In the middle of the night...

[alkahestry]

Who: Alphonse Elric & Open
Where: Gryfffindor Common Room & Random Hallways.
When: Late night of November 25th.
What: Alphonse makes use of a certain ability and investigates the castle and gets a bit of a homework done, all while his body remains comfortable asleep in his bed.
Rating: G
Warnings: None.

Comments

Hallway

[notearformagic]

[Not everyone is quite so clever with their sneaking. Then again, while Akako is no phantom thief, she does have experience sneaking around the police, so she manages well enough. Not that she often breaks the rules without good reason, but she was feeling a bit rebellious after her kidnapping and alteration of her magic. It made her feel better. Besides, she didn't like going to bed too early anyway.]

[At first she thought the armor was security. However, after four floors, that seemed unlikely. She would have seen one before now. So the question was, what was it? Curious, she decided to follow to watch it's behavior.]

[alkahestry]

[The suit doesn't seem to have a set patrolling path, it pauses at junctions in the many corridors, descend stairs, and pauses now and again as a human being might when a picture on the many walls catches his interest. Still it doesn't seem to notice the young girl that's moving through the halls behind him. Along the corridor that leads down towards the dungeons where the Slytherin and Hufflepuff dorms cam be found, it pauses again before turning back to check to see if anyone is around. It seems to pause longer this time than usual as it looks back, if it has taken notice it's hard to say.]

[notearformagic]

[It is quite weird. It's not like you expect to see a suit of armor exploring. Which really, what else could it be with that sort of movement? It couldn't just be one of the armors imbued in magic of the castle, they'd certainly know the castle if they were part of the magic.]

[She keeps following, thinking this over and really. A teacher wouldn't need to do this, would they? Perhaps they did it for fun, but that just made it MORE interesting. Was it possibly someone who arrived, with new magic, figuring out something that would be so advanced considering the distance needed?]

[When the armor paused, she decided it was interesting enough to risk detention.] Should you really be walking around like that, Mister Suit of Armor? [She's still around the corner, just hidden from sight, but she's curious to see how the armor might react.]

[alkahestry]

Who's there?

[He calls out as the voice breaks the silence of the hall. All along the corridor the moving pictures that hang on the wall begin to stir. Some complain, others mutter as they attempt to linger to sleep, and it is enough to make the suit of armor turn slightly and lift his hands apologetically.]

I'm sorry... we didn't mean to disturb you.

[The voice of the suit echos within the metal before it turns once more back to look down the hall. Taking a few more steps forward he whispers out again.]

You really shouldn't talk loudly. The pictures are trying to sleep you know.

COMMON ROOM

[winterscrown]

Greywind? Greywind?

[ Robb was whispering. half asleep searching for his Direwolf who, unfortunately was not asleep at the foot of his bed. Perhaps someone had left a door open. It would have been a terrible thing, if someone unsuspecting had come across the wolf; considering it was just a wee bit smaller than a pony and had rather pointed teeth. It would have been more troublesome if Greywind found itself out of the commons. He felt the sound of armored movement. Thankful then he brought both his wand and his sword with him. He draws both out in each hand just in case. ]

[ His dominant hand holding the sword. Silly Robb, you are not ambidexterious ]

[alkahestry]

[Even over the crackling fire the whispering of Greywind is easily heard. The crinkling of metal continues to echo out as the suit sits upright, the metal hand pausing with quill in hand as it looks up and away. The empty sockets a glow with an almost supernatural light. As Robb comes into view from the darkness of the stairwell, the metal shifts again, especially as it seems to take notice of the drawn sword and wand.]

Is something wrong?

[The voice the calls out is unsure and that of a boy no older than seventeen. It shakes as if echoing out against the very metal of the suit, but the face of who the voice belongs to remains unseen.]

Common room

[brandnewmelody]

[ Otoya was normally a sound sleeper, but something disturbed his sleep for tonight, and he couldn't go back to sleep after that for some reason. He figured he could do a little music making, but he didn't want to wake his roommates, so he brought his notes along down to the common room, only to find someone else there studying as well. ]

Ah, you can't sleep too?

[ In his half-awake state, he didn't realise he was talking to a suit of armor instead of an actual person. ]

[alkahestry]

[When Otoya arrives in the common room the suit of armor shifts with a few soft clinks. Looking up at the new arrival, his empty eyes seem to focus as it pauses in it's writing.]

Hello... [The voice, which echos with each word, seems to the pause almost awkwardly.] ... ah, you could say that?

