Blossom turned as Rico tapped his shoulder, only to receive a double handful of water right in the face.  He gasped at the sudden shock of cold water.  His anger began to rise but the look on Rico's face and his obvious, if silent, laughter made him realize that the splash hadn't been malicious, it had been meant in fun.

With an equally delighted look on his face, he reached over and applied his thumb directly to the tap.  After a moment of random spraying, which soaked Blossom far more than Rico's double handful of water had, he found the sweet spot and began directing the stream towards his room mate.

The look on Blossom's face was priceless. The non-existent sound of laughed didn't echo of the marble walls, but his, face, perfect. Totally worth it. Them Blossom got Rico back. A large stream of water rained down on Rico's head, he made funny faces as the water got in every nook and cranny of his already wet body.

He kept slashing until both boy's were equally wet. Rico found the chalk board on top of the sink counter and scribbled quickly.


Rico thought that he couldn't get any wetter(er) so he stuck is spikey head into the full sink and whipped it out, send.ing hard droplets onto Blossom's already soaked self

It was fortunate that the spot Blossom was standing on had already been cleaned, because he hit the ground, laughing so hard that he couldn't stand.  He was exhausted, drenched and well past the point of being sick of the smell in the bathroom, even though it had diminished significantly from when they'd first come in.  Despite everything, looking back he would consider this moment to be one of the happiest turning points in his life.

It was a that very moment when he realized that there was no way he was going to be able to kill Rico Posada.  He didn't want to.  He wanted this boy to be his friend.  He held up a hand so that Rico could help pull him to his feet.  He'd had enough of the cleaning for one night.  If he/she Landis wanted to punish them further, so be it.  He reached for the chalkboard.

Rico laughed and laughed, but still no sound, and it was even more fun because Blossom was laughing so hard he was on the ground.

One blackboard message later, Rico nodded in agreement and pulled up his roommate. Blossom was an okay guy once you cracked through his pale, protected shell. If they were going to end any kind of clean-up with a waterfight, then we should do this more oftenRico thought as he peeled off his mucking boots at the door, even his socks were wet. He decided to go barefoot.

When all the cleaning supplies had been put away and the sinks unplugged and turned off, they still had another fifteen minutes to spare. The extra sticks of chalk in Rico's back jean pocket were now a green blob in a soggy cardboard box, leaking though the fabric, no more communication. He looked at the green water dripping from the back of his denim pants, his pointed and laughed.

He caught Blossom's attention, and gestured to his rear end.

Blossom grinned impishly.  He reached out and mushed Rico's pocket.  If any of the chalk had survived, his attack made certain that it was no longer intact.  It wasn't as funny as it seemed but Blossom slid down the wall, silent laughter shaking his entire body.  He too kicked off his boots and just sat there, looking at the almost-clean bathroom.  They had done a damned fine job, just him and Rico.

Rico jumped and slide down, his chest heaving with silent laughter. The floors were clean,they just had to get the corners of the sinks and the walls, the try to fanagle their way to the ceiling. Rico calmed down enough so he could breath normally.

He looked at Blossom as if to say "I wonder when Landis will get back" and rolled his eyes towards the floors and stuck out his hand to say "We make a pretty good team, partner" It was a moment  never shared between the two young men, and a moment neither of them would forget.

Blossom took Rico's hand and shook it, sealing a bargain as only eleven year olds can.  He'd worry about the repercussions of the decision later.  Right now he was just content to be sitting on the floor of an almost clean bathroom, drenched to the skin, with his best friend.   Blossom leaned his head back against the wall, looking at the job they'd done.  He'd defy any other two firsties to do as well in as short a time. 

He only intended to close his eyes for a second but in less than a minute he was softly snoring.

Rico took a few deep breaths of the cleanest air he had smelt in 4 hours. His eyes drooped in exhaustion. His head swiveled and his the wall. His eyes snapped wide. Blossom was snoring like a camel with a fly in it's nose, at least that's what it looked like. Rico would still have to take some time to adjust back to speech, that was for sure. But the sight of Rose snoring  would keep Rico awake until Landis showed up for sure.

He was in desperate need of some shut-eye. He wanted to hit the hay like a sack of potatoes, he wanted to catch a few z's, catnap, snooze. Why would Landis get here sooner so they could get back to their rooms and SLEEP!? Rico shook his head. trying to stay awake. Even the normal steady breath of exhaustion passed Rico's lips without a sound, not even a whisper.

He slapped his face. The impact was not the thing that startled him, but the sharp smack his hand made on his cheek. He was starting to believe that hearing was nothing but a memory.

Landis returned at three minutes to midnight, manner no less sharp or quick than earlier in the evening. Moving swiftly down the corridor her steps were silent, and what she found when she reached the bathroom surprised her.

