Returns and Reunions
@Alec Mason | October 8th
Opeila had hurried away from the ball and once she was out of the location, she began to run. Run from the threat without a name that seemed to linger everywhere and nowhere at the same time, the masses of faces that she couldn't put into a category any longer. Getting out and away could surely only help, right?
Her hands were still clasping the little black box that got delivered to her by a boy- a blonde little boy and some other vaguely familiar faces, hadn't one of them been in detention with her before? Or both even?
Opeila stopped running when the land ended. Quite literally, in front of her, the smooth black surface of the lake was reflecting the night sky and brought her quick escape to a halt.
The young Slytherin would find herself a large rock to sit on and finally have a look at the black box and the note again. Carefully she would lift the lid off the box and take out the content- a necklace. Opeila took the charm into her left hand and brought it closer to her face to examine it in the darkness. It was quite pretty, but no hint for who could have sent it.
For a few more seconds she would stare at the necklace, before simply putting it around her neck and tucking the charm underneath her dress. Opeila stored the note in a pocket in her skirt and set the empty box down next to her on the rock.
Returns and Reunions
Outfit | General description beyond clothes:
Alec's curly brown hair is tied back into a ponytail, various pins decorate the vest he's wearing, and unlike what has become the usual routine, Alec has made no effort to hide the ways his lips look. His lips were strangely dark with darker lines extending from his mouth, It resembles the curse that students had in the past. The boy seemed to think that by now it would have been more trouble than it was worth to cover up, he would have needed much more than lipstick.
Today had been a flop, a spectacular disaster, he should have seen it coming. Even if Alec had shown late him and Pea were going to find something to argue about, they always did. Alec had been sick of the back and forth, up and downs, they were always in a place where Alec had to wonder if their relationship was going to make it to the end of the hour. Alec didn't find their breakup, their oh-so public end surprising in the least, it was a shame they couldn't have waited until after the ball, when there were less people around to see. The breakup was hard on Alec, but not because of the reason most might have thought.
The lake, the minute he left it's where his thoughts went. A calm peaceful place far from the ball, far from Pea. To sit and think... silently sulk. Alec had known it was a bad idea from the beginning he didn't understand why he did not stop himself then, leave and pull from it before he got hurt.
The young man's thoughts drifted, as he made his way to the lake. Alec's uptight posture relaxed as his eyes spotted the glittering surface of the lake. The darkness, the night, made everything just that bit more beautiful, it would be no different today as the stars reflection of the lake painted of a picture of the sky. As Alec walked closer, a figure came into view. Alec had hoped he'd be alone, but there they were, lakeside company. Maybe, if he walked far enough, any direction, left or right he could be alone. The person had to understand why people came to the lake, during the middle of a ball no less, they were alone too.
Instead of wandering off for his own lakeside space, he feet moved on their own and he walked forward. Slowly the figure came better into his view, slowly he could pick out features. The girl looked similar to Opeila; the resemblance was actually quite incredible. No... Could it be? It couldn't be. There was no way. Somebody would have told him, he visited, it hadn't been that long ago. Then he caught a glimpse, the slightest of ones of her face. In an instant all of Alec's doubt vanished. “Merlin's beard,” he couldn't believe it, his feet took off and he ran. “Opeila!”
His instinct was to hug her, hugging her would set in the feeling it was all real, that this was actually happening, he wasn't seeing things or having some weird fever dream.
Reducio
Alec caught himself stopping only a few steps from her. Was it okay for him to hug her? Were they even friends? His eyebrows furrowed though these thoughts, these questions, neither interfered with the share of excitement of it all, the relief, a weight lifted off his shoulders because fine. Alec had spent so long worrying about her and for her and here she was in the flesh and she was up and awake, she looked healthy, she didn't seem sick anymore. Was all if it dealt with and gone? One could only hope. “You- you're okay!” He sputtered out, eyes staring, almost in disbelief.
