Inspiration For Exploration Closed

Interacting with @Jack Warren

The day had come and gone in a flash. Mondays were always like that for Evelynn. With the weekend invested to catch up with homework and assignments and get in what flying and other endeavors, Monday always came as something of a freight train to remind the young Gryffindor of the endless cycle. More anxiety as she was now forced to wait for the results of that which had been submitted. More work. More studying to be done... Now that classes had concluded, it was time to hit the books once again.

Per her usual routine, she had finished the books she had checked out from the library for that weekend's read and would need to replenish. She didn't even have to look where she was walking anymore; her feet knew the way without a conscious thought. This left her gaze and mind free to wander. For a brief few paces, she entertained herself watching as a wizard in ill-fitting robes snuck into a neighbouring painting with a sleeping lion. In comical fashion, he attempted to sneak past the snoozing beast, basking in the sun upon a heated boulder. He'd very nearly made it to the opposite border when his luck took a turn for a worse. Robes tangling at his feet, he plummeted to the scorched grass with a yelp that was immediately followed by the annoyed roar of the roused creature. Evelynn smirked to herself as the painting disappeared around a corner just as the two began a chase round about the grassy plain.

There was certainly something that could be said about the frequent strolls through the castle halls; there was never a dull moment. Even if the pictures didn't move and speak of their own accord, Evelynn would have been lost amidst an artist's dream. It boasted more pieces than any museum she had ever attended, with something new that she had not noticed before every time she set foot outside her dorm. And if the tapestries within Gryffindor's common room were any indications, even those works of art that she thought she knew likely held some sort of secret yet to be uncovered. With the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, Evelynn's gaze marveled at another portrait in passing, and then another, and then—

Her steps faltered, her gaze doubling back. She had just passed by what she had thought had been an empty hallway, but movement had just registered in her peripherals. Brows furrowing, she cast a furtive glance around her immediate vicinity to ensure she was alone (which as far as she could tell, she was), then pressed up against the wall. From an outside pocket of her bag, she pulled a small pocket mirror, the sort a girl might use to apply make-up. Only...Evelynn never did apply any form of pigment to her features, nor did she intend to. Instead, she flipped it open and held it at an angle around the corner. What she saw in the reflection made her squint with renewed focus: a boy, scrawling into what looked like a journal, then flipping it shut before looking around as though guilty of something. Naturally, this made Evelynn all the more curious and with another furtive glance around herself, she watched him for a time.

When she was convinced that his attention had drawn his focus into his evident search and away from his surroundings, Evelynn made her move. Quiet as a cat, she slipped the mirror back into the pocket from which it had come and stepped around the corner of the connecting hall. She didn't walk towards him. Neither did she call out. Instead, she simply folded her arms, leaned a shoulder casually against the wall, crossed one leg over the other at the ankle and watched with a knowing smirk playing at her lips. How long until he noticed her presence, she wondered?

Pressing his frame closer to the wall, the boy pushed his fingers forward against the smooth stone of the wall. It was like he wanted to see if the wall would brush away with his fingertips. Thankfully he wasn't wearing his house robes, and instead only a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. He had realized that exploring in his school clothes was inconvenient and irksome. Slowly Jack inched forward, bringing his fingers forward with him. Every step was painfully slow and placed with most forethought. It was peculiar...most would assume Jack to be heavy-footed and reckless, but instead, he moved with an odd sense of grace. Like a snake slithering through long grass. He was coiled, ready to move at any moment, but still strangely fluid in his movements.

Intelligence and wisdom were two very different things. Some would define intelligence as the ability to retain collected information from outside sources and how to implement that information. Wisdom, on the other hand, is based directly on personal experience. If Jack only had wisdom to rely on, the young Hufflepuff would most likely be long dead. Thankfully, there was something that could be considered intelligence behind that thick skull of his. However, the strongest of all was intuition.

Speaking of intuition, after several minutes of inching forward, Jack could feel the skin on the back of his neck start to tingle. The feeling that somebody was softly blowing on the back of your neck. The sensation made him shiver slightly. He tried his best to ignore his gut, but the prickles of goose flesh are what finally caused him to look around. The song 'Private eyes' by Hall and Oates might as well be playing.



