[Q.Pitch] Torpid

[Narcissus Drachen]

“I don’t need ropes to tame stupid girls—“ Echo twisted out of his uncomfortable hold, suddenly gaining the upper hand. Oh goody.

She had subjected Noah to this faux tease often enough for Narcissus to anticipate an attack, usually punishing her with a lasting headlock until she declared him King of the Castle – but he had to let her win at least once, it seemed. He sent Noah and Willa a lopsided smile as he was yanked forward, his hands raised in mock surrender. They locked eyes challengingly and he grinned against her mouth, not quite catching something that she whispered. He thought to humiliate her now, but the moment the scheme entered his thoughts she had already foretasted him, and casually cast him away with a triumphant smirk. “You’re absolutely dispicable, Keir! I don’t know how Noah feels safe at night in that suggestively shaped tower of yours!” He retorted dramatically, wiping his greasy lips across the back of his hand.

He turned to Noah and exhaled now, pretending to be overheated, but was instead made to examine Willa slummed across his lap unceremoniously. “Oh for goodness sake – they didn’t even see us, Echo! Look!” He raised his eyebrow at the two of them, dispirited he had missed the show that had apparently been going on over his shoulder.

[Alexis Heart]

Alexis was ok when it was just the one boy out there. She was calm cooler much more collected. Too bad things hadn't stayed that way. Suddenly there were quite a few more guests crashing the party. A Slytherin boy, and two more girls she knew to be in Gryffindor. Things just seemed to move so fast, so much was going on at once that she felt as if she couldn't keep up.

Her eyes darted from one, to the other, then another, and another after that. The feeling that her eyes were watching a tennis match unavoidable at this juncture. Soon Alexis began to feel completely out of place. It was a horrible feeling and probably the reason she sort of shuffled over to the side. Sitting there pretty much alone she covertly watched the motley crew being rowdy. They seemed to be having a ball or something and there she was being all anti-social. This bothered her but it wasn't as if she could just go up to them all and inject herself into their conversation. For now she'd just look up at the sky.

[Noah Yves]

Noah scoffed, placing a hand on Willa's arm tiredly, though addressing Echo. "You know Narc has no shame." He helped the Gryffindor girl off him for a second time, smirking slightly at the realisation of how familiar the fifth year's weight had become. "And I'm sure you left him with a problem, too." Noah feigned disappointment. "No wonder he's always looking to portraits for help."

Smoothing a finger down Willa's sleeve, dissolving the wrinkles that had formed there after her fall, Noah grinned. "Please. Why should I bother watching another one of the shows you two put on?"

He looked at Echo with gleaming eyes, smiling widely when she mentioned his joker. Disengaging his hands from Willa, he caught the blown kiss in a palm and winked. "The Jester was really looking forward to spending the night with you." Noah stared at his hand for a moment forlornly and sighed. "I'll just have to save this for him I suppose."

The Gryffindor finally eyed the Ravenclaw near them and noticed her staring. Leaning toward Narc, he arched both brows. "Looks like she's finally noticed us. I believe this is your cue."

[Brooke Kennedy]

As she was making her way to her usual spot to have a small break, the spot she went when she needed that rarity of a few minutes alone, she climbed up the steps of the Quidditch stand cursing them under her breath for being so steep. As she neared the told, feeling the stands sway ever so slightly with the breeze of the cool wind, she could hear voices, and plenty of them, making her forget about why she was journeying up here in the first place. As she rounded the corner and came out into view, she saw the crowd and her eyes fixed on to Noah straight away.

As she stood and observed the group for a moment, she saw quite an assortment of houses and personalities that were all coming together and somehow being quite sociable, then there was the slytherin. Urgh, her face instantly turned to dislike and her smile flipped upside down within an instant. Looking back to Noah as he spoke, she giggled and moved forward, separating herself from the confinement of the shadows.

"Oh Noah, Noah, Noah" she smiled before tutting as she stepped closer and sat near them.
"Are you trying your moves on these girls now? I told you before your charming but they just don't work!" she said smugly with the biggest cup of sarcasm thrown in.

[Willa Abbott]

[/I] not a morning person, no sirree. Actually she had concocted an idea for the girls in the Gryffindor dorm to play a prank on the guys, it could be a battle of sexes of sorts. She'd pop the idea back to Echo and Brooke in the common room so little prying ears couldn't hear. CoughNoahcough.

