Vexation Closed

Charlotte already started pulling her hand away when Gem's hand even started approaching hers, but let it be held for the sake of the moment. She smiled a little wider as he began talking, but quickly feigning shock and anger as he got to the middle part.
"And who are ye to be callin' me a wench?!" She said loudly, shoving him off to the side and punching his arm. These situations happened so frequently, that she wasn't sure if Gem had gotten used to them. She looked over at Veronica, and smiled sweetly, sitting up straight again, but not before flicking Gem's forehead. Other people would've said she ruined the moment, she thought she had made it better.

Although she was having a good time, it was cut short by the girl now standing in front of the trio. Charlotte bit the inside of her lip, trying not laugh.
"Not using it as an insult, just statin' the obvious. Not to mention, I didn't choose these robes." She rolled her eyes, her smirk growing as she put her cheek in her palm, her eyebrow raising as she heard the next sentence.
"And if you would please shut up. Some people are trying to read." Charlotte understood that part, she didn't like being interrupted by loud noises while she was reading. Quite frankly, it pissed her off, and if it got too far, that person would end up with a bruise or two.
"Aye, girl, I get ye." She nodded, toying with a piece of her straight brown hair. The difference, Charlotte noticed, between her and this girl, is that Charlotte was much stronger and threatening.
Through quick and unlikely thinking, she found that she related to this girl, though she didn't really like it. Charlotte stood up, dusting off her skirt, and leaning her weight on one leg. She was debating whether or not to ignore her and walk off, or to call it a truce and leave her alone.
Charlotte's eyes flickered down the book, thinking the exact same thing Catriona was, and squinted at her. She didn't necessarily feel like having the wind knocked out of her with a book.

"Don't mind any confrontation and I do know better. Just don't want anyone messin' with me hopeless cousin." She nodded off toward Gem. She stuck her hand out begrudgingly, not ever having to come to a solution with someone because everyone where she lived was looking for a fight.
"Truce? If we call this then ye can go off and read yer book, no distractions, we'll be off... unless ye want to join us?"

Catriona's frown faded as she watched the other girl smirking at her.

"Not using it as an insult, just statin' the obvious. Not to mention, I didn't choose these robes." Catriona tilted her head slightly. Did that mean the other girl was dissatisfied with her sorting? She would have to ask later (if the other girl didn't maim her before then).

"Aye, girl, I get ye." Catriona's eyes widened a fraction. It seemed she had woefully misjudged her fellow Ravenclaw. They seemed more similar than she'd thought at first.

She watched the other girl's eyes flick to her book and found herself smiling a bit. It was clear she'd noticed her clutching it like a weapon and come to the same conclusion as Catriona had. This girl was smarter than she'd given her credit for.

At the girl's next words, Catriona nodded. "I understand." The other girl stuck her hand out and Catriona found herself moving to shake it. "Truce it is then. I'm Catriona Staverly. Good to meet you."

She found herself hesitating at the other girl's proposition. It was odd that she'd hesitated, really. If given the choice between going with other people and reading, she usually chose the latter. But Catriona found herself wanting to go with the girl. She wanted to be a part of something. That had never happened before. Plus, the girl was intriguing. Catriona was used to seeing two kinds of people: people who liked knowledge and people who liked fighting. She'd assumed the girl was of the second category...

She didn't trust the other girl, that was for certain, but going with her, with them, couldn't hurt could it?

She looked up and stared coolly into the other girl's eyes. "I'll join. You look like you could use someone sane," she said, smiling a little.

Watching yet another confrontation break out brought Gem an unusual amount of dissatisfactory feeling, hitting him right in the pit of his stomach. It was tense to watch, Charlotte's silver tongue and this girl's book clutched like a weapon-- it seemed like there were few resolutions to this problem, and even fewer if Charlotte was the one that had to be up to that kind of test.

He swallowed thickly, eyeing the both of them unsurely, his grip on Veronica's wrist growing vice with his anxiety. He didn't quite know where to go with this, but he knew he had Charlotte's back if she needed it, (which she wouldn't, but he was there) and was unafraid to cheer her on if she was winning (or losing). He opened his mouth to speak, but was promptly cut off by the other young girl's voice, raising his eyebrows at what she had to say.

"And if you would please shut up. Some people are trying to read."
"Aye, girl, I get ye."

That was more shocking than someone coming up to Charlotte and challenging her.
The prospect that Charlotte held some kind of mercy in her somewhere was not shocking to Gem, but what did set him back a bit was that she had the moxie to make peace with a complete stranger-- that was very, very unlike her. Still, perhaps anything was better than being bludgeoned by a book with an ungodly mount of pages in it. He watched the rest of the interaction break out, glancing up at Catriona, smiling the best he could in a situation like this. Finally, he had his hand broken off of Veronica's, holding it up to their new friend to shake.

