| Details for No Escaping Disputes |
| Summary: | Angelus swings into the greenhouses to find Sierra, and then Evelyn. A little chat later and Gabriel arrives and tension arises, then enters Calista. |
| Date: | October 22, 1939 |
| Location: | Greenhouses, Hogwarts |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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Angelus heads away from the viaduct courtyard, heading towards the greenhouses with his book strap slung over his shoulder. He walks with a straight back, head raised, and stops by one of the houses to open the door. As he steps inside he lets the book strap slip from his shoulder, dropping it to the ground as he leans his back against the door. The youth lets out a heavy sigh as he drops his head into a hand.
Sierra is inside, with a watering can, and a pair of sheers nearby. She's watering some of the plants - gloveless - and humming cheerfully to herself as she does. Herbology is one of the few classes she genuinely enjoys. Getting her hands dirty and learning the uses of the different plants she may come across in her travels is genuinely fascinating and useful to her. At the thunk of the books, she glances up towards Angelus, her eyebrows going up. That's… not the confident and obnoxious flirt she recently encountered. What is up with him?
Unbeknownst to his cousin, Evelyn, he's taken to leaning against the door of the very greenhouse that she, herself, is headed to at this very moment. She readjusts the strap of her bookbag as she makes her way to the greenhouse. Approaching the door, she reaches out a hand, tugging on it to open it.
A heavy sigh escapes Angelus seconds before he starts. At the beginning of the door being pulled away, he begins to slip, only he manages to catch himself. His hand reaches out to brace himself on the threshold briefly before he staggers away from the door as he turns. An annoyed glance is cast to his cousin, only for a second, before he quickly flicks his fingers delicately through his curls and clears his throat, inclining back his head. “Darcy,” he greets curtly, a slight twitch to his lips. But then he seems to realise the other one here, turning his head and glancing towards Sierra. “I didn’t see you there, Higgins,” he says, offering her a dip of his head. “Sorry for the intrusion.”
"Last I checked, the greenhouses were open to all," Sierra remarks - and amused smile on her features as she watches the boy stumble from the door opening unexpectedly. She cranes her neck to spot Evelyn, and nods her head to the older girl, before turning her attention back to watering the plants in front of her. One hand reaches out, brushing over the moist leaves - and little tendrils and vines reach up to wrap around her wrist. Not in a threatening, violent way, but in a friendly and almost fond manner. Aww, what a cute plant.
There's a slight surprised look on Evelyn's face to find that there was someone on the other side of the door, let alone her cousin. But…oh, someone else. Well, these are the greenhouses. She doesn't expect them to be completely empty. She offers a little smile and a wave to Sierra as she steps further into the greenhouse. After a quick moment of thought, she reaches out and taps Angelus on the shoulder.
Angelus hesitates for a quick second, a moment of indecisiveness before he shifts on his feet. He nods his head towards Sierra. “Of course they are,” he returns, flicking out a friendly smile. “But it’s only polite that I do not intrude on what privacy you might have had.” His book strap, to the side of the greenhouses door, is ignored for the time being. The youth turns to the tap on his shoulder, tipping back his chin proudly as he faces Evelyn. “Yes?”
"Hmm. Well. No need to worry," Sierra responds, watching Angelus for another moment. He has it back - that posture, and haughty tilt of his chin. Whatever candid glimpse she'd gotten of the boy had clearly passed. She chooses not to comment on it, and after a few gentle strokes of her fingers, works at carefully coaxing her write free from the plant.
With her hands moving slow enough for Angelus to understand her words in sign-language, Evelyn says, -I heard about what happened to your wand. I am so very sorry. About that, and about everything. I should not have been so harsh on you, and I hope you can, someday, forgive me.- She gives him a little, tiny smile.