Jack spun like a top; Fist raised in preparation to defend himself. Mr. Warren wasn't particularly worried about being attacked in the hallways of the well-protected school. It was closer to an immediate gut reaction. There was only a moment of that fight or flight reaction before Jack lowered his hands. There was no apparent danger, only a red-headed girl casually leaning against the same stone wall that he had been inspecting. She seemed rather smug as she watched him.

"Jesus Christ!" He exhaled, "Who in their right mind would you sneak up on somebody like that?!" The boy wasn't a fan of having unwanted watchers, but doubly so with somebody who looked smug. Jack's eyes narrowed as he continued to talk, "You know you look so dang creepy, just starin' like that!" The boy's typically muted Irish accent came back in full force as he spoke. Idly as he spoke, his hand slowly patted the back pocket where he secured his journal.

Interacting with @Jack Warren

It was a curious thing, to watch another while they remained ignorant of their supervisor's existence. From what Evelynn had been able to fathom thus far, everyone acted differently when under the impression that they were alone. Granted, she didn't know this boy well enough to know his general public façade, but she could only assume it would be a stark difference from the scene unfolding before her. He was so careful, she noted. Fingertips light, but firm, upon the stone. It was quite clear that he was looking for something. Perhaps loose bricks, or a switch, or an invisible wall. Maybe something else? Whatever it was, it was clear his attention was well grasped. She was able to observe uninhibited for a great deal longer than she might have expected, especially given the guilty way in which he'd taken stock of his surroundings only moments before.

She was just thinking about giving some clue to her presence when it seemed intuition or something else tipped the boy off. Quirking a brow, smirk pulling in amusement all the more with the way that he almost seemed ready to fight her off, Evelynn chuckled. His exclamation of surprise left her amusement short-lived, however. Although she could hardly call herself practicing at this point in time, taking the Lord's name in vain, as surprised as he might have been, sat ill with her. Still, it was obvious that he meant nothing by it. Probably a habit picked up from somewhere. She'd already learned one thing about him, however.

"Who's to say I snuck up at all?" she inquired in a dulcet tone, the flash of a hardened expression fading back to the original countenance of mild amusement. "You seem quite taken with that wall. It left you unaware of your surroundings."

Eyes keen as ever, they followed the boy's subtle movements, making note of the peculiar way in which one hand patted at his rear. It was almost as though he was checking to make sure something hadn't gone missing. Given that his expression didn't change to one of shock or worry, she could only assume whatever it was was still very much in place. She couldn't help feel her curiosity pique, her thoughts succumbing for a moment to the wonder of what it might have been. Perhaps she'd just have to go fishing at some point to try to answer that little riddle on her own. Later.

"You know you look rather suspicious wandering the halls like that…" she countered, carrying on the conversation as though she hadn't just had a slip of thought. Not having moved an inch from her position of voyeurship, she posed the question that had burned upon her mind. "What is it that you're doing anyway?"

A sense of relief washed over him for a second, and the faint thud of the leather cover earned an expulsion of air, forming a sigh. BUT back to the point at hand-dangit! How could he let himself get so distracted in his search? He was so vigilant on his way there, but the moment he started actually to search, he forgot to even keep on eye out for prying eyes!

Jack forced himself into standing still under her scrutinizing gaze. Her mentioning how 'taken' he was with this said wall caused Jackson to scrunch up his face for only a moment, before replying casually-"Well y'know, it's..." After a stolen glance back at the wall, Jack continued, "nice...and grey..." Awkwardly he patted the wall.

No matter how well(which wasn't that well) Jack played off her first statement, her inquiries pressed on. Of course, he looked suspicious! He was basically trying to become one with the wall! He isn't out here doing an acting study on how to be a wall!

"I didn't think I was too suspicious..." sniffed the boy indignantly. There was a slight ting of crimson that glowed across this boy's cheeks and nose. Embarrassment was one of the most challenging emotions to hide.

Then the question that Jack had been waiting for dropped-The ever dreadful 'What are you doing' problem. The most afeared inquiry that a trouble maker, such as himself, could be asked. Sadly- Lying was not Jack's strongest suit. In fact, he was a bit to heavy-handed in his fibbing. "I- I have done nothing-I'm not doing anything." A blatant and novice attempt at deception. Another glance to the wall once just confirmed his guilty conscience.

