"Startling much?" PV

One of Rafal’s personal indictments when it comes to the whole boarding school issue, is the unyielding, infernal, bloody noise. While home life can certainly be far from peachy at times, ephemeral periods of tranquility can still be attained on regular occasion; and gospel truth is, one simply does not succeed in procuring this state of serenity when in a castle with teenagers in the reign of one thousand, not to mention various scattered staff members who have neither the means nor vigour to keep track of their disciplines’ locations and various activities at all times - the former of which may be downright anarchic at times. And no, he is not exaggerating in the bit.

So, yes. The never-ending social facet of Hogwarts is a cross no shortage of gruelling, yet one they all must bear. Take present time, for instance. Classes are at last over for the day, and in typical cases, wouldn’t that statement be one which traditionally warrants great joy and revelry? Well, not here. As the steadily more forlorn Slytherin allows the jostling jumble of his peers to hustle him down yet another winding, endless hallway packed with implacable piranhas (at this point, they are all starting to look the same; murky grey and without hope), some corner in the far end of his mind reflects on all the choices of his life which had led the boy into this current situation.

So actually, you know what? He bloody well gives up. He’s never going to get into the sodding library, and every damned soul which has ever attempted to convince him otherwise can very well bugger off. Bloody idiots, the whole lot of them. Perhaps with a tad more dramatics than necessary, Rafal spins around in a huff, only all too prepared to rudely shove aside any person impeding his grand plan of storming off most theatrically. No lines which cannot be crossed, as they say.

Well. As it turns out, there is just one thing standing in his way, and quite literally. Or rather, the uncannily cadaverous-looking fellow who had evidently decided to stick himself like the grim reaper right smack behind the hapless Slytherin, who no, is really not having a very good day. To make matters worse - if even viable at this point - the lad appeared to have taken on the rather abhorrent trait of staring at the wretched subject of his attentions with what can only be related as, what must be the most disconcerting and spine-chilling gaze known to all wizard kind.

Pale, bug-like and acute. An unbeatable combination, surely.

Someone screams. It may have been Rafal. He stumbles back in a flash, precipitous, reeling in shock and for a second, convinced some manner of unholy creature of the underworld had come to collect the poor boy for all his sins. His mind frantically searches for any action or quest he had engaged in these recent days which may warrant eternal damnation; before the initial bombshell has quieted down and the Slytherin realized the notion is quite frankly, ridiculous. Nevertheless, his heart rate has now shot up to a downright concerning temp, and a trip to St. Mungo's posthaste would frankly, not at all be out of pocket, current circumstances in mind.

Hand pressed to heart and countenance a mixture of lingering shock piled on with steadily brimming indigence and umbrageousness - two emotions which do not bode well in the slightest, least of all together - Rafal simply stares at his assailant, seemingly incapable of gathering the words befitting this brilliant kaleidoscope of ranging and bubbling emotions.

At any rate, the boy shall most certainly do his very best. "What the bloody hell is your problem, mate?"

Interacting with @Azrael Holloway

Reducio

Mentions: @Rafal Devereux

For the first time in what felt like several minutes, Azrael blinked- eyes narrowing as he blankly stared at the boy in front of him...

He's had people be startled by him multiple times already, so it's nothing new for someone to jump back and scream like that...still, he never seems to get truly used to it- especially not when he still has no idea why people find him so startling to look at.
______________________••___________________§- "...apologies, I didn't mean to startle you."
______________________••___________________Azrael said, not moving an inch from where he was standing as he continued to blankly look up at the boy.

He tilted his head slightly to the right, as if taking him in...like a haunted doll not taking it's eyes off of you- how does he not notice he's eerie? It's a mystery no one's able to figure out just yet.

Maybe he's just really dense- or he's playing dumb... although that second option doesn't seem like him at all- if anything, he's probably just very innocent in a cryptid way.

Still, it would do him so good to see himself in the mirror for once and actually try to understand just WHY people jump back when he stands behind them for several minutes and then scream when they see him.

Now, he's very good at telling when people are tense...his parents unintentionally taught him that, after all- they're just like him, so Azrael learned pretty quickly that most people have lots of little "tells" when they're upset or tense regardless of how stoic they might be.

Or how well they think they might be hiding it from everyone else.
______________________••___________________§- "...you look tense, are you feeling alright?"
______________________••___________________He bluntly asked, the books in his hands shifting as he tilted his head further, eyes squinting slightly as he stared at him face to face.

As if trying to somehow figure out what was wrong, when really- he should probably be checking himself instead...and maybe try to find a better way to walk up to people.

By now, the corridors are slowly emptying- although there's still quite a few people left behind, some talking in groups, others lounging around with nothing better to do...

It's truly a boring day, the perfect environment for a Holloway to thrive in- not intentionally of course, none of them ever seem to realize that they accidentally cause mayhem wherever they go during boring days... there's just way more chances for them to accidentally startle someone- or for someone to find them in a weird, dark and humid place by wandering around in boredom (yes, that has happened before).

If you ever ask past generations, you might still get a few stories here and there on how Azrael's parents and grandparents used to flock to dark, humid spaces randomly when they didn't like how sunny it was outside.... that's how his parents met, they just happened to find the same place to mingle in.

So now the question is- will Azrael actually ask to pass through, or is he bored enough to linger and talk? Something he never usually does...but when he has nothing better to do, sometimes talking to other people and leaving the same (horrible) first impression his parents used to leave is enough to make a few friends here and there.

IF they can get past the creepy stare, that is.