[ ❀ // 1 x 1 ] hogwarts rp

[qbaiter]

grayson said nothing and nodded slightly as the boy introduced himself. he doubted they'd ever be able to work together,
but it'd be funny to watch skylar try. "sure." he said in response to skylar, and slowly began to set up the cauldron. when he was finished, he looked back over the directions and ingredients list. 'this hufflepuff is taking forever.' he thought to himself with an annoyed sigh.

skylar finally returned to the table with the ingredients, and grayson almost asked what took him so long. however, after looking down at the perfectly weighed and measured ingredients, he decided not to say anything. he knew it was against his nature to actually be nice to someone, but if he was going to be stuck next to skylar for who knows how long, he might as well be somewhat cooperative.
"would you like to do the first step?" grayson asked, glancing down at the book, which said "1. add the infusion of wormwood."

[Consulting_Angel]

This situation was certainly not ideal for Skylar. He would have loved to have worked on his own. No, he was just going to have to hope that Grayson did not want to fail either. He was, admittedly, a little surprised to see that Grayson had indeed set the cauldron up - he had been preparing himself to have to do that when he returned with the ingredients, but he was glad that it was not the case. Perhaps things would work out a bit better than he expected - especially if they could at least just tolerate each other.

He then nodded slightly in response. "Sure..." and he added in the infusion of wormwood to the cauldron. Skylar glanced towards Grayson for a moment. "Um... do you want to do the other steps? While I crush the Sopophorous beans?" he asked, and he indicated towards the 13 beans that he'd brought to the table, and his silver dagger. Skylar didn't consider Potions to be his best or favourite subject, but he did know a number of tricks to improve the potions, which had been taught to him by his parents. Crushing the beans, rather than cutting them, was one such trick, as well as using 13 instead of 12.

[qbaiter]

grayson could tell skylar was suprised, but he didn't care. sure, he didn't want to help or participate in this activity, but at this point, he didn't exactly have a choice. they were partners. that was that. grayson didn't want skylar to think he was a stupid slytherin, because he certainly wasn't. at least, that's what he thought. after all, just because he may be mean doesn't mean he's an idiot.

grayson watched as sklar added the infusion of wormwood, and nodded."alright." he said, grabbing the powdered root of asphodel and adding it into the cauldron. he was surprised to find that skylar also knew the trick of crushing 13 beans instead of cutting 12. maybe this hufflepuff was smarter than he thought.

[Consulting_Angel]

The fact that Grayson seemed to at least be trying to be cooperative definitely made things feel a bit easier. It also made Skylar feel a little more hopeful about their partnership - as naive as it sounded - because he didn't like to think what this would have been like if the two hated each other. He did, admittedly, kind of wish that he'd been paired up with someone from another House, but as he thought about it, he supposed the Gryffindors could be a little too pushy, and Ravenclaws might have a superiority complex. Of course, that didn't apply to all of them, but there was a stereotype for a reason.

Skylar decided that he could trust Grayson to add in the powerdered root of asphodel, stir, and add in the sloth brain, while he crushed the Sopophorous beans. He used the flat side of the silver dagger, and used a beaker to collect the juices that flowed out of the beans, taking care not to spill much - if anything. It took a short while, considering the number of beans, but once he'd finished, Skylar asked, "Are we ready for the Sopophorous juice?"

[qbaiter]

grayson stirred twice clockwise after adding in the powdered root of asphodel. he cast a glance at skylar, who was still crushing the beans. he was only about halfway through, so grayson figured he could continue on with the directions. the slytherin turned back to the cauldron and added in the sloth brain.

so far, things seemed to be going great. the two were at least managing to work together, and grayson hadn't screamed at skylar yet.
this was a good sign. "sure, i guess it's ready for the sopophorous juice." he said, scooting to the side to let skylar take over. the hufflepuff boy was proving himself to be skilled, as he'd done a very good job crushing the beans and extracting the juice. maybe this partnership wouldn't be too bad.

