Nervous Flyer PV Mars T'ien Closed

@Callie Jensen
───── ⋆★⋆ ─────

There was probably no class that Mars enjoyed more than flying. Of course, Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts was a delight. There was nothing like having power thrumming at their fingertips, explosions at the wave of a wand, the instantaneous pleasure at being able to cast. But flying—well, who didn't live for the thrill of the chase, for the adrenaline rush that came with seeing the ground skim so far below them.

Mars was so eager to take to the skies. So it was with a bounce in their step that they made their way onto the Flying pitch. They meandered over to stand behind one of the school brooms, flexing their fingers. Would they be practicing the up commandment again? Mars was excited for that. It had come naturally for them, easy to equate it to calling up one of their brothers.

Apparently, they were. Mars grinned, spreading a hand flat over the handle of the broom that lay to their right side. "Up!" they called, soft but still with a bit of authority. The broom flew up, whacking them in the palm. Mars closed their hand over the wooden handle with a snap, hinging their elbow to bring it to their chest. Maybe it was a bit unnecessary, but then, sometimes success called for a bit of dramatics.

They set it down gingerly, making sure not to nick the handle or bend the bristles. There was always a healthy amount of respect needed for any kind of magic, object or not. They called it up a couple more times, each time becoming easier than the one before. God, they loved this.

Finally setting it down again, they glanced around. There was probably something else they could do with their time. They looked at River, wondering if they should ask to mount or something. But before they could decide to, another witch caught their eye.

Another Ravenclaw was glaring at her broom on the ground. She looked annoyed and maybe a bit...scared? Huh. Mars knew well that there were a fair amount of students that didn't care for flying, fear of heights and all.

Glancing back down at their broom, they felt a bit sorry for the girl. They looked back up. Okay. They walked over to her side, sticking out a hand.

"Hey, I'm Mars, they/them. Do—do you need help?"

@Mars T'ien

@Callie Jensen
───── ⋆★⋆ ─────

Mars could feel the flustered energy radiate off of Callie's very handshake. They tried to smile a little reassuringly at her, which maybe ended up more as a grimace. It was rare that they met people like this, people who seemed to have enough energy to simply willpower themselves through the storm, even if they often got sidetracked and turned around. The closest person they could think of that match that description was probably—Nereus, and they never had any idea what to do with him.

But then, those kinds of people always seemed to have a knack of growing on you. Mars did genuinely want to help her, so they were glad when she accepted with a small laugh and a rub to the back of the neck. They watched as she attempted to get the broom off the ground. Oh. Well—it could be worse, right? At least the thing hadn't flown up and smacked her in the face. They'd figure out some way to get it to listen to her, even if her demonstration was kind of—pathetic? That was probably the right word, not that they'd say it to her face.

"It's so difficult! How do you guys make it seem so easy?" Callie asked. She seemed understandably frustrated and Mars had to stifle a laugh at the look on her face.

"I don't know," they admitted, "It just felt—right, I guess." The was probably the crappiest explanation in the history of explanations and probably did wonders for the girl's self-esteem, but at the moment, Mars' brain was occupied with running all the possible way they might be able to help the girl. They barely caught her next comment.

"Why do we need to use brooms anyway! Are cars really that bad..?" She trailed off for a moment, giving Mars the time to catch up with her words, before speaking again, "Sorry! I'm complaining too much, aren't I? I guess I'm just a little...frustrated? Yeah! Let's go with that."

Mars looked at her and then at the broom, head-shaking slightly and hands waving the apology away.

"No, you don't have to apologize. Flying isn't exactly easy. The cars... well I mean, cars aren't really that safe, and they don't fly so they technically aren't as efficient—but I kind of have to agree with you. I think wixes are just kind of close-minded when it comes to muggle tech, which is really dumb because some of the stuff is super worthwhile. Muggles are smarter than magical society gives them credit for," they mused. The Ravenclaw hadn't meant to get a little—whatever that tangent had been, but it was something they'd noticed since they'd entered Hogwarts and it kind of grated on their nerves. But nevermind, that wasn't the focus of this conversation.

They stared between Callie and the broom, brow furrowed in thought, trying to think of the best way to go about this. What was the root of the problem? How could they fix it? Wow, they definitely sounded like a Ravenclaw. Nothing really seemed to be sticking out. Slowly, as they became slightly distracted, their mind floated back to the witch's earlier comment.

She had a point—looking at the broom, the thing looked wildly uncomfortable and overall a very questionable mode of transportation. But the idea of flying, of soaring above the clouds at death-defying heights, well, wasn't that reason enough? Suddenly, a thought struck them.

"Callie," they turned to the girl with a question in their eyes, "Are you afraid of flying?" In hindsight, maybe they should have sugar-coated it a little, but then, that had never really been their style.

Reducio

Ahh, I'm sorry it took so long to reply! I'll try to be more consistent from now on.

