House of Toads PV Group 5

Almost leaping out of her skin a boy had spoken up from behind her. She gave a nervous thank you to his comment about the scoring being a smart idea. As the others talked amongst themselves, Lark stood quietly examining the pot in her hands. Another boy had come over, she recognized him from the Headliner but hadn't really gotten a chance to speak to him much when they both joined. This scoring wasn't going exactly as planned.. maybe if it was softer? If only there was a spot for them to soak-

"They're less likely to crack since the clay's been soaking, you see-"

Lark looked up and gave a nod, noticing there was a sink off to one side of the greenhouse. She should've been more observant... "I-" Lark started quietly wanting to join in with the white haired boy's pebble venture but the girl she had originally spoke to hopped to the task. Anxiety crept into the back of the young girl's mind and made her start to feel uncomfortable. Maybe she should have dragged some of her other friends to help with the errand... Feeling out of place was something Lark was not fond of.

Her attention was turned back towards the other boy who was discussing toads with the short haired girl. A million things were running through her mind about toads and their habitats, their behavior and things that were dependent on species. Why did she have to feel the need to chime in about factual things. Biting down on her lip, Lark decided not to give any input. Although the sort of tone the boy had taken to the girl had gotten under Lark's skin.

"Actually some snakes avoid toads from the toxins they excrete... It isn't as if they're actually goin' ta go an' clean out a whole toad house..." She fought the urge to roll her golden eyes, something about him felt different. Rarely had she met someone that set her teeth on edge at Hogwarts but... the way he rambled off to the other girl... Lark looked into the boy's hazel eyes feeling herself get a bit annoyed at brushing off the girl's comment on housing and snakes. Either way the Professor set this task, for toads. Why had he been so rude to her? The whole flippant attitude had sort of put Lark on edge and made her turn from the two towards the sink and soaking clay pots. She needed a minute to breath... New people and interactions.. snotty remarks. She wished Ruthie was here with her. *Lark had originally been excited to make new friends but now became nervous*

Setting her pot down on the table before leaving the two to task, Lark walked over to the sink and took a pot out from the water. Grabbing a stool that was not far off, Lark took a seat with her back to the two and began gently scoring out a small doorway. This was going much smoother... Finishing the scoring and tapping the edge of the pot on the side of the sink, a small part of the pot fell away onto the floor.

Grimacing she looked at the hole. The next one would be a bit bigger.. hopefully no plump toads decided this one absolutely had to be their home... or they'd never get back out of it. Trying to relax her nerves and settle into their task, distracting the still frustrated feeling the boy's attitude had given her, Lark noticed a handful of sharpening stones. Maybe they would be enough to sand down the edges?

Carefully she ran one of the smooth stones over the edge as it started to smooth down the sharp cut edge of the doorway. 'I wonder how Ruthie is fairing..' Lark let out a small sigh and adjusted to a more comfortable position on the stool.

WC: 374 + 619 - 993 (EDIT +13 FOR 1006 TOTAL)

OOC: *edited to add 7 words for count to be 1000 since I was so close to begin with XD*

There was one more very small, very fleeting factor which contributed to Pericles' belated approach. Though Jack's snark was surely not intended to put anyone off, it had held the boy at bay, as he had been bred for collaboration over conflict. A harsh tone or mocking manner- let alone the firm retorts which rose in response- left him lurking awkwardly on the sidelines. Perhaps his blurt about pots had been intended as a distraction. Given his lack of experience with others of his age group, he wasn't well equipped to join the debate or otherwise settle the situation. A diversion would do, he hoped, a reminder of what they had come here to do: build houses for toads or other such creatures in need.

The proposition for pebbles followed shortly after. When Lark nearly spoke, he glanced her way, practically glowing with his hopeful smile. Yet she hadn't been able to utter what she wanted, and the boy- to both of their misfortunes- erred not to "pressure her", deciding against a coaxing invitation. Teiki spoke up instead, to which Peri posed a relatively relieved "Thank you." He didn't want to come off as "bossing" anyone about, though he harbored an innate desire for harmony and organization which surfaced of its own accord. Yet before he could go collect clay, Jack pointed out that it would need to be baked. A soft "Oh," was uttered before Peri paused to ponder. He hadn't thought about that. Then the wand came out, and at the suggestion of a spell, he had brightened all over again. Lily proposed incendio, and that started a spark in the lad's eye. Maybe he was some sort of pyromaniac, or a spell-mad first-year. Maybe he just really admired when a plan came together.