This was not playing out the way he had hoped. Usually, he would've tried to weasel his way out of this conversation, but he doubted he would get very far. Maybe coming clean might be the best option. With a sigh of resignation, Jack finally spoke. "Look, I'm just searching for stuff. Like secret stuff."

Interacting with @Jack Warren

It was like watching a dog that had gotten into the trash, and knew it was in trouble. That way it folded back its ears, showed the whites of its eyes, glancing periodically anywhere but at the owner, and definitely not at the pile of evidence right near its feet. Only, in this case, the guilty party was casting furtive glances at the source of guilt, almost as though checking to see that it was still there, and hadn't, in fact, somehow vanished on the spot.

Evelynn lofted a brow, the quirk at the corner of her mouth showing just how utterly unconvinced she was at the obvious tall tale. "Sure you're not…" she murmured with clear amusement, then with obvious sardonicism, added, "I know plenty of students who go about tenderly caressing the stone wall corridors."

Sure they do.

To her surprise, however, the boy wouldn't carry on the failed charade for long. Admittedly, given just how pathetic his attempts to deny accusation, the first-year Gryffindor actually thought she might have to put in effort to weasel the answer out of him. She had to admit to herself, his compliance was rather convenient. O, that it would be so easy every time to get someone to spill the nature of their true intentions.

"Searching for secrets?" Evelynn echoed, faltering in her mockery. "Like secret passages and the like?" she wondered, tilting her head slightly to survey the boy before flicking her gaze to the wall nearby to him.

Now this was something she could get on board with. Had this very notion, the idea of ransacking the castle in pursuit of lost knowledge and ancient relics in the dark recesses hidden away from ignorant eyes, not been the very first topic of conversation she had explored during her trip across the dark waters of the Great Lake so many months before? She and her boat companion never had ventured off together as they had promised they would, but that didn't mean Evelynn hadn't abandoned the notion. She'd found a few secret passages in her perusals of the impressive structure, but not nearly as many as she would have liked.

"By any chance in your huntings, have you ever come across a painting of a pear?"

A peculiar question to be sure, but not one without reason. Although the source escaped her in this instant, she vaguely recalled someone making mention about making use of a fruit to gain access to somewhere generally off bounds to students. What that particular locale was, however, she couldn't be certain. Regardless, the almost patronizing amusement that had clung to her expression earlier was all but gone, replaced instead with keenly piqued interest.

Pursing his lips, Jack narrowed his eyes when he heard Evelynn's comment. 'Caressing the stone wall corridors.' The boy momentarily looked like he had just eaten a 'Burtie Bott's every flavor bean' that was particularly sour. Lemons maybe? Shaking his head, the boy once again glanced at the rather attractive wall. "...stupid freakin'..." the boy sighed under his breath.

Thankfully the conversation had carried on as fast as he could run away from the idea of him being a wall-o-phile. Yeah-yes! Like secret passages and the like." Jack pointed a finger at her, before reaching for his back pocket. Jack needed to recheck with his...special book. No! no- he can't pull it out! The little book has all of his discoveries and clues in it! Jack didn't know this girl! She could be looking to steal his very private and effort filled information! The urge to tell his new friend to 'royally screw off' was squashed when a pear was brought up.

"Pear? No- I'm not hungry." Thankfully it only took a moment for the silly boy to realize that she wasn't offering any food. "Oh, you weren't offering? Right, painting not actual pears." He said slightly dejectedly, "Sadly, no pears. I've seen bananas, pineapples, peaches. Even on one occasion, I've seen a reallllllly fat woman trying to stuff an entire hot dog in her mouth in one bite! However, a pear would be really nice right about now if you have one..." The boy cocked an eyebrow and grinned at the girl in his roguishly charming way. A slight growl came from his stomach. He had skipped dinner to get a head start on his exploration.

To be completely honest, this had been one of the best interactions he has had during his explorations of the school. He had discovered the 'Key of Solomon' carved into the fountain in the courtyard before he was so rudely attacked by a certain purple-haired little girl with a brain the size of a pea.

