TRAINWRECK PARTY IN THE BATHROOM PV Closed

"Lovely name, I wish I had a name like that..."

Green blinked at her, the leftover adrenaline and admiration for her bravado leading him to be momentarily dazzled by her golden eyes. Well, you are perfectly welcome to share mine, some heretofore undiscovered part of his mind proposed to her, a whisper in a split second of silence.

Green kept his face carefully neutral as he beat that part of his mind back into the depths from which it came. "Nonsense; the name Alptraum is perfectly lovely. It has a certain old-world elegance, I believe," he said with sincerity, tilting his head as he studied her face for traces of insecurity. If any were there, he was convinced that insecurity was utterly undeserved; the idea that she might think otherwise bothered him. His chin tilted up by a degree, imperious. He might have to fix that.

At the question of what York might have done with the scalpel, Green shrugged. "Absconded with it? Leapt forward to cut us to ribbons? Start a promising career as a mohel? The world may never know," he mused, grinning at her cheerfully. "I'm not convinced that helping you to help us is proper reimbursement, but it sounds as if you have a handle on your toolkit, so I'll have to look for some other way," he inclined his head toward her, gesturing. "If you're interested, I've been looking for some of the rumored hidden passageways in the castle. I'm sure all three of us could use a space where we could find a little privacy; it might be a good first outing," he suggested, grin quirking higher.

Green smiled wide as November peered out of the stall, reaching out to offer him the scalpel. "If any of us does find their way into trouble, I fully intend to help them out," he said with confidence. "I'm pleased to see you've been busy..."

November remained lurking partly behind the door as they spoke, looking first from one to the other. They both looked so confident, brushing off the previous encounter with panache and aplomb, which was lightyears away from vomiting in pure terror the way he himself had done. He sighed, narrow shoulders drooping ever so slightly.

"I think your name is lovely," he mumbled, barely audible as Xailah expressed distaste for her name, wished instead for Green's. He thought earlier of the words of his, friend? Fellow monster? He wasn't quite sure, but he did know that he had quite a few adamant thoughts about names, ones that November thought perhaps Xailah could stand to hear. "I-... I've heard on good authority, that names are supposed to make you stand out some, separate you from the rest and highlight what makes you who you are, and-... And I think Xailah is a name that does this quite well..." He smiled, hoping the words had conviction even if he were only repeating the thoughts of another.

His gaze darkened when she mentioned the name of York, and he gripped the door of the stall with white-knuckled tightness. "If he bothers you, either of you again, I-.... I'll kill him. I swear." There was something faint yet deadly in his expression, in the way he carried himself, that suggested maybe, just maybe, he'd make good on his threat.

It faded just as quickly, though, replaced by the soft, shy smile of before. "My name? It's November, November Morsus. Rather a bit unusual, I think, but... I like it. I think it suits me well."

She had come to the realization that she had a very small amount of control over both of the students- and for a split second she wanted to abuse that control, see how far they would bend to her will before they broke. Alas, she let the thought slip away- she did not like being unintentionally cruel. After all, it would make no sense to hurt them especially after she went through the trouble to help them.

On the contrary, she found that she liked both boys very much even though she had just met them. Green was admirable. November was charming in his own way. Both of their kind words had the potential to bring tears to Xailahs eyes, and for a second she felt like crying- but if she cried she would have to run out of the room because crying in front of people only opened a door to vulnerability. So instead she choked down her pent up emotions, and smiled.

She felt no need to say anything in return for their nice words. A smile was enough. This moment didn't last long- she didn't want it to. Her attention was quickly directed towards November. The mention of Yorks name had a interesting yet negative affect on the small boy.

"If he bothers you, either of you again, I-.... I'll kill him. I swear."

The sudden outburst- out burst, was that a appropriate word for it?- Whatever it was it was unexpected, but she believed that the boy would, and was capable of doing so. "Well, you're a daisy if you do, but don't steal all the fun." She gave November a quick wink. Novembers anger seemed to fade quickly- this boy really was intriguing.

"My name? It's November, November Morsus. Rather a bit unusual, I think, but... I like it. I think it suits me well."