Really though, could they play something she knew how to do? Playing Fifty-Two Pickup with the wind involved wasn't her idea of a fun, fantastical use of her time. Grumbling suddenly she snatched whatever cards Noah had still in his possession before stuffing both of them down her shirt. "Oh, well, there goes are game!" She laughed, but she wasn't that much of a flirt to have him go down there. If he tried it she'd hang him by his eyelids above the Gryffindor tower and send rabid, mutated pixies to tickle him and eat his toes while he dangled there. Whoo, nice mental picture hey?

Flicking her wrist she grinned as the cards slid out of her sleeve, and she mixed them up before arranging them in a neat pile on a spare piece of bench.[/color][/size][/ul]

[Narcissus Drachen]

Narcissus purred delightedly at the mention of his portrait fetish. “You’re just worried because I still have your camera film,” he replied, recalling their naughty midnight jaunt in the prefects’ bathroom several weeks ago. He crossed ankles on the bench below and playing with Echo’s curls. A bite in reward. “And I should tell you – I’ve developed that film and you’re never getting it back.” He added lustily.

Another Gryffindor gravitated into Narcissus’s orbit, and he searched over his shoulder innocently in response to her cold front. Like Luke-warm Willa she nestled herself near Noah, beaming fondly and denying any awareness of his charm. Narcissus took on a dark expression, preparing for a quip, but at that moment Willa chose to steal his hand, tucking in town her robes wickedly. She looked quite proud of herself as the group’s gaze involuntarily sunk toward her cleavage, and Narcissus narrowed his eyes cattishly. “I thought you were setting me a challenge just then, Willa.” He hummed as she slipped them from her sleeve into a stack. Narcissus picked up what remained of Noah’s deck and bent it, smirking as they spewed into the air rapidly. “Say goodbye, Yves.” He flung his arm across Noah as he tried to grab the stragglers. “I hate cards anyway.”

Noah had cued him to go and harass the Ravenclaw girl, but until now he had not been enticed enough. “You!” He demanded, smiling aggressively as she looked at him. “What are you doing?”

[Alexis Heart]

More people, for goodness sakes there were even more people showing up. Alexis' eyes had still been secretly looking to and from the party gathered several feet from her. Knowing it wasn't polite to stare really didn't do anything to stop it from happening. How could you now when there were so many around, different houses, different personalities, different things going on. Far as she could tell no one had really noticed her anyway which was why she slipped away to sit alone. Plus she didn't think her type B personality would mesh as well with the whole lot of type A's she saw over there.

As her eyes got their fill of the goings on with the crowd she began to look down at her shoes. They were new sneakers a pair she had been wanting for a while now. Her parents kept saying no they were too expensive. Alexis even offered to come up with some of the money to pay for them herself but still she got a no. Then several weeks later she received a package and inside were the very same sneakers she wanted. They had remained in the box for several weeks before she took them out. For some reason she was petrified of scuffing them.

If she had been doing what she was doing before she would have noticed that some of the group noticed her now. Too bad she chanced that moment to pay mind to other things. Suddenly someone seemed to be speaking in a raised voice. "You what are you doing?" it said and Alexis looked up noticing it was she the boy was talking to. Her wide eyes widened some more as she looked around trying to see if by some chance there were some other person somewhere near her. No there wasn't. Gulping she looked over each and every person there, a blush creeping up her cheek as she tried to figure out what to say. No matter what she thought it all sounded stupid. So what was she to do except be honest, ''Nothing just sitting here" came her answer if it was even audible she spoke so low she barely heard herself.

[Echo Keir]

A thin, silky smirk curls across Echo's freshly pomegranate-glossed lips, "You might want to keep that for yourself, Yves," she gestures to his closed hand, "I never intended to release the Jester from my company... he tells all sorts of lovely stories about your late night escapades... and lack thereof. You think I would give up such a... hrm... willing informant so easily?" she bats her eyelashes less-than-innocently.
As yet another Gryff-femme-fatal joins the group and attempts a churlish remark at Noah, Echo flips sides, "Charming... Oh, my dear... the stories I could tell you about Noah's many charms." She rolls her eyes dramatically, a fluttering look of pure ecstasy washing across her face. "And just so you know... his charms do work. They work very well."

Echo shirks at the mention of film, "Why Mister Drachen, surely a gentleman like yourself wouldn't subject an innocent, and manipulated lady as myself to such scandal!" She looks truly horrified for a moment, then smirks. "The pictures will last you longer than the event itself did anyways..." she shrugs. "You really should work on your time-per-grind ratio; it's just not evening out the way it ought to." She takes a look around when the cards go flying again, "How many times are those cursed things going to keep showing up and shot off?" she mutters, finally seeing Noah's side of the argument on the cards. It's then that one of the self-driving lawnmowers from the quidditch shed drives around and shreds the deck into confetti. "I guess that was the last time..." she muses less-than-fascinated by the occurence.

