"Just umm.. Forgot that.. umm."
“Yes?”
"Nina was going out with friends today?"
“Mhm.”
"And... I was gonna ask her... if um uhm... I could.. borrow some of her clothes?"
“Hm. Alright.”

Wyatt knew that was definitely not why Alec was in a bad mood. The Slytherin actually felt a tinge of sadness for the Lion. He wondered what it would be like if Perseus was killed. That didn’t mean Wyatt was going to take responsibility, though. He was just going to leave it there. If Alec was willing to pretend nothing happened, Wyatt would go with that.

Wyatt stared down at the cereal bar. Just stared. His body was begging for Wyatt to eat anything, but he felt sick just thinking about it. He felt his eyes tear up, he was being so pathetic. His father’s voice echoed in his mind.

Worthless.
Sissy.
Pathetic.

His heart was pounding in his ears. Quickly, though, he blinked away the tears. There was no way he was going to cry in front of Alec J. Mason. After moving his bass behind himself, he picked up his guitar, and started mindlessly playing a few chords. Plucking a few strings.

He felt a small sting and looked down at his right hand. What the hell… his fingers were bleeding. He’d been playing non-stop for maybe 30 minutes after not playing for a week. Looking at the strings, they were all red, too. “Shit,” he said as he wiped the strings down with his sleeve.

_{@Alec Mason}

Hours later.

Alec had been trying to ignore it all day. The feeling that was eating away at him. Make believe with pirates did help a bit though. It was like being taken into a whole another world. Guess that's why make believe is always so fun. Alec glanced over at Wyatt. It was late and Alec had 'gone to bed' about two hours ago. The room was dark and you could hear the sounds of the night from in Alec's room. Much more calming than the eery sounds of the house. Alec had often found sneaking out at night calming.. It was away from a lot of his stress back at home. And with so much on his mind. Including his kind of.. Enemy staying at his house this summer.

Alec sat up, pulling his blanket off himself. He had to let his eyes adjust to the dark for a moment. He'd done this before. Lots of times.. He'd been caught last time he did it, though. Was it even worth going out if he was going to get caught by his parents? Imagine how much trouble he'd get in. Especially after last time. The stakes were high, but Alec was feeling dangerous.

And maybe a little risk this time wouldn't hurt. Just ignore that your parents probably could catch you. You're not going to get caught. It'll be fine. Hopefully. It's not like your parents can hear you from up where they are, anyway. If you do it quietly, you'll be able to get out seamlessly for a few hours. And a few hours was better than nothing.

Alec walked through the darkness of his room. Now walking through the darkness is never a good idea. Especially if you don't have a flashlight. But Alec couldn't exactly risk that. If he did that it might wake up Snake-boy. And so Alec ended up tripping on a pile of clothes he'd left on the floor. They were clean. Alec just hadn't put them away yet. This is why you do your chores. And Alec fell, there was a small thump as he hit the ground. "Shoot.." Alec muttered as he slowly stood up glancing over at Wyatt to see if Alec had woken him up.

@Wyatt Starkey

_{Still wearing: Outfit | Shoes}

"Shoot…"

Wyatt chuckled. Usually, not being able to sleep sucks, but right now it was really paying off. He just stood up. He didn’t bother getting under the covers, so he didn’t need to push any blankets away. The dark-haired Slytherin hadn’t bothered to change his clothes into anything more comfortable either, knowing he would probably only sleep for two hours anyway.

“What… the hell are you doing,” he said, with a wry smile on his face… a smile that didn’t exactly reach his cold, dark eyes. He looked Alec up and down. “More like… where are you going?” Wyatt had no intention on telling Alec’s parents about their son sneaking out, he was no snitch, but having the upper hand at all times is key. He could use this as… pretend blackmail.

His mischievous smile stayed on his face, waiting for an answer.

Wyatt had noticed how somber Alec had seemed throughout the day after Cookie “went missing.” At first, Wyatt thought it was such a stupid thing to be so terribly sad over the death of a spider, but when he thought of what it would be like if Perseus died… he didn’t know what he would do. Pets are precious. The sadness of Wyatt felt after losing his own mother, though, was a different thing, something he himself didn’t even understand.

_{@Alec Mason}

Alec let out a nervous laugh. Stupid clothes Alec should've put it away. See, this is why you do your chores. Lesson still not learned. But do your chores! "um.. You see, I was u-um.." Alec said he was running out of excuses. Not that they were ever good, anyway. New tactic, then. "You said a swear word!" Alec said. This was the first time Alec had actually called Wyatt out on it. And Alec had to admit it felt pretty good. Even if it was stupid and it didn't really matter. If Alec ever actually swore he was going to see more than the wrath of his parents.

