Dot Your i's and Cross Your t's

[Iselda Ionescu]

Being cooped up all day in practically claustrophobic mobs of bumbling students, a few intelligent and intriguing ones but they were never near you long enough due to the suffocating professors, hadn't done her any good. At the bottom of the cliff, Iselda liked to get fresh air every now and then and she especially liked to disappear from the masses to surround herself with quiet or a friend or two that were worthy of her time. In this case she was pretty sure that someone would be joining her soon in the cellar. Oddly enough for her five years at Durmstrang, she had never visited one of the cellars so now was the time.

Pushing the creaking door open, she stepped inside wishing for it to be a lot more old and decrepit than it actually was. Sighing, she ran finger along randomly put table she was passing. Pulling out her wand she said, "Lumos" bringing a light glow into the room. Bringing her finger up to eye level she was disappointed once again by the lack of dust that resided there. It was a shame this place was still rather well kept up. Okay, so she had a thing for dark, old, possibly crumbling down buildings and the like. It wasn't anything that unusual. Figuring she shouldn't go in too far, Iselda sat atop the table and let her legs swing. Said person probably wouldn't want to go in too far if he didn't already know that she was there. How did Iselda know that someone would be join her? She left him a note of course, right there in between the pages of a book she was sure the nerdy one would read. Who is she to call him a nerd? Iselda knew she would read the exact same book too. Leaning her head back she gazed up at the ceiling and whistled a tune to herself waiting as patiently as she could.

[Arne Valquist]

He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that Iselda knew him well enough to place a note for him between the pages of a book that he opened at least once a day. He'd found the note and for a few minutes had simply ignored it. Yes it was from a friend of his, but that didn't mean he was going to drop everything just to go meet up with her. He kept that idea in his mind for all of three minutes before he gave a resigned sigh and packed up his books. He hadn't gotten to far into his homework so he might as well see what she wanted. He tossed his bag over his shoulder and made his way to the cellar. What in the name of Merlin had made her choose the cellars as a place to meet up?

It didn't take him to long to reach the door and moments later he was pushing open said door and stepping inside. Not far inside he saw the light from a lumos spell and Iselda. "Is there any particular reason you requested to meet here?" he asked, slipping his hands in his pockets and leaning lightly against the wall across from the table she was sat on.

[Iselda Ionescu]

Swinging her legs and whistling, she stopped when she heard that familiar voice speak. Lowering her head from looking up at the ceiling, she let her eyes land on Arne who was leaning against a wall, with his hands in his pockets. It made her wonder how someone could look just like them. It was an odd thought, one that didn't seem like it made sense but utterly and completely did. Her friend in front of her couldn't be mistaken for anyone else, it was impossible. Swinging her right let, then her left and her right leg again, a grin spread across lips.

Iselda let her eyes slip away from Arne and wander around the room again, along with her wand, lighting up different sections of the cellar they were in, it almost made her frown again. "Honestly, I was hoping for it to be a lot more decrepit than this. Sadly, the coots have kept up this part of the castle. It's disappointing isn't it?" She brought her gaze back to Arne and the light over in his direction but not shining directly in his face, she wouldn't want to blind him after all. Hoping off the table she walked over to her friend, sticking her wand in her pants pocket, not all the way as it couldn't go that far anyways, but enough to where it wouldn't fall out and she had her hands freed. Grabbing one of Arne's forearms with both hands she pulled his hand out of his pocket and looped her arm with his, making him stand up straight in the process.

"I thought that since you're so much older and wiser than me, that it'd be best to have you guide me through the cellars that I've never experienced before," Iselda began to mumble to herself, "though now I can see why I've never seen them." Bringing her voice back to her previous decibel she put on a dazzling smile for her friend, "You wouldn't want to pass up spending time with me would you?" The sweetness in her voice wasn't overkill but Arne knew her well enough to know her game, if he wanted to play that was on him she would still try anyways. It would be really hard for anyone to get her to admit simply the reason of her calling him over here. Everything she had said was true but...sometimes it was just easier not to admit the simple things..and more fun.

