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[darkart]

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SEVERUS SNAPE

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( text ) backdated to... sometime in the past

[pushfall]

So did you slay the minotaur and make it out of the labyrinth alive?

( audio ) perhaps even the 25th

[darkart]

[ There's no reply for a while. Like ten minutes sort of a while. When he finally does, there's silence on the line for a moment or two and then when he speaks, it sounds a little strange, like he's somewhere with curiously good acoustics. ]

Yes. I assume you did as well.

( audio )

[pushfall]

[ Long enough that Claire begins to wonder if he actually did get crushed by physics out there somewhere. ]

If I was still stuck out there somewhere, you'd be getting a very different kind of message. [ The sound quality does not go unnoticed. ] Where are you?

[darkart]

Somewhere very mysterious. [ aka the showers and bathrooms level of their floor. Faintly, there's a little plastic snapping noise. ] Did you ever make it to engineering?

[pushfall]

Oh great. That clears everything up. [ He keeps talking and that's going to become very apparent. She makes a face over that snapping sound, curious. ] I gave up the hunt for engineering once I accepted that I wasn't going to make there under any circumstances. Getting back to my room was challenging enough. What about you? What happened after we got split up?

[darkart]

I visited and old friend and got into an argument with someone over... it may have been her laundry. [ Muffled 'ugh' sort of exhale. ]

[pushfall]

Well laundry is a very serious subject, especially when you don't have a lot.

[ She's basically destined to connect these dots at this point so she'll just go ahead and get that out of the way. ]

Is your old friend someone named Sirius Black?

[darkart]

Ah. You had an eventful day after all. [ Dryly. So-- yes, obviously. ]

[pushfall]

Not as eventful as a fight over laundry, but I'd say that I did okay. [ She pauses, awkward. ] He has a lot of colorful opinions.

[darkart]

But you're still contacting me.

[ Dispassionate as he usually is, there's the barest undercurrent of genuine confusion there. He's not used to anyone seeking him out, much less anyone doing so after Gryffindor influence. It's unpleasantly like being in school. ]

[pushfall]

[ Claire doesn't respond right away, not necessarily confused but a little unsure about how to respond to that. Eventually she comes up with something sufficiently lame. ]

I thought it would be a good idea to make sure you didn't get sucked out of an air duct. [ More to the point, though. ] I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions about people.

[darkart]

I wasn't implying you aren't. [ He can imagine what Sirius said, but no matter how ridiculous it's always seemed to him, everyone else has always just.. believed it. But Claire has no context for house politics or blood purity, so perhaps that's a bigger factor than he anticipated.

Severus is still at a loss. ]

Is there anything you'd like to know?

[ Not that he's going to spit up the details of much of anything, but he can't help but wonder. ]

[pushfall]

[ She wastes a few moments deciding on what question she would like to ask first. Undoubtedly there are plenty that she could ask and wants to, but at the outset only one of them feels like it matters the most. ]

Is he the one who punched you five minutes after you got here?

[ Claire is fairly sure she knows the answer to that question but it never hurts to be positive. ]

[darkart]

[ Pause. Exhale. Clatter of something in a sink. ]

Yes.

[pushfall]

[ Honestly, she's a little surprised. He has no reason to be honest with her and yet. Claire knows that if their roles were reversed, it's unlikely she would be so forthcoming. ]

Why? [ It comes out very quickly on the tail of his confirmation and Claire shakes her head as if to dispel it, hair swishing against the communicator. And then - sorry, Severus. ] Are you in the bathroom?

[darkart]

[ He's not going to turn Sirius into security - how could he, even if he wanted to? - but he won't lie to protect him, either. ]

He hates me.

[ Besides, it's obvious. ]

Yes.

[pushfall]

[ When he puts it like that, it sounds so childish and petty, but she saw the blood. She wonders what Sirius looked like after the encounter and wonders how far she can push it with questions before she just starts to sound nosy. ]

Yeah, I kind of got that impression. It might have been the whole 'exceptional bastard' thing that tipped me off. What happened when you ran into him this time? [ And, oh, right - ] Why did you answer if you're in the bathroom?

[darkart]

Exceptional bastard. [ Severus sounds a bit like he might find that funny, in a really weird way. He's quiet for a while. ]

I'm just at a sink. [ Doing.. something. Don't make it weird, Claire!! Conveniently not remarking on the other question. ]

[pushfall]

Or something along those lines. It was in the middle of being lost in the corridors so that was more of my main priority.

[ Regardless, it made her feel weird, to intrude on some sort of tumultuous territory she rightfully has no business treading across. In her experience, there's usually a reason for that kind of disdain, although she has also been to high school and fully realizes the extent of petty grudges. Anyway. She's not stupid, Severus. Somewhat resigned: ]

What happened in the hallway?

[ Why she is mother henning him is lost even on her, and as soon as she presses that question again, she realizes what she's doing and feels a little stupid. ]

[darkart]

Do you need to ask?

[ Just like he didn't whine about it on the first day aboard, he's not going to go complaining now - but fuck, he really is tired of this. He's not letting Sirius do it again. ]

[pushfall]

No. [ She answers automatically, reflexively, though she's aware the question he's asking might not warrant that sort of answer. ] I didn't want to assume.

[darkart]

It doesn't matter. It shouldn't have happened but it's done and it won't be going on again.

[pushfall]

Did you agree to put aside your differences and get along?

[ Her skepticism speaks for itself. ]

[darkart]

I'd rather vomit slugs to be honest. [ Which sounds a bit hilarious in his oh-so-proper voice. ] I've never sought him out. That's the best to be done about it.

[ Severus will never forgive Sirius. He can function alongside him if necessary but his hate will never fade even to indifference. That's just life. ]

[pushfall]

[ In the interest of turning the conversation away from less unpleasant topics and because she can't help but ask about it: ]

Is that a real thing? Vomiting slugs?

[ Technically anyone could vomit slugs if they ate them, probably, but well. Magic. ]