She liked his name just as much as she liked Greens, but she restrained herself from expressing that. She didn't want to go down another rabbit hole of reassurance. She turned to Green, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "Green, I think looking for hidden passageways would be splendid," She gestured to both Green and November "The two of you set the date, and time, and I'll be there." Her eyes suddenly went to the spot of blood on the bathroom floor. "I suppose I should start cleaning that up...the longer it sits to dry, the harder it will be to clean..."

"Well, you're a daisy if you do, but don't steal all the fun."

Green grinned as Xailah winked at November, thumbs hooking into his pockets. "Oh, I do hope you mean that. It can be so disappointing when plans fall through," he spoke softly, voice falling into a low susurrus. He looked from her to November as he did so, one eyebrow rising, a quiet signal of something unspoken; the air between them seemed to grow denser for a moment, the coppery tinge in the air thicker.

Then he clicked his tongue, looked at the stain on the floor. "But yes, names. Let's keep ours in the clear," he murmured, crouching down to look at the stain, analyze it. "I don't suppose it would be too awful to just wipe it up. If there's anything left over, it shouldn't be too difficult to snag some all-purpose cleaner from my dormitory, or even ask a house elf. ... Good god, house elves," he realized suddenly, eyes widening. "Yes, we really must hurry," he murmured, getting a wad of toilet paper from one of the stalls and placing it carefully over the spilled blood. He dabbed carefully, doing his best not to smear it; when he lifted the wad again, it was heavier and his nose wrinkled as he went to flush the thing. "But yes, exploration. I'll find you," he said. A promise.

November looked from Xailah to Green and back again with wide, dark eyes. They laughed so easily about it, about killing, but, could they really mean that? Hardly anyone ever did, of course, plenty of people made jokes about things, but the minute he got too close to the truth, then the horrified looks would inevitably start. But... Something in him made him trust these two, even if he wasn't entirely sure why. She'd laughed, called him a daisy. Right after speaking the kind of thoughts that made most children run to tattle to an adult. It was almost enough to send him reeling.

He sobered, however, at mention of the mess. "Oh-.... Oh my goodness, yes..." His eyes went wider as he stared at the bloody red streaks on the floor. Immediately, he ran to gather whatever was left of the paper towels and toilet tissue in the room, drop to his lanky knees and sop up the blood. "I, um, hydrogen peroxide is very good at getting out the, um, stains," he said softly, "that is, if we have any..." He sighed, wondering if perhaps this last bit of advice was too detailed, if he should have held his tongue.

Like the others, she grabbed some toilet tissue to help with cleaning. She furiously scrubbed at the spot, but to her disappointment most of it was still sticking in between the grout.

"I, um, hydrogen peroxide is very good at getting out the, um, stains,"

The boy, was absolutely right. But there was a problem, she was quite sure that no one had any Hydrogen Peroxide on them- but she took out that same black bag from earlier just to be sure. She dumped a majority of the contents out on the bathroom floor. There was no order to what came out of the bag, all the objects seemed... random. Xailah carefully picked up a few small bottles that fell out of the bag, some had lightning bugs, and shiny-shelled beetles in them- thats not what she was looking for though. After some time she found what she had been searching for. "I don't have any Hydrogen Peroxide...but I do have a small bottle of vinegar." She shook the bottle, and watched a few little bubbles rise to the surface. Vinegar was such a strange thing to have on hand, not to mention she wasn't sure how or when she came across it- but that didn't matter.

If the vinegar didn't work, there was always another option. "I know this sounds crazy, but we could flood the bathroom if the vinegar doesn't get the stain out... think about it, there will be no evidence left that anyone was here, and there will be no reasonable explanation for the blood. If blame is placed on someone, it will most likely be placed on Moaning Myrtle; I've heard that she often floods the bathrooms." Of course this would have to be a last resort. They all were in enough trouble, flooding the bathroom would just be the icing on the cake.

One of Green's eyebrows arched as Xailah produced a bottle of vinegar from her bag; he had to admit, she was quite resourceful. He wondered if she left many stains behind. He wondered if she valued cleaning materials because she recognized their use in keeping one's activities off the record.