"Y'know we could always go lookin' for a pear, or a pear painting, together. However I have one condition... if we find a real pear, I get it. I'm starved." Turning around, Jack began to slowly find his way further down the hall, "You comin', or what?"

Interacting with @Jack Warren

Evelynn couldn't help but chuckle at the way the boy seemed so incredibly put off guard by her simple appearance and questioning. Even though she had continued past the teasing jab she had tossed his way, the amusement lingered in the back of her mind. What was more, she noted the way that he had once again reached behind him as though looking for something. Once again, however, his hand would return to his front, empty by all appearances. Even still, his affirmation of her query successfully served to dismiss any further teasing that might otherwise have come forth. Instead, she found herself rather curiously drawn to his investigations, her own gaze panning briefly to the wall that had only just recently received a rather thorough massage.

"Not… what?" Creases of confusion formed on her brow at the answer to her next question, gaze bumping back to him with a querying expression. Moments later, her lips had parted with a silently uttered 'ah' as he immediately clarified his own misunderstanding. "Yes… actual painting," she confirmed, the borderline patronizing amusement returning in a flash all over again. He really was out of it, wasn't he, she mused. Was he always like this?

"No.." she replied, brow cocking sardonically, practically mirroring the movement of his own. "I don't." Eyes dipped momentarily to his belly as it growled, a smirk teasing the corner of her lips as she did. And then, just as he commented about going for a hunt for just such a painting, it hit her.

"The kitchens!" she stated, almost with surprise with just how heavily the recollection had fallen. No surprise, though, really, that his hunger had jogged that particular connection. "The painting of the pear," she stated again, dragging her gaze back up to meet that of the boy's. "Someone said that it's the entrance to the Kitchens. I'd wager you could find yourself a real pear there if we could find it," she suggested with another flourish of a brow.

"W-wait!" She blurted, a hand coming up to press fingertips to her lips immediately after the word had slipped out. It had sounded quite a bit more imploring than she had meant. In fact, she hadn't really meant to say it at all; it had just been a sort of reactive response. Clearing her throat as though to wipe clean the way she had just sounded, she dropped her hands to slip casually into the pockets of her robes.

"I suppose so," she said instead, pushing off to catch up, inclining her head as she did to see if she could spy whatever it was that he kept reaching for with his hand. Whether she could or not, hastened steps quickly allowed her to fall in beside him at just a bit of a distance.

"Decipio, by the way. Evelynn Decipio," she stated by manner of introduction. "You're a First Year, too, right? Hufflepuff?" She could vaguely recall that much, having shared classes with him — at least she was pretty sure it was him — for a half-year at this point. Unfortunately, despite usually being able to regurgitate a surname to a face, his was escaping her in this moment. "So, have you found anything during your hunts?" she wondered, trying not to sound too keen about it.

But, after all, the very first thing she had promised someone was a mutual roving of the castle to look for just such marvels. Only, it had yet to come to pass, and it seemed she was aching for a bit of an adventure more than she had expected.

@Evelynn Decipio

If Jack were to play a word association game, the word 'kitchen' would always be synonymous with 'food.' So the minute that miss Decipio mentioned that there might be a way into the kitchens, Jack was sold. If only his growling stomach could solve all of his problems, the boy would be set for life. "I get the pear? That sounds like a good deal..." The dull boy had dropped any semblance of suspicion for moments, for he was already so preoccupied with hunger and the hunger of discovery.

Only for moments, there was only the sound of Jack's rubber souled shoes against the cold corridor floor. A layer of relaxed energy immediately wraps itself around the boy as he tried to shade the suspiciousness and blatant attempts to hide his journal. As he walked away, the boy made sure that he was still covering his book in his back pocket. At the call of a certain girl's faltering call of his halt, the boy trudged to a slow stop. Of course, he continued once the girl made her intentions clear.

