gooseberryhigh | SLEEP UNDER THE STARS

SLEEP UNDER THE STARS

Ms. Whittle and Mr. Thorn are waiting outside of Coppertale for students to show up for the outdoor sleepover. Everyone checks in with both their prefects as well as staff, and if Ms. Whittle's a bit lax, Mr. Thorn is definitely not.

The sky is clear, and with each passing minute the stars get more and more impressive. Almost hypnotizing. It's a warm, pleasant night, perfect for camping. You should feel plenty safe, considering how many Aurors and teachers are out looking after you. In fact, it seems like even Anon is present, although his appearance seems to upset the Aurors. It's only thanks to Mrs. O'Hare that they agree not to chase him away.

Riley Stamper stays up into the early hours of the morning having an intimate conversation with Chloe Shepherd. However, the next day learns that their conversation partner was either not in attendance, or asleep the whole time.

Hazel Keating is up very late watching the stars, their friends having long since fallen asleep, when movement in the nearby forest catches their eye. It's a group of what must be people, three or four of them, but they're moving oddly, and their proportions are hard to make out in the shadows. They giggle and whisper, and when they see someone watching them, they gesture for the student to join them. "Look what we found," one says in the voice of Micah St. Clair. "Come on. Look. We found something really interesting. You'll like it." There's the sound of crunching leaves, and the figures freeze unnaturally. Too still. Through the trees, the bright white shape of a moose approaches, lowering its antlers meaningfully. The figures waste no time scattering into the woods noiselessly.

The student feels a wash of Anon's petulant annoyance with the mimics, like he's a young prefect on duty, before he returns to his patrol.

RULES

Everyone will check in at 10:00 PM in the flower fields outside of Coppertale. They must also check in with their prefect. If you fail to check in with both in a gambit to sneak off somewhere else, you'll be in trouble.

There will be June constellations visible. Astronomy students can point them out with ease.

There will be hot chocolate or lemonade available, and some light snacks, but everyone is assumed to have eaten dinner earlier.

You may sleep near anyone you like. There are also tents available if you don't want to be exposed to the elements, in which case those sleep up to four.

Ms. Whittle has convinced Mr. Thorn to not stop young couples who are clearly just here to make out under the stars. Don't get frisky, though!

Attendance is optional, but Astronomy students can earn extra credit for attending.

Everyone will be woken up early at 9:30 at the latest, and breakfast will be served in the lodge.

» STARGAZING: Before going to sleep enjoy the beautiful stars and look for some constellations. Alternatively, tell a cutie that the brightest stars are the ones you see in their eyes. ♥

» ANON'S APPEARANCE: There are so many more Aurors around than there used to be, and it's the same case tonight. This would be fine, ordinarily, but tension grows when the shape of a slim, white moose is seen wandering through the trees around midnight. Mrs. O'Hare gets into a hushed argument with the highest ranking Auror, demanding they leave Anon alone.

» GOODNIGHT: Quiet time is at 12:00 AM, so settle down in your sleeping bag or grab a tent. You may sleep near whoever you wish, but tents only sleep four at a time.

» OOC: QUESTIONS, COMMENTS & CONCERNS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You know what?" Rosy bumps his shoulder back, but not as light. It's not as cute. "It was a cultural learning experience, and I'm richer for having had it, goddammit." She heaves a sigh and drops her ring of flashcards in her lap, using this perfectly valid excuse to lean over Danny's shoulder to peer at his notes.

If she said anything about his note-taking system being surprisingly acceptable, would that count as flirting? Best not to risk it.

"And I came by my appropriate amount of hubris honestly, thank you," she continues instead. "By never being wrong even once in my life."

"Bullshit," he says, just a little soft, as he moves to brush her hair back and out of her face. Danny drapes his arm across her back, making room for Rosy to scoot closer. Because...it's definitely just easier for them to share a notebook this way. Fuck off, everyone else. Pay no attention to the way he watches her face, or the stupid grin on his own. "In what reality?"

"Same one where you've got a girlfriend way out of your league," she teases, even as she scoots in closer. Because it's cold. And because it's easier to focus on the weight of his hand on her back than his eyes on her face, or the tips of his fingers as they push the hair away from his eyes.

