A warm crackling permeated the immediate vicinity, painting plush blankest and scattered books and supplies in an ethereal golden glow. The once pristine sleeping space claimed by one Evelynn Decipio was in a state of temporary shambles as she knelt in the midst of it all, moving things from here to there, organizing piles and folding laundry, arranging belongings that--over the course of summer camp--had gradually become readily available fixtures in one area of the tent or another. She paused, hands settling to rest gently on her lap, her head lolling back to direct her attention towards the heavens.

One month had not dimmed the expansive breathlessness of their beauty, however magical and conjured they may have been. Even knowing she was inside a tent, she couldn't tell the difference. Well... Her gaze trailed slowly along the ribbons of green and purple and blue that danced between the celestial bodies. She had never seen the northern lights before, not like this, as though the hand of some diety had descended to brush their inspiration across the skies just for them to admire. Every weekend had been marked by their arrival, and though many might say novelty is in the scarcity of something, never had she tired of falling asleep beneath their splendor. Would she ever see them again?

Her focus fell, then, to slowly pan the interior of the tent, to take in the smaller tent at the back in which no doubt Pericles rested even now, devouring whatever he could of the star charts and books while time remained; the observation chairs, reclined to allow their inhabitants to relax and take in the vast night sky above; the telescopes and star charts scattered around the perimeters, ones with which perhaps she should have taken more liberties while she'd had the chance; the rack of brooms that had, much to her surprise, remained largely untouched during their collected time at the London Stadium; and everything in between.

Sooner than she was perhaps prepared for, all of this would be in the past. A mere memory. Perhaps even a pleasant (for the most part) memory, if Evelynn could be convinced to admit it. While never typically one to outwardly demonstrate sentimentality, she did have a penchant for holding tight to certain things--items that marked moments of significance for one reason or another. The only thing she had held onto was a silver button and a piece of now-dried mistletoe, both stashed carefully away with bittersweet affections in a small trinket box in her bag.

A hand moved of its own accord for the analogue camera she'd unearthed in the process of her reorganizing, a relic from her time as a writer for the Headliner. She'd almost forgotten she had it, and certainly hadn't made any use of it in some time. It was lofted now, though, lens directed to pockets of her tentmates to catch each of them in a candid moment on the eve of their final day together. The flash would give her away, of course, but she wouldn't shy away. Instead, she let the device lower into her lap and pointedly suggested, "Tonight is the last night that we will all be gathered for some time, perhaps everreally..."

There was no intention to sound morbid with that statement, only to acknowledge that given their differences in year and house and interests, it was highly possible they would find themselves traveling different roads in future. But Evelynn knew only too well that any moment could be one's last, and her last summer had concluded with the return to school of one fewer student. She didn't want to take the contended bliss of the now for granted. "In Gryffindor, we would often hold an end of year celebration in the common room. Should we do something to commemorate end of summer?"

It was their last full day of camp, and Dee had spent most of it outside the tent, enjoying the freedom to cast magic while they were still here, before another few magic-less weeks at home. She'd ducked into the tent half an hour ago with her cheeks flushed and snowflakes caught in her hair, a bag tucked into her jacket - a parting gift from Mad, and the last puzzle piece missing from her plans for the night.

Noting the spirit of cleaning and packing around the tent, Dee had made sure to steer clear; her own things would be packed the next day with a quick packing spell, clothing and books and all her other belongings tumbling into her trunk in whichever way they fit. It wouldn't be pretty, but it'd do the trick. Instead, she'd beelined for her own sleeping area, fussed around a bit, and then curled up to wait for the right moment, eyes half-closed like a cat's, watching the other tent occupants. Winnie was there, that was important. Peri wasn't in sight, but she was rather sure that was just because he was hiding with the astronomy books.

The slowly swirling lines of the aurora overhead were doing a fantastic job of slowly lulling her to sleep, but she perked up when Eve paused in her pottering about to address the group, suggesting a last hurrah of sorts. And end of summer celebration, not that it had really felt like summer, with the theme of the camp, reinforced by spells that had kept the snow around for the past four weeks. Sitting up, Dee stretched languidly before hopping to her feet. "A great idea," she agreed emphatically. "And I have just the thought to make it memorable."

Bending down, she retrieved two glass bottles from the bag she'd brought in earlier, holding them up, one in each hand. They looked expensive, fancy labels in a language Dee didn't know. Swedish, perhaps? She wasn't sure where Mad had gotten them from. The bottles were identical apart from the bows that Dee had tied around them; one pink and one blue. "How about we play a little game?" She shook the bottles slightly, the amber liquid inside sloshing around, and shot Aly a conspiratorial grin, memories of the time she'd brought a similar bottle to their meeting on the astronomy tower dancing through her head. Aly had... not been a fan after the first few sips. "Truth or drink, perhaps? I brought pumpkin juice for our younger friends." She winked at Rebecca and Finnegan, then raised her voice slightly. "Peri! Come hang out with us, the books will still be there tomorrow."

