Bring your pic-a-nic baskets!

[clover_manalo]

Week Name/Date/Time: 'Promises and Plans'/Saturday, 15 Oct/12:40 pm
Location: Grounds, by the lake
Open to: TEH FAB FOUR. I mean Erik, Juhi, Phil, and Clover!
Currently involving: Clover + them other three, hee.

Comments

[clover_manalo]

Clover blinked up at Juhi, who was rambling on as if she was actually nervous that inviting other people wouldn't be alright. Of course it was alright, it was dandy, it was swell, it was--

--Wait. PHILLIP?!

The geeky Claw did her best not to squeak audibly; she'd already done enough to make Juhi ask far too many questions this morning. Clover had such a big mouth, honestly! She'd like to spell-o-tape it shut sometimes. But it fell right open again when that very instant Phillip came running up to greet them. The sun caught his figure in a warm halo and she was stunned; anime shoujo sparkles everywhere, egads! Did he get dreamier than the last time she'd seen him? Impossible. Foolishness, Clover! Hold your tongue! Er, eyes. ...Thoughts? Clover sighed at herself, shoulders sagging. She was utterly hopeless.

However, when Phil plopped right down beside her, she felt immensely better about herself. His proximity made her go all pink-cheeky-warm-skinned and she grinned bashfully. They hadn't actually hung out together with their friends since... well, since she'd gone off her rocker. She wasn't sure how to behave. Not that she had been particularly sure before.

"'Lo," she greeted, definitely happy to see him but horridly shy now. Clover turned all pigeon-toed and lowered-lashes. At least Erik was trotting up to join them as well; it both set her at ease and on edge. Were he and Juhi going to catch onto the fact that she had gone nutters? She determined to be discreet, though how that was possible in the midst of all her awkward bashfulness was beyond her.

"Wotcher, Erik," she chirped as he sat beside Juhi. "Too long, eh? The plants, they run my life." An apologetic confession that was certainly too obvious to be necessary. Clover was momentarily distracted by the sweet, comfortable way Erik leaned his head on Juju's shoulder. They were really quite suited for one another. She was so glad Juhi had realized her true feelings for their friend. Ju deserved some happiness and romance.

Aw, shite. Romance. Just what she should not be thinking about if she was going to keep her head around Phil and the rest. Taking a deep breath, she demanded, "So! Who's hungry?"

Busying herself with slicing some bread would be advisable. So she did. "Turkey, anyone? Chicken, ham?"

[juhi_saraf]

Juhi relaxed at Clover's blinking reaction to her having invited other people, and continued unwrapping all the sandwich meats. She barely glanced up when Phillip joined them, just enough time to flash him a grin. "Lo, Phil." Catching sight of Clover's mouth hanging open, Juhi did a double take, to make sure Phil wasn't looking, and then raised an eyebrow at the other girl. What on Earth?

Finished with that, she leaned back and looked at Erik in slight confusion. "Thank Merlin for that, too. You and Clover are miserable at Quidditch; this will be much more enjoyable." Something felt slightly off; people were being weird. Why was she confused around her best mates? She relaxed a little as Erik put his head on her shoulder, and snorted softly at Coco's excuse of plants running her life.

OH IF THEY ONLY KNEW. Bleeding into other people's lives before too long, wasn't it. Juhi studiously avoided Clover's eyes, and whispered "You okay?" to Erik.

When Clover started slicing bread, she sat up straight and reached for the thermos. "Hope everyone like tea," she said with a grin.

[p_davenport]

"Oi, something wrong with wanting to spend time with my mates, is there now, Erik? I can think about things other than Quidditch every now and then, you know," Phillip glanced at Clover without thinking, then looked away quickly. "Besides, Juhi's right. There's no hope for you on the pitch, mate," he nodded his head at Erik. He intentionally left Clover out of the jibe, however, thinking of Thursday afternoon. A small smile appeared on his lips at that.