It's surprisingly difficult to focus on the rows of color-coded equations in the notebook, though. Rosy turns the page without asking, deciding for the both of them that they're done with this one. Maybe the next page won't seem like such a jumble.

"Unless, shit," she peers up at Danny, one real ass shit eating grin on her face, "were you my first mistake?"

"Oh, dude, yeah you fucked up super bad with that one," he exclaims, like it's a revelation, all mock excitement as he presses his face - and a kiss - to her temple. There isn't a hint of anything but gross adoration when he follows that up, laughing, with, "You fuckin' asshole. God."

He pushes his hair back with his free hand, gaze dropping to the notebook in his lap and the equations written across the page and smirks. "In a rush to get to that textbooks-to-mice section, huh?"

A nudge with her elbow to let him know how not-cute he is, and Rosy returns her eyes to the notebook. "Well, I was trying to find something on that argument we had," she turns another page, because she can't focus on this either, and this is probably what happens when you eat and study. She'll never make that mistake again.

"You know, about the morals of animate-to-inanimate or inanimate-to-animate Transfiguration, because I wanted to go back over how this manages to circumvent Gamp's Laws, but," Rosy turns her head back to Danny, her breath shallow because it's kind of hard to breathe right now, what with all this nature in the air. "I guess that one was extracurricular."

Jesus Christ, you two, save it for the library.

"Oh, yeah, of course," he says, quiet. Then lists his head to the side, squinting one eye shut with a smile that absolutely gives away the contented feeling in his chest. Danny is the weak one in this relationship, clearly.

"Pretty sure I won that one." He definitely didn't. "But if you want to revisit it..." He carefully shuts the notebook in his lap and leans in closer.

Edited (me, yelling to the cosmos: bad) 2018-06-14 02:46 (UTC)

"Look, Notoriano, in my house, we believe two things." She leans against him, eyebrows raised.

"Number one," Rosy taps his chest for emphasis, "is that Gamp was a goddamn coward who kowtowed to his governing body's efforts to weaponize hunger against the poor." She pauses, eyes on his, biting down on the tip of her tongue to keep that smirk from going from shitty to genuine.

Then she pulls back, she looks away and reaches for her lemonade. "Number two is that there's no excuse for not flossing regularly," she continues, all business. "They say it's more important than brushing."

Edited (puts my head in my hands and screams ) 2018-06-14 13:59 (UTC)

Danny dips his head, giving it a shake. He laughs, a breathless sound, and when he looks back up, watching Rosy drink her lemonade, he's gnawing on his lower lip.

"I didn't know dental hygiene was so important to the Stoker family," he says, just super cool and casual, with an easy lift of his brows. Being a shithead.

Rosy tilts her head, narrows her eyes, just as cool and even more casual than Danny, and takes another sip of her lemonade. "I mean, you know the saying: sharp and shiny teeth blind the meek and shred the weak." It's honestly not clear if she's joking.

She might not be joking.

Is that not a common nursery rhyme?

"That's definitely not a saying," Danny deadpans. "Is it?" He adds, after a pause, pitch tilting upward, unsure. Like maybe he's about to get his head eaten praying mantis-style. He guesses that's be okay.

He furrows his brow, but he's grinning. "You're..." And then he stops and clears his throat. "The worst. I kind of love... it." Good job, Notoriano.

Look, Rosy's not super proud of how quickly alarm bells start blaring in her head. Real Soft Feelings are a Real Big Threat to her policy of repression and aggression, and Danny is veering awful close to crossing the line here. But if he can keep his dumb, mushy feelings in check, she can keep her panicky lizard brain under control, too.

She looks down, biting the inside of her lip. "You have real bad taste, you know," she says, eyes on an incredibly interesting blade of grass under her knee. "I'm sure there are a couple girls only 75% as bad as me who would love to bully you." Rosy forces herself to glance back up. "But now they have to fight me instead."

SLEEP UNDER THE STARS

Rosy & Danny

Rosy & Danny

Rosy & Danny

Rosy & Danny

Rosy & Danny

Rosy & Danny

Rosy & Danny

Rosy & Danny

Rosy & Danny

Rosy & Danny

Rosy & Danny