Mention: @Opeila Winters
Last edited by Alec Mason on 9 Feb 2023, 21:10, edited 1 time in total.
Returns and Reunions
@Alec Mason
Another person's voice had the young Slytherin jump off the rock and squint into the darkness. When fleeing to the lake, Opeila had never even noticed that she was not alone, somehow she had assumed that everyone else would be at the ball. Not enough had gone wrong at the party yet for people to run off- well, except for her, but from the looks of it, she was also pretty much the first to get in contact with the bewitched food and beverages.
And yet there was someone else at the lake, quite near from the sound of it. Also they had recognized her- hadn't they said her name just a moment ago? Opeila also felt her heart quicken at the sound of the voice, but couldn't immediately tell why. It was a boy's voice, one she knew, but her mind still felt like it was working inside a cloud of fog, heavy and slow.
Then the boy started to run, making Opeila's body tense up in alarm. Her fingers twitched, ready to grab her wand and hex the potential threat- but instead of grabbing it, she was frozen to the spot. As he came closer, she tried to make out his face and when he finally stopped before her, she could.
When she recognized the Gryffindor, it felt like two giant waves of feelings crashed inside her, smashing the floodgates that allowed her to maintain a straight face. "You- Alec?"
Where had he been? Why hadn't he been there when she had woken up? And why on earth was she asking herself these questions? It was not like they were that close, but yet Opeila felt so relieved upon seeing him, it was ridiculous.
For a few seconds the Slytherin would stand glued to the spot, her expression changing with the passing emotions, almost too quick to identify them, especially in the darkness, before she would step forward, close the distance between them and wrap her arms around him.
"Are you real?" The question slipped out as a trembling whisper that almost sounded like a plead before she could hold it back, a dread that she had refused to let anyone see since she woke up. "Is any of this real, am I really aliv- awake?"
And suddenly Opeila was grateful for the darkness, for the hug. Both allowed her to hide the silly tears that began to stream down her cheeks. It was a thought that had come to her in the middle of last night and it had kept her awake for a few hours- What if she was dead? Was this the afterlife? Or was she dreaming?
Returns and Reunions
Outfit | General description beyond clothes:
Alec's curly brown hair is tied back into a ponytail, various pins decorate the vest he's wearing, and unlike what has become the usual routine, Alec has made no effort to hide the ways his lips look. His lips were strangely dark with darker lines extending from his mouth, It resembles the curse that students had in the past. The boy seemed to think that by now it would have been more trouble than it was worth to cover up, he would have needed much more than lipstick.
Alec was still stuck in a state of shock. For over three weeks she had been stuck in a frozen state, she was out cold and the image of her on a bed in the hospital wing, alive but lifeless stayed engraved in his mind. To be see her unmoving for over three weeks, suddenly running into her awake and well by the lake. He didn't know she was awake, just this morning he'd caught mind on the worry once again that she might never wake up. How long had she been awake for? Alec wished he'd known. He would have gone to see her if he'd known. Alec had gotten caught up with the ball- he hadn't been able to check on her and much as he would have liked. Maybe if he had he would have known. Even in silence, Opeila's ever-changing expression spoke a million words at once.
She was real- but how could this possibly be real? Alec had seen her looking lifeless in the hospital wing so many times over, cemented in his mind, it was impossible for her to be here, for her to be okay. Then Opeila took a step forward, closing the distance between them she hugged him. He could feel her, and all at once it became very real very possible. Alec returned the emotional hug, wrapping his arms around Opeila, holding onto her as if scared letting go meant she would disappear. Opeila asked if he was real her voice trembled and it came out so quiet it could have scarcely been considered a whisper. Once she had let the first question past her lips the rest came pouring out. Opeila asked if any of this was real, if she was really aliv- awake. At her words Alec arms would tighten around her ever-so-slightly giving her a (hopefully)comforting squeeze.
