InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "An orginal Justin Taylor"

Essery Elizabeth Oakby (oakbye) wrote in wished,
@ 2010-10-03 21:21:00

Entry tags:

!2003: 10, !complete, essery oakby, severus snape

Who: Essery and Snape
What: Chess & Kittens
Where: Snape's office
When: Tonight
Warning: TBA

Essery came back just a bit earlier than she thought she might, but it was still after curfew and, on seeing what she'd brought back, Sinistra had offered just to keep watch until the last few lights went out about Hufflepuff, too. Which left Essery with her hours free - and with one very new tenant in her rooms to contend with. Honestly, she hadn't been expecting to come back with one, her jokes last week aside. Still, how could she resist that smooshed up face and those blue eyes peering up at her from the box outside the M&S?

It did leave her with a problem, though. She'd wanted to spend the night in another hard fought chess game - Severus was quickly becoming someone who she looked forward to talking with, and after their last conversation... Well, she had been looking forward to playing. And she doubted he'd want the kitten running about his office. Still, she couldn't leave it in her rooms alone, and she couldn't stand him up. So she found herself at his office door in a pair of jeans and an old charity tee-shirt, knocking, with the kitten purring and trying to climb out of her arms.

As soon as he opened the door, she was already apologizing. "I know that you likely don't want him here, but I didn't want you to think that I wasn't interested in playing. I can't leave him alone in my rooms, though, so I was going to take a rain - " before she could finish excusing herself, the kitten had managed to jump out of her arms and past him, into his office, and she was cursing under her breath and nursing a new scratch to her forearm.

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in_the_grass
2010-10-04 02:40 am UTC (link)

Severus didn't quite look affronted when he found himself face to face with a writhing, wild-looking cat, but he was looking down his nose at it with a blank, unfathomable expression as he so often did at unlucky students - and didn't jump or flinch when it ran past him, but only followed it slowly with his eyes until it stopped, poised to pounce, on his desk. It seemed very interested in the pendulum of a nearby wall clock. He raised his eyebrow, and turned back to her.

"Well. Do come in. It seems you're both staying." He stepped aside. Part of him was irritated, but he couldn't deny that he was pleased to see her, or that he was glad to know she had wanted to come, and had wanted him to know it. It didn't make him any better disposed to the thing that was scattering fur all over his possessions, but it was enough that he wasn't in a terrible mood. "I didn't realize your charity had expanded its mission so."

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oakbye
2010-10-04 02:44 am UTC (link)

"Charity?" She asked, then remembered and rolled her eyes. "Oh, no. I found him ... after. When I was shopping." It wasn't quite lying, since she had gone by the Society offices. But only to get an address from an old file. As she went for the kitten, it snapped out of it's fugue at watching the pendulum and moved to jump into his chair, where it promptly decided to make itself at home and she sighed, even though she was smiling fondly at the ball of white fluff. "Are you sure?"

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in_the_grass
2010-10-04 02:56 am UTC (link)

"Yes, yes. Make yourself comfortable." He waved vaguely toward the table by the window with the chess board, still watching the cat. He'd have simply immobilized it and dropped it out in the hall if it had been up to him, but ... he could well imagine her reaction, and it wasn't quite worth it. "He seems to have done so. So long as he doesn't tip anything over, he'll probably make it out in one piece." He meant it to sound like a joke. It might not have.

It hardly mattered - no more than a couple seconds later, the thing was out of his chair and dashing around the back of his office, clearly searching for an escape. "... I'm guessing you didn't find him indoors."

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	oakbye 2010-10-04 02:59 am UTC (link)
	"No, but he's harmless..." She watched as the kitten seemed distracted by something she could only imagine was a shadow and nearly flipped over as he tried to jump it, and she was laughing, and her hand ended up on Severus' arm. "How could I resist that? He's adorable." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

in_the_grass
2010-10-04 03:08 am UTC (link)

"How, indeed," he deadpanned, wondering why anyone would take home anything with so much energy unless they had been well and truly Confunded. The first hint of a smile pulled at his mouth, a little sly, as he glanced briefly down at her hand. "Well - we can hope he makes himself useful and chases Headmaster Nigellus away for the evening. He's been an intolerable bore ..."

When there didn't seem to be any impending disasters, no sudden crashes or exploding files of papers, he finally let his eyes leave the little beast, and turned to the table again. Maybe it would just fall asleep, or something. "I hope you don't have too much cause to regret him. Adorable as he is."

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oakbye
2010-10-04 03:10 am UTC (link)

"You don't regret pets, Severus..." pointed out, still smiling at the cat, who was still chasing the shadow about. Then she noticed her hand still on his arm, and smiled a bit more at that, but blushed, too, and let it drop after a moment. "Well, as long as we're here, I suppose we should play? I didn't have time to get the wine, though...." Maybe they could summon up a bottle. Did the elves stock that? She had no idea.

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in_the_grass
2010-10-04 03:23 am UTC (link)

"Some people surely do." Like the ones whose collections of fragile, bottled rarities were put at risk by scurrying animals. He drew his wand and sent out a little crackling ball of light, to keep it distracted away from things that would stain the carpets if they broke - and for a split second smiled back at her, before her hand fell away and he replaced his wand and the chairs pulled themselves out from under the table. "That's quite all right. We have an impressive cellar, or so I'm told." He sat, waving her along to do the same. "It's your turn, in the meantime."

I was hardly any work at all to summon up an elf, ask for something a little more dry this time, and set the glasses to one side.

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oakbye
2010-10-05 01:07 am UTC (link)

"None that are as cute as him, though..." She smiled at the kitten again, then turned her attention to him as she sat down and watched up call up the wine. Dryer, she noticed, not nearly as sweet, and she should have guessed at that last time, too.

"He really needs a name, but I'll worry about that later. I'm sure he'll tell me what he needs to be called eventually. Give me some sort of sign about it." She stared off with a cursory first move on the board, then smiled across at him. "No catastrophes tonight, I'm told."

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in_the_grass
2010-10-05 01:18 am UTC (link)

"A name would only be appropriate if you intended to keep him." Which seemed like something very few people would feel compelled to do after this display, but ... she was a rare sort of person, that was true. He hadn't grown up around animals. He truly did not understand the appeal. "But better you than one of your less creative students, I suppose." At least they didn't get into trouble. He moved a pawn, parrying the usual open, and poured out two glasses of wine. "No? How encouraging. One night at a time, as usual." It probably had to do with the fact that she didn't abandon her post for entire nights at a time, unlike some others he could have named."