Angelus flicks a quick glance towards Sierra, offering the girl a grateful nod and a warm smile. “Thank you, Higgins,” he says before his attention is back on his cousin. His eyes are locked on the movements of her hands, studying her silent language with a mere tilt of his head. A short, wordless sound escapes him. His hands raise and he responds, looking curt, “Did you?” He shifts lightly on his feet, his hands starting to form a word when he lets them fall. A long sigh escapes him as Rena’s words suddenly flashes into his head, and the youth ends up shrugging casually. His hands in front of him, he responds with them, not very fast in his signing, “I do forgive you. I never wanted to fight with you in the first place. I love you.” He leans close to her, lifting up onto his toes to finish by kissing her cheek.
Sierra takes in the gestures with a curious eye - recognize language, but not understanding it. She's seen a few Muggles talking like that in her travels, when someone has no hearing, but not usually wizards. It's interesting. "That must be nice," she remarks. "Like me and Colton and Finley. No one has the first clue what we're saying - when we go into Shelta."
A little smile crosses Evelyn's face. -If you need to talk at all, let me know. And perhaps we can convince Uncle and Auntie to help get you a new wand very soon!- When Sierra speaks, she looks over to the girl and shrugs a little bit. "It's um…well…it's useful, I guess? There uh…well, aren't many people who, you know, know it."
Angelus takes his eyes off of Evelyn, glancing to Sierra, but then brings his gaze back onto Evelyn so that she can continue with her hands if she wishes. He turns again to look over to Sierra when Evelyn talks to her, but the youth falls silent. A pensive look crosses his face, flicking his from his cousin to Sierra as he regards them quietly. Frowning, he faces Sierra as he lowers his self formally. “I’m so sorry, Higgins. That was incredibly impolite of us. It hadn’t occurred to me that you were sitting there watching without understanding.” He looks to Evelyn, and then back to Sierra. “It was just family matters.” He turns to Evelyn. “Pa is picking me up on the weekend,” he informs.
"Nah, it's fine. Like I said - me and Colton do it all the time," Sierra responds, letting out a laugh. "It's fun, really. You go right on ahead. Besides - it's kind of interesting to watch. I think it's pretty."
"That's…that's good." Evelyn murmurs to Angelus. "I hope the new one is um…well, just as good as the old." She offers him a soft smile. "It's…well, my preferred way to…um…communicate." She tells Sierra. "But uh…well, unfortunately not too many people um…not too many people know it. Mostly just family."
A hum escapes the youth, a light, amused smile flicking against his lips. “I was raised by a classy, strict mannered family. I should have been more thoughtful,” he remarks, and he dips his head towards Sierra. Angelus glances between the two. “But it is an interesting language, I suppose. Let’s hear a few words in Shelta, Higgins. And the translation.”
Sierra shakes her head, smiling in amusement. "Can't offer any translations. It's against the rules - shang? We pavee keep it to ourselves. But I could rattle off a few sentences, if you like." And she promptly does in a playful tone - a mischievous glint in her eyes and an amused smirk on her lips. "Care to teach me any of the hand-talk?" she asks. "How do you introduce yourself with it?"
"Speaking…um, well, speaking with your hands takes…well, I suppose it takes just as much concentration as any other language." Evelyn starts, regarding the sign-language. "The um…the only thing is, you've also got the added work of actually having to watch the person who's um, well, speaking. With spoken language you can um…well, you can be facing away from them and uh…and still hear what they're saying. So this is trickier, that way." She frowns. "But um…I suppose it's easy enough to teach a greeting? Would uh…would you care to teach her, Angelus? I've uh…well, I've got a plant that needs caring for, and it's uh…well, it's a very touchy plant. If it…if it doesn't get the exact care it needs, it gets…shall we say, grumpy?"
An ‘aww’ escapes Angelus as he tilts his head, mock sulking at Sierra. But he lets out a chuckle as he lifts his hand. “I won’t push you,” he states. His blue eyes lock on his year mate, watching her with an arched brow as she says a few words in the language. Letting out a ‘heh,’ he says, “Now I want to know what you said. Oh, like this,” he says, lifting a hand, but freezing as he glances to Evelyn. A little, mischievous grin flicks against his lips. “A silent language has its advantages.” He nods to her, letting her move off and looks back to Sierra. His hand lifts to his head, facing his palm towards her, and flicking the tips of his fingers away from his head. “Hello,” he says the word as he signs.