At her excuse of plants running her life, he smiled wider. For some reason, he was finding her obsession with plants much more endearing a quality of late. With Erik and Juhi distracted with each other for a moment, Phillip risked a moment to study Clover and wonder how she felt about him. She looked just as lovely as he'd remembered, possibly more lovely, even.

Truth be told, he wasn't much interested in the food, but he figured it would be best to play along. "Hmm, I think I'll have ham," he smiled at Clover and hesitated a moment before reaching out to help her with the sandwich things. Anything to seem more chivalrous and thoughtful in her esteem.

He nodded to Juhi, "Tea'd be a good change from all the pumpkin juice the elves insist on serving at every meal, I'd say," he quipped, but he was still intent on helping Clover with the sandwiches, and taking a few carefully selected opportunities to brush his hand against hers.

[erikcohen]

Ah, now there was exactly why Clover confused him. They got along just fine, but plants!? Erik couldn't relate at all. Did he have anything that dominated his time? Aside from STEPPING RIGHT INTO HARM'S WAY? Probably not. Though, Juhi was getting there.

"Seven flights of stairs," Erik whispered in Juhi's ear and watched Clover and Phil interact across from them, "he ran the entire way. What do you think his deal is?"

He raised an eyebrow as Phil began to help Clover with the food. Something was amiss, and Erik was going to get to the bottom of it. If Phil was hungry, he was likely to start making his own sandwich, simply to have it ready to eat faster, but helping someone with lunch? He was a nice guy and all, but he wasn't really a gentleman, as he was so clearly trying to behave now.

"You lie, and I'll have turkey," Erik said to Phil in response to his comment about Quidditch, then turning to answer Clover's question.

And, well, who could resist tea? He didn't even need to answer that question. Unless he didn't look like he wanted any, in which case he'd have to react.

[clover_manalo]

Alright, HOLD THE PHONE. If you're a Muggle, that is. Because suddenly the whole foursome was acting a bit off, and Clover became instantly suspicious. She peered covertly at Erik as he leaned in to whisper something to Juhi that was apparently not meant for her or Phillip's ears. Secrets don't make friends, ohmigosh guys! Countering the attack, she leaned discreetly in toward Phillip and whispered, "Look at them. Being all... secretive. What d'you s'pose is up with them, eh?"

She regarded them with an anxious frown, feeling all too self-conscious among her best mates. I mean, how unfair was that, right? If you couldn't feel at ease among your mates, when could you? Then again, when Phillip grazed her hand ever so slightly with his, Clover decided to toss feeling at ease right out the window. All in favor of insanity. A pleasant shiver ran down her spine at the contact, and she realized she hadn't yet leaned away from her own bout of whispering. She smiled gratefully up at him as he helped slice-n-dice, then decided she'd better continue helping too and slowly settled back.

"I'm glad you're all for tea," she announced loudly. Perhaps too loudly. "I made it m'self, no magic! It's chilled on ice, and raspberry flavoured," Clover chirruped hopefully. "If that's not on with you though, we can always change it." She waved her wand in the air to express her meaning. A little presto change-o was always handy.

On two freshly sliced pieces of bread she served some turkey for Erik and handed him the plate, letting him take care of the extra fixings. Then she did the same for Phil with ham, painstakingly methodical in her movements. If she could just concentrate on the sandwich making, she'd be alright. But when she handed it to him, her eyes got a little lost in his and she almost forgot she was holding the plate.

"Erm, uh, Juju," Clover coughed, "what'll you have, then?"

[juhi_saraf]

"Seven flights of stairs? That's a lot of running." Juhi whispered back, and patted Erik's head sympathetically. She glanced across the blanket in time to see Clover lean over and whisper in Phil's ear. She raised an eyebrow at them, but neither of them were looking.

Oooookay. When Coco FINALLY leaned away from Phillip, Juhi coughed to catch her eye, and then laughed. She motioned for Clover to lean toward HER, and whispered in her friends ear: "How now brown cow?", then gave Phil and Erik each a very significant and serious look. After all, girls against boys, RIGHT?!?!