She'd also brought a little secret ingredient and a hidden agenda to the party, one that mixed inconspicously with the contents of the pink bow bottle, but no one had to know about that. Not yet, at least, and she kind of hoped the firewhiskey would help with that later on, too.

@Evelynn Decipio | @Aly Salinger | @Winnie Harper | @Pericles Dralt | @Cassius Eden | @Rebecca Lark | @Finnegan Connor
Feel free to say that Dee mentioned the idea to play truth or drink to your character earlier that week, if you want.

Slight godmod permission given by Madhup Hexum (@Pericles Dralt)!

One thing every inhabitant of the Circinus tent would have surely learned by the end of camp was that Finnegan Connor possessed nearly endless amounts of energy. From first light till nightfall, he'd be out and about, getting into snowfights, partaking in the many games and activities across the camp, yet never seeming to really tire. Frankly, the only time he shut up was when he was eating, or if he had mercifully decided to play football inside the tent. Playing outside, thanks to the snow, was simply not possible, and he needed to get his practice in each day. While he certainly exercised a lot of control over where the ball was going and it never quite ended up against anyone's head, the cross-tent acrobatics involved to prevent such disasters from happening were frequently disruptive in nature.

By virtue of advanced age @Dealla Prince had the misfortune of being pegged as the local potions expert. Wherever this particular notion had arisen remained entirely unclear, but once Finnegan had decided that it ought to be possible to brew a growth potion, he had taken it upon himself to task Dealla with making it. Did it matter that there was no cauldron, no known recipe and there were no ingredients on hand? Of course not! You've just got to believe and visualize and the outcome and it will materialize. Like magic.

Over the course of several days he would offer helpful guidance and comments such as 'did you make that growth potion yet?' and 'how's the potion coming along?' and 'do you accept payment in chocolate frogs?' and a final, encouraging 'I thought you were smart' if she would ever attempt to make clear that no growth potion was forthcoming.

@Winnie Harper would have a distinctly different experience, often finding Finnegan materializing beside her, always ready to lend a hand, even with mundane tasks that she was surely capable of doing herself. Since they were rarely afforded a moment alone, his efforts remained polite and gentlemanly, never quite signalling anything more than a heightened interest in the girl. Chivalry wasn't dead yet, and sadly neither was Mathias Pride. Any mention of her 'amazing' boyfriend in his presence was met with an attempted change of subject, the most audacious of which was 'You know, I really think I'm much better at Quidditch than you.'

Anyone who had expected him to stick with @Rebecca Lark all summer was only half wrong. One major advantange of being best friend was that the friendship didn't require constant upkeep. He could go days without having any conversation of note with Rebecca, only to find that three days later, she was still the funniest, loveliest and bestest friend he'd ever made. Any keen observer would have noted that Finn's favourite subject to discuss with Rebecca was coming up with ways to make loads of money. Remarks such as 'of course we could grow weed in the herbology green house, who'd even notice?' and 'I really think there's a market for dried spiders' or 'Bex! Bex! Bex! I HAVE IT! SOLAR. PANELS. Write this down!' were an all too frequent occurence.

@Cassius Eden had made the fatal mistake of asking questions about channels and streaming. This resulted in several enthusiastic but difficult to follow explanations on the subject that tended to result in mounting confusion on both ends. 'No, when I say give me a thumbs up, I don't mean give me a thumbs up, it means you have to click a button. Wait, do you know what a mouse is?'

Because Cassius was a boy and Finnegan only respected the idea of personal space when it pertained to girls, such explanations could arrive rather suddenly. Typically at the same time as they popped into his head. It didn't much matter what Cassius was doing, if he made the mistake of being around Finnegan when Finnegan had thought of a better way to explain livestreaming, he was going to hear about it. One evening, the soon-to-be sixth-year would find his bed occupied by a Finnegan shaped object, holding out a brightly colored magazine. 'What took you so long? Anyway, look, this is the gaming chair I was talking about, you can't start streaming until you have one honestly, or you'll look a right twat, you will.'

Arguably, @Pericles Dralt had it worse. Particularly after the shared trauma of being evicted from their tent by girls, Finnegan would frequently hang around Pericles, soaking up the teenager's infinite wisdom on whatever subject the Ravenclaw chose. He could be talking about the various uses of paperclips and Finnegan would still look up at him in admiration. Which wasn't to say he never argued. Quite the contrary. In that, and many more regards, he behaved like a male stand-in for whenever Rebecca wasn't around to pester the poor teenager. Pericles' reward for being headmaster of the local kindergarten was a level of trust that expressed itself in pats on the back, elbows in the side, challenges to arm wrestle, and sniggered jokes — preferably about girls — whispered into his ear.