“It's real.” He soothed, the volume of his voice suddenly quiet, just above Opeila's own. Alec couldn't imagine how it felt to be in Opeila's position. The fear of it all not being real, felt close to real. It was hard to believe it at all, she was worried about not waking about before she took the fall in the corridors, she could have thought it was it. She didn't know and the unknown was often a scary thought. “I'm real.” He assured, though part of him felt assurance was uneeded, she could him hugging her back. “You're awake, you're alive.” He wondered how she'd taken it when they told her just how much time she had missed. Her classes, she kept going even when unwell, and to wake up and have learned she missed so much of it.
Silence would ensue, Alec continued to hug her long after he stopped speaking. When Alec eventually did pull away and let go he seemed hesitant, but he knew there were still things to be said. Questions to be asked. Even if Alec didn't expect the first question that would come out of his mouth. “Were you able to see Flash yet?” It made sense, sort of. What happened to Opeila was because of Jack's ritual for Flash. She would want to see him. Alec hoped it had worked. People suffered for it. “When did you wake up?” It couldn't have been long ago.
Alec's eyes were no better adjusted, needing time to get used to the darkness after having been in a lit up place like the ball. Alec took a moment to take in her attire and quirked an eyebrow. “You went to the ball?” It would have been a little much for any other occasion. Alec hadn't noticed her at the ball, then again he'd been rather distracted with Pea.
Mention: @Opeila Winters
Returns and Reunions
@Alec Mason
Opeila would not be the first one to let go. After weeks of coma and more weeks of fear, she had never realized how much she was craving a bit of affection, a few calming words. So much that even though they came from someone she wasn't particularly close with, they meant the world to her. The young Slytherin closed her eyes, sending more tears streaming down her cheeks, when Alec confirmed what she had hoped for so much- That this was real, that she was actually awake.
And when he returned her hug, Opeila felt that this was something more than politeness. Had Alec been scared for her? Surely she must have frightened people, the last thing she remember was asking a random student in a corridor for help, before the word tilted and then dissolved in darkness.
Was he glad to see her? When he let go, it seemed like he was almost as hesitant as Opeila.
The question about Flash caught her off guard and made her uneasy. "I didn't, I just woke up yesterday. Why, did something happen? Is he okay, do you know if the ritual worked?" Her eyes widened and her voice became higher with every word. The fear came out of nowhere, closed around her heart like a cold fist. "What happened while I was gone?"
She nodded when Alec asked her if she had gone to the ball. "Yes. Now I wish I hadn't. Two minutes in I was given the biggest jumpscare ever and... Damn, I think there is something in the food, I can't even... seem to be able to think properly, dammit." Opeila shook her head. The foggy feeling had cleared up a tiny bit at least- or at least she hoped so. "Have you been at the ball?" Another thought crossed her mind. Why on earth didn't she think of that earlier? "Did anything happen to you?"
Returns and Reunions
Outfit | General description beyond clothes:
Alec's curly brown hair is tied back into a ponytail, various pins decorate the vest he's wearing, and unlike what has become the usual routine, Alec has made no effort to hide the ways his lips look. His lips were strangely dark with darker lines extending from his mouth, It resembles the curse that students had in the past. The boy seemed to think that by now it would have been more trouble than it was worth to cover up, he would have needed much more than lipstick.
Alec had been the one to decide when to let go. It seemed Opeila herself wouldn't have pulled away if not for Alec. He had been able to hug Opeila, and even a few short seconds would have been enough. For he was already drowning in the uplifting relief of her presence. The fact that she was here. She was real and alive, nothing like the various dreams he'd had of her in a leave of absence. The dreams which had begin to leave him with trouble deciphering dreams from reality, all so clear the second he hugged her. Dreams where the worst had caught up with her, making the dangers of involvement in a hag ritual clear, and those where she was alive and well just as she was now. All so real as if he could touch and feel everything, of course he couldn't.
