Final Stand Closed

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Quinn exhaustively observed the situation. He was so tired he didn't want to move further. He just wanted the sweet delectable embrace that was sleep. So off he went barely acknowledging San's words with a nod. Despite the state he was in he couldn't help but notice the way the healer was acting. Specifically with the potions cabinet. Shouldn't he know where all his potions were. Shouldn't he?

Quinn finally acknowledged the healer's question. "Dat one over dere kecked me in de chest...I dink she may 'ave cracked sahmethin..." He continued to ignore her calls for him as he glared with empty hatred. "An me jaw 'oehrts...I gaht poehnched dere too...it's kend o' 'ard to breathe...and to talk. " He really didn't want to repeat himself more then once, but he was too tired to really bother toning back his heavy accent.

There goes his rage again though slowly filling up but unlike earlier it just suddenly dissipated it seemed like exhaustion overrode his anger. Finally pulling two cots together near Santario which also had him unfortunately near Erin as well. That's when he felt the soft fabric a pillow hit his side. "Fahr de lahve o'...what de feck you want Erin. What's so feckin impahrtant it can't wait?"

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Santario had been sitting with her broken arm in her lap but pressed carefully against her stomach the only real way she could protect her arm and grip her wand with her good hand hiding within the folds on her dress. When Vancleaf asked about her arm she responded simply. “Broken trying to break up a fight for the first time. Landed on it.” It was a simple enough explanation that went along with Quinn’s. 

When he asked to see her arm, she allowed him to take it assisting where she could without releasing her wand. Something deep down in the pit of her stomach told her not to. When she felt the texture of his skin she frowned deeply staring at his skin. It could have easily been mistaken for a look of suppressed pain. As he examined her arm she looked over at Erin and as much back at Quinn as she could before turning her attention back to Vancleaf as he spouted off medical terminology that she hadn’t learned yet. When he stood up and walked away, she commented. “It’s getting quite a bit dryer in the castle now huh? You might want to double up on any moisturizer you use to combat how dry your skin is getting.”

She watched him as well as she could… Something felt… Wrong. Then again, she was in a room with Erin and Quinn so maybe it was just the tension between them. Yeah, that’s got to be it... She took a deep breath as Vancleaf came back and she had to release her wand to accept the potions that he gave her. This left her wand sitting nicely in the hidden pocket on her dress. “Thank you.” She would look over the potion bottles almost examining them. She was fascinated with potions and although she had helped her mother make them, as much as she could, she never actually needed to take any before, not like this.

Wait… Did he say it would taste like grass? What healing potion tastes like grass and reduces pain? She would set the potion bottles down and wait for Vancleaf to walk away from her or at least turn his back. She would then remove her wand from the pocket and hide it, preferably from Vancleaf, in the fabric of her dress gripping it tightly. “I recognize the skelegrow, of course, but I don’t recognize any healing potion that reduces pain and tastes like grass. My mother brews potions and works as a healer for St Mungos. Potions are also a deep passion of mine so I love to learn about the things I take before I take them.” Her voice was edged with suspicion and her sharp sapphire eyes were trained on him like a hawk stalking a mouse for dinner.

Kyle was silent as he walked to the medical wing with Santario. On the one hand he was frustrated that his chance to beat down the large ginger kid was was interrupted, but on the other hand it was a great tackle from his best friend. He would not have expected her to be able to take him down hard enough to not only give him a concussion but to also break her own arm. If anything it just gave more validity to his plan. He needed to teach her how to properly fight, to take down people physically when a wand is not available or an option. That way she can be safe from people when he can’t be there to look out for her.

When they got to the medical wing he sort of stood to the side and rubbed the side of his head, it was tender but nothing too serious. He shrugged and slipped his hands into his pants pockets and looked around at everyone else in the room. He kept his mask on, though anyone familiar with him would notice his face scar since only part of it was covered by the mask. He let out a slight sigh as he rolled his neck, tonight was going the way he had thought it was going to.