"A flash-cook!" he enthused, nodding his agreement and approval. "We could try to cast it gently, which means we'll need to watch our concentration and intent. We ought to place the pots somewhere the teacher won't mind scorch marks, like... like on a rock outside." That would be just Professor Boniface's luck: leaving first-years alone building simple pot houses, only to find them setting things on fire. Thrilled by the prospect of experimentation, he left to fetch the clay as promised. Thoughts buzzed in his head while the bin was opened and a cutting wire was hunted down: contemplation on the spell, on what animals would take advantage of the houses, on the students which he worked with. Collecting clay did not take much time. Upon his return, he found Lark- the same girl who had the idea of scoring- using a file to temper the corners of her cut. It was another excellent idea, and he was starting to see the stigma of his housemates being the Wise Ones.

Depositing the clay on the table for she and the others to use if they wished, he hesitated, glancing from the filing tool to the fellow Ravenclaw. That neutral smile of his curved calmly into place before he murmured, low and direct to her, "Sometimes the simplest solutions are the most efficient." Was the factual statement intended as a compliment? He did not linger to clarify, instead drifting outside to see if Teiki needed help with pebble gathering. Peri still intended to experiment with baking clay using incendio, after all. Of course, there were a number of things which needed to be done prior to all that. Once a variety of stones were collected into the Hufflepuff's pot and carried inside, the Ravenclaw would go about looking for a pot to decorate, whether it was one willingly shared with him or one he scored and broke himself. Dots of clay were pinched from a hunk, rolled into little balls, and pressed to the outside before a stone was stuck to them. He spaced them all about, creating a little galaxy of pebbles on the outside of a house. Pericles wasn't so sure it would serve any insulation purposes, but it was, at least, aesthetic.

WC: 393 + 670 = 1,063
Completed, but will continue posting until the scene concludes.

^Summary
Was unsettled about the debate over houses and tried to change the subject back to building. Thanked Teiki for helping collect pebbles, liked Jack and Lily's idea of using a spell to bake the clay, and suggested they would need to "cast lightly" outside. Brought a hunk of clay for everyone to take from, complimented Lark's easier approach to smoothing the "door" edges, helped Teiki finish collecting rocks, then used rocks and clay to decorate a house either shared by Jack/Lark/Lily or cut one for himself.

@Lily Áshildr Björnsdotti, @Lark Flaer, & @Pericles Dralt

"Last I checked, our job here wasn't to 'benefit all of the other animals'," Jack answered Lily, sneering at her harsh response. "I don't think it was to help natural selection happen, either. And how does making homes for a species who you say doesn't need them help natural selection, anyway? I think what would help natural selection most - emphasis on the 'natural' - is to let them make their own homes, so I'm guessing that's not the goal, here."

Some people and acting like they knew it all. He might have given her some credit if she'd had any evidence to back up her claims, but the professor hadn't said anything about other speices and Jack guessed Lily was just being biased toward snakes. Also, there was nothing more the Slytherin boy enjoyed than a good argument, especially while doing manual labor. He needed to occupy his mind with something more...entertaining.

He had to hand it to Lily, though; at least she seemed to know a handy fire spell. Nodding at her suggestion, he nevertheless decided against attempting it. If he did so and it went horribly wrong, something or someone could be set on fire. Furthermore, as he worked hard on his reptuation regarding being a slacker, he couldn't just let these other students see his success if he did the spell right. Best to let someone else handle that.

The Ravenclaw girl who had jumped at Jack's compliment caused him to raise a brow. He noticed she seemed to have some difficulty speaking up when the other boy mentioned going to find pebbles and he smiled quietly to himself. Was she shy?

If she was, however, she seemed to overcome it in order to comment about some snakes avoiding toads because of their toxins. His smile broadened and he nodded in agreement. "That's true," he said, recognizing annoyance in the other blonde's tone. He wondered if it was her irritation with him that had finally motivated her to join the argument. Amused as he was, Jack chose not to point out the fact that not all toads were poisonous. It was enough that she had found the voice to defend the other girl's words and he didn't feel like robbing her of that small triumph.

