recce," Douglas explains. "You learn everything you can, before you go near. But not in a creepy way, just learn, y'know. Likes, dislikes, that kind of thing. So you can come up with a tactical approach." He shrugs a shoulder. "Listen, kid, if she's not interested, at least you tried. And you've got time enough to try somebody else before the feast, so you're not a Billy-no-mates. What's she look like? What's her name again? Artemis what?"
Arian nods slowly. "Reconnoitre," he says, butchering the word, like he usually does with anything even close to French. "Okay, that makes sense. But who do I ask for that? Like, her friends? Or her housemates?" As for her last name… "I'm not sure she gave it. I think it started with an M, though. Mel… something? I don't know." He looks around. "I just ran into her randomly. I wish she'd show up here so I at least had a chance. She DID," he adds with a smile, "say something about having lunch together, though."
Douglas grins. "Right. So here's the plan, then. Show up a little bit late for lunch so there's no space where you'd usually sit, then get her mates to budge up a bit so you're sat next to her. Just ask them like you don't expect the answer to be no, and people rarely refuse. Rules to live by, man, rules to live by. So then you're sat there, offer her some juice or something, and tell her it's really good to see her, your day's just been made a load brighter for it, blah blah blah, and hey, you hope you're not being rude and standing on some other lucky bugger's feet, but would she like to go to the feast with you. Wham bam, job done, date got."
This all sounds like brilliant advice. Though, given the fact Arian is 14, and not exactly smooth with the ladies, pretty much anything would sound like good advice at this point. "Yeah, yeah," he says, nodding, "that sounds really good. Do… do you think I should really include that bit about standing on someone else's feet, though? I mean, wouldn't that make her think of someone else?"
"It's there to make her feel good about herself," Douglas explains, tucking his thumbs into his belt. "You're basically saying that she's so bloody gorgeous, it'd be unthinkable that nobody else has already spotted it and tried to claim her, see?"
"I… I guess that makes some sense," says Arian, still a little befuddled over actually inviting the thought of other boys into a girl's head when asking her out. "I'm guessing, then, that you don't have any inside information to help me, then? No actual knowledge of this girl or what her particular interests would be?"
"Point her out to me, and give me a couple of days," Douglas offers. "I can't work from a name alone. I don't know most of the fourth years."
"Well, that's the thing, actually," says Arian, scratching at the back of his head. "She's actually a fifth year." He gives a bit of a half-laugh. "You don't think that's going to hurt me, do you? I mean, I'm a year younger but it's really not that bad, right?"
Douglas half grins at that. "Fifth year, eh? Good going, kid. Always punch above your weight. What I said goes double, then. You go in there just never expecting the answer to be no. Give her a smile and ask her to go with you."