"It can be much more discrete. Say - if a Professor's looking at a chalkboard while yer at it," Sierra agrees - before mimicing Angelus' 'hello' gesture. "Like that? But how do I say, 'I'm Sierra'?" she asks.
A grin crosses Angelus’ face as he regards Sierra. “Exactly,” he says on nod. “Mhm,” he murmurs out at her request. He lifts his right hand to point a finger at his self, “I’m,” he says in unison to the hand movement, and he lifts his hand above his shoulder. It’s slow, concentrating on each letter of her name. “S-E- Wait-“ He starts again with, “S-I-“ A sigh escapes him, chucking. “You have to spell it out unless you’ve been given a name-sign. A-N-G-E-L-U-S,” he says, signing each letter of his name, slowly. “Or Gel,” he adds, and makes a gesture with his hand, apparently the so called ‘name-sign.’
"Oh. I don't have a name sign. Though some people do this at me, on occasion!" Sierra makes a rude gesture, while grinning mischievously. "S-I-E-R-R-A, by the way." She adds helpfully. "So it's… Hello," she puts her open hand near her face and waves it. "I'm," she points at herself… and then waits for Angelus to help her sign out the name, while signing along with him - and helpfully reciting the letters of her name.
“It usually comes from a deaf person,” Angelus informs, though he does grin at her gesture. He steps closer towards her, nodding slowly. “S-I-E- Wait, what. E-“ Angelus flushes, shifting uneasily on his feet as he glances to the ground with embarrassment. “S-I-E-R-R-A.” He simply repeats the letters of her name, concentrating and repeating them again. “Okay.” His hand lifts, starting with the letter S. “S….I….E….R….R….A,” he says each letter, delaying a few seconds after each one to get his fingers in the proper formation.
Sierra wears a look of concentration as she tries to remember and copy the various gestures. The 'Hello, I'm,' are pretty obvious. But… the five letters are harder to learn. She runs through the spelling of her names several times with Angelus' help - before trying the whole phrase together. "Hello, I'm Sierra," she both speaks and signs - before giving the boy a questioning look. "Like that?"
"Very umm…very good." Evelyn says, appearing from around a corner. It appears that she was watching…possibly while tending to the plant. It's hard to tell. "If um…if you talk with a person in sign-language enough, you do end up getting some um…some sort of sign to make it easier. Like I um…well, gave to Angelus."
Gabriel comes walking into the greenhouse, hands stuffed in his pants' pockets. He takes a moment to look around the big, plant field room and almost immediately he finds what he looking for. Or, rather, who he's looking for. "Angelus! I was told I could find you here." And then he starts striding towards the Gryffindor boy.
A little smile rests against Angelus’ lips as he watches Sierra, coming up close to her. He moves through the lettering again with his own hand, hopefully offering help. “Yea, you’re a fast learner, Higgins,” he compliments with a warm smile. His blue eyes flick to Evelyn as she pipes up, and a grin widens on his face. “Evie is the real teacher for sign language,” he states with a nod. His gaze shifts when he’s addressed by the arrival of Gabriel, but he stares at him with a sharp expression before snorting. “No, I’m not hiding anything so you don’t need to worry,” he remarks bitterly.
"Maybe I'll learn some more, then," Sierra remarks. It would be fun - if she and Colton could speak it, and no one else in the family could. After all - they have no secret language to fall back on at home.
She turns to look at Gabriel next, greeting the boy with a smile. "Ah, the funny one! But without the scathing retorts today?" she remarks curiously. He'd opened up on Angelus right from the word go, last time.
"I just um…I just have more experience speaking it is all." Evelyn responds to being the better teacher. "After all, I uh…I didn't really have much of a choice for a long time." She smiles a little timidly. When Gabriel makes his entrance and starts walking toward Angelus, she frowns. "Is uh…is there some kind of problem here? Angelus? Gabriel?"