Oh, right, the tea. "Mmmm, raspberry. Put your wand away, Coco. They'll take what you made and be happy with it." Juhi poured out four glasses of the drink, handing Erik his first. Picking up the other two, she held them out for Clover and Phil.

....and held them. Good grief, Phil, TAKE THE FREAKIN SANDWICH ALREADY. Juhi kept her face expressionless, when Clover finally coughed. "Turkey, Cocobean, thanks. Here's you tea." She handed the other glass to Phil, accompanied with a look of complete and total WTF?!, Phil?

[p_davenport]

Phillip raised an eyebrow at Juhi and Erik's whispering, but was quickly distracted as Clover leaned in to whisper to him. He grinned and whispered back, "Oi, no idea. Maybe planning to make a break for it so they can snog in the Forest?" Realizing what he had just said, and the thought of sneaking of himself with Clover in tow that immediately followed, he blushed just a tiny bit. He hoped that if anyone noticed, it would only be Clover. He didn't need Juhi or Erik to find out the truth of what was going on; he'd never hear the end of it from either of them. Which, really, might cut into the time he could be spending with Clover, and he couldn't have that.

When Juhi leaned in to whisper something to Clover, he frowned a bit. Whatever she was up to, he was certain it wasn't a good thing. But then he turned back to Clover, determined not to let Juhi ruin his good mood.

He grinned, still helping with the sandwiches, "Oi, no worries. Sounds ace to me." He didn't care what kind of tea it was, if she'd made it, he'd drink as much as he could hold.

When she turned and held the plate out to him, he caught her eyes and froze, content to just gaze into them. He grinned a bit wider before realizing he probably ought to take the plate. He reached a hand out and took hold of the plate, still not wanting to break eye contact.

Finally, she turned away and Juhi handed them their tea. He saw the look she gave him, but he didn't answer it. He merely shrugged at her before settling back with his plate and tea. He hesitated, still wanting to help Clover, but he had finally realized that Juhi and Erik were starting to get suspicious. So he sat back and kept his eyes trained on his sandwich, half-wishing two of his best mates would just vanish for a minute.

[erikcohen]

OY with the whispering ALREADY! He would have just made his comment aloud and all, but he sort of liked whispering to his girlfriend! Honestly, the looks people were sending all around him, it was enough to drive him crazy. If there was one way Erik was in touch with his 'feminine' side, it was that he loved gossip. If he didn't figure out what was going on, he was going to gnaw off his foot.

He managed to put down his turkey sandwich in a way that said 'I am suspicious now!', as only someone like Erik Valentin Cohen could do, and took his tea from Juhi without looking at her. He had other things on his mind right now. Things like going bloody POSTAL on one Phil Davenport.

"Something smells fishy and it isn't the picnic basket!" Erik stated finally and sent a glare at Phillip.

He hadn't been hexing Slytherins again, had he? This was his BEST MATE, other than Juhi that was, and he didn't deserve to be treated equally? He couldn't even have a conversation with the other two they way they were so preoccupied with staring at each other.

Suddenly Erik had some sort of idea what might be happening, and he cleared his throat nervously. Maybe he and Phillip were not supposed to be at the picnic at the same time. Or if they were... this wasn't a DOUBLE DATE was it?

"Phillip, why the hell are you leaving me OUT of everything lately? Why aren't you listening to me? Did I do something to OFFEND you?"

Bugger. He hadn't met to address this now. Merlin, he was asking for it!

[clover_manalo]

Not thinking of snogging in the forest, NOTNOTNOT.
She would thwap Phil if she wasn't too busy falling head over heels. D'oh.

Suspiciously, Clover leaned forward only to have Juhi murmur complete nonsense in her ear. WthJUHIIII?! Playing games? Clover was confused to the Nth Degree. Whose fault was all this? Who started the whispering? ...ERIK!