[Arne Valquist]

Arne waited patiently for the girl to actually tell him the purpose of him being here. It wasn't to often that he was called away from his studies for one reason or another. About the only person who ever tried to pull him away from his studies was Odin...and he was about the only one that Arne ever really did so for. He supposed that meant there was a first time for everything. He followed the light as it slowly lit up the other areas of the space and raised an eyebrow when she commented about this place looking "more decrepit." A snort escaped him when she mentioned them having kept it up. "You really think that wizards, purebloods at that, would ever let any part of their buildings become decrepit?" he asked. Surely that hadn't been what she was thinking. Most wizarding homes were in tip top condition and a school was definitely not going to have any decrepit parts to it.

He paid no mind to when she jumped off the table until she suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled it out of his pocket. He was forced to move from his position against the wall and looked at the girl with curiosity. Then she stated her reasons for dragging him away. A faint smirk crossed his lips and he gave a one shouldered shrug. "I suppose I could guide you through. Though really there's nothing of interest down here," he replied. A chuckle escaped him when she sweetly added in that he wouldn't want to pass up spending time with her. "Of course I wouldn't. After all what kind of man passes up the opportunity to spend time with a lovely lady?" A grin accompanied those words because both of them knew very well what was running through his mind when he said that.

[Iselda Ionescu]

Watching Arne smirk only morphed her previous farce of a smile into a real one. His smirk meant a lot of things but really, she just thought he looked better when he did that. Not that she'd ever let him know that. Well, maybe she would but he'd have to be down in the dumps before it was even contemplated. Hearing his words though didn't didn't make her happy. The cellar had already dampened things and now he wanted to continue to rain on her parade. Not nice in the slightest. She pouted, and used her other hand to pinch his arm. "Don't ruin my fantasies Arne! You know, they could..have forgotten about them." Those words didn't sound very convincing even to herself.

Arne really was on a roll with killing the image she had brought up in her mind of the one place she hadn't explored yet. He said something else though to distract her away from those thoughts and this time she almost snickered. Taking a step foward she tugged on his arm slightly to get him moving. "One who wants to spend time with that extremely attractive 5th Year, Odin Vasara." Iselda spoke as if she was speaking in general but in fact that comment was directed at a certain someone right next to her. Though, she would agree with her own statement, it would definitely be a good choice not necessarily a better choice, since she does hold herself in high regard.

[Arne Valquist]

Arne let out a small yelp and rubbed at the place where Iselda had pinched him. It wasn't that it had hurt him or something, really a simple little pinch couldn't hurt him, it was more that he'd been taken surprise by it. "What was that for?" he asked, shooting his own pout at the girl. Though the pout didn't stay long and it turned back into a smirk when she told him not to ruin her fantasies. "You're right," he nodded, "they could have forgotten about them, but then they'd remember they were here and fix them." Or simply made the house elves come fix it up.

The blonde teen followed along with Iselda when she pulled his arm lightly and walked next to her. He cast a glance at her out of the corner of his eye and a light blush spread over his cheeks when she made her comment. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said. Of course they both knew that was a lie and it wasn't like he was being serious in his words.

[Iselda Ionescu]

The yelp that Arne let out amused Iselda and made her feel slightly proud that she got him to let it out. Sure, she knew she hadn't pinched him too hard, if very hard at all. Either way, he made such a girlish noise, she couldn't help but enjoy it and probably tease him about it at a later date. The rest of Arne's explanations weren't really that great but she didn't comment on them. They could probably go in circles on this topic and it'd be better for the both of them to stay away from circles.

Pushing her hair behind her ears, she walked along with Arne, noting even more how clean the cellars were and rather empty. That she found odd. If anything she had expected there to be more clutter. Oh well, at least she had Arne with her now. It would have been ten times worse if she had been walking around here by herself. Stopping mid-stride, Iselda placed her foot back on the ground next to the one that hadn't moved yet. Turning her head towards Arne's she looked at him with a stamp on her forehead that read, 'Seriously?' but what she said was, "Oh really? You don't huh?"

