[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

[determinedest]

Duh.

[Frisk says, like they totally knew that, even if they totally didn't. They know how to construct a pawn skeleton, how to use that as the fulcrum from which your tactics arise. They take the first move, if a generic one - third white pawn from the left sliding out across the board.]

[agneshko]

Sorry. Of course you know. [ elena bites back her fond amusement. she doesn't want frisk to believe she's laughing at them. instead, she focuses on the chess game, her mind already zooming in on the board's center squares. a seemingly innocuous pawn takes a step forward, a strategy she's opted for in the past.

control of the board's center squares is key. ]

[determinedest]

[Of course she wouldn't be laughing at them. She'd be laughing near them. So there.]

Chara enjoys chess, [Frisk says matter-of-factly, like that might strike fear in the heart of their opponent. Their opponent who is...moving much more quickly than Frisk would have bargained for. Risky. They can do risky.]

[agneshko]

[ elena smiles a little, her gaze on frisk.

don't think she isn't paying attention to the game, though. girl can multitask. ]

Were they the one to teach you how to play? [ elena may not be close to them, for reasons that mostly boil down to age difference, but it's hard not to notice they're joined at the hip. it's not unlike elena and her sister, katerina. ]

[determinedest]

Well, Mr. And Mrs. Dreemurr sure didn't.

[They love their parents with all their little heart, but they're about as Hufflepuff as a pair of Hufflepuffs can be. While they know Toriel can be a bit craftier than she lets on, she doesn't even let them play the kind of wizard chess with real stakes and pieces that fight and cut each other down. There's no fun in that at all!]

[agneshko]

I like that name. It makes them all sound like dreamers.

[ her chin settles into her hand, and after a quiet murmur, elena makes another risky move. a knight moves to attack one of the central squares, and it summarizes a few of elena's tactics: rapid deployment and no wasted motion. let's pretend i play chess and know what i'm talking about ... ]

[determinedest]

[lol same]

Best parents in the world.

[They say it fluidly, with a faint smile. There's a knight moving to the center of the board - a move that's both plausible and distractingly risky. They opt instead to play defensively, constructing a nascent pawn skeleton of the first order.]

[agneshko]

[ high fives ]

Were they Slytherin, too?

[ oooh, look at frisk's move. elena appraises it with admiration, opting to leave the skeleton alone for now. it would be too obvious if she went for it. instead, she attempts to lure their other pawn into more hostile territory with a center square pawn of her own. ]

[determinedest]

Nah. The most Hufflepuff Hufflepuffs you can imagine.

[The pawn is a tempting prospect, but they instead opt to bring out one of their knights in a mirror to Elena's.]

[agneshko]

[ elena drums her nails against her chin, considering her next move carefully. ]

I keep seeing the marriage of those two houses. Slytherin and Hufflepuff. [ perhaps it's that they both value loyalty? ]

[determinedest]

Really? And here I thought Ravenclaws and Slytherins made the most lethal combo.

[But they're speaking from experience there. They've found that a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin can overcome certain obstacles together that they'd never be able to circumvent alone.]

[agneshko]

It would be the most lethal. [ intelligence and cunning. they'd be unstoppable. ]

I mean most of the people I'm closest to, though. If they have friends outside of Slytherin, they're usually Hufflepuff. [ a pause, as elena smiles fondly. ] And Dipper Pines. [ because dipper. ]

[determinedest]

Dipper Pines is an obvious exception, [Frisk says primly. He's a good friend of theirs, even if he's a Ravenclaw. He's a very good Ravenclaw, with exactly the level of mischief-making that Frisk can respect, and he's buddies with both Chara and Wendy, so that's good enough for them.]

What sort of crowd do you tend to hang around with, then?

[agneshko]

A lot of them are Seventh Years.

[ it's admitted in a low voice. elena doesn't like to think about how fast time flies. she rarely connects to people her own age, for some reason, and in this case, it really sucks. lucifer and katerina will be moving on to bigger and better things, and then what? ]

What about you? Outside of Chara and Dipper, who do you like?

