Bone Deep PV Delilah S closed

[font=times new roman] Almost every day since joining the Duelling team, Delilah had been practising her most commonly used spells, also having to quite frequently casting the healing spell on younger students that had gotten hurt doing one outrageous stunt or the other. They have such freedom, meanwhile, she had always stayed in the library, studying, very rarely going out and doing anything exciting, but with all of the large events going on in this school, almost every day something exciting happened, some fire, some danger, but she kinda loved it. Her life up until her 11th birthday had just been..boring... knowing the same people on the same streets, occasionally making a trip into town and seeing a different group of people, although the town also wasn't very big, so seeing..more of the same people.

Now she is in a school that had more students than people she has ever seen, it certainly was a giant culture shock, even three years later, going home for the summer and coming back a couple of months later was jarring, being able to sleep in a room by herself rather than with a group of other girls her age. These were the various thoughts that went through her head as she was walking from the common room down to the duelling club. There was a downside to being a Ravenclaw, the common room and dorms were at the weirdest location, at the top of the west tower, far away from everything else. When she had muggle studies in the morning, she would have to leave the common room like 15 minutes early just to make sure she can get down all the stairs on time. She couldn't help but wonder if Slytherins and Hufflepuffs got a bit more of a sleep in than the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws.

Getting down to the fourth floor and along the corridor, she wondered if there was anybody in the duelling club, occasionally she would meet somebody in there and they would practice together, even if they didn't know each other.

She pushed open the door, it was quite heavy, not noticing the other person in the room straight away, walking further into the room, she was about to get onto the platform to fight the dummies when she heard breathing behind her, her sixth sense coming in handy.

Oh god, she rushed over to her duelling captain, essentially sliding onto the floor beside her and pulling out her wand. "Are you alright? Can you hear me?" Ready to cast reparifors or take her to the hospital wing depending on her answer.
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Outfit: Casual Date: 7th January 2021 ---------------------------

Interacting with: Dealla ---------------------------

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By SK

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Dee had been dozing, pleasantly, limbs heavy and eyes closed, until a frantic voice shook her out of the half-sleep state she'd been in, and she blinked her eyes open slowly, even that an effort.

Oh. She'd really almost fallen asleep, huh? Stupid. The wall was still cold against her back, tempting her to just stay down, but she couldn't. First, because now that the sweat from the exertion was cooling on her skin, her body was bleeding heat fast. If she couldn't feel it yet, she would soon. Second, and much more important: Her pride. Stupid, blind pride, but it wouldn't let her sit on the floor, helpless, in front of one of her duellists.

A short pause. Her line of thought frayed, she blinked.

Right, Delilah was here.

Blinking again in an attempt to focus, Dee shifted, moving to sit up. "I'm okay," she replied, not very successful in trying to sound like her usual, vibrant self. Speaking was an effort, moving more so. "Just tired, I think I overdid it a little with my practice. I'm okay." She didn't even notice she was repeating her words, her focus on getting her legs beneath her, finally kneeling. Her left hand was propped against the wall for support, but even so, she was swaying slightly.

Time to get up. Up. Time to... She couldn't do it.

She sat back on her heels, a weak smile on her face, directed at the other girl. She looked slightly sheepish, an expression she didn't wear often. "I just need a small break," she admitted, still unwilling, unable even, to admit what would be obvious to the observer, swaying and talking slowly as she was: There was no possible way Dee was going to reach the Ravenclaw dorms by herself. More likely, she'd fall down the stairs on the way somewhere, trying.

"Don't worry about me," she added, a little belated. "You're here to practice? Don't let me distract you."

[font=times new roman]A small amount of panic ran through Delilah, this was one of her team captains, her housemate, a younger student than herself. She was always quite protective of those she cared about.

Delilah was only small..very small, but Dealla was smaller. Would a spell help? There was reparifors but seemingly she was just exhausted not exactly injured. "I don't think you are okay mate." She sat quietly for a minute, kneeling beside Dealla, thinking about what to do. She didn't think she could lift her, but she could help..maybe.

Something she knew very well was overexertion. She wish she didn't, but she very much did, both mentally and physically. She didn't think she had ever done it this badly though.