[Consulting_Angel]

He relaxed a little bit - he hadn't even realised that he'd been tensed up - for things seemed to be going well. Sure, neither of them had made any real conversation, but Skylar didn't mind that. He much preferred to focus on the assigned work, and he wasn't too keen on idle conversations anyway. He was much too shy in that area, and he didn't think that he really had anything interesting to say anyway.

He nodded in acknowledgement towards Grayson, and he carefully picked the beaker up. As it was almost full to the brim, Skylar made sure that he kept a steady hand, as to not spill any of it. Then, the poured the contents out into the cauldron, and the brewing potion reacted well. Then, Skylar stirred seven times anti-clockwise, and then once clockwise - another trick he'd been taught. He only hoped that Grayson wouldn't point out that the clockwise stir wasn't in the textbook, but he hadn't mentioned him crushing the beans, rather than cutting them, so Skylar figured that maybe it wouldn't be commented on.

[qbaiter]

grayson watched skylar work, eyes narrowed. he wasn't doing it purposefully, it was just the way his face rested. he was quite glad they weren't engaging in much conversation. grayson had never been one to talk much with those he didn't know/like too well beside hurling strings of insults at people, or getting in arguments with his dad back at home. he quickly pushed away the thought of his father, as they weren't exactly on the best terms.

he distracted himself from his thoughts by paying closer attention to skylar's work. as he watched, he noticed that the boy had added a clockwise stir at the end. grayson opened his mouth to comment negatively on it, then abruptly changed his mind and said "where'd you learn to do that?"

[Consulting_Angel]

Skylar inspected the potion carefully, checking its colour and scent, before carefully pouring some into a glass vial, so that it could be inspected by the professor near to the end of the class. He'd, admittedly, almost forgotten that Grayson was also there, since he'd been so immersed in taking up the last steps of the instructions.

He glanced up, jumping slightly, when Grayson had spoken to him - partly from surprise that he was there, and partly from shock that he wanted to ask him... well, anything. Skylar rubbed the back of his neck, a little sheepishly. "I just... my parents taught me a few things, that's all," he explained, with a slight shrug. He didn't particularly think that it mattered - it worked, that was the important thing. He considered elaborating, but he didn't like talking for too long, and he figured thar Grayson might not want to listen anyway. Skylar started to clear up, while waiting for the professor to arrive at their table while they were making the rounds through the classroom.

[qbaiter]

grayson smiled. "cool." he said, looking away. why had he expected skylar to go into detail? he knew he shouldn't have. after all, the two barely knew each other. it's not like grayson planned on sharing things about his family, so why on earth would he want skylar to? grayson told himself that he was only interested because the class was so boring. yup.

he grew even more bored waiting for the teacher to come asses their potion. thankfully, professor vonderall seemed to be approaching their table. the professor was only a few tables away, and soon grayson began to become nervous. "i hope it's good." he said anxiously, staring at the concoction, then glancing at his table partner.

[Consulting_Angel]

Skylar was slightly confused at the smile, but he carried on with the clear-up, just to give himself something to do, so that he was not just sat, waiting. There wasn't even that much to do, considering he'd weighed out and counted the ingredients at the store cupboard earlier, so he didn't mind doing this part alone. Honestly, he hadn't expected much more, and he was grateful that he wasn't given more questions to answer either, considering they'd both just met.

Once he was finished, Skylar sat down, and slowly swirled the potion in the capped vial that he was holding, before glancing towards Grayson. "It'll be fine, I'm sure," he responded, without really being concerned about the assessment. Indeed, a short while later, Professor Vonderall arrived at their table, and seemed to be quite surprised that they were ready for them to assess their potion. They took the vial from Skylar, inspecting it carefully, before uncapping it and sniffing it. Then, the professor beamed. "Ah, simply wonderful! A perfect potion. Goodness, what excellent teamwork as well. It's almost as if you've worked together before!" the professor praised, looking positively delighted.