"Pleasure, Catriona. I'm Gem, ma cousin over there that's got murder in 'er eyes, that's Charlotte," He sat up a bit, gesturing over to the girl that had previously been the subject of the tousle, straightening out his back so he didn't look so scrawny and scared-- though, that action seemed like it was in vain. He always looked scrawny and scared. "Here, ye can sit 'ere. We can make a bit of a circle, joost like when we was lil' cabbages in kindergarten."

"Pleasure, Catriona. I'm Gem, ma cousin over there that's got murder in 'er eyes, that's Charlotte."

Catriona laughed. "Nice to meet you Gem and Charlotte." She turned towards the girl, Charlotte, cocking her head slightly. "She's not that murderous." Catriona could see why people would be intimidated by her, but Catriona was surprisingly unafraid (which was weird because she was usually unnerved by everything). Maybe it was the adrenalin from the anger. But Catriona had seen much worse, done much worse. Not evil worse, just scary worse.

Like dissecting her pet frog when it died to figure out why, which was rather creepy now when she looked back on it. Could anyone really blame her though? She'd already done it in biology class. It would probably be better not to bring her anatomy exploits up with potential friends (or anyone, really). Her mother always said Catriona's curiosity (as morbid as it sometimes was) would drive people away. She'd also said Catriona shouldn't go to school with Muggles, but Catriona did anyway. It was common knowledge now that her mother wasn't to be trusted with anything important.

"Here, ye can sit 'ere. We can make a bit of a circle, joost like when we was lil' cabbages in kindergarten."

Catriona laughed. "Cabbages?" she said, sitting crosslegged on the ground. She placed her book next to her, but still within arms reach in case things got boring (or violent).

“Fank you, I, uh, think you're quite delightful yersel'.” Veronica giggles as she blushed slightly. She really did think that he was a lovely person, although his cousin still came off a bit cheeky. However, after talking to the two of them for a bit, Charlotte did seem to genially care for her cousin, in her own somewhat violent way.

Veronica looked up as a new female that had appeared next to their spot. Oh Merlin, what did they do now? She questioned to herself. She was about to say something, until she felt Gem’s hand tighten around hers. “And if you would please shut up. Some people are trying to read.” Veronica understood that, wanting to read. “Aye, girl, I get ye.” It seemed Charlotte did as well.

Veronica half expected Charlotte to start a fight with the Ravenclaw female, but was taken by surprise when her hand was offered. “Truce? If we call this then ye can go off and read yer book, no distractions, we'll be off... unless ye want to join us?” Really? After getting scolded for being too loud, you’re inviting her to join us? Veronica kept her thoughts to herself, but she didn’t keep her confused expression from showing. “Truce it is then. I'm Catriona Staverly. Good to meet you. I'll join. You look like you could use someone sane, ” Roni rolled her eyes once Catriona finished. Someone sane? Ha! No one is ever grueling sane.

She frowned when she felt the warmth of Gem’s hand leave her own. However she quickly replaced it with a smile. “Nice to meet you, I’m Veronica Turner.” She extended her own hand after Gem, and moved over to make more room for Catriona. “Here, ye can sit 'ere. We can make a bit of a circle, joost like when we was lil' cabbages in kindergarten.” Veronica flipped her attention from Catriona to Gem. “Cabbages? I’m sorry but I don’t understand. Where you turned into a cabbage during kindergarten?” Veronica was genuinely confused. Most days she acted like a real airhead, never really comprehending anything properly.

Gem almost didn't notice that Veronica had tuned out a bit, only snapping back to reality when he heard both girls question his usage of the word cabbages. Had they no culture?

"It means when we were kids, lil' kids, I mean." He scratched his forearm, peering at both Catriona and Veronica. It felt weird, just for a moment... Veronica seemed to feel uncomfortable, not really as... open? He guessed. Now that there was no tension, a new person, and silence, he found that there was very little to talk about, all of a sudden. He could mention school, he could mention the fight from earlier, he could've said a lot, but he really had no idea how to. He reached up, toying with a piece of hair, curling it around his finger, sort of spacing out again-- he didn't realize he was staring at Veronica, probably looking creepy as all hell, unblinking...

When he heard sneakers screech against the floor, that's when he popped out of La La Land. He snapped his head in the direction of the loud noise, only grinning to laugh when he saw it was the very same kid from before, who had fallen yet again. He didn't even have to find something to talk about, it was like conversation just came to him.

"Oh, seems like it hurts..." he muttered, "it's a shame, too bad no one was there ta ask if he's alroight..." He sniffed pretentiously, crossing his arms like he'd just walked away from beating someone in a fight with no effort. That was exactly what it felt like now, he had won.