Closed First Strike

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire was exhausted. She'd tossed and turned all night. It was something she did often, but she'd had the worst nightmares every time she'd fallen asleep. She dragged herself to the Great Hall, her clothes rumpled, combat boots untied and hair a mess. She practically fell into an empty spot at the nearest end of the Slytherin table, laying her head in her arms. She was here pretty early, finding that staying in her bed had been pointless. There was no way Onyx would be up yet to disturb her. Her tummy growled but she was too tired to try to find food.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel would normally have waited for Analei to get up and dressed before heading down to breakfast, but he had woken up far too early and couldn't get back to sleep. Not wanting to disturb her, he headed down to the great hall alone. The castle was often peaceful at this time, he had found, though there was always an impending sense of uproar, like the rumble of a sleeping dragon. A few Hufflepuffs were huddled together on one bench, chatting animatedly to a Ravenclaw who had joined them. Suddenly Arvel spotted a familiar figure. He knew very well what the back of Sapphire's head looked like, because that was often the only part of her he had a chance to see when she stole food off his plate. She looked tired. Figuring breakfast wouldn't be served for a while anyway, he wandered over and sat down next to her, his back against the table. "You OK?"

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire nearly jumped out of her skin when someone appeared next to her. She grabbed onto the table to keep herself from falling over. She sighed. "Arvel, hey," She set her head back on the table, yawning. "Yeah, just... need sleep. You? You good?" She asked softly, turning her head so she could smile sleepily at Arvel. "You're up early," She yawned.