Doors to the Great Hall
 

The huge doors leading into the Great Hall remain closed for most of the feast, but you can always slip into the hall for a breath of fresh air... or to use the loo. Don't be gone too long, though, because the meal is about to begin.

She was taking a moment.

The last two big feasts had been complete and utter disasters trying experiences and Nana Ichihara was absolutely, and totally expecting a repeat. Which had lead her to the decision to have charmed her entire outfit, her makeup, and her hair water-proof, spill-proof, and poltergeist-proof. She would rather be prepared than come up short a third time around.

So far the assembly seemed lively, but relatively civilized and to her great pleasure, there was not one sign of Peeves or that hideously familiar Miffy.

Truly, today was a white stone day. Ought she to step in proper? From where she stood, Nana could easily escape back into the castle without anyone's - Namely James Draper, Miffy or Peeves' - notice, and she wasn't sure she was quite ready to give up this tactical vantage point just yet.

HAIIIIII nicole :3
 

For Nache!
 

Colt was really deep in his thoughts when he didn't even notice Mason was there. He jumped a little bit and muttered, "Bloody merlin..." and then he gave her his full attention. "Oh I am not moping I was just lost in thought." That was a valid excuse. He smirked at her little insult and agreed, "That is true I do like my food.." He could even smell it and his stomach was growling. "How come your not in there? I thought you would be the first one." It wasn't the best come back but that is all he got.

He looked around and smirked and mentioned, "Remember your first year we got in trouble for the food fight and the bloody baron hated us."

stop her, please
 

*stops*
 

Whhhhhhhhhhyyyyyy. Nicky came to a stop as it was clear that he had been speaking to her. It occurred to her a moment too late that he had no idea who she was so even if she had kept walking, what even could he do.

Annoyance clearly written on her face, she sighed audibly and did not do him the favor of sharing her name. "I'm going to the girl's.." she said plainly, clearly meaning the washroom. She did not spare a glance at the woman, though perhaps she should have.

She also should have just stopped talking right then. But her growing disdain for the school just kept spilling out of her mouth, her tone dry. "Unless you'd rather I just.. pee on your shoes right here. It was a long trip."

For Anita
 

Colt rolled his eyes and gave a hollow laugh. "Very funny. For your information I do have a brain and I use it sometimes.." Well maybe not to the best of his ability but he wasn't too useless. He was more street smart than book smart anyday. "You know if you didn't insult me I think there would be something wrong with you. Keep them coming.." he smirked. "Girls don't eat..?" he questioned her and raised an eyebrow. "I highly doubt that since I heard your stomach growl just before. Your excuse is invalid." She better but her money where her mouth is.

Ooooh right Murdoch gave her detention and she had to clean the dungeons. "Soo tell me how many rats did you see down there?" Now it is time to get even for her insults. Wait what? A new head of house is gonna take over. He was kind of pleased because Murdoch was a piece of work. "Wait was is this guys name?" He highly thought he was a dream boat. "Are you going to be drooling over him at the feast?" he smirked.

..... did Nana want to know why her colleague was patting himself down and seemed to be checking out his pants? Nana decided rather quickly that the answer was no. She was rather be blissfully ignorant in this unless it was some sort of school-wide student-endangering emergency.

Amaterasu knows she didn't need to hear about anything going amiss when it came to Airey Flamsteed's trousers. Nor anyone else's trousers for that matter. The further away from other people's trouser business Nana was, the happier she was, end of story.

She smiled with some amusement as Airey finally noticed her presence. "Good evening, Airey," She said, gently bowing her head to the Gryffindor Head. "You are never going to let that go, are you?" Nana asked, a rueful grin slipping across her face. You turn someone into a ferret once and no one ever forgets, the incident was nearly infamous in the woman's mind at this point, though in reality it was probably not as well known through the school as she believed. "It was very dark and you were muttering in a strange tongue." She lightly challenged, the ghost of a smirk lighting up her face.

When did she start to enjoy the Astronomer's presence? Nana didn't know.

-------------

"Unless you'd rather I just.. pee on your shoes right here. It was a long trip."

Nana was just fine with letting Airey handle the Ravenclaw girl and was calmly standing by (she was not fond of multiple Professors handling a simple student problem), until the young woman said that.