When he noticed golden eyes meeting his hazel ones, he grinned and winked, showing her he wasn't particularly bothered one way or another.Conflict helped people grow and develop, especially in the way they handled said conflict. If he could help this girl - whether or not she recognized it as 'help' - that was enough to satisfy Jack. Besides, it was amusing to see such an otherwise quiet girl get worked up. It reminded him a little of his dorm mate, Averill, who he frequently enjoyed teasing.

Sadly, Jack's snark might have had more of an intention to 'put people off' behind it than Pericles had given him benefit for. As the Ravenclaw boy had been bred for collaboration, the Slytherin boy preferred the opposite. The redhead had been playing nice for the most part so far, as he hadn't attempted to stir up any real trouble, but a mocking comment or two usually kept people from attempting to make friends with him which was pretty imperative to Jack. It wouldn't do to have anyone like him, after all.

If anyone was determined enough to stay out of any potential conflict with him, however, he wasn't going to pick a fight. Jack allowed the platinum blonde boy's diffusing of the situation by continuing quietly with his work after his initial remarks back at the Slytherin girl. Peace was really too boring for him to want to stick around for long, though. If his Ravenclaw peer meant to keep them on task until their errand was complete, then Jack would comply - at least in order to finish as soon as possible. Not wanting to make friends and having his argument downplayed in favor of harmony, there didn't seem to be much more fun to be had around here.

"I'll...let you lot work the fire spell," he told Pericles with a sheepish half-smile. "I'd hate to do something wrong and mess up everyone else's hard work." In the meantime, Jack went to soak his pot after Lark had, watching to see how she chose to break her own and attempting to do the same.

In truth, Jack truly admired how Pericles seemed to be able to compliment everyone and keep them working together like the glue that kept their group from falling apart. Unfortunately, his admiration only tempted him to test the mature-seeming Ravenclaw's patience. When he noticed the boy smile as he leaned over to speak with the girl from his house, the redhead couldn't help the playfully wicked grin that leapt to his face. It was just too easy; he couldn't resist.

Jack whistled teasingly toward the pair. "Hey - are we really going to need that fire spell with the way you two are heating things up over there?" he called, a mischievous glint in his eye as he picked up some of the clay to smooth his own pot's edges.

@Jack Burnett @Lark Flaer @Pericles Dralt @Lily Áshildr Björnsdotti

The raven-haired girl half paid attention to the conversations happening between her classmates as she gathered pebbles. It didn't take too long, not to mention the help that she received. She thanked him, before placing the pot carefully on the table. She paused for a moment, before simply tipping the clay pot over, spilling the small pebbles onto the table. It made it easier, and she finally had the pot back- without any contents.

"We're still helping the toads. They'll have better protection, and therefore will have a better chance of survival due to better health. Or- something like that." She shrugged, glancing between the two Slytherins. Well- they could sort it out on their own, she supposed. She silently dragged a few pebbles towards her, eyeing them curiously.

But that wasn't important. Not yet, at least. The Hufflepuff scarf trailed the girl as she walked the few steps needed to get to the ice-water bucket. She glanced at it, before simply dunking the pot within. A quick splash in, before she promptly pulled it out, dumping any of the water back into its original container. With that done, she wandered back over to her spot. A quick pause, and she was back to doing something. Whatever it was, the girl seemed to wander aimlessly, gaze searching around the room. In truth, she wasn't really looking for anything. Simply trying to get some ideas- which seemed to have left her the moment they started talking about adding creativity to the project.

"Heating up? I- what?" She glanced curiously at the Slytherin who had made the comment. The Hufflepuff knew nothing when it came to human nature- or even secondary definition of words. So- she simply scrambled for words- not entirely sure what she was doing anyway. So, after a few moments of resting, she started back up again- wandering around the greenhouse.

"I don't know Incendio. But- that's a problem for later." She shrugged. It took a moment for her to start feeling some embarrassment over such an odd addition to the conversation.

Word Count: 723+ 344 = 1067/1000

Points have been awarded. I will leave this thread open for 24 more hours in order for everyone to get the chance to make any final posts if needed. Thank you for participating.