While @Evelynn Decipio was not spared his chipper banter, he treated her notably differently than the others. No matter how often he kept calling her 'Eve', she kept calling him 'Mr. Connor' and the distance that caused between them - though narrowing - remained ever present. Indeed, if ever he got too loud or too obnoxious, the best and fastest way of restoring the peace was for a single 'Mr. Connor' to be uttered, somewhat threateningly, by Evelynn. She held an authority over him that rivalled and sometimes even exceeded that of Hogwarts staff. Adding to his caution around Evelynn was the fact that he depended on her steady supply of Dreamless Sleep. With it, sleep came to him like the flick of a lightswitch. Without it, sleep didn't come at all.

Presently, Finnegan was gathering his things, which involved scouring the entire tent for lost socks and shirts and more, because he didn't subscribe to the medieval notion that he should keep his clothes near his trunk. He'd already announced to his dear tentmates that any items they didn't recognize should be tossed in his general direction, though he wasn't sure how keen anyone was on touching his stuff, given how much he tended to exert himself each day.

It seemed that weeks worth of fun and games had finally taken its toll. He'd quieted down for once and was sitting cross-legged on his bed, sorting his clothes and other belongings when Evelynn said
Tonight is the last night that we will all be gathered for some time, perhaps ever, really. In Gryffindor, we would often hold an end of year celebration in the common room. Should we do something to commemorate end of summer?

'Like what?' he chipped in without looking up from his work. But Dealla was already ahead of him. How about we play a little game? Truth or drink, perhaps? I brought pumpkin juice for our younger friends.

One of the things he had especially enjoyed about this year's camp was that he'd never felt like an outsider or the 'kid' of the group, even though he knew he was. Bex had helped in that regard, ensuring he was only the second youngest inhabitant, allowing him to be the bridge between the teenagers and the preteens in their group. Now that Dealla put him in the same category as Bex however, his pride was just a touch hurt. 'Oh Bex can have mine,' he said, oh so casually. How magnanimous of him to let her have his pumpkin juice while he played along with the adults. Deciding he'd sort and count the rest of his belongings later, he got up and dragged himself over to the smokeless campfire, which seemed the most natural place for such an activity to start. 'So how does it work?'

@Evelynn Decipio | @Dealla Prince | @Finnegan Connor

┏		┓
	Pericles was in the library conducting one of his newest exercises. Rotting hour, he called it. It involved laying on the ground and not much else, dedicating himself to the art of doing nothing, like a corpse or an aristocrat. This "hobby" had started up around O.W.L. season. Sometimes he rotted in the Common Room, other times on the grounds. He claimed it helped him clear his head. In that way, it was a bit like meditation, only with less introspection and more dozing off. It was the first flicker of Eve's camera in his periphery that pulled his attention, not a moment too soon before the lens was pointed his way. Eve would snap an image of him trying to cheekily hide his face, capturing a drowsy smirk half obscured by a blurred book. Whatever turmoil troubled him after the Spin was dormant. Both absolved to move on from the matter, a kind of cold truce where things were left unspoken, which both settled for, for now. Eve pointed out it was the last time the Circinus crew might be together, and despite the depletion of what was apparently called a "social battery", he had grown attached to the arrangement. Her proposal to commemorate the night piqued his interest. Pericles didn't race to suggest something, but his eye was bright, investment clear as he glanced around the room. He only had the energy to let others pose suggestions so he could toss his hat in. Dee, as Dee was wont to do, proved her capacity for stratagem by revealing she already had an idea and components for a memorable night. To her, "game" and "challenge" were typically synonymous. Now it was a matter of seeing who would rise to it. "Peri! Come hang out with us, the books will still be there tomorrow." Him, apparently. How could he possibly refuse her? A loud sigh was heaved from the library. Peri was back to theatrics, an indicator that his mood was on the mend. He brought the box along as he rose to join them. Finn had been on the quieter side, a rare spectacle that caused some concern. Now, a boy was not a bug, but from his experience, his more hyperactive tarantulas only grew listless when something was wrong. Pericles found himself wondering if he was glum about the end of summer, or if he was over it entirely. It seemed the former since he perked up to talk of play. When Dee mentioned she'd brought pumpkin juice for their younger friends, he promptly understood that what she proposed wasn't meant for the underclassmen's age group... or theirs either, really. His eyes narrowed in pretend concern as they moved between the bottle and Dee. She was ten days older than him, not a year. Where had she gone and gotten something like that...? Each of the immediate adult figures in his life thought they'd slipped Peri his first taste of booze since he turned sixteen. Mamo Tama let him have a sip of her ceremonial soma, his mother allowed him to sample her attempt at dittany mead, and his father rewarded him a quarter glass of wine last they worked late in the shipping office. Not a one of those substances were formidable as what was in Dee's bottle. 'Oh Bex can have mine,' Finn had boldly declared, detaching himself from his bestie's age bracket. "Would you rather have water?" Peri offered in a liltingly sweet way, implying it was the only viable alternative on hand. The budding warlock might have been abstractly cool, but he wasn't "encourage the twelve-year-old to shoot firewhiskey" cool. Regardless, the consistent admiration and argumentation with which Finn conducted himself had created a unique impression. As much as Bex and Finn had Pericles fighting for his life some days, their contrary natures were balanced out by just how damn endearing the duo could be. If his tolerance towards their antics was ever questioned, he would without hesitation explain that he was, perhaps to his peril, terribly fond of them. He had realized that the three year gap wouldn't mean much between them someday, but for now, it did. Already prepared for the inevitable talk-back, he settled into a seat at Finn's side, leaning to whisper as not to offend the girls: "Unless you want to pee fire. That's probably what it does, knowing Dee's idea of challenges."
┗		┛