As Dee tried to stand up, yet failed, Del placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to steady her some more. She shook her head. "I'll help you up, if you want." Asking seemed a bit silly honestly, Del wasn't going to just leave her there under any circumstances. Well, unless she asked her to go, because she is a people pleaser, but that was unimportant.

If Dee wanted her to help her, she would jump to the opportunity, it was a bit odd thinking about it, Dee was about a couple years younger than Del, yet she was technically her superior in terms of duelling, but hey, Delilah wasn't going to complain, Dee made a great captain.

"You're not distracting me, its okay, I can help you. You should probably go to the hospital wing."

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Outfit: Casual Date: 7th January 2021 ---------------------------

Interacting with: @Dealla Prince ---------------------------

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By SK

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Dee bit down on the protest that was her prompt, automatic response to the claim that she wasn't okay. Delilah wasn't stupid, nor was she blind, Dee's words were not going to fool her. Quite obviously, she wasn't okay.

Keeping her thoughts in a straight line posed some difficulty, more than it should, but Dee was finally starting to be awake enough to manage, shrugging a little helplessly. "I just overdid it with practice," she repeated, trying to sound confident and hating how much she needed Delilah's hand on her shoulder to steady her. "But yes, I think you're right, I could use some help. I..." She trailed off, unsure of what she had wanted to say. Thank her, perhaps?

The mention of the Hospital Wing, however, sent a jolt of panic through her that completely woke her up, shaking off the remnants of the exhausted daze that had threatened to pull her under earlier. Her body mobilising its last energy reserves, likely. "No," she protested, panic tinging her voice. She couldn't go to the Hospital Wing, didn't want to be seen there. The whole purpose of her irregular practice times was that no one would guess just how hard she worked on this, she had to make it seem easy. Being delivered to the Hospital Wing for exhaustion would seem anything but, and no doubt that her grandparents would manage to somehow hear about it. No. "I don't need to go to the Hospital Wing I just need a solid night's sleep." The words were delivered with more conviction. "See? I already feel better. I'll just... need some help getting up to the common room, and I'll be fine."

An odd mix of emotions swirled in her chest as she accepted Delilah's help in getting up, her tiredness combining with gratitude and embarrassment, triggering the odd urge to cry, which was quickly squashed down. All this was bad enough, there was no reason to add tears to the mix. The knee she had fallen on gave a throb of pain when she put her weight on it, and Dee clenched her jaw, trying to hide it. She wouldn't give Delilah more reason to try and drag her to the Hospital Wing.

When she finally stood on both feet, Dee shifted her weight to her uninjured knee, then paused, frowning. "Wait, I... dropped my wand somewhere..." Craning her head around, she scanned the floor of the room until she spotted her abandoned wand near where she'd stumbled earlier. "There!"

[font=times new roman]Something with her captain seemed off, Ravenclaw duellists did tend to go a bit overboard sometimes, Del knew she had done it before, but this was a lot. She helped her stand but definitely kept a close eye, just to make sure she didn't topple. "You need to be careful, can't have our captain in a bad way." She was genuinely concerned, the instinct to care for Dealla was quite strong honestly. She had noticed that with duelling, she had always wanted to take care of people, but working with younger students she certainly felt that instinctive feeling to care for them....she was the mum friend, 100%, just not a very mentally stable mum friend.

Upon being directed to the wand, Del immediately blurted out, "I'll get it, you stay still." She didn't want Dee moving to go and get it and possibly getting hurt further. She stepped away from Dee for a matter of a few seconds to nip over and grab her wand, handing it back to her. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital wing? I think you could really do with it."

Delilah didn't know why Dealla was so against going to the hospital wing, it was a bit concerning. "Did something else happen or something?"
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Outfit: Casual Date: 7th January 2021 ---------------------------

Interacting with: Dealla ---------------------------

The compulsion to seem strong and in control and independent was hard to let go of. All the effort she'd put in, the lengths she'd gone to to seem like everything came to her easy, top-notch grades, captain of her duelling team despite only being a second year. How could she admit that at this moment, it was all too much? That she was very much in over her head, needed help, especially from someone who was supposed to look to her for leadership?