Eyes sweeping over what had landed on the floor as he handed Xailah a wad of paper, he reached out for the vinegar to pour a bit on his own. "Clever. Not sure how well it will do, but then, perhaps it doesn't matter. How did you come by these things, anyway?" he asked, eyes lighting on the beetles. "Clearly, you've found a way to make yourself more powerful with them."

A crude way of putting it, perhaps, but Green had the sense that Xailah might appreciated it anyway. He glanced up at November as he continued to scrub, eyes darting to the emptiness at his side, of his little black bag. There was so much that could be done with objects that required only a little magic, if you had a good bit of cunning to use it with. And these two seemed to fit that bill. More important than things, though, he found himself musing, are people...

"Vinegar!" November's eyes lit up as Xailah produced the little bottle, a smile spreading across his pale face. "Oh, that will do quite well actually, as long as the stain is fresh, vinegar should get it out right quick." He recalled several, incidents, in the kitchens in which he had discovered this. Far more relaxed now than he had been, he headed over to the sinks, where a stack of fluffy white towels stood, if a little grimy from the dust. "These'll do nicely for getting it out, I should think...."

He couldn't deny, he was also incredibly curious about the beetles, eyeing them shyly, not quite holding the courage to speak, but glancing with hungry, wanting eyes. Thankfully, Green spoke for him, and he smiled, relieved. The smaller boy really did have a lot of courage, perhaps that was why he had found himself in Gryffindor despite having all the cunning of his Slytherin housemates and more so.

"It, is quite clever, yes," he mumbled, casting a smile towards Xailah on the off chance she actually even heard his quiet words. The smile was earnest and genuine, filled with hope for future friendship with the sort of person who knew to carry ways to clean out bloodstains with her at all times.

Xailah got up to dispose of the toilet tissue she had been using on the floor. She dropped it into one of the toilets, and flushed it. Floooooosh! She then ran over to where November had grabbed a towel. She took one for herself and shook it off, a small cloud of dust rose off of her towel, irritating her nose. For a brief second she looked as if she was about to sneeze. But she didn't. She made her way back to where the stain was.

Quietly, she dabbed a little bit of vinegar onto the towel, and once again continued scrubbing. The vinegar did make getting the stain out a bit easier.

"Clever. Not sure how well it will do, but then, perhaps it doesn't matter. How did you come by these things, anyway?"

She stopped her scrubbing for a second and shrugged. "Not sure how I came across the vinegar.... I most likely took it from the kitchen." She looked up at the two boys for a second, she watched their eyes fall on the beetles. "...as for the beetles....well, I found them near the Great Lake. I think they look pretty. Found the Torch Bugs by the lake too, I like them because they remind me of home." She stopped scrubbing, and furrowed her brow. She didn't realize how homesick she was until now. She pushed her thoughts about home aside, she didn't need them distracting her from the task at hand. Her eyes fell on a bottle that she had forgotten about. It had beetles in it, but not just any beetles. These were special beetles. She gingerly grabbed the bottle and held it up." These little guys are cool." She watched the small brown and black bugs scuttle around in their glass container. " Dermestids. More commonly known as Flesh Eating Beetles. Came across these when I was wandering around near the Forbidden Forest one night." The beetles were useful for when she came across animal carcasses. They cleaned the bones well enough, so they could be taken and used for sketching or putting in shadowboxes.

"I like moths too, but I cant seem to find any interesting ones around Hogwarts, unfortunately."

"Clearly, you've found a way to make yourself more powerful with them."

She thought about it for a second and nodded. "I suppose. I mean look at me I'm not big, and I'm not exactly strong physically, I have the body strength of an aphid. I don't really like using magic much either." She set down her towel and began to gather up her bottles of beetles, and put them back in their little bag. "I don't like the feeling of vulnerability, so to some extent they make me feel less vulnerable." She glanced over at November hearing him mumble something. She said nothing, instead she returned the smile. She then looked away, and glanced down at the mess on the floor. "Oh good the stain is coming up."