Can I ask you a question...?
✰

Summer camp had truly been everything Aly Salinger could have dreamt about... plus a few extra curveballs. She had successfully planned out and held events, spent lots of time with her closest friends, and, best of all, spent a month-plus away from a home that no longer felt like a home. The young Ravenclaw was beginning to realize that where you belonged didn't always have to be a place; it could be a people, too, and it was - these people, her people.

And so, on the last day of camp, the teenager was spending these last precious moments - evening had come, now, and with it a lack of events other than packing for the morning's dawning and dreaded departure - simply watching her friends as she stuffed messy, unfolded clothes into her trunk. Neatness had never been a strong suit of hers. It was exactly this type of observance that led her to notice that @Evelynn Decipio had pulled out a camera and was aiming it in the general vicinity of the rest of the tent; never to be caught unawares of a camera, and with an intrinsic need to be photogenic, Aly grinned at the flash, shoving her unkempt trunk behind her with one foot. That was something that didn't need to be immortalized forever.

As the redhead lowered the camera back into her lap, Aly couldn't help but steal a glimpse at her. Ever since their kiss on the dance floor during the Mistletoe Spin - a kiss that, Aly felt the need to note, had not been prompted or forced by the little green plant or the random-pairing system of her wintry ball - the Gryffindor had been cagey and distant, and had even spent a full day (and two nights) away from the Circinus tent. Sure, she was here now, but... well, maybe it was just that Aly had as of late been feeling her presence a lot more. Feeling her cheeks redden, the brunette looked away before Evelynn could catch her staring. Sooner or later, this was a quickly worsening problem with which she would have to deal. But that time was not tonight. Right?

Her rambling mind was interrupted by her sister-from-another-mister @Dealla Prince dangling a carrot in front of their rabbit noses - well, not literally a carrot, but something certainly of the same orangey colour. Aly's nose twitched on reflex, remembering the spicy punch of firewhisky to her taste buds, but she was not entirely wary of the stuff - after all, it might have gone down badly back in January when she and Dee had first tried it up in the Astronomy Tower, but afterwards hadn't been so bad. Why would adults drink it if it didn't have some good qualities, right? Even better, a game of Truth or Drink had been suggested, and Aly's round, freckled face brightened with a smile at the idea. "I think that's a wonderful suggestion!" she chirped, throwing one last crumpled purple sweater into her trunk and nudging the lid shut with her foot before closing in on the fire. "Even better with the pumpkin juice. Don't want to be getting in trouble for getting second-years tipsy, eh?" She settled in next to @Finnegan Connor, on the other side of the young boy from @Pericles Dralt, figuring that next to the two boys was likely her safest bet on a good location. This way, she could avoid Evelynn's prying eyes, should the grey gaze decide to come her way.

She leaned slightly forward to talk over Finnegan, trying to catch Peri's eye. "Don't worry, mate," she reassured her other best mate, throwing him as conspiratorial of a wink as she'd gotten of a grin from Dee earlier. "Stuff goes down hot, but it settles quick. Or you could just answer questions... I've got plenty of 'em!" Not that she would ask Peri - or anyone else, for that matter - particularly damning truths, and she hoped that they knew that. This type of teenage game was meant for childish fun, and nothing more. Turning back to the group, she brightened her lovely smile. "So, I'm assuming it's like Truth or Dare, but with drink instead of dare?"