So new tactic. Distraction okay um.. Enemy stunned? Alec slowly stood up. Only an inch or so shorter than Wyatt. It was.. aggravating to say the least. Alec tilt his head up slightly to look Wyatt in the eyes. "Why does it matter to you, anyway? It's none of your business." Alec said in a huff.

It wasn't. Wyatt should have been asleep. Wyatt shouldn't even be staying here this summer, anyway. None of this would've happened if Stupid Snake-boy wasn't here, anyway. But what was Alec supposed to say. 'Mother I hate this boy and I barely have any reasoning for it' That was kinda true. Other than the teasing and Alec getting kicked multiple times by Wyatt, which really hurt by the way. It was just house rivalry.

It was quite a stupid thing to stand in the way. If it were to be a good enemy relationship (If that's even a real thing) it needed to be based off more than a house rivalry. Some cool and tragic backstory like.. hmmm you stole all my family's money making them poor! Or something to do with gangs like in those crime shows Alec wasn't supposed to be watching. an Evil x Evil type rivalry was always better than a Hero x Villain rivalry in Alec's opinion, anyway. But that was besides the point.

@Wyatt Starkey

"You said a swear word!"

Wyatt raised a brow but never took his eyes off Alec.
“Hell counts as a swear word to you?”

What a stupid makeshift diversion. Who was Alec trying to fool? Himself, it seemed. The curly-haired Gryffindor stood up and looked at Wyatt. It took everything in Wyatt’s power not to laugh. He was trying to be intimidating but he was just a sliver too short.

"Why does it matter to you, anyway? It's none of your business."

“It sort of is. We’re sharing a room… apparently. I still don’t exactly believe this is real life.” Everything was so confusing right now. Wyatt wished the only thing going wrong in his life was that his enemy was staying at his house for the summer.

“Anyway, Mason. Now I’m awake and ready to learn, so, please. Enlighten me.” There was a slight pause. “What are you doing,” he said, slowly and quietly, drawing out each word. He was going to get answers if it meant he had to use torture… well… maybe not… but he was serious about this.

Really, Wyatt was just looking for any possible distraction from what he was feeling. The Slytherin was really... really... really hoping Perseus had left by now.

_{@Alec Mason}

Alec let out a huffy breath. There was not a single cell in Alec's body that did not want to hit Snake-boy. This wasn't fair. He was ruining everything! How was Alec supposed to get away from this all with stupid Snake-boy here to catch everything. One single mistake Alec makes, and he's caught. And it annoyed him so much.

Alec's plan was obviously flawed from the start and he knew it. He just decided to idiotically ignore it and hope for the best. But who was Alec kidding, luck was never on his side. Either that or Alec's blatant clumsiness. All too flawed to carry out something as simple as this with someone who's so distant from the world already, anyway.

Who was Alec kidding? Everything Alec did was flawed. Unless he paid close attention to it. Which he rarely did. It never went his way. Always swinging in someone else's favor. And it's not like Alec could use the restroom as an excuse now. It was far past that point. Alec should've said that in the first place.

Alec sighed, folding his arms across his chest, looking away as his hair fell into his eyes, again. "Fine, but don't you ever think of saying a word to anyone about this. Ever" Alec said. It was still hard to be intimidating while being shorter than Snake-boy, so the tone in his words didn't really help much, anyway.

"I sneak out. And I'm doing that tonight. Which was already obvious" Alec said mumbling the last part. "Probably go to a park or something" Alec said he usually went to the petrol station(gas station) but the park seemed like a better place to go this time around. Well actually it was just the first thing that came to mind.. "Wait.. Why do you care about what I'm doing anyway?" Alec asked finally looking back over at Snake-boy at the end of his sentence. Alec wasn't sure why. Maybe to scan Snake-boys features for some sort of lie. It wasn't really likely that Wyatt would lie to him. But at this point Alec didn't know what to believe.

@Wyatt Starkey

When Alec asked why Wyatt cared about what she was doing, Wyatt was dumbfounded. It was because Wyatt needed a distraction, that was all, wasn’t it? Yes… just a distraction. If he said he was bored, Alec would know it was a lie. He told the boy the night before that he didn’t get bored, which was true. Damnit Wyatt, this is why you don’t talk to people, he scolded himself.

“You woke me, I might as well escape this prison with you.” Oh, that was entirely a lie. He hadn't even been close to falling asleep, just lying there above the covers with his eyes closed, unmoving. But Wyatt was probably the greatest actor there ever was. Wyatt didn’t even have a tell, so there was literally no way you’d know Wyatt was lying unless you had a huge gut feeling.

In truth, Alec’s house was the nicest house Wyatt had ever seen. Any house in the world was a step up from Wyatt’s hole in the wall that he used to call home in Cokeworth. He was always embarrassed about his status in regards to money. At home in Cokeworth, everyone was dirt poor, so it was fine. Wyatt didn’t know there were really people out there with a lot of money in the bank.