Stunned by the lack of manners, decorum and civility, Nana gazed upon the student with disbelief before turning to Flamsteed to see her own emotions mirrored there.

The blonde sucked on her teeth as she waited for permission to pass, her expression one of mild disdain. It wasn't that she was inherently a disrespectful person, but between the sudden upheaval in her life and the.... less than positive experience on the train, she was in no mood to be told what she could or couldn't do and she was lashing out preemptively.

She could go now, right? She was expecting the man to just step aside rather than deal with her. But nooo. The woman was in it now, too, and they were staring at her silently slack-jawed. Nicky waited a few beats, blinking at them scornfully. "I'm not a legilimens. You're going to need to use words."

Flamsteed! mentions of Nicky
 

The thing about feasts, was he got impatient for food, and so he needed a distraction. He’d had every intention of slipping away to the Slytherin table for a visit with Maggie, but it wasn’t until he actually got to his feet that he’d changed his mind. Why? Because Ilia Fvalke was skipping out on them, that’s why. He normally wouldn’t have cared, but his curiosity got the better of in this moment. Quickening his step a bit to catch her up, Zeke slipped out of the Great Hall behind the blonde.

“Where’re you ditching to?” he questioned with smug amusement, his lips pulled wide in a grin. If she could find the meaning behind his words, he actually meant something along the lines of, Hello.

Ilia breathed deeply, taking a moment to collect her thoughts....Speak of the devil. Her lips turned to a smile and the blonde turned to look up at him. She was very pleased, albiet curious to why he had been out here....did he follow her? "To the ends of the earth where I shall become Queen of the Dragons and be happy ever more." So joking, and smiling happily up at him. It could probably be interpreted as, happy to see you too. "Where are you ditching to? Do you want to come along?" Pleased with herself, more confident and in a better mood that last term....for now at least.

Ilia's reply was both expected and unexpected at the same time, still, he chuckled. "That's a fair way to go, sure you don't want to fill on food first?" he questioned, nodding his head back to the hall. Such long journey's required proper feeding. At any rate though, the idea was amusing, and he wouldn't stop her if it was he case.

But where was HE ditching to? "Your House table, but then I saw you sneaking off, so I figured I should investigate." Mmm... simply because he could. "Depends, what do you have in mind?" If he was going to tag along, it would have to be worth his while, he still had a girlfriend to make kissy faces with, and he was sure his absence from the hall would be noticed. It was him they were talking about, who wouldn't miss his presence? Hmm?

Hope needed to pee. Like bad! She snuck out after the professor had broken up Sabbath and Noah. She didn't like confrontation but she had placed herself in the middle of it. Trying to pull sabbie away. But all that nervousness and excitement was now gone and all she needed now was to use the loo!

She made her way around a couple of students and professors. She saw Mason who she met her first year, but she looked busy with a boy so she ran to the loo.

After using it, she slipped out of the bathroom. Looking around she wondered if she could just slip away? The speech had to almost be over right?

A soft giggle escaped her throat as she smiled up at the slightly taller boy. "I'm sure I've got enough sweets in my bag to last a fair bit. I've been at a restaurant all summer and my cooking and baking has gotten better." That may have been a wink, and yes that was certainly a hint that she'd be giving him more food this year. Fighting and then feeding him seemed to work as a good routine with him.

Might have been a playful smirk, just possibly. "So concerned for my well being, I'm touched. At least I know if I'd gotten myself into trouble I'd have good back up." Considering he was the only person that had given her a run for her money so far...."I dare say you've got the muscles do the trick and you are rather dashing." She loved her boy friend with all her heart and she was in no danger of being stolen, but she had to admit Zeke was actually pretty good looking...." Or perhaps you were simply curious? " Which was the more likely case and also more amusing to the young blonde, considering he'd seen her at the feast before his own girlfriend. What did she have in mind. " Well if I'm spiritng you away it'll have to be good. Adventures in Egypt and far off Asia sound good....treasures in hidden tombs to be collected...
We can ride dragons to clear our path." Clearly having fun with him but still a nice idea.