✰

Charmer ✰ Paragon of Health ✰ Lovely Creature
Foulplay ✰ Keen Eye
Lovely and Charmer affect everyone. Paragon allies are Pericles and Dealla.

⋄ Banner made by Aly Salinger ⋄
⋄ August 10th, 2024; Evening | London Quidditch Stadium ⋄
⋄ Interactions: @Pericles Dralt, @Evelynn Decipio, @Finnegan Connor, @Aly Salinger, @Winnie Harper, @Dealla Prince, & @Cassius Eden | Mentions: None ⋄

𝓑y the glow of the campfire and the artificial Ophiuchus above her, Bex methodically wove the various strands of colored embroidery floss together, the tip of her tongue poking out of her mouth as she did her best to stay focused on the task at hand. The relentless tap-tap-tap of her foot against the ground betrayed her restless energy, though, a mindless tic born of an innate aversion to the peaceful stillness of the camping atmosphere. An object in motion tended to stay in motion, and Bex had learned to run long before she'd learned to walk.

The plus side of agreeing to go to camp during her dad's custody time was getting to avoid a month of awkward conversations and conflict-driven avoidance with him, but the downside was the inevitable continental drift of her personal life. While she was off at Hogwarts, preparing for a magical life that she both didn't want and had never asked for, Kayla and Darcy were back in Leeds, growing into people who she would one day only know by name alone. They were going to parties she'd never be invited to, making new friends that she'd never meet, and consuming media and pop culture that Bex would be less and less able to relate to the longer she was away. It was terrifying watching your friends grow away from you.

There was nothing she could do about it, really. A few weeks here and there back in the muggle world was a bandage on a missing limb. Thus, she channeled her nervous energy into something more tangible: having finished the project for Finnegan, she'd transitioned over to making more traditional summer camp style friendship bracelets for Darcy, Kayla, and herself. The weaving made her think of Arachne, how she'd challenged Athena and won, but it hadn't really mattered, had it? She'd woven the truth and died anyway, forever stuck as a spider, weaving and weaving and weaving. She hadn't even gotten a constellation out of it.

Every so often her work would be interrupted by little aha's and groans from Finnegan, who, like a dog peeing in every corner of his new yard, apparently could not feel at home unless his belongings were scattered liberally across every square inch of their tent, and was now forced to try and retrieve all of them. She couldn't judge him on the disorganized part, as she was rather notoriously messy herself, but at least she kept her chaos contained to her own living space. She swore to God that Finn somehow had more clothing than Winnie did, which was saying something. (Bex, in her infinite social wisdom, had noticed absolutely nothing odd about Finnegan's behavior towards Winnie all summer. It was nice that they had become such good friends.)

Finnegan was not a replacement for the friends she'd left behind, but he was a pleasant balm on the ache of it, even when he was pelting her with snowballs while she tried to accomplish her planning committee chores, or shaking her awake at the crack of dawn (11:30 a.m.) to tell her about solar panels. Like, obviously that was a great idea and they were going to be very wealthy, but wealthy people should be allowed to sleep.

A flash of light interrupted the sleepy gloaming that had enveloped her, and she looked up towards the source, her weaving apparently interrupted by Evelynn's newfound hobby for photography. She'd brought Pear out from where he'd been in the library, too, which must mean that "rotting" time was over. Bex quite liked rotting time; back during Pear's O.W.L. times, she'd used to amuse herself by pretending that he'd gotten overwhelmed and fainted in their common room, and would over-dramatically fan him with one of the lounge chair cushions. Sometimes she'd helpfully feed him grapes to re-hydrate him while he starfished on the floor. He'd invited her to rot with him a couple of times, but it was dreadfully boring down there on the floor, and she couldn't really see the appeal.

Evelynn had the kind of voice that you just listened to when she spoke. It wasn't that she was loud, but rather something more intangible, something between confidence and charisma. When she spoke, Bex put her bracelets down to the side.

"Tonight is the last night that we will all be gathered for some time, perhaps ever really..."

Bex couldn't suppress an involuntary flinch at her words, reminded again of the realization that she'd come to back in June: Pericles and Aly - and now Evelynn as well, who she'd grown just as hopelessly attached to - were four years her senior. In two years, they would graduate, and she would have to finish her remaining four years of school without them. What a dreadful feeling it was, mourning something that hadn't even died yet.

"In Gryffindor, we would often hold an end of year celebration in the common room. Should we do something to commemorate end of summer?"

"How about we play a little game? Truth or drink, perhaps? I brought pumpkin juice for our younger friends."

