sleepwalker wakes (dahlia)

Whilst pouring over a cauldron in a poorly lit, stuffy dungeon classroom, Comarth had actually rolled up his sleeves. With the exception of his dorm mates who may have seen him changing, the students at Hogwarts had never seen any skin past his neck or hands, as he always had them covered in slight variations of black clothing. To have his sleeves rolled up meant business.

After a week of grouching and grumbling over the prospect of his family members being a part of the school faculty, Comarth had finally risen above it and was in better spirits. That morning he had invited Dahlia to this room (or more just bombarded her with a torrent of words before he scrambled away to his first lesson), hoping she had succeeded in acquiring the phoenix tears he had asked for.

He was very excited for a few reasons. The first was that he was actually doing something he wanted to do, and had waited all summer for. The second was that he'd actually get to see Dahlia doing what she did best, and he was looking forward to having a brewing companion who would be useful and equal his enthusiasm. The last reason, and perhaps the most curious to him, was that he just wanted to spend time with her. Perhaps she would have thought him mad for feeling so, but there was something so very right about them being together.

@Dahlia Travers

Dahlia had begun to think that she needed some sort of educational achievement award for being able to somehow make out just what Comarth wanted when he had bombarded her with the whole line of nonsense he had spouted at her that morning before class. As far as she could tell he wanted her to meet him in the old potions room with the Phoenix tears that she had agreed to get for him. Luckily, she had had them sent to her that morning since he had asked about them.

Now that classes were over for the day, she moved down the stairs into the dungeon where she was pretty sure Comarth said he would be waiting for her. She just hoped she had been able to decipher his jabbering well enough and that he would actually be there. She didn’t like to be kept waiting. Luckily, when she pushed the door open she saw his reed-like body standing hunched over the cauldron. Something was different though. Did Comarth actually have his sleeves rolled up? She wasn’t sure she had ever seen more than just his hands or from the neck up exposed… she wasn’t sure what she felt as she saw his forearms exposed. Why would she even be thinking of the amount of skin he had showing? It wasn’t like he were prancing around naked. It had to just be the sheer surprise at the change from what she was used to. Yes, that had to be it.

”Youre lucky I came, I wasn’t sure what you were even blabbering on about this morning but pieced it together well enough obviously.” she dug around in her bag and pulled out the vial. ”As fresh as possible while we’re stuck here. Just arrived this morning. Now we’re even.” she said, placing the vial that was neatly labeled (as all her vials were) on the table. ”what is it for anyway?” she asked curiously as her sharp gaze took in the things he had out on the table.

@Comarth Selwyn

There was something like madness in his eyes when he'd looked up to the door opening. At least she wasn't tardy. Any other thought he had to seeing her was blotted away by the appearance of his cauldron, which he'd swept his eyes to again; that look he had festering once more. Everything appeared to be going exactly as planned: the potion inside was like liquid iron, and with any luck the tears would turn it lighter, then to something completely clear. From iron, to steel, to diamond.

He glanced briefly at the vial she had placed on his work station. As he reached out to it, his sleeve stretched further up, beyond his elbow. At the part of his right forearm that was exposed, there was the beginning of a large, ugly scar like a sunburst; cratered into a white depression of scar tissue. He plucked up the vial, and it had disappeared again as he inspected it against the flame of his cauldron.

"Excellent..." he marvelled, sounding and looking madder still. It wasn't a thank-you, but coming from him it probably counted as such. His bug-like eyed snapped up at Dahlia with a gleeful grin. "This could be my legacy, Dahlia, I'm not just playing around here."

He put the vial down for a moment.

"Dragon hide, as it is, isn't impenetrable. It's hardier than cow leather, and has the chance to deflect minor affliction, but it's not perfect. But in the case of a dragon... they can take several rounds of stunning spells and it still wouldn't affect them. They are impervious to curses, unless its the work of several wizards, which is why dragon tamers and dragonologists work in large groups. What I'm doing is creating a serum that can be used to cure dragonhide and secure those properties. So, for example, if I were to wear a jacket of serum-cured dragonhide, then an unforgivable curse aimed at the chest would have little or, hopefully, no effect."

@Dahlia Travers

Dahlia didn't believe that being tardy was something that benefitted anyone, so when she had agreed to meet him here she had made sure to be there at the time she had. And lucky for her, that earned her a different look at her fellow Slytherin. His generally apathetic or rarely slightly heated gaze was replaced by one that she could only describe as manic, as some sort of genius on the very cusp of a big discovery. She blinked, pausing for a moment at the look, at the difference in this Comarth and the one that she was used to. But she wasn't caught off guard for long and he was taking the tears from her by the time she had gathered herself. "Of course, I'm a queen, I know." She said, knowing his statement was as much thanks and praise as she would get.

Then he grinned at her. He actually grinned. The sight seemed foreign on his normal gaunt features but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. She fell silent, letting him speak as he did so with such fervor. Her eyes grew slightly wide at what he was describing. What he was describing could offer the ultimate protection to anyone who wore it. It was an amazing concept and from the way he seemed so excited, he was well on his way to actually making it a reality. She moved closer to him, her arm brushing his unintentionally as she peered into the cauldron. "That's... actually pretty amazing." The highest praise she had ever given anyone, she was sure. "When will you test it?" She asked, her own curiosity and thirst for knowledge getting the better of her as she thought of the implications of what this could mean.

@Comarth Selwyn