But there was no judgment or disappointment in Del's assistance, her slightly goofy statement giving off nothing but genuine concern, and, well, Dealla supposed she was being rather obvious in her denial. So after another moment of struggling to stand on her own, she finally let herself slump slightly into Delilah's support, a tired smile appearing on her face. The matter-of-fact way in which the older student had called her "our captain" did something to warm and steady her - although it only made her more aware of how cold she felt. Merlin, was she starting to shiver? She really needed to get to her warm and cozy bed.

"Thanks," she said quietly as Del went to pick up her wand, using a hand against the wall to steady herself. She slipped it into her wand pocket when Delilah handed it back to her, and shook her head. "What's the point? The nurse would just tell me to rest, I already know that. There's nothing wrong with me except exhaustion."

The further inquiry received a more firm head shake. "It's nothing, I just don't like the Hospital Wing. I overdid it with training, it's... The upcoming stage has me a little stressed." It was hard to admit, but easier than explaining the surrounding mess. How she was trying to surpass the impossible expectations of grandparents she'd never met, who seemed to have their eyes and ears everywhere. How she was scared of failing again, of letting down Pericles and her team. The whole interwoven web that seemed to stretch into every part of her life and threaten to strangle her.

Lapsing into silence for a short moment, Dee straightened up and looked at Delilah. The two of them were almost the same height, despite Del being two years her senior. It made it easier, somehow, to look at the girl as an equal rather than someone older, more experienced that she should put up a front for. Made it easier to be honest. "Del, if I ask you to, would you keep this a secret?" She made a wave with her hand, motioning at herself, at the situation. "I don't... I don't want people talking about this. Will you just help me up to our common room? I promise I'll be fine after."

[font=times new roman]Delilah chuckled a little at her comment. "If the problem is exhaustion, wouldn't rest be the best option anyway?" Delilah didn't blame Dee for not liking the hospital wing, it was a pretty bleak place. She had never been in it for a particularly long time, normally just a brief trip after the odd duel or practice. "It'll be alright, you know us, we rock." gently nudging Dee with a laugh, trying to cheer her up. "We won't let you down, and if anybody does, I shall hold them personally responsible." Del was the oldest duellest, Phaedra being a few months younger than her, and she damn well was gonna act like the mum of the group.

Duelling had become one of her favourite things very quickly, which was certainly unexpected considering her normal enjoyment of non-violent, independent activities. But she was part of a team now, so she had to help

Upon asked to keep it a secret, Delilah nodded. "Of course...It's a long way to the common room but I will get you there!" Talking as if it was her personal quest, she pointed a finger to the ceiling. "In fact, I will do you one better, I will take you to the common room, to the dorm, tuck you up into bed and I expect not to see you until the morning."
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Even though she sounded bossy, she had a grin on her face. "Now, should we get going? We have.....a fair few stairs to go up."

Outfit: Casual Date: 7th January 2021 ---------------------------

Interacting with: Dealla ---------------------------

"It is!" Dee agreed with all the enthusiasm she could muster. "Nice long rest. In my own bed. Sounds great."

To her own surprise, the steady, friendly chatter Delilah was keeping up actually helped her feel better. The promise that Del would hold people responsible for letting Dee down drew out a tired smile, although it was really the opposite of her worries. At the beginning of the yeah? Yeah. She would have been cocky, assuming anyone on the team was more likely to fail than she was. After her first stage, however? Her letting them down, that was what she was scared of.

Still, Delilah was a comforting presence, warm and steady and supportive, and when the older girl promised to get her up to the dorms and tucked into bed, Dee could feel warm gratitude spreading in her stomach. Fine, maybe this "relying on other people" thing wasn't too terrible. Sometimes. Within limits. As long as it didn't get back to her grandparents. But Delilah had promised.

"Yeah, let's go," Dee agreed, testing her legs with a step and finding that they held. The trip up to her bed would still be exhausting, but with Delilah helping her, she'd make it.

It took a bit longer for her to actually muster up the courage to say what was on her mind, but when she did, it was simple and genuine, in a low voice. She didn't elaborate, but the two words encompassed the entire situation. "Thank you."