That was until he went to Hogwarts. A lot of the kids there were rich, pure-blooded snobs. Wyatt’s insecurities shot up sky high. It was one of the reasons he was so bitter all the time. Having to walk the halls and stare as the rich students walk by in their expensive robes... it made Wyatts sick to his stomach.

_{@Alec Mason}

Alec was amused at Snake-boy's wording. Prison, huh? Interesting choice of words. The place was nice. It's the people that weren't. Which honestly wasn't any better. Alec shouldn't even be thinking this it was his family after all. Even if almost all of them drove him crazy and hated him.

That was besides the point. Well, that clearly shows where Alec loyalty lies. Jackie and himself. It was quite a shame too. They were missing out on all the wonderfully annoying wonders of Alec. And the crazy messes he got himself into. He didn't do it on purpose of course though it just happened.

Alec's mind then wandered slightly. Wait.. with you..? Excuse me now? With your enemy? The not very intimidating but totally could poison you enemy? Alec had quite a lot more questions now. One of them being was Alec actually very intimidating or was he like a soft little stuffed animal that could do barely any harm? That better not be what Snake-boy thinks. After the whole broken nose incident, which was an accident but convenient. Wyatt better be.

Alec's brows furrowed slightly. Well, this was going to be an interesting night. And most likely not going to go in the way Alec had expected. Since well he'd intended to be the only person sneaking out of the house but that night. But Wyatt seemed to have other plans on that part. "Fine but you better stay shut up and never say a word of this to my parents or anyone. I'm serious, " Alec said.

And he was. Well, about as serious as a twelve-year-old could be while biting back a laugh at his poor wording choices. "And if we do get caught, it's not just me that's going to take the blame since you decided to go to" Alec said a bit obvious that he wasn't very fond of the idea about Wyatt coming with him. But felt he had no other choice.

@Wyatt Starkey

"Fine but you better stay shut up and never say a word of this to my parents or anyone. I'm serious."

Wyatt's face curled back into a crooked smile. Not because he was happy to go. It was because not only did he have the upper hand, but he also had the chance to ruin Alec’s night. Wyatt, being the world’s most spiteful and petty twelve-year-old saw that as an amazing opportunity.

"And if we do get caught, it's not just me that's going to take the blame since you decided to go too."

“I will ‘stay shut up,’ sure. Later, though, I can’t promise to you what I do with this information. You said you sneak out? This has happened before?” His smile only grew wider. Leverage was always good. He had to make Alec understand he has a lot of information that could ruin whatever relationship he had with his parents.

It was getting difficult to think or focus on anything. Wyatt had a headache to rival all other headaches. He had no idea what it was exactly, but he felt it had something to do with the fact he hadn’t eaten anything in 2 days. Usually, he’d been forced or tricked into eating at least one thing, but he hadn’t tried or been forced at the Mason’s.

He padded his pocket to see if the cereal bar that had been tossed at him earlier that day, and thankfully it was there. He promised himself he would at least try to eat it as they were walking to wherever they went. Curious, he put his hands behind his back and put his left hand around his right wrist. He could reach his ring finger and thumb around his wrist with relative ease.

The boy felt like he was dead, or at least dying.

“Let’s go.”
He pushed past Alec and walked out the bedroom door, carefully.

_{@Alec Mason}

Alec rolled his eyes. "Of course you idiot" Alec said practically hissing it. "My family is nice and all. " Alec said nonchalantly, it was actually only a half truth there. "Just need to get away sometimes" Alec said with a shrug. Well, that was a nice way of putting it Alec. 'nice and all' huh? You sound like your eight and very disappointed with your life thus far.

"Let’s go." Snake-boy finally said, pushing past Alec and out the bedroom door. "rude" Alec mumbled as he left the bedroom. Alec stood there at the door for a moment debating just leaving it open or closing it. Eventually he decided on closing it. If his parents were going to find out. That was going to be the stupidest way they did. An error on Alec's part.

Snake-boy seemed quite eager to leave. Or at least eager to figure out everyone of Alec's secrets and ruin his whole life. Of course that was being 'over dramatic' wasn't it? Snake-boy couldn't actually do much. Besides, who would believe him? He wouldn't have any actual evidence. Besides, what actual evidence would he get from sneaking out? A small piece of dirt? Alec had to bite back a laugh at that one. He wasn't exactly great at keeping quiet.

"Be careful. The last step creaks, " Alec said as they walked down the stairs. It wasn't very original upon sneaking out. A lot of people had creaky steps. Alec's father hadn't bothered to fix it yet. He could use magic or something. It was pretty easy to do. But Alec's father said it worked as an alarm system then for an intruder. An intruder wouldn't know about the creaky step and Alec's room being on the second floor along with Nina's one of the two was bound to hear it. Especially because the two of them were very light sleepers.

@Wyatt Starkey