She scowled at him, keeping dark eyes trained on the boy as she took her glass of tea from Juhi, trading her a plate of turkey and bread. Clover hadn't even bothered making a sandwich for herself yet. She was far too distracted by the sneaky goings-on afoot.

And then Erik went berserk.

Everything is not about YOU, Erik! Clover barely muzzled herself from shouting that aloud, but she thought it very, very fiercely, her scowl darkening. FIERCE, ARRRrrrRRrRR! Not only would saying something like that be totally insensitive after all he'd been through, but it would put him onto the idea that there was something ELSE at hand.

"What are you on about, Erik?" she accused instead. "You guys whispered first! Fight fire with fire, I say!"

She almost roared. And then... stopped herself, just in time.
Clover shook her tea menacingly at him, spilling a little.

[juhi_saraf]

Juhi blew out a puff of air in frustration. Grrrr, Phil, ignoring her. Fine then. He wanted to act like no one was cottoning on, she'd humour him, because SHE WAS A GOOD FRIEND. She glared at him to prove it, and snatched her sandwich from Clover. "Oh! Sorry, Coco. Thanks." No reason to go completely out of control, after all. Though she couldn't quite get the smile she offered the girl to reach her eyes. BAH! Stupid Phil.

She was inclined to agree with Erik's statement that something smelled fishy around here, and was opening her mouth to agree and laugh and hopefully lighten the whole situation, when he launched into a tirade that had nothing to do with the current situation.

Juhi turned to him, eyes wide in concern, and then, with a sinking feeling in her stomach, turned to face Phil, trying desperately to catch his eye. Surely he would understand that Erik didn't mean to sound, uhm, ANGRY, right? Or that it was just because his feeligs were hurt? To her surprise, the voice that spoke up first was Clover's.

Juhi faced her, indignant. "Since when is whispering such a bad thing?! We whisper to each other all the time around other people. HEY! You just spilled tea on me!" Juhi picked up her own glass and sloshed some onto Clover's lap.

[p_davenport]

Phillip was busy watching Clover covertly while pretending to stare at his sandwich, when Erik accused something of smelling fishy. Phillip looked up, wide eyed. Oh, Merlin, they were cottoning on to the one thing he didn't want them to. He swallowed hard.

And then Erik launched into a tirade and Phillip blinked, feeling his anger rise at every word. Of course he wasn't leaving Erik out of anything, and of course Erik hadn't offended him! Perhaps Phillip had been walking softly where his best mate was concerned, but what else was he supposed to do with all that had been happening lately? It was his way of making up for his brash actions in the Greenhouse and his tendency to launch into tirades of his own about Slytherins and the war when Erik was around. He was trying to be a good mate, but he had no clue how to act with Erik anymore. He clenched his fists and prepared to yell, but a thought stopped him.

Bloody hell, what if I have been avoiding him? he flinched. Of course, before he could say anything one way or the other, Juhi tried to catch his eye. He purposefully avoided it. He didn't need her making him feel more guilty about it.

Then Clover spoke up and he turned in surprise to her. Then he smiled. She really was brilliant. Deflecting the accusations about... whatever was happening between them and managing to distract him from wanting to yell at Erik. He could have hugged her. He laughed as she and Juhi started spilling tea on one another.

An idea struck him and, grinning madly, he grabbed the nearest food item, which just so happened to be his uneaten ham sandwich, and flung the top piece of bread at Juhi, laughing.

[erikcohen]

WHY HAD PHIL NOT ANSWERED HIS BLOODY QUESTIONS!? He was staring at Clover again. Erik knew that he'd not had as much time for other people with his becoming so close to Juhi and all, but he still paid attention when other people spoke to him.

He could kiss Juhi for defending their whispering, and was going to add 'what if I was whispering sweet nothings! Would you want to hear all of THAT!?', when something crazy started happening with the tea.

It was spilling all over the place, and suddenly he had no idea how to react. He frowned, and was going to leave them be, as he had no bloody clue how to speak to his mate anymore, but then a sandwich was thrown.

