#8 | Gobstones

Lucas left the common room once Ashworth had the list, not expecting her to be paying up anytime soon. Still, he wanted to be easy to find in case others had deal to make - but got bored of just standing around in the Entrance Hall.

So he ventured outside, glaring at the displeasing weather. He remained without robes, though wound a Slytherin scarf so high it covered his mouth too. Some might say that was an improvement. 

He made his way to the Alcove Courtyard. His glare deepened when he saw whose arse sat on the stone stool, which was even more comical considering half of Lucas' face was obscured by the scarf. It was his typical winter look, and it wasn't even snowing yet. To think his morning had started off so well...

'mmflay,' he said, sitting across from Teague. He placed some gobstones in front of himself, in case his scarf-muffled words weren't clear enough.

Lucas wasn't so sure of his decision to come here and make use of the gobstones he'd spent "hard-earned money" on, but it was too late to back out now and he really was bored enough to consider playing someone like Teague.

Amara was busy with practice, along with most of the Slytherins he knew, and even though Lucas didn't care much for house differences besides being loyal to his own, he wasn't one to seek others out as typically no one wanted anything to do with him if not to make use of his deals. He was on a strike from dealing with Gryffindors though, smirking against his scarf in memory of hurting Thatcher the afternoon before. That was soon after his deal with Teague.

'You mssart,' he mumbled.

Harris watched as Mardling came into view, his scarf so tightly fixed over his face it almost looked like gauze covering a wound. He knew the Slytherin boy wasn't fond of him, but he didn't really care. Lucas was one of those people who took themselves too seriously, and Harris could never bring himself to be bothered when people like that didn't like him.

"Chilly there, Mardling?" Harris asked the boy as he sat down. His tone was light and good natured, but no doubt the snake would be rubbed the wrong way by it. Harris had learned long ago that he could play up his reputation as somebody flighty and dumb to get under peoples' skin. It was one of his favorite things to do.

The Neanderthal like grunts that emanated from Mardling along with the presentation of his gobstones meant the game was on. Harris smiled, gave a flick of his first gobstone, and as it sailed through the air he smiled to his opponent and said, ”Good luck!”

Lucas glared at him, which was once again just comical in the state of his scarf situation. He fixed it a bit so he could still breathe freely through his nose, then watched Teague make the first move. Oh good, he was rubbish at this.

He'd tried to say he didn't need luck to win, but it came out sounding like something far more vulgar. It was hard enough to tell that he could get away with either one. Sighing, he examined the board and tried to focus a strategy.

His nose itched. 

Flicking his gobstone, Lucas watched intently and didn't pay Teague much notice. He wondered how long he could keep that up, but was determined. It was also another benefit of having his mouth closed, is he could evade conversation much easier. In theory, anyway. 

Harris watched as Mardling took an early lead, the Slytherin boy obviously committed to playing the silent role today. No bother. Harris was content to just chatter away knowing it was driving Lucas mad. Maybe the constant chatter would make him lose his focus or make a crappy shot. If Harris could make it seem unintentional on his own part and that he just wanted to shoot the breeze, all the better.

"Lovely to see you out here, Mardling. Maybe a robe would help keep you warmer? Ya think?" He set up his piece and went to flip it towards the board but then stopped as if contemplating and passed it between his fingers. "Have anything fun planned for your day? I don't, that's why I wound up here. S'pose there's a million different things I could be doing, but it's nice to enjoy the outdoors, don't you agree?"

He kept that same annoying smile plastered on his face as he tried to kill Lucas Mardling with kindness. Turning back to the game, he flipped his gobstone onto the board, hoping to not land on another one point spot. As it sailed through the air he turned to Lucas and said, "It's lovely just chatting with you, mate. We should do it more."

Teague was insufferable. 

He glared at the Hufflepuff as he rambled on nonsense. The comment about robs was not appreciated either. He'd planned to just sit in silence, letting his glare do all the talking, but sighed as he supposed it might pass the time faster to do the unexpected.

Lucas shook his head at the question of having plans for the day. Not because he didn't have plans, but because it was none of Teague's damn business what he did with his time. He eyed the gloom sky at the outdoor comment, rolling his eyes. Stupid Hufflepuff.

'Wecone,' Lucas said. It wasn't lovely to chat with Teague, but he couldn't resist the comeback. He huffed, adjusting his scarf again below his nose, grumbling as Teague made a lucky high-point shot.

He flicked his second gobstone, watching it intently - caring more about the game than acknowledging Teague irritating presence. He could not afford to lose this, either. He had to win, so brainstormed some ways of cheating in case those became necessary.

"What was that, mate? Hard to heard ya through the scarf." The entertainment he was getting from annoying Mardling was already starting to run out. Why did the kid have to be so rude and unapproachable? What kind of horrible things happened in his childhood made him be so downright unpleasant?

Harris considered that some people, Lucas included, assumed their standoffish attitude and hard exterior gave them a kind of power. Harris viewed these traits as inherent weaknesses. Being a human was all about connection with other humans, right? Inability to do that freely was a mark of a lesser person.

Lucas landed on a two point square and the match was all tied up again. To Harris it was just a game, but the Hufflepuff boy could tell that Mardling was super invested and would be agitated if he lost. For that reason Harris wanted to win all the more. With that in mind, he flicked his piece and hoped for the best.

Lucas ignored Teague, focused on the game. 

He flicked his gobstone, watching to see where it went. His aim was good, but it was hard to align things exactly where... hold on. Lucas blinked, looking at his remaining gobstones. What happened if he lost? Truth was, he hadn't played this particular game in years and didn't make a habit of watching anyone play either. Didn't they... explode or something? Wasn't there some sort of stinky goo involved?

He'd made a very grave mistake coming here.

Deciding the cold was the lesser of evils, Lucas quickly unwound it and made it into a makeshift beanie to protect his hair instead. He absolutely could not lose this game. Of course, now he had no excuse to not reply to Teague. Well, he could just be rude and ignore him? Lucas wasn't opposed to the idea.

'Your move.' He sighed.