After he pulled away, it would take a moment for him to notice. Opeila had been crying. He hadn't realized when he was hugging her but it was easier to see now. Alec held back to urge to hug her again, and took this chance to ask of Flash. If she had seen him. He knew it was important, she had gone through all this trouble for him in the first place, it seemed like a reasonable ask. But as Opeila would begin to explain she had only woken up yesterday, she hadn't had the time to see Flash yet, and Alec question began to cause a downward spiral of worry. Opeila asked if something happened, if Flash was okay, if Alec knew whether or not the ritual worked. Her voices continued to get higher as she asked and Alec's eyes widened. She asked what happened while she was gone.
Alec quickly shook his head. “Nothing!” He blurted out quickly. Looking off to the side, Alec smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. “Everybody's fine. I didn't mean to worry you.” Alec, feeling sort of cued out had thought the best plan of action was to ask Opeila about the ritual. Clearly Alec was wrong. “I wouldn't know. That's why I asked. It's probably going well.” Though Alec shrugged, having no way to affirm such an assumption.
With the situation having settled down, Alec was able to ask about the ball. Opeila was dressed up far too nicely to be coming from anywhere else. It was hard to imagine her use of the outfit casually. Alec's eyebrows furrowed as she mentioned only recently having a jumpscare and... something in the food? Why would there be- That couldn't be right. Right? Perhaps it was something she had eaten earlier that day, hard for him to fathom how it could have been from the ball. Opeila asked if he went to the ball, followed by questions about if anything had happened to him while he was there. He nodded to the first question, though he froze up at the second question, looking put on the spot. Alec let out a dark chuckle, shaking his head. “No- Well... Yes. But it's nothing like what happened to you.” No jumpscare or... food which had apparently been spiked, news that was honestly somewhat concerning.
“You think the refreshments might have been spiked?” Alec asked, concerning reaching his eyes. “How are you feeling now? I could be good to sit down and wait it out.” Alec suggested. Mentally recalling his own ball experience as he spoke, still nothing weird had happened like she said. Then again, “I didn't stay long enough to try the food. Everything with my date went downhill pretty fast.” A somber looked reached his face though Alec never let it stay for more than a moment, distancing himself from it immediately. “Did you go with anyone? I thought you would have brought Wyatt again, but I didn't see him at the ball either.” Knowing Wyatt he had probably found himself caught up in broom racing practice, besides, her having woken up only recently, it was such a last minute ask.
Mention: @Opeila Winters
Returns and Reunions
@Alec Mason
It took Opeila a few moments and the reassuring words of Alec to realize that she had misunderstood the intention behind his question. He didn't mean to ask whether she had heard of something that happened to Flash, but if she had seen him altogether, her still somewhat foggy mind managed to put together.
The next wave of worry hit her when she asked if something had happened to him and he answered yes. Then clarified that it wasn't like what happened to her. What did that even mean? What had happened to Opeila was pretty bad, so... different bad? Or was this something else? "Are you cursed too?", she would follow up, her brows drawn together in confusion.
Opeila nodded at his question about the drinks. "Well- the food. I couldn't even drink anything before my goblet transformed into this... gigantic spider. I have no idea whose idea of a joke that is after everything we had to deal with that involved spiders." Two years ago, Opeila would have freaked out way worse than she had, she was sure of it. This was really not funny, only reckless.
"No- No, I haven't seen Wyatt yet, actually..." Had he not gone to the ball this time? It could be, last time it felt like Opeila had to convince him to go with her as well...
Returns and Reunions
Alec's eyes widened in alarm at the suggestion that he'd been cursed too. That wasn't what he had meant at all. Her assumption felt like a fairly big leap from the more mundane questions she could have started with. Ultimately, he understood her need to be cautious and jump to asking it immediately. After everything that happened he didn't blame her. He vigorously shook his head no, “no, it- it's nothing like that. I'm not anymore cursed than I was before the ritual.” He assured her. His frantic reassurance was followed by a pause. Alec had never told her about his being cursed.. or well, not exactly cursed, but having whatever amounted to a hag kiss disease. “Uh. It's a long story. Probably a conversation for later.” He wasn't going to try explaining it now. His appearance probably showed enough as is. His lips were darker than they should be with even darker lines extending from his mouth, resembling the curse that students had in the past.