"I draw the line at SANDWICH throwing! YOU JUST THREW BREAD-Y HAM AT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Erik shouted, feeling absolutely ridiculous, and picked up a pastry that no one had seemed to notice.

They were going to now, as it was now up in the air and headed straight for Phillip.

[clover_manalo]

Clover had just taken a defiant sip of the tea she had spilled on Juhi when JUHI sloshed some back on her! Astonished into a spit-take, she started to retaliate, rearing her cup high in the air--

--and then Juhi was hit square in the shnozz with bread-y ham. Or ham-y bread. Or some bit of food that was definitely meant for eating and not throwing! She looked incredulously at Phillip the culprit before bursting out laughing, joining him in the amusement. Omg siding with him against her bff IT CAN'T BE! Betrayal!

But vengeance was exacted upon her in the form of a pastry beaning her in the noggin as she turned to look back at Phil, still laughing. GASP! CHOKE! SPLUTTER! Alright, so maybe he'd aimed for her and maybe he hadn't, but Erik was going to get HIS!

She scooped up a dollop of mustard with a nearby spreading knife and LAUNCHED it at him like a catapult, snickering all the while. "Take that! And that! You pastry pirate!" she cried.

[juhi_saraf]

Juhi gasped as a piece of bread hit her on the nose. Her jaw dropped open and she looked at Phillip. "DAVENPORT!" she yelled, and flung her entire plate across the blanket at him. "You're a CHASER, not a BEATER!" She started laughing. "You're not supposed to aim for the FACE, anyway!"

She rounded on Clover, vaguely aware that Erik was yelling in the background, and couldn't help but grin when he shouted the word girlfriend at the top of his lungs. "I can't believe you're laughing, Cocobean," Juhi whined. "It's not that funn-" OH! PASTRY TO THE NOGGIN, WHAT?! Evil cackle, yes indeed.

HEY! "Don't throw MUSTARD at him!!! That's so MESSY!" For shame, Clover. Juhi looked around quickly, grabbed her own spreader full of mayonaise, and looked between Clover and Erik.

Shrugging, she flicked it at Phillip.

[p_davenport]

Phillip figured he and Erik probably needed to have a talk sometime, but he decided now was not that time. He made a mental note to approach him once they'd left the girls and have it out, if need be. He knew he couldn't just leave Erik's questions hanging like that forever, but he was still clear-headed enough to realize it wasn't really something they needed to drag Juhi or Clover into. This food fight seemed the perfect way to distract everyone for now; the last thing he wanted was for the picnic to be ruined. That would surely put a damper on his chances with Clover.

"Oi! It was ham-y bread, not the other way around, I'll have you know! And what're you throwing pastry at Clover for, anyway?" laughing as he said it, he grabbed the rest of his sandwich and flung it straight at Erik, only to be hit by Juhi's plate full of sandwich himself a second later. He shrugged and caught it, not much harmed by it, as he'd been hit more by the plate than the sandwich.

He laughed, watching Clover pelt Erik with mustard, distracted just long enough not to notice Juhi aiming for him with the mayonnaise. It smacked into him and ran down his robes, "OI! SARAF! Chaser I may be, but I'll have you know I'm a fair beater, too!" he flung a tomato off her own sandwich at her just to drive the point home.

[erikcohen]

MUSTARD!? MUSTARD!? WHO DARE HIT ERIK VALENTIN COHEN WITH MUSTARD!?

Gryffindors did NOT settle for things of that sort, not at ALL. So, he quickly (though regretfully, as he was so very hungry) picked up his sandwich and lauched it at Clover's head.

Immediately after he'd made sure it hit the RIGHT person this time, he turned to Phillip , whose robes were dripping with mayonnaise. Still angry his mate hadn't answered his questions, he opened his mouth to talk, but Phil had CHUCKED A TOMATO at Juhi.

"Stop singling her out, eh!? Clover's throwing things too!" Erik pointed out and ducked just in case.

Everyone had gone insane, and he'd join in, just as soon as he figured out whose side he was supposed to be on!