It was awful to feel like your friends saw you as something less, someone who would never quite be on even footing with them due to the simple bad luck of birth. She didn't want to be regarded as some dumb kid, not old enough to participate and inevitably left behind one day when they all went where she couldn't follow. She was suddenly, blindly determined that, come hell or high water, she would be drinking with them tonight. She refused to be the weakest link.

As such, Finnegan's betrayal was shocking and infuriating, and his excommunication from her good graces was swift and brutal.

"Oh Bex can have mine."

So it was just her, then? Everyone else was mature enough but her. She was so, so angry all the time, it seemed, like the slightest spark was enough to set her alight. "Keep it." She snarled, stomping over to the campfire and their de-facto meeting place before flopping to the ground in a huff. "Truth or Dare, then. Or Truth or Drink, whatever. I'm playing."

August 10, 2024 | Evening Summer Camp, London Quidditch Stadium, England

Interactions: Mentions: @Opeila Winters, @Finnegan Connor, @Dealla Prince, @Evelynn Decipio, @Pericles Dralt

𝕿he soon-to-be sixth year Ravenclaw had spent much of the day strolling about the campground. The summer festivities were soon to end and he found himself reflecting on his experiences. Cassius had largely accomplished the task he had set for himself: be more sociable. The summer camp experience had brought many firsts -- including the opportunity to dance with his fellow classmates.

That particular activity was still fresh in his mind, especially his encounter with his Slytherin duelling counterpart. While he had been respectful of that fact that @Opeila Winters' boyfriend was just a few steps away, Cassius regretted not being more cavalier. Even if not a kiss, he could have asked permission to call upon her or expressed his interest in some other way. Alas, life was full of regrets and he continued on through the campground. With a festival in Finland to look forward to he could perhaps put that encounter behind him and move on knowing he would not see that classmate until the start of school term.

His route around camp brought him eventually back to his tent. Circinus. It was a thing of beauty and most nights Cassius had slept better than he normally did. Even if not 'real', to sleep under the stars and constellations was a comforting and peaceful experience, one that balanced the rather energetic and rambunctious nature of his tentmates. Having spent several days with them, he grew to appreciate each one. Even young @Finnegan Connor, who had regaled the Ravenclaw on all things 'streaming' was a delight to speak to even if Cassius had no idea what he was talking about most of the time. Actually, Cassius had no idea what he was talking about 100% of the time. Thankfully, when Cassius returned to the tent he did not find the young Gryffindor hiding in his bed with another detailed explanation of gaming chairs and their benefits for streaming. That particular discussion had left Cassius with more questions than answers. Wouldn't the mouse run away from the desk? How did a chair improve one's performance if they were still sitting? Muggle society was weird.

Cassius' corner of the tent was neatly maintained and organized. He had already secured the services of some first year 'porters' to assist him with his heavy trunk on the morrow and thus did not feel the need to do much as he plopped down on his bed. He had been content with simply falling asleep and bringing the festivities to a close, but a suggestion by @Evelynn Decipio piqued his attention.

Truth or Drink.

Now there was a dangerous game, especially as the offered liquid could be anything. Except for celebratory half-goblets of watered down port wine, he had never drank alcohol. At least that is what Cassius assumed @Dealla Prince had smuggled in. This was not Hogwarts and he was not bound by his Prefect responsibilities. Hopefully.

"I will join," Cassius said, sitting up from his position on his bed. He had removed his boots and had changed into more comfortable clothes. "I have questions that need answers." Shifting closer to the center of the tent, his piercing blue-eyes focused briefly on @Pericles Dralt and @Dealla Prince. Not much was conveyed in his expression but the look was certainly a serious one.

Interacting: @Evelynn Decipio | @Finnegan Connor | @Dealla Prince | @Cassius Eden

Outfit: ✿

..@Pericles Dralt | @Aly Salinger | @Rebecca Lark

English | Irish

Winnie Harper was clad in her strawberry pajamas, complete with a pair of pink kitten heel mule slippers. She lay in her usual pile of fluffy pink pillows, cute stuffed animals, and warm comforters. She clenched a well-loved Jane Austen book in her hands, her lips silently mouthing each word her blue eyes scanned over.

"Tonight is the last night that we will all be gathered for some time, perhaps ever really..."

Evelynn's words had Winnie shooting up into a crossed legged sitting position faster than she could say 'last night'. Her brows furrowing, she stared over at the older girl and shook her head, "Lets not think like that, Evie. Sure, summer camp is coming to an end, but... We're going to be friends forever, right?" Her eyes scanned over the group, as if that would force them all to agree with her.

"And I have just the thought to make it memorable."

Winnie's eyes lit up when Dee revealed she had a plan. Her book was quickly forgotten and tossed onto her sleeping 'bag' before Winnie practically skipped over to Dee's side to see what she was digging for, like a dog waiting for a treat.