Gabriel briefly nods to Sierra and Evelyn, "Higgins. Evelyn. Good afternoon." Then he's standing right in front of Angelus, almost exactly the way they were standing a few days ago. But this time instead of holding a belligerent posture and expression, Gabriel is standing there quietly, looking at Angelus the way most people would look at a jigsaw puzzle that's vexing them by having missing pieces. After a moment he asks, "So? Why did you do it?"
Calista has been really worried about Angelus since his wand broke. These are after all dangerous times for the Pure-Bloods, Hogwarts has gone all French Revolution! Not to mention a few associates of theirs might not accept Angelus' interpretation of strategy, including her Uncle. "Hello." She states to announce her arrival. "Is everything alright, Eibon?" She states calmly as she assess the others.
“It’s a useful language to know,” Angelus returns to Sierra before his attention is stolen by Gabriel. He frowns at the third year, gaze locked on him, holding his head with pride as he stares back. The silence slowly rouses his temper, his look turning steely. “I have-“ He starts with a smug tone, except that his gaze shifts to glance at Evelyn when she questions and the youth lets out a sigh. Then he’s glancing back to Gabriel at his inquiry, bringing out another snort from the Gryffindor. Angelus lifts his head to look over to Calista’s entrance, and she’s greeted with a raise of his head. “Flint.” He nods his head to her in answer. “I think everything is all right.” As he says this, he looks back to Gabriel with an arched brow, and a smirk touches his lips. “People were getting hurt, Ward. For a bloody box that no one even knew what was inside. You targeted me. Cavanaugh aimed his wand at me. I thought if I told the Auror where the box was I could prevent any more injuries.”
"You couldn't hear, then?" Sierra asks curiously, glancing towards Gabriel, Calista and Angelus, then back to Evelyn again. It doesn't look like there will be quite the dramatic amount of fireworks this time around - which is a bit of a pity as far as she's concerned.
"I was um…well, deaf, for a majority of my childhood." Evelyn murmurs to Sierra. She gives a confused look to both Gabriel and Angelus, tilting her head slightly. When Calista arrives, Evelyn begins to says, "I don't know if…" But before she finishes, she realized that the Eibon that Calista was talking about was in fact Angelus and not her. "Please…this is um…well, a stressful time for everyone. The last…well, the last thing that we need is continued fighting…" She wants to stop a fight before one really starts.
Gabriel listens to Angelus with a slightly raised eyebrow and when he finishes speaking he lets out a sigh that carries a hint of disappointment to it. Flicking his eyes to Calista as she enters he mutters "Aaaaand enter Evil Princess #1 stage left…" Angelus might be able to overhear the mutter but for everyone else's benefit he says, "Hello Flint."
Returning his attention to Angelus he pulls one hand out of his pant's pocket and uses it to dig into his robe's inner pocket. A few seconds later he brings it back out with a cylinder of brown paper in his hand.
Calista looks the scene over as she moves to Angelus' left side. There is a faint nod when the boy says everything is fine. Still, the pure blood is surrounded. She comes to a stop not far from his left shoulder to face the group from a somewhat like angle. The girl with the horse. "Is your horse calmed, or at least moved a safe distance from the town?" Evelyn gets a "Pardon?" then she glances to Gabriel and back to the Evelyn, "Oh, you were talking about Ward." When the boy reaches into his stuff though and grasps something, Calista shifts her right hand to drop the grip of her wand to her hand. "Hello Ward." Once she notes it is just something, like a muggle thing, she starts to slide the wand back up to tuck into place.
Angelus turns his head to fully regard his cousin thoughtfully. He watches her silently as he considers, keeping his focus on her for several minutes. Sierra’s voice is lost on him as he ponders, and then eventually heaves a sigh as he lowers his head in a nod. “Yes, we don’t need any fighting. There has been enough of that.” But his eyes narrow as they lock on Gabriel warningly. “That was unnecessary, Ward,” he murmurs in response to the third year’s mutter. He shifts, looking up to Calista when she steps up to him. A smile flicks against his lips. “Flint,” he says as he gestures towards Evelyn. “Have you met my cousin, Evelyn? She keeps to herself and studies a lot.” His smile flashes out warmly, looking from Evelyn to Gabe, as if to make a point to keep it civil.