She watches Narcissus turn his tricks towards the shy, dark-haired girl a few benches away. She smirks as she eavesdrops on them... eavesdropping being a general term; it's a public venue and they aren't exactly whispering... well, Narcissus isn't, anyways. It's hard to tell whether the Ravenclaw is whispering, or just timid. "Well, how about you stop doing nothing, and sit over here?" she invites, assuming that this was the sort of 'not-asked-not-wanted' sort of girl that could only be coaxed into a social situation by a blatant query.

[Noah Yves]

Noah stared at his clenched fist forlornly, after hearing Echo's retaliation of his joker. "My cards continue to be traitorous. You know why I won't miss them, don't you, Narc?" His eyes drifted to the Quidditch pitch to see them scattered after his friend's unorthodox shuffling. Instead he found them in shreds. "Really, Drachen. I know you get bored of your girlfriends quite easily, but there must have been a better way to get rid of her."

The wind blew the pieces away, and Noah forgot about his perverse deck quickly. Brooke's comment from behind him caught his attention. In response, he only grinned and uncurled his fist to blow the imaginary kiss at her.

"I never get to see you at six in the morning," Noah's features grew sullen, but his voice was still teasing. "Perhaps if you let me spend the night, that could change, Willa."

Turning to Echo, Noah smirked playfully. "Now you at six in the morning..." Her switch of seats allowed him to whisper in her ear more easily. Stretching across Narcissus was becoming quite a chore. "Stop being such an exhibitionist. You know I like it too much."

[Willa Abbott]

[/I][/center]
"I'm not that much of a flirt, Narcissus." She laughed, continuing on in a friendly, albeit teasing voice. "But I doubt you'd make it far, your only experiance consists of taunting oil-based clothing off of ladies in paintings. Who knows what luck you'd have with a real woman?" At Noah's request the Gryffindor stuck her tongue out, laughing. "You don't want to see me in the morning." She warned him cheekily, a grin on her face--but her eyes were serious. "I look like a zombie. You'd wet yourself, and I dont think you want to be stuck with cleaning it up infront of all the girls." It would be terribly embarrassing, not to mention it'd give her something to base her taunts off of for the next year or two. As her face contorted into a wickedly gleeful grin, she suddenly had a change of heart. "On second thought Yves, stay the night." She added happily, content to watch him soil himself at how scary she looked in the early hours of the morning.

Stretching out with a yawn in the sunshine Willa hugged her legs to her chest on the bench, resting her cheek on her knees.[/color][/size][/ul]

[Narcissus Drachen]

Narcissus lay down, lounging his legs across Noah’s surprisingly Willa-less lap and resting his head in Echo’s. He played with her fingers as he spoke. “Well that’s because you’re the only lady here,” He replied tersely under his breath, slinging one hand across his eyes to avoid the glaring sunshine. “That one won’t come near us, that one won’t even look at me and that one is dying to be molested by our friend but it playing a very boring game of hard to get—“

I’m not that much of a flirt, Narcissus. He looked at Echo pointedly. “She’s right about that.” They smirked together.

He had grown agitated now, wishing it were just the magnanimous three of them again. With an exaggerated sighed Narcissus heaved himself up and jumped down the benches, leaning over the edge to look down at the grassy pitch, scarlet flyers readying their brooms. Two looked up to inspect the shadow that had fallen over their shoulders, sneering churlishly at his green robes. He stuck his tongue out grotesquely. Why did everyone disguse their lust by challenging him...?

“Ah.” He turned now, grinning drunkenly at Noah. “I know what we can do. We haven’t done it since last year...” He walked slowly back up to Noah, reaching into his pocket and leaning close. His dark eyes gleamed. “I challenge you to a wizard duel, Yves.”

[Alexis Heart]

She figured that she had already made enough of a fool of herself that the group would just give her up as a total bore. They seemed so much more rambunctious than she was the things they were saying and doing. Perhaps she had been wrapped in a cocoon of innocence for too long, whatever it was she was no where near there level at least in that way. So when the other girl told her to come join them she was sort of shocked. Not showing it was taking a lot of effort though.

Alexis didn't move at first her legs seemed stuck and her feet seemed to be rooted to the floor. They seemingly went on without her and this didn't phase her, it gave her time to think of what she wanted to do. She could A stay on the safe side, the side she was already on, or B she could take a chance and get to know someone other than the kids from her own house.

