[OPEN MINGLE] Or perhaps in Slytherin

[fulllifeconsequences]

Who: Slytherin House! (And friends and visitors, of course!)
Where: Slytherin Common Room, Quidditch Pitch, various places around Hogwarts
When: Duration of the event
Rating: G (will edit as necessary)
Summary: Slytherin open log!
The Story:



The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling, from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were silhouetted around it in carved chairs.

The common room has changed, somewhat, from its historical description, thanks to the decorative powers of one Mettaton. Though it still extends beneath the lake and thus retains a greenish, aquatic cast, it's much more brightly lit, its cold, damp atmosphere replaced with dazzling MTT-brand warmth. Even the giant squid, occasionally peering in as it does its rounds of the lake, seems just a shade more glamorous inside such a charming space.

Students - and a ghost or two - can be found nestled within its confines, plotting mischief around the fire, studiously doing their homework (as good students do), or perhaps trading Chocolate Frog trading cards. Though Slytherin is not especially well-known for its wide-open, trusting nature, Slytherins are known for not snitching on each other; if a guest or two were to creep in for a while, then odds are, nobody saw anything.

Comments

[shorthair]

[Clementine holds up her hand with a wince even as she nods, gratefully to the other kid, the other Slytherin kid. This is why she always comes back here. Anger serves her well, and other Slytherins get it. They get needing anger. They get surviving. They get being loyal only to those who have earned that loyalty. She smiles a little.]

Yeah. Thanks.

[She reaches out for the gauze. Lee once showed her how to do basic first aid on herself. Sometimes you want have a wand. Sometimes magic will fail you.]

It was smart of you to get this. [How ever they did. It was smart.]

[determinedest]

[Frisk shrugs with an easy smirk.]

Mr. Rutherford's not all that. Nicked it while he wasn't looking.

[It took them a few tries, but they've perfected the art of snatching away from the free medical supplies buffet.]

Besides, it's way better if you can take care of it yourself instead of sitting up in the hospital wing all day, listening to other students vomit.

[shorthair]

You're good.

[It's clear from Clementine's tone that she is impressed. Her gaze drifts up to theirs, and then she smirks, clearly joking about what she says next.]

You mean you don't really like hearing a symphony of vomiting and groans while you take care of yourself? [She slides the bandage on to the injury.] Yeah, it is, but most people wouldn't think about that. You were planning ahead.

[determinedest]

I try.

[Frisk grins widely, though, pleased at the compliment. It's nice to have someone who appreciates some petty theft here and again.]

Mr. Rutherford doesn't like it, though. Always gets on my case about it, but I mean - c'mon, I'm saving him the trouble of having to deal with another kid in need to medical attention, right?

[shorthair]

[Clementine starts to wrap the bandage around her injury, glancing up at them.]

That's what you'd think. I bet he doesn't even catch you most of the time. [It's good for them to have their own medical supplies here with people they trust.] Plus I can't be the only person who doesn't like to let anyone else heal them.

[She never would have gone to the nurse unless forced]

[determinedest]

[Frisk shakes their head with a little disparaging snort. It's about a fifty-fifty success rate thus far - they can get away with filching supplies on really busy days, but they think Mr. Rutherford might be acquiring an eye on the back of his head specifically for them.]

I just ask my mom for healing, if I really need it. She's better than any of those assistant nurses up the hospital wing, and she gives you Butterscotch-Cinnamon pie afterwards.

[shorthair]

[Clementine smirks at the snort. She'd help steal supplies some time. She doesn't like the thought of going to someone else to help heal her, but she'd trust Slytherins for that. Clementine finishes wrapping her hand and then hands the bandages back]

Sounds delicious. I'm not usually into pies either. [But that sounds good.] Who's your mom?

[determinedest]

[Frisk's grin gets wider there, because they will take any opportunity to talk about their Cool As Heck family. Because it is indeed Cool As Heck.]

Professor Dreemurr. And before you decide you've goat to ask me a question about my satanic parentage, I've probably already heard it.

[shorthair]

[Clementine's mouth parts and then she laughs a little. Her hand slides behind her neck.]

I've goat so many questions about to pop out of my mouth. What am I supposed to do now? [But she smirks in amusement.] I'm not going to ask you any questions. Family's worth everything. And you get your family here which is pretty cool.

[determinedest]

Yeah. Best family ever.

[Their tone is unspeakably warm, but they don't want to underscore something that this other kid might not have. She might be in the sort of situation Frisk was, with parents who were Muggles and saw the strange, inexplicable things Frisk could do and called them monster and called them demon.

So instead they stick out their hand.]

