Alice was still thrown off by Cameron and Sloane's banter when he pointedly thanked her. So much so that where she normally would've laughed and brushed it off she instead flushed and averted her gaze. It was all so confusing and borderline frustrating.

Dueling was ... not her strongsuit. Even with Edison's private tutoring, Alice still had mediocre reactions at best. Her defensive skills were great, but when it came to casting an offensive spell they were nearly always luckluster. "Anyone can beat me in a duel," she said. Perhaps not a first year, but anyone with a rudimentary knowledge could certainly do damage. "That's no hard feat."

  

"A duel certainly, I'm the actual worst." Even Alice had to be better than she was! Sloane was just such a scatterbrain with no creativity for retaliation and being quick on her feet. Despite Ned's best attempts to help her in DADA she'd be lucky if she didn't get a T next year on her OWLs.

Sloane straightened up a little to her unimpressive height. "I still think I can take you in a fight though." She had four older brothers after all; she was pretty prepared, despite her mother's best attempts to keep her somewhat ladylike! "Can't be good at everything, that's no fun." Her new, less-cooperative wand made things even more exciting these days! Slumping back down, leaning back against her chair, Sloane was losing steam for studying, and fast.

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Their responses prompted a smirk, though he couldn't help but wish they were better duelists. It was no fun facing someone who couldn't hold their own; he always ended up feeling like an arse when he knocked someone off their feet!

"I could teach you ladies a thing or two. I know Ned thinks he's the all-knowing in duelig—" A lie, but that was Cameron's perception. "—but we have two totally different dueling styles." Compared to Ned's more methodical, calculated ways, Cameron favored flair and extravagance. Sloane, at light, might fare better with his style. He didn't believe for one second that she would forever be a failure at dueling; seekers had excellent reflexes, which were one of the most important things in dueling!

Sloane's comment turned his smirk into a smile, and he let out a knowing chuckle. "What are you going to do, hm?" he teased, unable to contain his widening grin, "Grab me by the ankle? Pop my kneecap? I've had worse." He fell into a fit of obnoxious giggles at the thought. She could probably hurt him, but he'd never admit that without getting a jab in first!

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Sloane rolled her eyes as she rolled her head back to look at the ceiling. "Dueling is so overrated anyway." The physical was always so much more satisfying to Sloane than magic. Cam could boast all he wanted, but Ned was impossible to beat and for good reason! "Well, Ned plans to be an auror so he needs to be level-headed in a duel." Cam's flippant flair wouldn't actually keep him alive if needed. "And will likely be the only one of us to ever do so outside of school," She added as the thought popped into her head.

When her size was brought into focus and the disadvantage in a fight, her retort died on the tip of her tongue; it was not appropriate for mixed company. "I'm sure you'll find out at some point in your life." Just because they'd agreed not to fight, didn't mean they wouldn't; it would likely get volatile like it always did when her temper flared.

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And just like that Alice was overwhelmed by both the jealousy brewing and being the third wheel. She cast another glance to the clock and mocked surprise. "Oh, Merlin," Alice exclaimed as she packed the few books she'd unpacked thus far. "I promised Sisse we would do our transfig homework before dinner." More books shoved into her bag and no looks spared towards Cameron and Sloane.

"I'll see you both later," she muttered as a hasty goodbye and fled the common room before either of them could think twice of it.

  

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Amazing set by Bee!

He would have argued that Ned was beatable, but he wasn't about to put Sloane in a position to argue in favor of Ned. It was bad enough to think about how better his dorm-mate was at life—hearing it from Sloane of all people was likely to make his head explode. (Sloane was good enough at hurting his feelings without invoking perfect prefect Ned's name anyways.)

He opened his mouth to retort, but Alice's sudden shift in demeanor caught him off guard. She withdrew from the conversation, making mentions of Sisse and homework, and then withdrew from their little circle entirely. She wandered towards the dormitories, leaving Cameron to look back between her and Sloane with a puzzled expression.

"And you all say I'm the forgetful one," he mumbled, shrugging his shoulders. He lazily stacked all of his study materials into a messy, peeking up at Sloane with a half-smile once he was done. "I'd stay to chat, but [NPC dorm-mate] left his Potions notes on his trunk and I've got half an hour to copy the last page before he comes back."

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Suddenly everyone was leaving. Huh. Alice's departure was certainly abrupt and Sloane tilted her head at her roommate's excuse- if Sisse had needed help why hadn't they just done it now? Odd. She waved, but had no idea if Alice saw her.

Splash appeared out of nowhere and jumped up into Sloane's lap. "Well at least I won't be alone." She chuckled, but it was sort of half-hearted. Scratching the kitten behind the ears, Sloane eased back into the chair again, contemplating her choices. Maybe she'd go harass Ned about their DADA assignment or see if Calla wanted to get an early dinner.

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