Her giggle was deceptively girly, considering he knew she could pack a punch harder than her room mates. And quite the sense of humour too. "As much as I love sweets, it doesn't really count as food." Food with substance was better than sweets, that was something he'd learned in the past five years. He was so wise now, see? Preaching about heathy diets and all. But if her cooking had anything to do with it, he didn't much care what it was. "Is that so?" he teased, brows arched in amusement. The wink, he was taking that to mean he'd definitely be up for some taste testing, but he had to make sure. "I'll have to be the judge of that," he replied smoothly, returning the wink.

Naturally, he was caring, so so caring, and despite their getting off on the wrong foot he'd come to realise Ilia wasn't so bad. Or rather, she was pretty great. "I've got your back, for sure." No questions asked. There was something about training with another person, in that even if you were both out to kick each others butts, it developed this sense of duty to them. And only you alone were allowed to kick said persons butt... or at least, this was the case for him. Not that she'd need saving. But he would if it came to it.

...... then there was that.

Zeke couldn't help but grin broadly, a natural and instantaneous response to having his ego stroked. Muscles. Yes. Dashing... yes, but... SHE said that? "Oh really? Dashing? You think so?" He might have been enjoying this too much. A little too much. "And here I thought you hated my smug face."

Curiosity was it though, and she seemed to know it. Either way, they were both here now. What remained to be seen was where they were going, and somehow he didn't think it would be Egypt or Asia... as nice as that would be. "Mmmmm," he murmured, the kind of enjoyment one got from a bite of choc fudge cake, or feeling the suns rays on their face after a bitter winter. It was dreamy. "Perhaps, but I suppose for now we'll have to make do with scaling castle walls and exploring hidden passageways, all the while misleading first years, though dragons... we could still do dragons." He was sure Amur would approve of the idea too.

When did Zeke Brown become all nutritionally smart?....probably at the same time he got hot. A smirk crept across her ruby lips. "True, although I'm not all that much on sweet things. I really prefer the substance that meat has to offer." She wasn't your average girl, not at all. She preferred steak to cake honestly, especially as she got older. It was funny now that she was a bit more mature, how one could go from hating something so much to actually enjoying it. The smug sense of ego and humor that once bothered her to the point of enemity, now amused her to no end. "It is absolutely so. You'll just have to be the judge of it after some sparring matches this year. More delicious than ever." Her proclamation was proud, with a confident smile and her hands on her hips.


Him having her back and stating it without a moment's notice made her beam a smile up at him. To know that he truly had become her sparring partner and shared the unspoken sense of duty made her immeasurably happy. Yes she had initially just wanted to kick his butt, but now the butt kicking was the best game ever. He was the only person who seemed to get that and could go toe to toe on all levels. In it, she realized his honor and developed an oddly loyal bond to him. "As I've got yours....not that you need me to but...I'll have your butt whenever you do need me to." And that was definitely a giggle with that smile.

The puff of pomp and ego that used to enrage her, had her laughing nearly to tears. "Yes. Dashing. Perhaps like Mr. Bond, you do clean up rather well." She may have included a wiggle of the brows, for the sake of humor honestly. A chuckle and a feminine shrug was his reply for the hatred. " What can I say? That smug face has kinda grown on me. Your scars in the moonlight just mmm." Clearly smirking playfully and ready to laugh. "And here I thought that I was a crazy snake that needed to be reigned in so she'd quit touching you?" Cuz ....lean....she was touching you bro. Her shoulder was against his muscles and she smirked up at him happily.

"I do graduate at the end of term and you're only a year behind me. Perhaps adventures yet to come." Now that, wasn't a joke. She had a taste of freedom now and she was going to enjoy it with all her heart. Listening to him though, she really liked the sound of it. "We could ride dragons around the school still....leave our marks on the hidden passageways to prove that we have conquered the castles secrets....confused all of the ickles and ruffle some feathers. " This was not a joke, this was a plausible idea. The thoughts were brewing and she gave him a look of serpentine elation. " I don't have to concern myself with my mother pulling me from school any longer.... I'd risk detention to turn this place on its head for a bit."

He was always hot, she was only just noticing. But his health-conscious appetite was still rather new, though it had developed over the past year. Cake was still his favourite though, no doubt about that. "Mmm, yes, meat," he couldn't help but agree, wetting his lips a little since he was still longing for his hunger to be satisfied. Feasts were feasts for a reason and he was prepared to be a glutton tonight - and other days too it seemed. "I'm looking forward to it." Really, he was. Not just sparring, but the feeding. He liked being fed. A lot. It was convenient, and somehow he'd managed to work things so there was usually SOMEONE around that could.