She couldn't swallow a gasp when the bottles were revealed. "Oh! Those are so cute..." Especially the one with the pink ribbon, she wanted that one, but they belonged to Dee and--

"And I have just the thought to make it memorable. Truth or drink, perhaps?"

"YES!" Was the Ravenclaw's enthusiastic response, her hands clapping together. She always seemed to have such unplaced energy when she was around her upperclassmen, but clearly it was because they had wonderful ideas. "OH! Can I drink from the pink one, Dee? Pretty please?" She couldn't wait for Finn to admit that it was Winnie who was the superior Quidditch player.

'Oh Bex can have mine.'

Wait, so Finn and Bex weren't allowed to drink? She understood Bex, but wasn't Finn a teenager now? Shouldn't he have the full experience of being a rebellious teen? "Don't worry, Finn," Winnie assured the Gryffindor, walking over to him and draping an arm around him. She leaned in to whisper in his ear, "you can have some of mine if you'd like." She released her hold on him before Peri could warn him of the possibility of peeing fire. Thank Merlin she hadn't overheard him, or she'd have never accepted anything from Dee ever again.

"Even better with the pumpkin juice. Don't want to be getting in trouble for getting second-years tipsy, eh?"

She was a bit confused by her peer's hesitation, because she was pretty sure she had fire whiskey when she was 13 or around that age. Was that weird? "... Wait, how old were you guys when you first had fire whiskey?" She looked over the group with furrowed brows. She couldn't help feeling a bit self conscious about it.

"Keep it."

"Aw, Bex..." She did feel bad that she had to miss out, but at least she would get to witness her older friends get stupidly drunk. She'd be able to make fun of them for it later, too, and that seemed like something Bex would enjoy doing, so... Silver lining? "What if we all share a tent next summer too? Then Bex and Finn could join in."

"I will join."

Admittedly Cassius was the person in the group she knew least about, so she couldn't stop herself from clapping when he joined in on the fun. This would be a great opportunity to finally learn something about him... Other than his name. Oh no, had she really been so neglectful towards her tentmate? "Yay! Cassie is in too." She celebrated, having no right to give the boy such a cutesy nickname.

"Maybe Dee should go first, since she suggested the game? OH! We should all sit in a circle too!" She rushed over to retrieve some of her plush pillows and began to toss them towards her tent mates.

One by one, the tent's occupants gathered in the center of the open area like moths around a fire, bees around a flower filled with nectar, or teenage kids around the promise of alcohol and bad decisions.

First, the little smart aleck @Finnegan Connor and his magnanimous offer to let @Rebecca Lark have his share of pumpkin juice. Hiding a smile, Dee decided she might have to offer him the growth potion he'd asked for some time soon... or something with a similar effect.

@Pericles Dralt rose from the floor like a particularly pale zombie from the grave, and received an encouraging grin in response. She decided to ignore the whispering - surely, her forever duelling partner only had good things to say about her, right?

Appreciating her best friend's enthusiasm, Dee offered her a quick fist to bump when @Aly Salinger walked past her to join the growing group, memories of their adventure on the astronomy tower bringing another smile to her face. So far, this was going swimmingly.

Bex didn't seem as happy with her bestie at the moment, and Dee snorted softly, then offered the girl a flash of a wink. Truthfully, she didn't care too much if Rebecca or Finnegan managed to sneak a sip of the firewhiskey. They'd probably hate it, anyway.

@Cassius Eden had admittedly been a bit of a wild card in her plan - the sole prefect of the tent, one of the people she knew less well, and someone she wasn't quite sure she could bully into going along with her ideas if it came to it, but she'd decided to take the risk, and apparently had been right to do so. The look he'd directed her way went unnoticed, but she gave him a cheerful thumbs-up when he moved to join the rest of them.

Her eyes trailed over @Evelynn Decipio, who'd been the one to initiate this little adventure, although Dee wasn't sure this was what she'd imagined, to the last - and most important - piece of the puzzle: @Winnie Harper. Luckily, Dee hadn't been too worried about the redhead refusing to join her scheme, and Winnie's unending enthusiasm didn't disappoint. "Why yes, you can," she agreed generously, like the pink ribbon hadn't been the cheese in her mouse trap.

Setting down the two bottles so there was one in easy reach for every player, and a bottle of pumpkin juice she was fairly certain would go mostly ignored, Dee clapped her hands together and pointed at Aly. "Pretty much! It's really easy. You pick one of our lovely tentmates and ask them... let's say three questions, to spice it up. For each question, they can decide whether to answer - truthfully, of course, this is a game of honour - or take a generous sip of one of the bottles." Dee would make sure to stick to the one with the blue ribbon, though. "Then, they get to pick a victim they'd like to ask some questions to, and so on." She hesitated, trying to figure out if she'd forgotten anything, then shrugged and picked up one of the pillows Winnie had provided, settling into a spot next to Peri.