The only reason that Jack hadn't left yet was that he didn't want another fight to break out. It was quite obvious the dislike that Erin held for the tall ginger Hufflepuff. If Jack could stop another brawl from starting out, he would. however, at the moment, he was trying his best to keep her distracted on how he supposedly 'stole her boyfriend's face'. That of which he did nothing of the sort. The boy was too preoccupied with most everything to notice any odd goings-on(If there were any to actually notice)

"No. This is my face, Erin. No. I did not steal the face of somebody I have never met. Yes. I know I have a pleasant face to look at, but I did not have to steal it. I am sure that there is somebody out there who looks similar to you. It wouldn't be that unheard of to actually look like somebody else would it-" Aaaand he lost her attention again. She was back focused on Quinn. Great. This girl was all over the place. However her little growl, even so, a little disconcerting, Jack found amusing. Do people actually growl like that when they are upset? Is that something only found in the 'magical word'? Those are questions he would probably never get answers too, but he was okay with that. All semblance of control that he had felt was quickly falling through his fingers like sand in an hourglass. It was not a good feeling.

“Broken trying to break up a fight for the first time. Landed on it.”

VanCleaf nodded in acknowledgement. "Shame, but kids... er... teens will be teens," he replied. "I guess that is why they keep me around," he verbalized acting as if she was the fifth student today that had come in with this very same problem. That was not particularly far from the truth.

A lover's spat off to the side.

"No. This is my face, Erin. No. I did not steal the face of somebody I have never met. Yes. I know I have a pleasant face to look at, but I did not have to steal it. I am sure that there is somebody out there who looks similar to you. It wouldn't be that unheard of to actually look like somebody else would it-"

He was like a record on repeat. A distractor. "Whatever..." Erin muttered. She was not going to argue, he was a distraction. "I don't give a fuck about your game..."

"Language young lady!" VanCleaf snapped but did not even bother looking in her direction as he recovered the potion bottles for @Santario Martin and bring them over to her.

“It’s getting quite a bit dryer in the castle now huh? You might want to double up on any moisturizer you use to combat how dry your skin is getting.”

Indeed, his hands were dry. So very dry. He would reach into his pockets and withdraw a pair of gloves. Not the latex sort worn by most medical practitioners but rather thin, leather gloves. "I will keep that in mind young miss," he smiled.

The potions appeared innocuous enough -- one labeled skelegrow which was opaque and the other, a smaller phial with a pale green semi-clear fluid inside. It said Salve on the label. 

“I recognize the skelegrow, of course, but I don’t recognize any healing potion that reduces pain and tastes like grass. My mother brews potions and works as a healer for St Mungos. Potions are also a deep passion of mine so I love to learn about the things I take before I take them.”

"Star Grass Salve," he clarified as he slid his glasses up his nose and looked her over a second time. "Paranoia seems to be contagious here," he laughed a bit at something, perhaps a personal joke he had with himself. "You don't have anything to worry about here, what could I possibly have to gain in hurting an already injured child?" A simple logical truth.

One that was not getting through to Erin, presently focused on Jack. Erin did not believe @Jack Warren's claim in the least. "You've either an evil bastard or have just killed us all..."

"Young lady!" There was a tone of exasperation in the nurse's voice. He was dealing with two of them right now. Even if one was a bit more polite about her madness.

Erin's paranoia was obvious. Erin might be crazy and poorly focused but she was also incredibly stubborn. Once she has her mind on something, sixteen different things might draw away her diminutive attention span, but she always comes back to her present obsession. For the past half-year, it was Quinn Healy. Now she was in a hospital room with an adult, never trust those, Quinn and his midget giant girlfriend @Rosie Parker. She could feel her apprehension grow as she noted @Santario Martin was there, she did not know the Slytherin but she seemed chummy with the giant making her an enemy. 