She's have his butt though. Zeke couldn't help but chuckle at that, "I'll be eternally grateful I'm sure," he mused. Still, the camaraderie was something he could appreciate. He only felt it with a select few others, so that was significant.

What was also appreciated, was her continued ego fluffing. It would take an army to deflate it now. The boys would be in for a grand night of chest puffing and bragging on his part. "Like Bond?... You know, I can actually see the resemblance," he agreed after what looked like a moment of very serious contemplation during which time he stroked his chin, feeling the scratch of his kind-of stubble. "You haven't seen me in a suit though, but you're right, I do scrub up well." It was a little strange, how Ilia was doing all sorts of things to his ego, but now he couldn't help but question her words. His scars in the moonlight? What?! WHAT?! HA! Yes, he was ruggedly handsome, though most didn't like the lines that were etched into his skin forever. "Now I know you're being ridiculous," Zeke huffed playfully. The Slytherin was right about one thing though, she did need reigning in. "Well you do like touching me, soooooo... I'm not wrong there. But I suppose I'll allow it, you're definitely cool enough." He said this with another wink as he leant into her at the same time, his lips still pulled up into a bright grin. Zeke gave her a light bump before wrapping an arm around her shoulder, giving her a short squeeze before letting go. It was good to be back.

Adventure plans were always a hit with him, and he supposed she was right. They wouldn't have to settle for too long. One year for her, and two for him. It was still a while away, but with how quickly time passed, he was sure he'd be graduating before he knew it. "Very true," he nodded. He also liked how taken she was with his thoughts, it sounded as if their plan was coming together. Mouth open to confirm the ideas were solid, and that she ought to be ready to start as of tomorrow, he was quickly silenced when she continued about not needing to worry about her mother. "No? How come?" Again, he was curious.

They were as polar opposite in that as they were in houses. She had always been health conscious in her diet, though mostly by natural preference really than conscious effort. She just now was realizing not only that he had gotten hot....but that so had she. She realized now just how pretty she really was and while she wasn't smug about like Zeke, she was ridiculously more confident. His simple response just made her amused and she laughed. Yup, he was meat....simple and straight to substance. It was alright though, Henric was her piece of cake, sweet and complicated. When not speaking of food, that was still her preferance and she was happy with her choice in a lifemate. Boys...all seemed to share the joy of food though, that old muggle saying was true. The way to man's heart did in fact seem to be through his stomach..."Good, because it's happening a lot this year."

"I'm sure you will, as I'm sure I will. " Just the fact that she had the brass to say she had Zeke's butt in those words spoke volumes about her new found comfort with him. Having a warrior comerade was always a positive thing in her world.

The grand thing was, she knew the puffed ego wouldn't be her problem tonight. It was his dormmates issue and maybe Maggie's. Considering she didn't care about his dormmates and didn't like Maggie... It was all fair. She couldn't help but laugh at his response, this was too fun. " Maybe not, but I've a grand imagination you see. From my mind's eye, it works for you." Nodding and trying to keep a straight face. But, smirk. "Leave it to you to take the points I'm serious on to point out my ridiculousness." Head shaking and giggling did ensue. Maybe he was right, but she allowed the hug with a light hearted smile and leaned into him. "True, though you left out pretty.....but you like me touching you, and you like touching back. You've just proven it. I think you're definitely cool enough to." It was good to be back and to be comfortable in her own skin.

Adventure was on the horizon for real now and she could feel it. Plans were definitely in motion in her head and a her lips smiled out her thoughts. She had not expected him to question her statement, though she realised that she was a fool for not thinking so. This was Zeke Brown, the king of curious that had followed her just to see what she was up to, of course he would ask. "My mother disowned me this summer. I refused to have an arranged marriage and told her that I was dating the muggle born she hated. So we had a row and she promptly threw me out. I lived with Henric all summer and worked in his family's restaurant. " She said all of this nonchalantly with a little shrug. Telling Zeke things was actually ridiculously easy.