Okay so the refreshments were in fact not spiked with potions, the goblets were transforming into spiders, or maybe it had just been Opeila's? It wasn't quite clear. “I can't imagine what you were going through when you saw the spider. It must have been terrifying.” Last school year he would have no idea why the spider would have freaked Opeila out. Alec hadn't been well informed until recently when he had been able to ask Illowy about it. He had been asking about it because of his own ... er situation. Even Alec was surprised in his ability to have been ignorant for as long as he was.
Opeila said she hadn't seen Wyatt. Alec's eyebrows furrowed, he expected that Wyatt would have gone, unless he was worried for Opeila... or worried about another terror of a ball. Wait. Did Wyatt even know what was going on- There's nobody who would have told him. Were they close enough for Wyatt to worry about Opeila suddenly disappearing for a bit? To Alec it seemed like they were but he could never be truly certain. If Wyatt had worried he could have gone to the hospital wing. Did he not notice? Maybe Alec was reading too deep into this. Alec nodded, not voicing his rapid train of thoughts out loud. Letting out a thoughtful hum, Alec spoke, “he's probably hiding out in his dorm. I don't blame him... Each ball is one nightmare after another.” Alec inhaled sharply, this ball had to have been one of the worst by far, what happened with Pea alone was enough to rank it top tier terrible, even despite the fact that Alec had been to balls for more dangerous and injury filled then this one had been. “I'll hold out hope, maybe the next ball will be better, for both of us,” anything to not have his attendance of this ball ingrained in his mind.
Opeila had been acting a little off, she recently woke up from a coma so he wanted to give her slack -Yet, she had been frantic ever since he started talking to her. It could have been due to the circumstances but she also mentioned she thought her food had been spiked. “You must have left rather early into the ball. I take it the spiked food and transforming cup were no incentive to stay?” Alec questioned jokingly. she had been here before Alec. Alec almost wanted to be relieved that Opeila had been so caught up with everything that had happened to her that she didn't stick around long to watch what had played out between Alec and Pea. Alec's eyes drifted towards the lake. “Do you mind having some company?” Alec sighed. “I'm not ready to head back to the castle just yet.” It was better for him not to be alone right now, with luck he'd be able to hold it together until he inevitably ran into George.
Mention: @Opeila Winters
Returns and Reunions
@Alec Mason
On an other day, in any other state, Opeila would have probably picked up on his weirdly worded response, however with her mind still foggy and the shock of watching her goblet turn into a spider not having entirely passed yet, she didn't. Alec did not seem to realize her absolute obliviousness in the moment and promised an explanation later, earning him a confused look. So... had anything happened after all?
"It's ok... it would have been worse a year ago or two.", she commented on his answer concerning the spider. "I just wasn't prepared for such a dumb idea of fun. Whoever plans these balls should really get informed on Hogwarts history sometime..."
A weak smile appeared on her face when Alec said that Wyatt was probably hiding. Maybe he was, Opeila never got the impression that her classmate enjoyed these events too much, so she couldn't blame him either. "Well, at least no one died yet... I think." She glanced over her shoulder a little nervously.
Opeila exhaled as her head slowly seemed to get clearer again. "No, they absolutely weren't... I just went to see if some people were there I could hang out with but... it all immediately became a disaster, so... I don't necessarily need to get back there."
She was almost relieved when Alec asked if she minded the company. The fresh air seemed to make her brain less and less foggy and if she didn't have to be alone, even better.
"Please. I don't want to go inside yet either." She looked at the dark surface of the lake. "So apart from the... well, the chaos... how have things been while I was gone? How have you been?" There was still a pang of guilt at the memory of her last few minutes. She was sure she had scared the hell out of a few people, probably more than necessary, and Alec certainly most of all.