Amazingly, the place was nearly clean. It was not that Landis intended to assign any Herculean task, but the two boys had exceeded even her high expectations. When next they met for detention, they'd be done in maybe half an hour. Even the air smelled clean. Remarkable.

The two workers themselves were slumped on their bums against a wall, soaking wet. Rose's loud snores greeted her, as did Posada's pink toes. She looked on them with considerably less approval than she had the clean bathroom. But they were slumped together, and she supposed that'd been the point.

"Excellent job," Landis said, though her words and her tone were at odds - the latter pitched sharp to wake Blossom from his little impromptu nap. She cast the counterspell to return to them their voices, and extended towards the boys their wands. "How wonderful to see that you two can get along. It almost succeeds in convincing me we won't have this problem again." She smiled a little, a dry twist of lips, and her eyes narrowed as if to say, won't we?

Though she was loathe to bring it up until it became a concrete issue, in the hours since she'd left them here she'd spared a thought for the situation and wanted badly to say something about the feud. The Roses and the Posadas weren't the only families over five hundred years old, but Landis didn't trot about reenacting family history, fighting wars or swearing allegiance to adulterous English kings. There was no reason for these boys to do so either, and they ought to know they had the choice. That much was obvious to Landis, but then, they were young and still easily led.
 
Her voice softened, hardly gentle, but no longer ringing against the walls. "Strife within Slytherin is unpleasant for all. You two are each other's housemates now. For the next seven years, that is what matters most. Understood?"

Perhaps it was old-fashioned to still believe that Slytherins could look out for one another, choose each other over family, an attitude cultivated during the last war. Their reputation had gotten better than the dark days of Voldemort's second reign, which was when Landis had gone through school - every Slytherin shifty-eyed and fearful, each the same to rest of Hogwarts. Nevermind those who had defied their families - or those who had gone into hiding rather than have to make the difficult choice. To Gryffindor leaders, neutrality was the same as opposition. Some of his peers held together in the Battle of Hogwarts and those were the ones that survived. But even after it was over Slytherin had it rough, heavily depleted, frequently vilified. As an adult he saw a House much recovered and thriving, but some things stayed the same. The basic tenets: Slytherins stick together. Landis would not let two boys introduce dissent into his House. If they grasped this themselves, without needing her further intervention, their lives would be much easier.

Blossom scrambled to his feet, mortified that he'd fallen asleep.  "I'm sorry, professor,"  he said, trying to come to some semblance of attention.  "We just sat down for a minute.  It was me that sat down first.  I think Rico was trying to wake me up."  His eyes left Landis's face for a fraction of a second, looking at the mess still on the ceiling.

"I understand, professor,"  he said.  "Rico and I make a good team.  Our ideas fit well together.  I don't think you'll be seeing any more problems between us."  He looked at Rico and grinned.  "In fact I think it will be quite the opposite."

Rico saw Landis coming and a split second decision either to feign sleep or jump up. He decided to stand, despite his obvious exhaustion. Blossom scrambled up faster than Rico had expected. Rose started spewing out information about how the two boys were a good team, and how they wouldn't have anymore problems.

Rico just kept nodding. He smiled back at Blossom and added. "I totally agree, I think we'll pull through this, together." He said, putting a gentle hand on Blossom's shoulder.

Blossom was right they did make a good team.

Rico was only relieved to have his voice back.

Blossom wrapped his arm around Rico, as much to echo the other boy's action as to help hold himself up.  "I think we've both learned our lesson," he said.  He was hoping that the professor would declare the job completed or, if not, allow them their wands to complete it.  He wasn't sure how they were going to get the stuff off the ceiling without magic.  The silence had taught them teamwork and to rely on each other.  To repeat it would do nothing to reinforce the lesson.  Allowing them their magic would be a chance to see if they could still work together.

It made sense to Blossom but then many things that made no sense at all made perfect sense to a tired eleven year old.  He wasn't about to suggest it, however.  Being caught sleeping was bad enough.  Telling  Landis that he/she was wrong would just make matters worse.  Despite his fatigue, Blossom still had some small shreds of wisdom left.

"I'm glad to hear that," Landis replied to the boys' heartfelt promises of friendship and teamwork and not dangling each other upside down by the ankle again. 

"I think we've both learned our lesson."

Landis' lips quirked into a smile, this one amused and faintly wry. "I'm sure you do," she said. "However, I believe you have one more detention to serve. Next week, same time, same place. It will not take long to finish." She followed Blossom's glance up at the ceiling. That, Alistair would take care of in the interim. After the final polish by the boys, the bathroom would be ready for student use once more. "I will escort you back to Slytherin."