Sierra nods to Evelyn - but her attention quickly focuses on Calista with a frown. "My brother's horse, Luskan, is just fine. Though it continues to baffle me that you cannot grasp the simple idea that any horse will be startled when something large comes down on them abruptly, in dim lighting," she states in a dry and scathing tone. "…and what are you drawing your wand for? Everyone else is being perfectly reasonable."
She turns back towards Evelyn asking in a cheerful tone, "Oh! I know a few more words you can teach me! How do you do 'idiot'?"
"I'm…I'm an Eibon. When you said Eibon…it's…just um…well, you see…when there's more than one person with the same last name in the same location, it's uh…well, I've been told it's polite to identify which one you're speaking to specifically. But I figure quite quickly you were um…well, speaking to Angelus." And now she learns that the girl is a Flint? Oi. "Um…it's a…it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Flint." She curtsies Calista a little bit. "I uh…I hardly think you'll need your wand. We're all going to be civil here." Turning her attention to Sierra, she clears her throat. "That's um…that's a lesson for another time…I think. Best uh…best not to call people that in such tense times." She murmurs.
Gabriel smirks at Angelus, "The truth is always necessary, if not always tactful. But Evelyn is right, there's been enough fighting…" His stop is a bit strange, as if he was about to say something more but held it back. Instead he uses his thumbnail to cut the brown paper somewhere towards the middle of the stack, releasing the strong, rich smell of chocolate into the air of the greenhouse. "But. Good deeds deserve rewards, even if the deed wasn't as good as I thought before. Intentions count." He offers Angelus the half-stack of Oreos while he continues to talk, "I know this doesn't make up for your wand. Or for what will probably be coming next. But its what I can offer right now."
Once Angelus has decided to either take the cookies or not he turns his head to Sierra and Evelyn, smiling a bit, “She can't really help it. Fur est qui conatus conditionis. Loosely translated: A person will judge others by their own standards."
"Why not?" Sierra asks innocently. "It'd come in handy. You have no idea the stupid things my little brother means." The girl furrows her brow. "Did you think I meant someone else?"
Calista sheathes the wand fully, "Apologies, I was attacked without provocation just recently. I thought Ward was reaching for something." Her voice holding a hint of sincerity. An Eibon is an Eibon, and for now, Evelyn is assumed to be something that may be only -half- true. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Eibon." The smile remains even when Sierra starts in about that skittish beast. "I do believe I apologized to you about the fact that landing a broom outside of Hogsmeade was unsettling to the creature. On the chance that I did not, I do so now. It does not change that I personally still advise it be moved to the opposite side of town, considering the weekend traffic on the Hogwarts side." There is a pause and she looks back to Angelus, then to Gabriel. "You are aware, Ward, as a matter of course, that the contents of the boxes had.. Nothing to do with S.C.U.M.S.? And that the Aurors presence here was not in any way connected to that issue? Further, as a mild point, whatever the outcome and resolutions.. Angelus Eibon acted in accordance with the law and the wishes of the Aurors? As I am certain any of the Aurors will report back that any Magijugend. Though on two occasions we were attacked?"
Angelus grows silent as he flicks his blue eyes from one person to the next as they speak. He has a frown on his face as he considers everything. A disapproving glance is shot towards Sierra and to Gabriel, and he eyes the package in his hands thoughtfully. He doesn’t reach out for it though, simply taking it all in. Eventually his gaze slowly drifts back to his cousin, and he watches her for several more seconds. The youth waits until no one is speaking, careful not to interrupt, before he clears his throat, lifting his head with an arrogance of someone who thinks their above it all. “Well it seems to me that some uncivility is beginning to show itself,” he glances, brow arched, towards Sierra and towards Gabriel, “so I think I’m done here. Perhaps next time some people will better handle themselves.” A smirk flicks against his lips and he turns to his cousin, dipping his head to her. “I’m glad that we’ve patched things up, Evie.” He turns to look to Calista, aiming his self towards the door but waiting for her word before heading out. She’s the seventh year, after all.
