Third Floor Common Room, Friday Afternoon

[doesnotkneel]

'Twas the end of the school week, and Edward had plans to celebrate it. Plans he was currently putting into motion: he had a bottle of something fizzy he'd nicked from one of the other common rooms, he had a bowl of nachos he'd stolen from yet another common room, and he had a sofa he was just borrowing to put his arse on.

It'd been months, but he was at least starting to adjust to the television. It no longer seared his eyes to look at it, and even the noise it made had started to sound almost natural.

So he turned it on, hit some numbers at random, and got... mice. Mice, dressed up as pirates, commanding a ship and raiding other ships for... cheese? Right. Well. Edward couldn't say he understood, but he could say he was too lazy to change the channel again. He'd asked Lady Luck for her recommendation, and this was what he'd gotten. So be it.

"Arrrr," he echoed one of the mice, idly.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[not_every_mage]

Anders, wandering in after class, waved vaguely at Edward before heading to the fridge for a fizzy drink of his own. He paused to squint at the screen.

"Did they put clothes on mice?"

[doesnotkneel]

"And sent them out onto the seas, apparently," Edward said, idly popping a nacho into his mouth.

[not_every_mage]

"Well, naturally," Anders said, claiming a seat of his own. "There's no point dressing mice up if they're going to stay on dry land."

[doesnotkneel]

"They're very well-motivated mice," Edward said, tossing Anders a grin. "There's cheese buried on that island."

[not_every_mage]

"Well, if I got cheese out of it, I'd be a pirate too," Anders laughed. "Especially if it came with one of those cunning little hats."

[giveherahand]

"Naked mice would just be tacky," Mara said, all fake wide eyed outrage.

[not_every_mage]

"And they could corrupt the children," Anders added with a grin. "There can't be naked creatures coming into the home. We must have morals."

[giveherahand]

"Important question," Mara said. "Do they dress themselves, or is there a naked creature wrangler for such an important job?"

[not_every_mage]

"Oh, I think they definitely dress themselves," Anders said solemnly. "They're pirates. You can't be a dignified pirate if someone else buttons your breeches."

[wildandbrave]

Cosette was in the mood to try some baking, and had run out to town to pick up some ingredients for gougères before coming back to the dorms. She had a bag full of supplies -- dough makings and cheese, and some baking sheets and parchment paper -- in her arms when she came in, and, on noticing people already there, paused.

"Oh, hello," she said lightly as she headed over to the fridge to start putting things away. "I meant to try my hand at making some pastries. Do you mind? I can come back later if it'll be any trouble."

[doesnotkneel]

"Nah, go right ahead," Edward said, shooting her an utterly shameless smile. "As long as we can share in the results."

[wildandbrave]

"So long as I don't make a dreadful mess of them," Cosette said, feigning a warning tone but failing utterly at making it sound even a tiny bit ominous. "I haven't tried to make these before. So if they turn out a charred wreck, I'd only feel bad about offering them to you, but if they come out all right I'm happy to let you have as many as you'd like."

With the eggs and milk in the fridge, she started to lay out everything else she needed. "I'm glad. I wouldn't have liked to disturb what you're . . . what are you watching, anyhow?"

[doesnotkneel]

Her fussing left Edward smiling a bit, his attention turning back to the television until that last question.

"It's a thing about mice in boats playin' pirates," he said. "Much nicer than the sort I've heard about, but then they are mice."

[wildandbrave]

"Well, they are only playing at it," Cosette said, and now she was a bit distracted by the television. And charmed by the whole concept of mice playing pirates, if her expression was any indication. "I don't know much about pirates except what I've read in books, and it's interesting but of course I'm sure the books are leaving things out. The sort you've heard about, what are they like?"

[not_every_mage]

"I don't, but I might ask for some of whatever you make," Anders announced. "Hi."

[wildandbrave]

"Hello, Anders," Cosette replied with a smile. "They're gougères, a sort of pastry ball with cheese. I should warn you, this is the first time I've tried making them, so I can only promise you some if they come out all right."

[not_every_mage]

"If they don't come out all right I wouldn't want them anyhow," Anders pointed out. "So that works out nicely."

[wildandbrave]

"That it does, since I wouldn't give them to you if they didn't," Cosette agreed. "I'm not in the business of poisoning my classmates."

[giveherahand]

Mara gave her a little wave and a smile. "I don't think anyone has ever turned down the smell of cooking here."

[wildandbrave]

Cosette set the oven to preheat and put a saucepan on the stove and why am I looking at this recipe? I'm SO HUNGRY NOW. "If it makes passing the time more enjoyable, then I'm happy to help," she said. "Even more so if the food turns out to be good in the end. There should be enough to go around. I know how it usually works here, with food in the common rooms."

[giveherahand]

Mara smiled again. "It's very convenient. I can barely boil water, or I'd contribute more to the effort."

[giveherahand]

Mara had been far too wrapped up in training to be a believable teenager with no interest in her spying and poisoning classes, so she decided to head to the nearest common room to mingle for a while.

She watched the television, headed tilted in confusion, for a moment, then offered, "This planet is strange."

[doesnotkneel]

Edward gave her a look equal parts confusion and you're calling it 'this planet' and we're the weird ones?

"Ah, it's only pirate mice," he said, "Wait until the crusader bees come 'round."

[giveherahand]

"Can't be worse than the rain of eels, right?" Mara said with a tiny smile.

[doesnotkneel]

"They seem friendly enough," Edward said, raising his chin up. "Well, the mice. Can't guarantee about the bees getting odd with anyone who's not a Christian."