[brandnewmelody]

[ Rubbing his eyes, Otoya stifles a yawn, taking a seat in one of the other couches there. ]

Well, don't mind me now. I'm going to write a bit of music.

[ He still doesn't notice the echo of Al's voice, but he does notice the suit of armor. ]

...Isn't it cold to be wearing armor at night?

[alkahestry]

Oh! You're a composer?

[He asks curiously, never having much time for music and art because of his study of alchemy. It sounds at least as though he's slightly interested. The question seems to catch the suit off guard as it shifts, head tilting to look down and then back up slowly. What follows is a slow shake of his head. Nervously he adds.]

... uh not really?

Hallway

[tailcrook]

[The sooner he makes it to the basement, the better... Konoe's lost enough points for his house, he's careful to avoid losing more for being out past curfew. But he needs to get his bearings first, too.

The sound of metal on stone is loud enough to disrupt the cat's train of thought, and immediately he trains his ears on the direction it's coming from. He's not about to approach it himself - especially while it seems to be coming his way - but to run now, he may lose track of where he's been. Wand at the ready by his side, all he can think to do is wait for it to pass, ducking behind a column nearby....

Though he neglects to pull his tail well enough out of sight, however dark this hall may be.]

[alkahestry]

[The suit continues down the hall at a steady pace, but as it nears the column that Konoe takes shelter behind. It doesn't seem to notice the hufflepuff as he hides away with his wand drawn. The suit's just about to pass when it turns and spotting the tail it bends a little.]

A cat?

[The voice echo's inside the suit of armor and Konoe may recongize it as belonging to a certain Gryffindor he met during the Halloween feast.]

What are you doing out here?

[tailcrook]

I'm going back to my dorm, but...

[Konoe trails off, really staring to feel that the number of surreal encounters will just not end. He can't sense a thing from inside the armor, not even a breath, so how could a familiar voice be inside...?

He sounds incredulous as he stares at the curious suit, wary to move another inch.]

Alphonse, is that you?

[alkahestry]

Konoe?

[The familiar voice as the other and the tail sparks his memory of the Halloween feast and as he steps back to allow the Hufflepuff a bit more room in the hallway he can only blink. It is pointless to try and play off not being who is, especially now that they have both identified one another. Whispering softly, his metal head nods slowly up and down.]

Yes... you didn't get lost did you?

Common Room

[gurenpiloting]

[Kallen has been looking for suitable places to practice the Patronus spell. Unfortunately for her, all the attempts at making that spell work had been unsuccessful. Five times? How ridiculous, she thinks to herself. Being the type to sneak around, she quietly tiptoes inside the common room, making sure not to make a single sound unless she winds up getting caught, which is the last thing she wants to do.

A surprised gasp escapes from her lips at encountering the suit of armor sitting at a nearby desk. Wait, did that thing just move?! Quickly covering her mouth to muffle any noises, she carefully takes a step back, a free hand reaching for her wand just in case.]

[alkahestry]

[It continues to move writing with a quill in hand. Over the next few seconds as Kallen takes a step back and attempts to wrap it's head around the situation the suit of armor pauses to lower the quill to rest before it lifts up another book and begins to flip through a few pages. A voice barely audible is muttering something about dried billywig stings and nettles, which Kallen would recongize from a potions lesson which all third year Gryffindors had earlier in the day.]

[gurenpiloting]

[This shouldn't come as a surprise considering the moving staircases and talking paintings, but nonetheless, she never expects that suit of armor to wind up at the common room of all places. It takes her a while to get over the shock (not completely, but enough to calm some of her nerves and put on a fearless mask), but she eventually takes a few more steps forward, hearing that thing mutter something. She strains her ears, curiosity and caution plastered in her face at once, as she listens intently.

Dried billywig stings and nettles? This has her quirk an eyebrow for sure; either there's a ghost haunting the potions classroom (which wouldn't be so farfetched with all of the ghosts existing over the hallways) or it's a student. Right? The voice sounds faintly familiar to her, and yet she can't figure out as to why.]

Uh, excuse me? Hello?

[Time to put her nagging suspicions to rest with one more step for a careful approach.]

[alkahestry]

[There's a few more rushed clinks as the hand continues to write as the voice picks up out of the darkness of the stair well. The familiar tone of Kallen's voice causes him to forget himself easily and he pauses to lift the hand holding the quill upwards as he waves slightly.]

Kallen... you're up late. Can't sleep?

[He doesn't sound surprised, with the cold weather and temperature as of late it was difficult to even fall asleep in the first place.]