"Oh, hey, is that chocolate?" Sierra asks Gabriel curiously as the appetising smell. "It smells nice!" She flashes the boy a friendly smile, before looking back to Calista with raised eyebrows. "So, umm. Do you actually think Luskan just… hangs out by the wagon by himself all the time despite the fact that you've clearly never seen him there before, and me and Colton can only leave the school but every two weeks to check on him? That he just… wanders around free, and eats flowers out of people's gardens or something?
"We keep him at the stables of course." Though she doesn't say it - her tone implies, 'Don't be stupid.'
"Yes…uh…me too, Angelus." Evelyn smiles kindly. Looking from person to person, she clears her throat. "I uh…I should be going as well. I've um…I've got some Charms work to complete. But uh…I hope you all have a pleasant day." She murmurs.
Gabriel snorts, "The Evil Princess, speaking honeyed words laced with poison." Narrowing his eyes at Calista he says, "You are correct, the contents of the boxes had nothing to do with the aberration that is S.C.U.M.s. And /everything/ to do with exactly what the MLE was looking for. Which you and the rest of the Magijugend were trying to hide. You were attacked while you were racing the clock trying to hide evidence before the Magijugend arrived, so all your attackers were doing was preventing you from impeding a MLE investigation. And Angelus did the right thing, yes. /After/ doing the wrong thing." Then a spark of actual anger flashes in his eyes as Angelus ignores the offered cookies, "Well. If that's the side you're choosing then so be it, Fallen Angel. I might be young but I'm quite smart enough to realize that joining any group who's agenda it is to take away people's rights and freedoms is a huge mistake. Remember your wand. /They/ took it away from you." With that he drops Angelus' half of the paper wrapped cookies, intentionally crushes them with his foot and hands the other half to Sierra. As soon as Sierra takes the cookies he stomps past Angelus and Calista, taking advantage of Angelus' wait for the older Slytherin. But he does stop long enough to hold the door open for his housemate.
Calista might just be the original Queen of Spin, cause, well, watch this. "Actually, I was taking files to the archives, in the library. Which, to my knowledge is where files go. I was attacked while doing that. At no point in time did I refuse the M.L.E. any request. But, the point I was stating is this: it was not any one's place to interfere. And it was those interfering, and taking the law into their own hands that assaulted us. And as the Auror's had not yet produced a warrant at the time of the attacks.. In fact, theft. Good day." She turns and moves with Angelus. A pause, "Again pleasant to meet you, Evelyn Eibon.. And I am glad your horse is well cared for and only parked in an unsafe area aware of it, Miss." Back to departing.
Angelus should take the steps towards the door and depart. But Gabriel causes all thoughts of departure to be forgotten for the moment, even as he stays facing the exit. The youth freezes, head bowed, and then turns to the crunching under Gabriel’s foot. “I- I-“ The youth stutters, staring, taken aback, at Gabriel. His gaze shifts onto his cousin again, focusing his blue eyes intently on her as his expression twists emotionally. Eyes begin to glisten as they suddenly become suspiciously moist, and so he shakes his head heavily and hurriedly turns his gaze away after passing his eyes past Sierra and over to Gabe. “I was just chatting with Higgins and teaching her a bit of sign language until Ward came along.” He closes his eyes to bring his fingers up to pinch his nose. As his hand lowers and he blinks open his eyes they don’t look quite as teary. They lock onto Gabriel as he stalks to the exit. “My fellow friends in the Magijugend have nothing to do with my wand breaking. They’ve done nothing but stand up and offer protection for me. You have just been insulting because you have some notion that Flint isn’t being sincere.” He scowls, and tears spring up into his eyes again as he glances to Calista. Turning hastily away, he dashes out of the greenhouses, running in the opposite direction Gabriel walks off in.