"Here, let me start, so you can see how it works. Let's see..." Her blue eyes trailed over the group that had gathered around the fire, then she gave Finn a wide, wicked smile when her gaze landed on him. "Finn!" She didn't have anything particularly pressing to ask him, but it'd do nicely to set the game up, and perhaps this would help him get over the sting of feeling excluded. "First! What do you think will change about your life if you take a potion to grow taller? Second... what is the last thing you lied about? And third... Hmm." She hesitated, thoughtful, and tried to decide on a third question. After a moment, she brightened. "Oh yeah! How does it feel that Bex could probably pick you up and snap you in half like a twig?"

"Would you rather have water?"

"No..." The upside to being regarded as naive was that in rare moments like these, he could pretend to miss the silent implication. He didn't even bothered arguing, thinking it best to just ignore Pericles's opinion — that's what it was — on the matter.

"Even better with the pumpkin juice. Don't want to be getting in trouble for getting second-years tipsy, eh?"

Salinger commanded a lot of respect points because of how good of a Chaser she was, but that reputation suffered a temporary dent upon siding with Pericles. Leave it to Ravenclaws to remind others of the 'rules'. "Remind me where it says that fifth-years are allowed," he said. He was about to say more when, like an angel from heaven, Winnie swooped in.

Before he knew it, her arm was draped over his shoulder and her voice so close to his ear that he felt her breath against it. Whatever counter-argument he'd been about to throw at Salinger died on his lips as his entire frame froze up at the impromptu ASMR experience. "Uhh..." Mayday, mayday! All stations were raised to general quarters in his head, but on the outside it looked like very little was happening. He'd not at all been prepared for this divine intervention and quite forgot to breathe for a second. Just as Winnie moved away, he clasped her hand with his own to whisper back a quick 'thanks', then let go.

Not a moment later, he jumped up suddenly, escaped the prison Salinger and Dralt had formed around him and darted over to his trunk. After a bit of rummaging, he returned with a large variety bag of crisps and ripped it open. "Almost forgot, but since my birthday's coming up, I was supposed to hand these out. I've got cheese & onion, salt & vinegar, spicy..." He went around the circle to hand them out to anyone that wanted one. If Rebecca picked a flavor, he'd kind of lob it at her and circle around her, maintaining a safe distance from where she was seated. She'd seemed a little miffed about his comment from earlier, after all.

By sheer, utter coincidence he ended up handing out the last of the mini-bags to Winnie. As a matter of convenience then, he decided to shift places at the last minute and sat down next to her instead. Naturally, he avoided any looks from Pericles or Aly, if they really cared to stop him, they could, but he doubted they were that set on causing a fuss.

"Hey Winnie," he greeted breathlessly. "Nice PJs." He'd already said it before he'd really thought it through. Was it normal to compliment someone on their pajamas? He dearly hoped it was, it had certainly seemed a safer choice than her slippers which would've required him to lie through his teeth, they really were rather horrendous.

"Finn!"

"Shite!" He flinched visibly but recovered just as fast. "I mean- yes?"

"First! What do you think will change about your life if you take a potion to grow taller? Second... what is the last thing you lied about? And third... Hmm... Oh yeah! How does it feel that Bex could probably pick you up and snap you in half like a twig?"

"I'll get taller?" He'd been so caught up having to answer first that he really didn't spend much time considering her question. "And... people will look up to me? If they don't already, of course." he added with a hint of a smirk.

The second question was a little tougher. On a typical day he was so scattered that he could hardly remember what he had for breakfast. "I don't know... I- I never lie?" That wasn't going to fly, which was why he added, "there you go, I lied just now."

The third question made him huff. "She can't! Wanna bet? I'm way stronger than her! I just let her win sometimes, you know?" Nevermind all those instances of pillow fights throughout camp where he ended up on the floor, panting and tapping out. Those were just instances where he had magnanimously decided to help boost Rebecca's confidence by letting her gain the upper hand. It was an almost-thirteen-year-old's job to make the young kids not feel too left out, after all.

"So it's my turn to ask questions now, right?" His eyes drifted slowly over all of them until they landed on Rebecca and lit up. A telling, mischievous look darkened his face. She was going to wish she'd never joined in.

"First question: what's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you? Please be descriptive." Once she'd answered (or taken a drink), he'd ask the next two questions: "What's the lowest grade you ever got and why?" If she wasn't sinking through the floor in shame by now, the next question would surely do her in. "Have you ever kissed a boy?"