(SC.Room) When It Rains It Pours

[Veata Bane]

Having not eaten a single bite of anything in the past day, V was surprised to realize she wasn't hungry, not in the slightest. Though was a lithe, very thin, Veata was a compulsive eater, and often ate then asked for more within the hour. People seemed to wonder where it all went, and Erys had even made a joke by knocking on her left leg and asking if it was hollow. Erys. At the thought of how she had acted in potions made her stomach curl with guilt. No wonder she wasn't hungry, stress and worry had made her feel like she had some sort of horrible flu that ebbed, but constantly returned when she saw food or worse. Erys herself.

V curled her knees up beneath her chin, watching the flames from her seat on the leather loveseat close to it, a red fleece blanket from her bed at home wrapped tight around her. She had closed herself off from the world for the past day, not wandering from the confines of the curtains around her bed, skipping all her classes. She had mostly slept, because she felt so tired all the time. It was like being trapped in the house on a cloudy day under your warm covers. You couldn't resist the cooing call of slumber.

But for Veata, this past day had been very different from happy days spent under your covers, watching the rain on the windows. She had been staring off into space, an emptiness in the pit of her stomach that wouldn't seem to go away. And she knew it wasn't hunger. The fact of the matter was... she had never been this unhappy in her entire life, save perhaps the day her mother was killed.[/font]

[Mozess Mirari]

Mozess practically flew into the common room; today had been simply superlative! She couldn't believe it! Hardly a month into the school year and already Slytherin was leagues ahead of any other house as far as points went! It was hardly believable... and yet true! She sang the Hogwarts school song to the tune of 'Ode to Joy'... before an overwhelming sense of despair overtook her entire being... She watched the room blur and dim as her irises changed from their previously joyful chartreuse, to a dim and despairing greyish turquoise.

She looked around the room; these weren't her emotions. She was recieveing someone elses feelings through her Empathy... but who was in the room? She didn't see anyone right off 'Focus...' she told herself, trying to remember all the steps Panos had given her to determine who, what, where, and why her Empathy reacted to a situation. 'Deep breaths... Feel where the emotion is strongest... decide what could create such a strong force...' she closed her eyes, the cleansing breaths returning them to their usual stormy gray. She turned a slow circle until she felt a strong pull in her temples...

"Veata!" she said, surprised that such a usually charming girl could feel such distress. She had never really spoken with Veata, though they were close in age and often mingled in the same Slytherin social circles, but still. Watching her interact with other students had given Mozess a pretty strong idea as to the girls natural character, and this seemed completly out of the ordinary. She conjured an armchair to come rest beside the small couch upon which the scarlett-haired maiden perched. "Um... I know this may be an odd question coming from me," she said, knowing that she and Miss Bane weren't very close, and therefore trying to find the appropriate words for the situation, "But... is something troubling you?" she asked, hoping the complete redundancy of the question wouldn't bother the girl entirely.

[Narcissus Drachen]

Narcissus, for all his vainglory, was not as oblivious to others’ attractiveness as he portrayed. He knew beauty when he saw it, and knew when it was stunning, but knew only, and as he looked upon Veata and Mozess leaning against the emerald velvet, frizzy red manes and proud burgundy mouths belonging to long-dead Pre Raphaelites, he felt about as moved by their exquisite faces as stone by wind. It would have been a tribute to paint them in the style, but Narcissus gave a corrupt grin, thrilled by how insolent he was to not actually care.

Stepping into the firelight, all else paled in insignificance as Narcissus sat down on the arm of Veata’s settee, foot brushing her hand in private greeting. He hoped it reassured her. ‘Don’t ask her how she is, Mozess,’ Narcissus settled, arm draping over the back of the settee. He winked at Mozess in reminder of what they would be doing tomorrow. ‘Sometimes it’s just nice to sit and look gloomy to see how many people will come and comfort you.’ He looked down at Veata, expressionless. ‘Our own pain is extraordinary, isn’t it?’

[Veata Bane]

She heard the footsteps before saw the girl. V tightened the blanket around her, not moving, still staring intently into the fire. Momentarily she considered changing into her animagus form, running back into the girls dorms, but as Mozess passed she figured if the girl really wanted to know, all she had to do was follow Veata. And of course wait until she decided to turn back into her human form and want to talk.

Veata didn't want to look away from the curling flames of the fire, but she figured it rude to ignore someone, especially a Slytherin. Her house tended to be particuariy nasty, but never to one another. No, that was pretty much unheard of. Finally easing her eyes from the red and orange light, V forced a strained smile, leveling her plain gray eyes to Mozess' concerned expression. Veata appreciated that she was trying to help, but V had the tendency to refuse to talk, even to the closest of her friends. But, instead of explaining, she flicked her head to another sound.

Narcissus' olive skin seemed to glow in the pale firelight, drawing the attention from everything else in the room. Veata's heart raced, imagining the pressure of his lips against hers, the feeling of rain soaking through her hair... Drawing her eyes away from him with slight difficulty as he sat down next to her, she nestled her head back onto her knees, tightening her blanket again around her, subconciously leaning toward him for comfort.

"Our own pain is extraordinary, isn’t it?"

"I guess you could term it that way," she said in a quiet tone, matching his emotionless stare with her own. It wasn't hard to keep her face straight, she had too many emotions running through her for her facial expressions to pick one. Despite what he thought, Veata had not wandered from her bed to "see how many people would comfort her". She had come out because she was cold and wanted to warm up by the fire. Taking her eyes from his, she rested her head on his side, her gaze again slipping to the curl, twist, and lick of the fire.[/font]

[Narcissus Drachen]

Mozess and Narcissus regarded each other in silence, determining what they were to do about the dreary atmospherics Veata was providing – an important burden, although more so to the bearer. Veata’s side touched his so lightly he barely felt it, like a slow, sacred spider on his arm, her own quiet acceptance of his soothing presence that she wouldn’t admit to aloud. Despite the offerings of help, Veata neither accepted nor declined their expectant staring and Narcissus sighed dramatically, thinking of what he could be doing behind the curtains of his bed. ‘You guess? Well term it another way so that I can more accurately understand your miserable face, Veata. I feel so awkward.’ He lied, crossing one leg over the other and raising his eyebrows. ‘Do I look like I let people cry on my shoulder often? I can’t abide cryptic misery-guts so please don’t be one. It’s teasing.’ He pushed his fingers through Veata’s fringe, exposing her face to the firelight. ‘Explain.’

[Veata Bane]

Despite her best efforts not to, as Narcissus pulled her hair away from her eyes, Veata smiled. Her muscles felt weary and unused, and she fought to keep the smile from spreading into something else. Something more revealing. Composing herself after a rather difficult internal struggle, the smile dissapeared, and she allowed one slightly pissy glance to be shot in his direction. Even if they both knew how happy she was that he had shown up. She pulled her fingers up toward her face, thinking, examining her nails. In all honesty she didnt really want that Mozess girl listening to her problems, at the thought V glanced at her from the corner of her eye. Sliding her slitted gaze back to her cuticles, V pushed them back experimentally with her fingernails. Which was probably something bad to do, but V had never really been an expert on nail care.

She was more interested in her claws.

"Erys is being a little squashy girl," V said simply. "She went all gah-gah over some boy. Kind of pathetic if you ask me." She dismissed her train of thought by waving her hand away from her face, turning away from the fire and glancing again at Narcissus. Another smile slid across her lips, but this was more of a sly grin, linked into his thoughts with the little secret they shared. Had he told anyone? V doubted it. "But, maybe I'm being hypocritical."