With that she started walking again making him follow along. "Well, if it was me I'd most definitely be with Odin right now if the offer was made. Or maybe we should just go find Odin right now and ask him if he would like to spend some time with you. Maybe then you would know exactly what I'm talking about." If they did that she was pretty sure that Arne would ditch her for Odin though he would probably be at least a little torn since that would be a rather rude thing to do but she couldn't say that if she had been in that situation she wouldn't do the same thing. Iselda suddenly pointed to her right, "Oh look a spider web!" That had been the closest thing to what her fantasies of this cellar looking like, that she had seen this whole time. "That's a little better."

[Arne Valquist]

Arne wasn't paying much attention to how clean the whole place was. He knew that purebloods liked things clean so that it didn't mess up their stuff. Well Iselda probably knew that too. He stopped at the same time as the other student and looked at her curiously. He tried to ignore the look that he was receiving from her about his words and simply turned his attention to an interesting spot on the floor. He thought it might be a little bit of dirt or something. "Yeah," he muttered, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

He started walking next to her again, eyes still looking at the floor or whatever. When she mentioned being with Odin a small frown came over his face. "If that was the case then why didn't you just ask him here?" he asked, glancing at Iselda out of the corner of his eye. He felt his cheeks heat up once more when she mentioned going to find Odin and ask him if he wanted to spend time with the blonde boy. "He would say no," Arne told her with confidence, "he has much more important things to do then hang out with me."

It seemed so obvious to Arne that if they did that Odin would turn down the offer to hang out with the sixth year and instead want to hang out with Iselda. Didn't the fifth year like the girl he was walking next to? He was pretty sure she did. He was pulled out of his thoughts by his companion pointing out a spiderweb. Blinking he glanced up and chuckled. "It won't be there this time tomorrow," he informed her. A house-elf would probably show up soon to clean the spider web away.

[Iselda Ionescu]

Iselda could only roll her eyes when Arne wouldn't cave in and give her the right answer. "Mhmm..." He could lie to himself if he liked but he most definitely was not fooling her. She decided to leave that alone...for now anyways. As if she could leave such things alone for too long? Hah, now that would be the day she would turn into a goblin. Not happening. Arne would have to ask her those questions. There really was no way to get out of telling him the utmost truth. She might have frowned but who knows maybe he needed to hear it to. "Because I wanted to be with you. Pssh, what other reason would there be?" That was the plain and simple truth. The first person that came to mind when she had decided to visit the cellars was Arne, not Odin.

Giving Arne a playful shove, "You should be happy I didn't smack you upside the head." Really, this boy next to her was so silly. "Odin is always seeking you out...okay maybe not always but a lot of the time he does come to you. You certainly don't ever make your way to him which is really silly by the way. Don't make him do all the work all the time." Iselda wasn't so closed off to the reality around her that she didn't see the truth when it came to Arne and Odin. The two had a good time together even if they seemed like opposites. Odin would not have said no if he was prompted by Iselda's suggestion.

A long, deep sigh was let out as Iselda pinched Arne's arm. He should know what that was for, she didn't even bother telling him. "Well it shouldn't be that way.." She grumbled to herself. Iselda was a pretty realistic girl, she knew how the world worked especially with Purebloods but that didn't mean she couldn't allow herself to have some delusions and fantasies of her own. Arne was definitely a party pooper today. "Do you still have some of your old notes from last year? You always do take really good ones, better than the professor's teaching I think." If he did, she would like to look them over. She did well in her classes but extra help was welcome to her, she wasn't too proud to ask for more information.

[Arne Valquist]

He blinked in surprise when she admitted to wanting to hang out with him. Most people would prefer to hang out with someone else. Arne held no illusions about being some amazing, interesting person to hang out with. He'd spent the majority of his school years in the library with his head buried in books about anything and everything and notes full of just about anything one might want to know about. He was used as a last resort or when you wanted help on your homework or studying for a test. Or at least that's what he thought he was used for. "I honestly had no idea what the reason might have been," he told her with a small shrug.