[ pls pretend she makes a super smooth chess move here. whoa. ]

[determinedest]

Plenty of people.

[They tend to gravitate toward the older kids, it's true. It makes it harder once they're gone but...it's worth it, in the end. The older ones are the most fun, and the most likely to impart knowledge Frisk knows will come in use.]

Plenty of monsters, [Frisk amends, because that, too, is true. They're friendly with most of the monsters here, purely on principle. Someone has to be.]

[agneshko]

Ah.

[ elena nods sagely. ]

Monsters are beautiful. [ it's funny. slytherins tend to get a bad rap, but she's met some of the most accepting people within her house. they can look at a monster and see something worth befriending. something worth loving. she's glad to be here. ]

[determinedest]

They're better than most people give them credit for.

[Slytherins, they imagine, are used to being treated like garbage, as something lesser. Not at all to the extent that monsters do, but they imagine there's a sort of solidarity there. A recognition of what it is to be despised and neglected.]

[agneshko]

Most people find it easier to write someone off than try and understand them.

[ it's human nature at its finest. they're trained to fear, and fear can lead to dangerous choices. she smiles a little, though. ] I'm glad they have you as a friend. I'm sure it helps them feel more at home.

[determinedest]

Humans, [says Frisk decisively,] really suck sometimes. But yes, that is the general hope. That gradually people's views will turn and change.

[Seeing as Slytherins have a hard enough time getting friendly with members of other Houses due to longstanding attitudes regarding their loyalty, Frisk isn't optimistic of this change being immediate.]

[agneshko]

[ elena should probably argue the fact ... but they aren't wrong.

her papa is human, and he sucks a lot of the time, if disowning his daughter for caring for a muggle is any indication. and of course, then he disowned elena for daring to stick up for her sister. it's probably for the best. elena didn't want to be a death eater. ] Give them time.

[ her smile is faint, and half-hearted. ] Sometimes that's all people need. [ time. ]

[determinedest]

[Is it, though. Is it really.]

Sometimes, [says Frisk, with an uneven smile. It does not reach their eyes, but their eyes are unreadable on most days.] But while patience may be one of my virtues, monsters cannot always say the same. I do not blame them for being angry.

They've a right to it.

[agneshko]

[ elena finds she has no argument in the face of such an insightful answer. anger is necessary, at times. anger is all some people have, and it helps them survive the harshest of conditions. elena will not take it from them, and she can see that they won't, either. ]

They're lucky to have you on their side, Frisk.

[determinedest]

[Frisk nibbles on their thumbnail in a focused, contemplative way as they regard the chessboard and the arrangement of their pieces across its checkered surface. The nice thing about dividing their attention like this is that it allows them to claim they're focusing on the game rather than her words.

Perhaps Slytherins are in a more unique position to understand, and they can appreciate that.]

I hope so. [The words are quieter than they mean them to be, reminiscent of something of an ache of longing, but the vulnerability is gone as quickly as it forms.] I am just a student, after all. Nothing special.

eep.

[agneshko]

I wouldn't say that.

[ elena's focus is seemingly on their next move, her tone light so as to not draw too much attention to it. ] Anyone that can see beauty in monsters isn't nothing special. Trust me on that one.

[ she's a good judge of character. elena never just meets people. never just loves them.

she learns them. reads them. and despite her very best intentions, ruins them just a little. ]

i saw nothign

[determinedest]

You sound as if you speak from experience.

[Words carefully couched in between measured tones, a seeming nonchalance as they speak of things that might earn them dirty looks should anyone overhear. They could cast a sharp Muffliato out of spite, but...it does not appeal to them, they don't think. Let people overhear. Let people drop eaves and see the kid who finds monsters beautiful and look at them in disgust.

It will be easier to know who they should avoid, and who may wish them hurt.]