Flying was anything but easy but the way that Mars explained their process made it seem like the simplest thing in the world. If the best way for the broom to feel like an extension of yourself was to simply do what felt right Callie found herself rather confused by the whole endeavour. Nothing about flying felt natural, even the very idea of soaring in the sky atop a broom was the very anti-thesis of what came naturally to Callie. If she was informed that being a witch came alongside the general risks associated with flying atop a broom Callie wasn't all that certain she'd have been so excited. She could barely manage flying on planes alongside her family so how was she to even consider becoming comfortable with a broom? For the first time since her arrival at Hogwarts Callie had finally encountered a problem she didn't have the confidence to steam through or think her way past.

"Still..cars seem a whole lot easier than a broom! How on earth am I meant to fly this thing without thinking of cleaning up anyway?" Callie complained as she kicked her foot into the grass in frustration. However even if the idea of flying was a confusing one for Callie, Mars' explanation behind the whole endeavour made a surprising amount of sense. Thus far she'd come across a few people who wrote muggles off as irrelevant which didn't sit very well with Callie. Even the term muggle was something that didn't sit very well with the muggle-born as to her differentiating everyone in such a way was rather odd. While she understood that the wizarding world had to be concealed for it's own protection putting down muggles and their technology for simply being muggle in nature was an incredibly stupid concept. Besides Callie adored TV and movies far too much to buy into the whole idea that muggle technology was inherently bad. "I know right! Like the TV is the greatest thing ever! I already miss being able to zone out to cartoons after classes...or watch all those movies with my dad.." Callie stopped herself from continuing in case she made herself homesick again. "Gah, this doesn't make any sense!"

Callie attempted summoning the broom into her hands a few more times as Mars sunk into silent thought only to met with another stinking pile of failures. Each repeated failure only served to worsen Callie's own frustration and apprehension towards the subject of flying. At this rate she would never make it up into the sky and Callie wasn't entirely sure if she even wanted to be there in the first place. The girl was more than content with her adventures firmly on the ground as apposed to hundreds of feet up in the air. So Mars asked if she was afraid of flying Callie nodded immediately in agreement. "Of course I am! The sky is so scary, I can barely manage planes! What if something goes wrong? Breaking your limbs is no fun, trust me I've already broken my arm like twice!" She exclaimed before rubbing her the back of her neck awkwardly. "Sorry! Sorry, I know I'm being a little ridiculous..it's just that everything on the ground is so much...easier! Well mostly, I'm still getting the hang of not tripping over my own feet. Ooh! Or getting the sleeves of my robe to stay up."

Reducio

It's okay, don't worry!

@Callie Jensen
───── ⋆★⋆ ─────

Mars blinked a couple of times, trying to organize the words that flowed effortlessly from Callie's mouth into something they could properly understand. Damn, she talked fast. The wix could barely keep up, brows furrowing in slight confusion as the edge of their lips curled up slightly. If Callie asked about that, Mars would probably have to tell her than she reminded them of their brothers, something sweet and high-energy to a degree that Mars would never understand.

But right now, flying. They nodded along with her assessment of cars versus brooms, laughing as when she mentioned cleaning.

"You use a vacuum instead," they quipped, It's easier anyway." Images of flying vacuums popped into Mars' head and they smirked, waving the thoughts away. Task at hand, task at hand.

"TV is wonderful," the wix agreed, staring at the broom by Callie's feet. Mars really was probably an awful teacher, but they were determined to do something. The thoughts were still swirling around their head when Callie answered their question. They looked up immediately, processing the words that she spoke with a silent look. Hmm. So, she was afraid of flying.

Mars stopped for a moment to laugh at the girl's confession of her proficiency on the ground. Retable, in an endearing way. They felt those heartstrings tug them closer to her, a dangerous sense of obligation entering their heart. The Ravenclaw shook it away—right now, the time was right for anything but getting close to another person they'd long to protect.

Instead, the wix paced around, looking from the broom to Callie's face back to the broom again. Finally, they stopped.

"Okay," they said, with a small note of clarity, "this might not work at all, but it's worth a try." Honestly, Mars was quite certain it wouldn't work but hey, nothing wrong with biting the bullet and giving it a go.

"You know how the Professor said the broom reacts to your emotions?" they asked, pausing to see if she was following or not, "Well, I think it's not working because A) you resent the broom and B) you're scared of it." Mars paused again to pick said broom up, holding it out to Callie.

"I think you're hurting its feelings," they continued, "Try... well, try thinking like you're not going to fly. Like you're just calling it to you, like a puppy. I have to assume you saw lot of puppies on TV at the very least, right?" They arched a brow, giving the other Eagle a half-grin. Somehow, they'd fallen back into the way they spoke to their brothers, short and innocent. They hoped unconsciously that she wasn't offended.

Gesturing for her to place the broom back on the ground and give it a go, Mars crossed their arms and waited.