"Whatever..." She childishly mouthed. Her hand was not fixed, but it was feeling a bit better. It was the effect of the potion the nurse stealthfully airplaned into her mouth. She would not correlate that 'poison' with some sort of soothing or healing concoction. 

"You seem like a very intelligent young woman," VanCleaf tried to coax. "Just take the Skele-Gro and mend your arm, it hurts a lot. If you don't need the pain medicine or want it, that is your call," even if that would be like getting a dental procedure without Novocaine. 

Erin was not catching onto Santario's concerns. Well, she did notice VanCleaf trying to convince Santario to take the potions. The frig did he care if it hurt she internally complained. Her hand felt like it was being constantly hammered by a team of irate elves and she was fine. What was his game? What was her game? Hell if she knew. 

@Kyle DeRook was standing somewhere off to the side. Erin looked over at him and frowned. The protector of the evil giant @Hugh Lowe. She did not trust him, considering his attire - the weird S&M-punk outfit stolen from the 80's or 90's, he was probably ritualistically sacrificing them to his massive overlords.

Erin let out a huff of air.

This was totally a trap.

She thought she was clever, that she was seeing it. She was going to play it cool. Well, she thought what she was doing was playing it cool. In reality she was obstinately refusing poison and acting like a child. It would be a miracle that @Santario Martin was not covered in a fine mist of spit-out medicine. 

"Take a seat in an open cot," VanCleaf instructed. "I will be with you shortly young man," he announced. His attention was presently on @Quinn Healy.

"Dat one over dere kecked me in de chest...I dink she may 'ave cracked sahmethin..."

The man had no idea what Quinn had just said, but he did get the word 'chest' and 'cracked.' "Can you point to where it hurts?" He might not be able to understand the kid but he could at the very least get some basic information out of him. If any area in particular was identified, he would ask the massive youth "does it hurt when I touch here." He would firmly press on the area identified. [If it is broken, it would hurt like a son of a...]

If the murse (man-nurse) was knocked back reflexively by the giant, he would fly back like a rag doll. In fact, Quinn would be potentially astonished at his own strength. If he was knocked back or not, VanCleaf was not terribly injured. While not particularly heavy, at least compared to the part-giant, he appeared to be able to take a hit. 

If Quinn did not express increased discomfort on palpation, VanCleaf would simply state "you seem ok there big guy. Just a case of nerves probably," he would reason as he fumbled through the cabinet and found the bottle he was looking for. It was a small, purple vial with neat handwriting on the label claiming: Potion for Dreamless Sleep. "Just get a good night's rest, everything will be fine tomorrow." It probably would not be, but nurse VanCleaf had no idea there was a disaster in progress at the ball.

If Quinn had expressed increased pain when his ribs were touched, VanCLeaf would mutter an apology before he gave Quin another uncomfortable task. "I need you to take in a big-deep breath," he instructed. [If you have a fracture, in the same exact spot, it would hurt again like a son of a...]

While VanCleaf was trying to help or torture @Quinn Healy

"An me jaw 'oehrts...I gaht poehnched dere too...it's kend o' 'ard to breathe...and to talk. "

He got 'jaw' that time. "You jaw hurts too?" He asked for some sort of affirmation, any confirmatory gesture. "Yeah, that is definitely probably broken," he concluded. The boy's words were like a mouthful of sammich. Rib fracture or not, Quinn would get two phials. One an opaque bottle, it had no label but he would claim "for your bones." The other, a dark green potion with a cork stopper. "and this will help your pain." Skele-Gro is known to be very painful once imbued.

"How in the world did such a big guy like you get hurt?" He tsked as he seemed to take notice in the number of students in the hospital wing ward. "Swear, these gatherings just get crazier and crazier," he was referencing last year. The kids sure kept him busy, between fist fights, drinking verisatium and thinking he somehow had the cure on his self, it was a wonder sometimes. 