As soon as she had made it in step with himself, Jack glanced at her. "Decipio Evelynn Decipio." He proposed aloud and tasted the name on his tongue. He touched his free hand against his chin. He didn't know why he did; Jack had really only had seen people who seem smart do it, so the boy figured that he might as well create some dramatic tension. "Yup- First year, and yellow and black for as long as the sun rises and falls." More poetic bullshite he heard in a movie once. This Gryffindor daunted him. That was the only reason Jack felt the need to seem more mysterious. He wasn't sure if it was the fact that she made him feel embarrassed by the wall-hugging, but he knew he would have to make up for his stupid display of affection towards the stone wall. "Oh, I'm Jack Warren. My friends call me...Jack, I guess." He shrugs. Any recognition of this girl from before this moment would not show on the boy's face, but to be fair, he barely remembers his best friends' names.

"Oh on my hunts? Well-uh-aside from the usual secret tunnel, which leads to another corridor." A slight lull in his words, before he continued. He was trying to gauge Evelynn on the suspicious scale, but he had a rather tough time gauging her demeanor. "Well, there was once I found a secret tunnel from the great hall to the abandoned bathrooms- Oh, and don't even get me started on the Key of Solomon...I had to put up a fight in the courtyard for that one-" A chuckle escaped the boy as he glanced over at his newfound companion. Maybe he had said too much. Immediately they Hufflepuff clammed up and took hold of the book once again. Looking away, he tried to recompose himself. He wasn't going to let himself slip u-"What-uh about you? Uh, your discoveries?" The question was posed with an awkward cadence.

Quite the dodgy one, this boy, Evelynn noted. Barely a moment went by for a good while there without his hand dipping back to his lower back as though checking for something. She'd spied the little booklet earlier, and could only presume he'd stashed it in a pocket or some such. Interesting, though, how unsettled he was about ensuring it was well concealed. What information was stored within its enticing pages, she wondered. What little tid-bits of juicy knowledge might she find if ever she were able to inspect its contents. Admittedly, even in the midst of introductions, it was difficult for her to ignore its presence and stop her mind from wandering down the various paths of possibility..

"An explorer, a wall-o-phile, and a poet," Evelynn chimed with amusement as Warren spewed off a bit of imagery with the rising and falling of suns. "You really are an enigma of a badger. Don't tell me you also stare longingly into the night sky or pine after an unrequited love. You'd do Shakespeare proud."

Her flow of teasing dribble was stymied with a peel of quiet chuckling as the boy actually procured for her a name. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Warren," she grinned, eyeing him with a flash of amusement from the corner of her eye as they meandered. "And truly, actually. I'll admit, the phrase is usually just a pleasantry, but I think you've made an impression to last."

Finally, she would let it go with the shadow of a smirk to let the poor boy continued with answering her other questions. Which she could not have been more pleased about. A tunnel from the Great Hall to the abandoned toilets? She hadn't discovered or even heard of that one. And something about the Key of Solomon? Nevermind the fact that its name sounded equally impressive and profound, she recalled acutely that the Headmaster's name was, in fact, Soloman. Soloman Lear. This wiped any amusement from her features in an instant and her eyes darted to the boy's sudden clutching for the book, yet again. Did he… know something.. About everything..?

"Mn.." she hummed, trying to soften her expression back to one of coy amusement, gaze directed forward as they walked. "Well, I'll admit that I haven't actually found as many as I might have liked. There's one though, a little stairwell hidden between a tapestry on the second-floor corridor that leads down to the hall on the first floor." She deigned not to share the little detail about the false step about halfway down that would eat your leg to the thigh if you didn't skip it. He could learn that little detail on his own if he ever went hunting for it. "I've also heard rumours of a passage that leads out to the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade, although I haven't found that one. Yet."

For a few steps, only the echoing sound of their soles hitting stone floor would be heard. But only for a few. It wouldn't be long before Evelynn could suppress the temptation no longer and she chose to address the obvious in blatant open court.

"I've noticed you keep checking your pocket for something," she remarked casually, still not bothering to look sideways at him. "It's as though you keep thinking you've lost something," she observed before coaxing, "Tell me why… Are there secrets within best left hidden from the student body? Or perhaps it's the professors your worry about? Or.." She quirked a brow, this time glancing sidelong at him from the corner of her eye so that she could gauge his reaction. "..are you worried about the hag?"

[font=century gothic]INTERACTING WITH @Jack Warren[/font]