Early Birds PV Willow Finished

Hexcode= #507091

Nodding not to interrupt, Sylvain suppressed a small huff in disbelief as Willow so casually admitted to having the same fear he so desperately had bottled up to hide from her. Syl thought briefly on the tools question so thoughtfully presented by the now warm eyed Willow. She was right, maybe he did lack the tools...

"Maybe... a friend by your side when it may get frustrating or scary?"

That was it. The tool, awkwardly himself at this very moment, needed to stop trying to answer all of his problems on his own. Sylvain needed to start asking others for help when things got to be too much for him to handle. The eagle's whole life thus far, he had swallowed the burden and faced the possibility of becoming a failure on his lonesome. There wasn't a need for Syl to bear the weight alone, nobody had asked him too, but nonetheless he'd come to expect to be silent. Syl reasoned that this habit was exactly the cause for his mothers' insistence on taking him to dig up worms, and the affect was an obviously growing distance between them. It wasn't fair he'd made them corner him just to get him to admit he needed help sometimes. Well not anymore. Some silent willpower still held sway over his feelings in the face of acceptance, but he was ready to move past it and learn from it.

Letting his jaw loosen as his best friend spoke of who she wanted to become and on how anxious she was about the consequences of being relatively new to quidditch, Syl moved in closer as Willow confessed to her fear of falling from her broom. As his best friend removed the worm from her pocket and pulled her knees up to her chest, she spoke in an honest open way that Sylvain had never known how to communicate before. Warmth filled his chest as her desperate eyes darted to his, looking for approval. No, they were looking for something more than that. Willow was looking for an honest and kind friend. Someone she could count on to be there after the dust settled. Suddenly, it wasn't enough for him that Willow would have to worry on her lonesome anymore. He knew what he had to do.

Recognizing it as his only opportunity to confess his feelings Sylvain spoke up gently and openly so he didn't miss what would be his only chance to tell Willow how much she meant to him. Sylvain wanted, with no uncertainty, for her to know he was always going to try to be her friend. "You're right Willow." his genuine but slight smile came back as his eyes became relaxed and his fingers picked at the mud. We'll both be fine no matter where we are because we have each other to lean on." He took a breathe, steadying himself to look up at her from his kneeling position.

If you fall, I will catch you. If you end up in the hospital, I'll visit everyday until you get better. If someone knocks you off their broom...." He blinked curiously for a moment. "I'll slip pompion potion into their hot chocolate." Only thing left was to ask for her help.

If she would trust him to catch her, then he would trust her to catch him. "Will you uh, teach me how to fly?" He did his best to remain calm, but excitement flooded him as he reached out to hug Willow. In that moment, Sylvain wanted to hug her forever.

@Willow Anderson

Interacting with @Sylvain Indarys

There was something about Sylvain that made it easy for her to open up. It was a different effect on her than Flash had. Her brother made her feel calm and safe, with questions carefully places to unravel the knots that she had tied into her own heart. With Sylvain, there almost wasn't a need for questions at all. There was an openness between them, sharing their fears and their concerns. But also some of their aspirations, for Sylvain it was currently just trying to figure out whatever he had to figure out. Albeit vague, Willow knew that he was on a journey and she wanted to be beside him to help him through it, as long as he allowed her to be there. Currently it didn't seem like he had many qualms about her sticking around anyway. That was always a nice feeling. A feeling of being wanted, it was one that terrified her and satisfied her all the same.

Her eyes, still desperate, had a quirked brow now when he said that she was right. "R-Right? About what?" It didn't take much longer for the answer to follow, and it seemed to help melt the stress away that she would ever end up alone in a hospital wing again. The worry completely dissipated with the threat of turning someone's head into a pumpkin via hot chocolate sabotage, she couldn't help but giggle. "My noble potions protector. Although, I definitely wouldn't want my head to become a pumpkin so... I feel like that's an adequate threat." She nodded confidently. The only good time to be a pumpkin head was on Halloween, and even then she wouldn't want it to happen without her knowing. Did someone still have a brain as a pumpkin? Transfiguration type stuff terrified her on some level, but that was a fear for another day.

His question of her helping him seemed like a no-brainer, but when he threw himself into her arms she wondered if there was a type of fear or shame lying beneath it. It was not the time to try and discover the roots, because at least right now he was asking for the help. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a small squeeze. "Of course I will~ How luck you'll be with private lessons from the First String Keeper of Hufflepuff!" Another small giggle, laughter to help wave any of the hesitation that still existed for Sylvain in asking for help. "I'll help you with anything you need." She pulled back and gave him a serious look straight into his eyes. "I mean that. Whatever you need, I'll be right here to help you, you just have to ask." She pulled him back into the hug, leaving them there for the moment. The long hug didn't seem awkward or prolonged for too much time. It just felt warm, sweet, like a friend should be.

Hexcode= #507091

Releasing himself from the warm gentle embrace of his best and most kind friend, Sylvain spotted a bit of mud on her sleeve and batted at it with his glove. Mistakenly making it worse, his shameful eyes raised to meet Willow's. His hesitant giggle was soon followed by raucous chuckling as he retrieved his wand to scouring charm the young girl's shirt before she had time to get mad or upset with him. Before doing so he asked politely and took a step back, offering to help fix his mistake.

"You're so kind and sweet to me, let me fix this for you." A short nod of her head was all it took for him to cast the charm. "Scourgify," he said as his wand moved in the wormlike curve of an S. A zap of magic, and the smudge of dirt vanished from her sleeve, leaving nothing but a zesty clean fresh scent. The odor was reminiscent of green tea with lemon, which made him smile and left him curious enough to wonder if Willow had noticed that she inspired his magic.

"I think I'll like taking flying lessons from you," he said softly. "I've got a really good feeling about you."

@Willow Anderson