She had chucked her bed pillow at the poor boy (Quinn), not that she intended to try and get any rest here, the teachers were totally in on this. Well, the nurse was not a Professor, but still probably involved. It was a mistake coming here, she had only come this far to make other-Parce happy. She was going to kick @Jack Warren's ass if she survived this. 

"Fahr de lahve o'...what de feck you want Erin. What's so feckin impahrtant it can't wait?"

She had to play this right if she was going to survive. Only two pillows on her bed. Quinn stole them when they bounced off of him. Yes, this was somehow his fault. She would stand up and reach for the cot across from her and attempt to snatch the pillows off of Jack's bed. An excuse to stand without any presumptions beyond pillow ammunition acquisition. If she grabbed one, the was going to use it to bludgeon not-Parce (@Jack Warren) and attempt to vault over the adjacent cot and make a break for the door. 

The nurse would make no attempt to stop the unhinged Slytherin girl escape. He watched her out of the corner of his eye but he would not intervene, stating "well she seems better" with a carefree shrug. If she was not stopped, she would dash out the door and around a corner as if she was being hunted by a pack of hell-hounds. [Also, if not stopped, will swap further posting from Erin to another account for continued posting as VanCleaf.] 

"What happened to you?" VanCleaf called out to @Kyle DeRook. "Were you the one that beat up this nice young man?" He seemed to be scolding Kyle as he approached the cabinet to grab a vial of something. The bottle was about the size of Kyle's fist and it had a label that simply said Wiggenweld Potion and was honey-colored. "This should make you feel better, but can take a lot out of you." He warned and he relinquished the bottle from his gloved hand. 

Santario narrowed her eyes when he put on his gloves because this wasn’t making any sense. Salve. Salves were not drunk they were an ointment applied over the skin. He had told her to drink it which was incorrect and therefore she could only conclude that it was not what he said it was.

What, indeed, could he have to gain by harming a child that was already hurt… Was he truly trying to harm her though? Perhaps – Her thoughts were derailed by another of Erin’s outbursts and she was starting to feel helpless. Something was very wrong and it wasn’t just the wobbly hamster wheel inside Erin’s head. Vancleaf pulled her attention again when he addressed her as intelligent… Santario didn’t feel very intelligent right now. She was sitting here second-guessing a nurse that had been employed in the school longer than she had been going there... 

She looked back at the potion bottle that said Salve as Vancleaf got pushy… Yes, he was being very pushy trying to manipulate her into taking the potions. Fear finally seeped in like a stealthy hand creeping through the third and fourth rip and wrapping its hand around her heart causing it to beat so loudly she wasn’t sure how @Kyle DeRook and @Quinn Healy couldn’t hear it. Kyle may not be able to hear her heart but that magnificent werewolf nose of his should have been able to smell the fear that radiated from her now.

Quinn’s potion for pain was Dark green and San’s was Pale green giving her the conclusion she needed right as Erin tried to smack Jack with a pillow and make her own break for it. Quinn, I don’t trust this something is wrong. Don’t drink those!” She hopped off of the bed in her bare feet, for the better, you can’t run in heels if she needed to. When she dismounted from the bed, she leveled her wand on Vancleaf with a steeled glare, but a slight shake to her hand. She had never cast on anyone outside of class before let alone while trying to keep the pain of her broken arm that was held across her abdomen out of her head. “Why aren’t you using ferula on my arm? You can’t drink a salve.” She readied herself to cast on Vancleaf if he made a threatening move towards her or anyone else in the room.

Action: Ready to cast Tarantallegra on Vancleaf if he makes any hostile movements towards her or her friends. Taking one as a “hostage” will not stop her from casting if she has a clear shot.

   

The plague of delusion seemed to be spreading. Whatever plagued the addled mind of the blonde girl had spread. Refusing to accept the potions, first the blonde and now the brunette and the brunette was warning the part giant to refuse the concoctions. His expression reflected what his mind had to say: for the love of Merlin you have to be kidding me.