Frisk. Frisk Dreemurr.

[shorthair]

[Clementine smiles at the warm sound of their tone of voice. It's nice to hear it regardless of her own situation.

She stretches her hand out too to take their hand, shaking it.]

Clementine. Did you always know you were a Slytherin?

[Most people, they fight against this house.]

[determinedest]

Not really. I mean, Chara, they're my sibling, they came first in the Sorting. And I just kinda followed.

[They shrug easily, as if there's nothing more to the story than that. As if the Hat didn't tease them with promises of Hufflepuff-like loyalty, Gryffindor-like grit. But they knew who they were. They had the tenacity and determination and resourcefulness to be a snake, through and through.]

Our parents are both Hufflepuffs, though. So I guess that was a surprise for them!

[shorthair]

You wanted to go where they went. That makes sense.

[Clementine remembers that sorting day so well. She had the option Gryffindor or Slytherin but Slytherin made way more sense to her. She smirks though, shaking her head a little as she thinks of the Hufflepuffs she knows]

Yeah. Hufflepuffs are way different from Slytherin. I like Hufflepuffs though. [they're a good house.]

[determinedest]

'Puffs can be all right.

[They know Sans, after all, and his pranks are legendary in their magnitude. It's impressive, how much mischief he can get up to!]

Most of my friends happen to be Ravenclaws - the ones that aren't Slytherins, anyway. If you need a lock picked, you call a Ravenclaw.

[Slytherins, of course, will just circumvent or otherwise blow down the door.]

[shorthair]

Cause they're smart like that, right? They know how to pick the lock. They know a lot of stuff.

[Clementine smiles a little, shaking her head, before she bites down hard on her lip. She swallows.]

You like it here? I mean, is it home for you?

[determinedest]

More or less. More than any kind of home I had with -

[Ah. Well. Frisk's warm expression freezes for a moment, their brow furrowing briefly. Then, just as quickly as it came, the look of discomfort is gone, the creases in their face smoothed over.]

I've got my parents here, and I've got Chara. We all tend to stay here during the holidays, so I'd say so, yes.

[shorthair]

[Clementine looks briefly concerned at their expression, but she doesn't say anything. She just nods as if in understanding. Wherever they are from, they didn't have a home before. Now they do.]

I'll be staying during the holidays too. [She had a good home before, but it's gone now]

[determinedest]

Not a fan of the old homestead?

[Frisk's smile acquires a bladed edge, dark eyes sparking with something low and intent.]

I know how that is.

[shorthair]

[Clementine catches sight of the intent and the edge there. She breathes out.]

It just... doesn't exist anymore. It was good while it did. [But her parents died years ago, and she survived.] But it sounds like you had a really bad one.

[determinedest]

It existed. It simply wasn't home.

[They're still smiling. They picked that one up from Chara, that sustained extrapolation of that single note, the grin that informs people of precisely what you'd like them to be informed of with a minimum of actual explanation. Some people might consider it unsettling. Frisk considers it useful.]

All the same. I'm sorry things went the way they did for you.

[shorthair]

[People use whatever tools they have to to survive whether it's unsettling or not. Clementine isn't easily unsettled anymore.]

I'm sorry things went the way they did for you too.

[It's genuine, quiet but true]

You're here now.

[determinedest]

Here is better, anyway, [Frisk says matter-of-factly, shaking the hair from their eyes, speaking as easily as if they were simply discussing the weather.]

You've got people who look out for each other. Slytherin solidarity, right?

[shorthair]

Yeah.

We're not alone, because we've got each other. [Clementine gets that feeling very strongly from being in Slytherin. It's meant a lot to her. She's felt like she's been on her own for a really long time now. It's good to not feel that way anymore.]

[determinedest]

[They do say so, in those Sorting songs and the like, don't they? Perhaps in Slytherin, you'll make your real friends. And you do, unquestionably. Gryffindors have their bravery and Hufflepuffs will earnestly watch each other's backs, but Slytherins are the type, in Frisk's experience, who'd be willing to submerge their souls in sin for their friends, who would clasp hands with the ones they love and walk into hell together.]

Hufflepuffs might be all about loyalty, but Slytherins know how to watch one another's backs. [Their smile is less intent now, but no less edged.] We don't let one of our own get hurt.

[shorthair]

And if someone does hurt one of our own, we get payback. [Clementine can feel that strength of House and of family. If she ever looks so much as sad, people will ask her what's going on and if they need to hurt someone. She's used to fighting her own battles, but this is great.

This is better.]

Speaking of, thanks for looking out for me. [She taps the bandage lightly.] I'm Clementine.