He shot a glance over at her when she mentioned smacking him upside the head. "I am glad you didn't," he pointed out quietly. His cheeks darkened a bit when she started talking about Odin. "I don't seek him out because he's sure to have more important things to do than to hang out with me," he told her, "he's a busy person and I'm normally busy with stuff in the library when he finds me." Plus it wasn't like Odin hunted him down just to chat and it was always easy to find Arne. Check the library and he'll be there 98% of the time. The other two percent was split between meals, classes, sleeping, and being outside. "Would it make you feel better if I proved you wrong about him hanging out with me?" he asked, glancing over at her.

Arne shot a small pout at the girl when she pinched him and rubbed the spot. Why did she keep pinching him? Did he have a pinch me sign somewhere on him? He was sure he didn't, but his luck he probably did. The sudden change in topic to school things made him pause for a second. "Uhm...yeah," he replied with a nod, "back up in the dorm along with my notes from the past few years. Never know when you're going to need them again."

[Iselda Ionescu]

Iselda turned them around, they were pretty much at the end of that cellar and there really wasn't much left to see. Of course she could have played around with her wand, though that only produced her father's voice in her head, "Wands are not play toys Iselda, simply used for your entertainment." She had heard that more than enough throughout her childhood and rarely used her wand for anything but what she needed not wanted but needed. She might have been rather spoiled as a child and even now but she had been taught without fail the difference between wanting something and needing something. She took a look upon Arne curiously, "Give yourself more credit." the last she said on that topic, for now anyways.

Laughter bubbled up and she brought her hand up to her mouth almost as if to stifle her laughter that she wasn't really doing. He didn't find anything funny about her not hitting him but it amused her that he went ahead and stated it out loud. When Arne explained about his reasons for not seeking Odin only made her think that they were all just a bunch of excuses. And she was going to tell him just that, "Excuses, excuses, excuses. Odin isn't nearly as busy as you make him out to be. He just makes sure that he finds something to do. If you did the same I'm positive you'd find him spending more time with you." Prove her wrong? As if that was possible. Surely not. Iselda didn't believe that for a minute. A grin spread across her face, Arne had offered as well. "Doubt you could but by all means do prove me wrong."

Now that they were only about 7 paces from the entrance she stopped walking and stopped Arne along with her. "I got it." She snapped her fingers and started to bounce on the balls of her feet with her bright eyes over the idea that had come to her. "You let me borrow your notes, of course if you don't mind and on the way to your dorm if we pass Arne then you have to prove me wrong, well try anyways. If you can't then you have to do whatever I say, if you prove me right then of course I'll do whatever it is you say. You can only tell me to do one thing though so make it good." Iselda took his hands in hers and continued to bounce on the balls of her feet, with her eyes on Arne saying not to let her down and agree to her silly idea.

[Arne Valquist]

The blonde frowned slightly when Iselda claimed that all of his reasonings were just excuses. Yes, they were excuses, but they had a reason for being there. Odin had things he had to do and he didn't need some older kid popping up out of nowhere with the idea of hanging out for no reason other than to hang out. "Of course he's as busy as I keep trying to tell you," he argued, "he has things he has to do. Friends to hang out with, classes to study for, etc." The teen seemed to forget that everything he was naming off was the same stuff that he and every other student in the school had to deal with.

He was a little put off by the grin that came over her face at his offer. Arne really hadn't thought she'd take him up on it. After all no one ever really took people up on their offers. "Fine," he said not allowing her to know just how surprised he was by her agreeing, "I will." That of course meant going upstairs and hunting the younger male down, but he was 90% sure he'd be able to find him in a few minutes. Then again perhaps he should take Iselda around to all of the places that Odin wouldn't go or wouldn't be to keep from having to prove his point.

Arne had not counted on Iselda wanting to borrow his notes from last year and blinked for a moment before shrugging. "I have no problem with you borrowing them," he told her. It wasn't like he was going to be using them at the moment. He'd get them back later. The rest of her plan put him a little on edge, but really what harm could come from something as simple as proving her wrong about Odin. The sixth year wasn't sure what he'd do when he won (because really why would Odin want to spend time with me when he could spend it with someone else?) but he'd figure it out later. "Fine. You have yourself a deal."