After Hours
Dropped Thread: Terrance Mulciber & Regulus Black
Corridors - 20 October 1977
“If this is your idea of sneaking out, I’d give it another go.” His voice drawls from the other side of the wall were he leans with his hands slipped into his pockets.
“I wasn’t sneaking anywhere, if I want to go out then I will do” Mully smirked at the other male, he didn’t care if he got caught and shoved into another detention, after all that was where he seemed to spend all of his spare time anyway. “What are you doing out here anyway? You look almost as creepy as me standing there all alone.”
Reg kept up his stern glare for another few seconds before his face broke into the easy smirk he wore around those he considered his friends. “I’m on rounds, you tosser,” he said, pushing away from the wall to talk with his friend. “I’m meant to be out here. And even if I wasn’t, I could never look as creepy as you. Your title in that respect is safe.”
“Well if you want I can put my hands infront of me and you can bound me in chains, sweep me off to a detention somewhere?” Mully couldn’t help but smirk when around Regulus, they shared quite an odd friendship, but one which for Mully was quite easy to withstand and didn’t demand too much attention. “Found anyone sneaking out? Apart from me of course”
Regulus chuckled lightly at Mulciber’s words. “That seems a bit to dramatic for me,” he informed him with a shrug as if he had actually considered carting him off to detention. “Besides, last I checked you’re a prefect as well. Let the Heads deal with you, I say.” He shook his head in answer to his next question. “It’s a quiet night. I’ve only run into the other prefects on duty and the ghosts. Even Peeves is quiet tonight. So really, you’ve saved me from an evening of unbearable boredom.”
“I don’t think I will be for much longer, I don’t even know why I got given it in the first place… I think they thought it would stop me from messing around, give me something to aim for, well it’s not exactly worked” Mull shrugged, he didn’t care that he was a prefect, although he did like having the use of the prefect’s bathroom, but even if he did lose his position he would have still got the password off one of them. “I’ve found Mary again, the little mudblood that I love to torment so the likelihood of still having my prefect’s badge by the end of the month is not great” He didn’t mind though, in fact it would at least give him even less of a reason to behave himself, and as anyone who knew him well would say, he wasn’t the most dependable of people. “I’m glad I have, fancy sneaking alcohol or something? I’ve got nothing better to do with my evening, and it sure seems like you don’t either”
As Mulciber mentioned the mudblood, Reg shook his head with a smirk. “There’s always the option of tormenting the girl quietly and keeping your badge,” he pointed out with a bit of sarcasm. “Unless having her feline friends constantly nipping at your heels is part of the draw,” he added, referencing the Gryffindor contingent that seemed so keen to protect her. Regulus had never understood Mulciber’s need for broadcasting his exploits, though he had no issue with the exploits himself. The MacDonald girl was hardly worth his notice and if she struck Mulciber’s fancy for whatever reason, Regulus took no issue. It was the flash attached to the torment that Regulus had a distaste for, though even that was more a question of personal style. Regulus had always been a more private person than his friend. “I’m not much of one for drinking,” he said to the offer, though that was a bit understated. “I could use a cigarette, though.”
“And yet I struggle to see where the fun would be in keeping it silent” Mully mused, he had always been one for voicing his opinions, his abilities and the madness he got up to because where was the fun in it all if people didn’t know. Of course he knew everyone at the school was already aware of what he had done to Mary the first time, and some continued to ask why he was still allowed at the school, but that didn’t bother him, in fact it made him want to scare them even more. “I will get to her again though, she cannot keep her distance from me, even if she does try so” Mull grinned to himself, it was clear he enjoyed the fact he was so easily able to effect the girl and maybe he should leave her alone for his own sake as well as hers, but he had never been the sort of person who wanted to play by the rules. Digging into his trouser pocket, he took out his cigarette case and offered Reg a cigarette, frowning a little when he said he didn’t really drink. “I find it surprising that you could be around these people and not have the need to drink… I don’t think I would be able to cope without alcohol here” he shrugged, before popping a cigarette into his own mouth, and lighting it up, before tossing it over to him. “So, any women on your radar?”