"Exactly! Vacuums are so much better. Can you imagine a flying one of those? Gah, it would be so uncomfy! Where would you even plug it in!" Callie exclaimed with her usual degree of excitement, which didn't show any signs of faltering anytime soon. The slight confusion evident on Mars' face as she rambled on didn't exactly register with Callie as she was far too worked up about the nonsense of flying around on a broom. Under normal circumstances she would've asked Mars if they were alright and perhaps even made an effort to slow her pace to make things a little easier. After all Callie was more than aware of how some people could find her nature quite overbearing...but alas! The plight of the broom had distracted her!

Mars' pacing unsettled Callie and only served to worsen her own anxiety surrounding the subject. For a girl who was so sure of herself and her actions the vast majority of the time it was rather strange the pacing of Mars unsettled her so. After all Callie was a girl who rarely ever let the woes of the world or the actions of others get her own, instead preferring to breeze through things in a way only Callie Jensen could. But sadly Callie's own fear of heights and the belief of the sheer stupidity of the broom triumphed her own easy going nature. It wasn't until Mars finally spoke up with what appeared to be an idea that her mood brightened rather considerably.

"An idea? Who cares if it doesn't work, we've gotta try! I'm tired of this broom being so...so...testy!" Callie settled into silence for a moment as they listened to Mars carefully, nodding along to just about every word they were saying. "THE BROOM HAS FEELINGS? I didn't know that! Oh god, does it have a name? I've just been calling it dumb broom, how rude of me!" Callie exclaimed in panic. "Of course I'm scared of the broom, it's a death trap!" To emphasise her point Callie pointed at the broom rather accusingly. "Ah! Sorry, sorry I shouldn't be like that..you're helping!" She once again fell into silence when Mars started speaking about puppies and nodded along, seemingly clinging onto their every word.

"Like puppies? Alright, I like puppies! If this broom is a puppy now who APPARENTLY has feelings, I'm naming him John. Calling dogs human names never fails to make me laugh!" Callie snickered and placed the broom back down onto the ground and tried the entire thing again, only to met with success! The broom rocketed up to her hands and a wide grin crept onto Callie's face, prompting her to drop the broom and dash over to Mars. "Ah! You're a genius!" Callie exclaimed with a wide grin, her own excitement over the singular success painfully clear. "Like Einstein or something...ooh or Alan Turing or Marie Curie!"

@Callie Jensen
───── ⋆★⋆ ─────

My, my, my, this girl was a hyper ball of energy. Mars could hardly keep up with her as the image of flying vacuums once again popped into their head. She was right though, it would be incredibly uncomfortable. Not that brooms weren't.

They let out a huge grin at Callie's apparent revelation.

"Yes, the broom had feelings. No, I don't think it appreciates being called dumb," they laughed, watching as the girl apologized to the broom. In a sense, they did have feelings. Mars was pretty sure they didn't have ears though, but the sentiment was probably appreciated. How should they know? They weren't a broom.

It seemed that she'd held on to every word they'd said about the puppies. Who wouldn't, they supposed, equating something like this to such adorable creatures. Though John... John was an interesting choice to say the least. They did have to admit that it was amusing.

Mars honestly... quite liked this. It was different than most interactions they had, but they felt as though they were almost watching Callie, trying to understand the way she saw the world. It was obviously far too fast paced for them, but it was like trying to keep up with a storm, chasing after it with wonder in your eyes.

It made it all the more exciting when she set the broom on the ground, said the command, and the thing actually whooshed up, smacking into her palm.

"Hey!" they called, voice full of excitement, "You did it!" It'd worked. It'd actually worked. They'd been so certain they were grasping at straws but apparently, something they'd said had actually clicked. Mars was so shocked that it took them a few moments to realize Callie had run up to them, rambling off a list of geniuses.

They left out a breath of laughter, instinctively patting her on the head.

"Okay, okay, let's not go too far now," they laughed, "I'm nowhere near their level." Still, there was a bloom of pride in their chest that they'd actually managed to help someone.

Mars took a step back, giving Callie a once over.

"Okay, now... there's the issue of flying," they spoke, glancing at the broom. In all honesty... "Honestly, I think that calling the broom up is already a great start for today. You might just want to do that a few more times before the period ends."

They toed over their own broom, set a palm flat over the handled and called, "Up!" It came neatly into their palm and Mars swung a leg over it, giving Callie a grin before kicking off the ground. They came to rest a few meters in the air, hardly enough to hurt themselves if they fell. They called down to her,

"Or, if you're feeling brave, you can try a few feet off the ground. Just kick off, put both hands on the broom handle, and lean forward very slowly..." they mimicked their instructions with their body movements, tipping themselves forward. The broom started slow, but the second they had a taste of that wind in their hair, they kicked it up a notch, flying in a tight little circle before touching down in front of the other Ravenclaw. Their cheeks were probably tinged red, eyes alight with that flying rush, and they smiled at her.

"And give that a go."