It didn't take long for her to make up her mind she finally found her feet able to move. She lifted herself off the bench and moved toward the crowd. "I guess it seemed more interesting here than over there." Smiling she hoped this wasn't a mistake. Then suddenly one of the boys jumped down from the bench then suddenly he challenged the other boy to a wizard duel. This was something unexpected something she hadn't seen coming and she was pretty sure no one else did either. Looking from one to the other her eyes widened her mouth slightly opened she wondered what the answer was going to be.

[Noah Yves]

"I certainly will be visiting," Noah said airily, catching Willa's eye with a smirk. "Once I find a way up those blasted stairs to the girls' dormitory. It's because of that horrid charm that snogging couples always resort to the Astronomy Tower, you know." He said it knowledgeably, as if having experienced such a solution first hand.

With Narcissus' foot slung over his lap, Noah inspected the boy's shoes thoroughly, a teasing smile curving his lips. "Your shoes look less immaculate than usual," he smirked at the disbelief marked all over the Slytherin's face. "Alexis shoes, however." Noah lifted his gaze so he was no longer staring at the timidly approaching feet, but the equally shy expression on Heart's face. "Now there's real taste."

He smiled genuinely at the girl, about to offer her a seat somewhere among their entangled group, but Narc surprised him by springing to his feet. "A duel?" Noah and Echo were not as stunned at the rest of the group.

Since their second year - they were swarmed by too much propaganda as first years to actually be friends - Narcissus and Noah dueled over the most trivial of things, constantly. Their last had been over who Cassandra Bode fancied more, though they'd decided midway through shooting hexes at each other, that the well-endowed Ravenclaw girl was not worth their efforts.

"What are our standings, Echo?" Noah stood up from the bench, stretching his arms above his head with an tired grin on his face. They didn't actually keep count over who won; it wasn't about winning for them. Echo's expression clearly conveyed how predictable she thought the two of them were, and Noah laughed.

"All right then, Drachen." Jumping down a few benches, he flicked his wand from out of a belt loop in a lazy movement. "I suppose Echo is your second." Noah dismissed the fact, as he'd grown used to it.

[Echo Keir]

Echo giggles when Narcissus lavishes such a hefty compliment on her, "Mr. Drachen! I may just have to give you a second chance if you keep sweet-talking me like this," she says in an extremely girly tone of voice. She soon turns her attention to the shy Ravenclaw, coaxed away from her solitude into the merry company of ruffians. "My dear, dear girl," Echo throws an arm around the newest addition to the group, "There is nothing so interesting as these two when reputation and honor are on the line…" a contemplative expression appears on her face. "It's really rather ironic, come to think of it." She shrugs, then turns attention back to her boys.

"Standings?" she makes sure she's heard correctly. "What standings? You've only ever finished, maybe, two duels a year, ending up with each of you having a win by the time we have to head back home." She shakes her head, "In short; there are no standings unless one of you miraculously slaughters the other right now." Her voice is entirely void of emotion during this rant. Despite her lack of 'The Inner Eye', as the Divination freaks call it, Echo can already picture exactly how this is going to end; but nonetheless, she dutifully plays along.

When Noah willingly gives up her skills to Narcissus, a look of deep pain shows itself in her face. "I'm hurt, Yves. Handing me over so easily? Does what we have mean nothing to you?" She sniffles slightly, "First that Bode bimbo, now Willa… Are you never going to see how much we could be to each other?" Water fills her eyes and she turns away from her warring comrades. A soft weeping sound can be heard through the cracks in her hands which are covering her face.
She senses the shadow of one of her friends above her, and it takes all her effort to bite her tongue and keep looking down. Her sobs escape her with more effort now as she tries to keep from completely breaking her image…

[Alexis Heart]

Somehow she had been thrust head first into this merry group. They were high energy and seemed to enjoy one another's company. Alexis hadn't really experienced anything like that here at school. She had become rather shy in the last few years so her friendships were quite limited. She seemed to long for the days when she was home her brother and sister were like her best friends. Not that she found it abnormal but it was a shame she didn't have any good friends here.

Or maybe she could, she started to feel at ease around this group. Noah the boy asked to duel had even been nice enough to compliment her sneakers. Ok it was something silly but she did love them so it was nice someone took notice. Thanking him she suddenly felt an arms thrown around her. Echo the girl who asked Alexis to join them was the culprit. Alexis grinned then laughed as she began talking about the two boys who seemed to want to duel.

Things were going alright they were fun for the moment until Echo seemed to freak out. Alexis could hear her crying and her nurturing instincts kicked in. Walking over to her it was her turn to throw and arm around the girl. "Hey come on it's ok. Please don't cry." She had no idea what it was really about but she felt bad and hated to see anyone cry.