“If the fun is in the bragging and not the doing, perhaps your doing it for the wrong reasons,” he pointed out with a bit of a philosophical smirk. He wasn’t so much arguing with Mulciber as he was simply pointing out all the possible sides of the situation in general. It was a habit of Regulus’, one Mulciber was likely very familiar with. The young Black boy spent more time analyzing everything than he did simply reveling in it. As far as Regulus was truly concerned, Mully could torment and brag. He found the Gryffindors’ bristling quite amusing in any case. He had no doubt that if the older boy had set his mind on having the mudblood girl, he would succeed, and in that at least, Regulus wished him luck. He took the offered cigarette and caught proffered lighter, shaking his head at Mully’s words with a smirk. The reason he didn’t drink was, in truth, because he disliked the feeling of losing control that came with being drunk. That was, however, not exactly the kind of thing one shared with simply everyone and so he shrugged in answer. “Drinking to excess is my brother’s vice, not mine,” he stated instead, as if he kept away from the stuff to separate himself from the ‘blood traitor’ that shared his name. He hadn’t realized as he said it, though, the way even mentioning his brother in such a negative way would twist at his insides, and he was eager for the change of subject Mully provided. Emma’s name was on the tip of his lips in answer to Mully’s question before the younger boy caught himself. His feelings for Emma were new and thus bubbling to the surface, but they were not exactly acceptable. It wasn’t as if it were out of line for him to spend time with a girl before his impending marriage was announced, but that he actually felt for her? Would be unacceptable in the circles he traveled in. “Why?” he asked instead, with a conspiratorial smirk. “Care to share little Mary when you’re all finished?”
Mulciber wasn’t the smartest around and so he just stared at Regulus with an unamused look splattered across his entire face, shortly afterwards he gave him a stern prod to his side. “It doesn’t matter for what reason I am doing it, it is of no-one’s concern, if I enjoy it then there is nothing to talk about” he told him, taking a drag off his cigarette, then exhaling the smoke as he glanced around the area but it was quiet – pretty ghostly quiet which he supposed was a good thing. “Well yes, I have noticed that your brother has a keen interest in the sweet nectar, but I cannot bat an eye, after all I drink a large amount as well”
Mull stared at him once he had asked him the question, sighing under his breath and took another drag off his cigarette before he answered. “Usually I would offer my conquest over once I had finished tormenting them, but this one is different. I feel as though she belongs to me, and unfortunately for you that means she is off limits” he stood up a little taller, as if staring Regulus down, yet he didn’t class him as a threat as he may have done with others. “Just stay away from her and we’ll not have a problem” he smiled, finishing off his cigarette and tossing it to the floor. “You didn’t answer my question… are you worried that I shall go after her as well? Or are you not interested in the female species?” ”
Regulus couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the way Mully stood a bit straighter as he classified the mudblood girl as off limits. As if trying to be intimidating, trying to underscore the meaning behind his words. Almost as if she were more than a meaningless mudblood to the boy. He didn’t dare make such an accusation, not interested in tipping off the older boy’s temper for something Regulus truly couldn’t care less about, but it was an interesting piece of information and so he locked it away for future reference. “Trust me, I’ve no interest in your plaything,” he assured the older boy. “Mudbloods might be fun for some but they’ve never exactly been my taste.” While he didn’t judge others for dalliances with them before tossing them aside, Regulus had never had any desire to sully his family’s blood by consorting with one. Even if it was just for fun.
As Terrance restated his question with more - determination - this second time around, Regulus wondered why he was so interested. Regulus had never been one to gossip or to share details of his conquests. He was no different when actual feelings and fancies were involved. “I didn’t answer because I don’t find it to be of any consequence,” he answered with a shrug. He didn’t quite know why he was so adamant not to discuss Emma. There was no reason for it. She was a respectable girl, a good choice for someone like him, and as his future wife had not been chosen or announced yet, it wasn’t like Regulus was meant to be sitting about twiddling his thumbs and yet - something kept him from wanting to reveal how much he was beginning to care for her. To Terrance or to anyone. He knew better than most the way the things you cared for could be used against you. He disliked the idea of anyone realized Emma could be added to that list. He was a private person, after all. Always had been. “But if you’re so keen for an answer, no. There aren’t any girls I fancy right now.” He more than fancied her, that he was certain of. “Besides, who has the time?” he asked with a grin. “Between my studies and quidditch and my prefect duties I don’t have time to be swooning about after some bird. Vanity’d have my head if I missed catching the snitch because I was making eyes at someone in the stands.”
[ dropped thread ]