The girl drew her wand and made a sudden move as she took a defensive stance. VanCleaf winced. "At least... brace your broken arm girl," he warned as he looked away. "You don't want it. Don't take it," he conceded. "Keep the bottle, it would be evidence in my nefarious plot to poison teenagers." He sounded confident, he also sounded frustrated. 

She asked him why he was not using 'Ferula' on her arm. To which he said in a less than engaged voice, "why Ferula?" 

He was busying himself between @Quinn Healy and @Kyle DeRook. They appeared more willing, at least for the moment to accept treatment it would seem. He would make his way back to Quinn if he was not falling into the maddened line of thinking expressed by his female friend. "Is this normal for them?" He would ask in a low, barely audible voice. "This paranoia?" He took a few breaths as he busied himself near Quinn, "it is fine if you don't feel safe to talk... once they leave I have a few questions for you if you would be willing to stay." These words whispered like the last, words intended only for young Healy.

Jack felt that if he just kept repeating himself, it would get through the paranoid girl's thick skull. Apparently that was a futile effort. How could he convince this girl that she should just relax and get healed? All Jack wanted everybody to calm down and get healed. Is that too much to ask? Jack knew he was a lot of things, but a thief? The idea of being a thief made him sick. Being a thief is lower than low in Jack's mind. A deep frown set into his face as he continued to think.

Erin Ryan had said that he was an 'evil bastard' plus that he may have 'just killed us all'. The frown was quickly replaced his serious frown with a look of utter confusion. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" His tone turned defensive in record time. "You're absolutely delusional," Jack muttered under his breath, "How have I killed us all? Is it because you decided that this dude is trying to hurt us for some feckin' reason, and I'm the one who brought you here?" The boy was starting to lose the little patience he had. As he spoke, he failed to notice that Erin had stood and grabbed hold of the pillow on his bed. He opened his mouth to add another thing to say before he found himself with a face full of the pillow. At least he took the hit like a champ before he pulled the fluffy white cloth off of his face. Before he had time to even see miss Ryan vault on by.

He fumbled around his inner jacket pocket, in an attempt to reach for his wand. Erin was trying to escape! For god's sake, all I feckin wanted is for this damned girl to heal herself. Jack thought to himself before he found his hand on his wand.

There was only a single spell he knew that might stop Erin, and keep her in her relatively unharmed situation. The dancing feet spell. Pointing the wand at his 'not girlfriend, but doppelganger's pseudo girlfriend'. A slight nervousness flushed into his gut. He had never really cast a spell at somebody before.

"Tarantallegra!" He cut his wand through the air in the upsidedown u shape, as he spoke the words. Hopefully, he could stop her from hurting herself any more than she already was.

Action: Cast Tarantallegra at @Erin Ryan

I asked to join and I think I've been allowed, but it will probably only be for a short while!

As Leah came closer to the Hospital Wing, she reviewed her plan: go in, get something for her injured face, and leave as quickly as possible. She hadn't yet visited this place, and had hoped not to for a while, but she simply had to get something for the pain.

At first, she had wanted to avoid the hospital wing as it may contain hostile people, but as soon as she had left and had calmed down after the fire, her cheek had started to hurt badly. Reluctantly, she had turned back to quickly grab a concoction from a nurse before going back to her common room.

She crossed her fingers and approached the door, thinking: Please don't let it be the girl who punched me...

And of course, as luck would have it, it was.

It seemed that this crowd caused trouble wherever they were. The girl who had attacked her what seemed like ages ago was surrounded by others (including Jack - was he actually her date?). An irritated nurse was helping some others that Leah recognised from the fight, and that boy who had blocked a punch for her was here too.

Hopefully, Leah would be in and out as soon as possible. She edged into the room a tiny bit before announcing her presence.

"Sorry, could I quickly pick up something to stop swelling or relieve pain?"

In and out of here, she chanted to herself. In and out.