28 Sep 2022, 00:07
Watch Your Step
Date: 09/24/22 | Time: Afternoon
────────────────────────────────────────Finally, a day of relative peace. The small stack of homework that's been sitting by her bedside for days now notwithstanding, Avery is very much looking forward to not having to think about schoolwork for a few hours. It's been a relatively hectic start to the school year so far, and it's only been exacerbated by the prospect of the looming ball and tournament to come. Either topic seemed to be all anyone could talk about, though there was at least some merit to the hype building around it all. An interesting year ahead indeed.
She just needed some time outside the castle walls. The Hufflepuff had been doing her best to just buckle down and try to power her way through the piles of homework, but she could feel the burnout setting in already. And it was far too earlier in both the year and her time at Hogwarts to want to try and contend with that. Was she perhaps a little ambitious within her first month on the grounds? Without a doubt. But at least she was aware of it and was trying to mitigate before it got too terrible. Whether it worked or not was another story entirely.
As such, the prospect of some proper fresh air gave the first year something of a spring in her step as she descended the stairs from the owlery. The weather had a bit of a chill, but the sun was shining and that's all she needed in the moment. Luckily with the weekend upon them, so the majority of students had already split off into their desired tasks for the day in the post-lunch calm.
Making her way down the middle of the stairs to avoid students going either direction, she descends with an eager skip to her step, barely touching down upon the stone steps. The folly in this is only, rather painfully, discovered with a simple shake of the staircase. It detaches from the landing behind her and begins to pivot towards a new one. The sudden movement startles the first year from where she's lost in her musings about the upcoming ball. Instead of stone, her foot comes into contact with air about halfway down the steps.
A nauseating swoop settles in her stomach as she suddenly pitches forward. Her hands flail out to the side uselessly as she tries halt the momentum, only succeeding to add to her own panic when she comes up empty-handed. Unable to slow her descent, Avery finds herself tumbling down towards the landing before her. Despite a few decidedly painful jabs of the steps into her arms and back, she's able to tuck her head just enough to avoid potentially knocking her head on the stone. Though it feels like it takes minutes to fall the entire rest of the length of the stairs, within seconds the first year finds herself partially sprawled on one side against the wall opposite the stairs.
Partially dazed, she looks up towards the portrait hanging above her. The subject, some elderly wizard with a particularly impressive mustache, has clearly found some amusement in the mishap and does nothing to restrain his rather raucous laughter. Slowly regaining some sense of orientation, Avery can feel her cheeks quickly flare with heat as the embarrassment begins to settle in. Fantastic.────────────────────────────────
𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @Adelaide Barlowe
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8 Oct 2022, 00:54
Watch Your Step
Mentioning:───────────────────
Time: Afternoon
Outfit: x
Adelaide made her way through the corridors, her satchel slung over her shoulders, intent on going to the library for an hour or two to revise her notes she had make this week. If she had time, she might even head to the rehearsal room later to practice ballet. She weaved in and out of the few students leisurely walking about the corridors before heading down one of the staircases. The blonde wasn't paying much attention to the people around her. Well, that was until she looked up just in time to catch someone lose their balance as the staircase detached. It was as if she was watching this unfortunate mishap in slow motion; the girl's foot missed, and she fell forward, practically falling the rest of the way down the staircase before colliding with the wall opposite the stairs.
Her mouth seemed to move of its own volition as it opened, and a bark of laughter escaped her. It did not seem to care that this girl was probably really embarrassed and laughing wouldn't make it any better for her. Although, the portrait mounted on the wall above the poor girl seemed to have the same idea as Adelaide. The Ravenclaw just did not seem to have a filter sometimes, and especially during the worst possible times where a filter would really come in quite handy. She let out another laugh before regaining her composure, straightening her posture and making her way down the rest of the stairs. She stopped in front of the girl, looking down at her with a mixture of pity and amusement. She really had to restrain herself from not laughing again, "You do realize the stairs are made for walking, not flying, down, right?" She questions, her eyes sparkling with mirth.
10 Oct 2022, 01:30
Watch Your Step
─────An unamused glare is leveled at the portrait above. Though, granted, some of the heat that she had hoped to infuse the look with was rendered partially ineffective by the heavy blush that had settled across her face and to the tips of her ears. It likely didn't quite hold the same effect that was desired. This did not, however, keep her mind from wandering down a train of thought that ended with a certain picture frame taking a plummet down the stairs itself. While she couldn't exactly recall a rule specifying anything of the specific relation, school staff may find some issue with the act. Alas, one can at least dream.
A laugh pulls the Hufflepuff's attention away from the portrait. Shifting slightly, Avery turns her gaze towards a student seemingly approaching. Out of her peripheral, she does her best to ignore the handful of glances and snickers of other passing students that fail to slow down on their way past. Craning her neck to look up at the girl once she comes to a stop before her, the first year takes note of the barely restrained amusement on display. Not that she could really fault her for it. Were it not for the slight ache, and perhaps the presence of witnesses, she may well have laughed at her own misfortune as well.
At the good-natured quip, Avery flounders for a moment, still trying to regain some semblance of her senses after the whirlwind that has been the last minute. "Oh, well. Y'know how it is. Just trying for some extra credit for flying class," she lamely states, somehow the first thing to come to mind. Realizing that she's still partially sprawled across the landing, flushed cheeks somehow darken further and she scrambles, as dignified as she's able, back to her feet. Once righted, the Hufflepuff quickly tries to straighten out her rumpled sweater and brush off any dust. She gives herself a quick onceover before bashfully looking back to the girl before her. "Sorry. I'd say I'm usually more coordinated than that, but that would absolutely be a lie," the first year jokes, offering up a sheepish smile.────────────────────────────────
𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @Adelaide Barlowe
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23 Nov 2022, 18:42
Watch Your Step
Mentioning:───────────────────
Time: Afternoon
Outfit: x
"It's fine though," she smiled, "you definitely don't look like you just fell down the stairs. You look perfectly okay." A small, white lie, but it was fine. Lying to save someone from further embarrassment was okay, right? People had lied about worse. Hell, she'd said worse to people. Her gaze softened then, and she spoke once more, "Are you okay though? That was bound to hurt, even if it was funny," she bit back a laugh again, because she was trying to be compassionate right now. Was this situation funny? Yes, very. But she was going to try her hardest to not laugh right now and hopefully save this girl from dying of embarrassment. A dead body on her hands probably wouldn't look good on her student record.
Well, it definitely didn't take a genius to realize that this girl had as much coordination skills as a newborn baby. Though in all honesty, a newborn baby probably had better coordination skills than her, "Well, at least you don't do ballet," Adelaide joked, "unless you do, then you're probably notoriously bad at it." The corner of her mouth quirked up as she kept teasing the girl (who could blame her? It was funny)."I'm Adelaide Barlowe, by the way," she continued, "and you are? Or should I just call you klutzy? I think it fits perfectly, and I'll honestly be disappointed if it isn't your actual name." It would probably be best if the blonde stopped teasing the poor girl, but she couldn't help it. It was fun, and it was also her entertainment for the day. She had originally been planning on going to the library for the day, but surprisingly, she didn't mind making a quick detour for this.
27 Nov 2022, 23:22
Watch Your Step
─────Still a little flustered, the suggestion manages to coax out a quiet laugh even as she tries to tamp down on the embarrassed blush. "I'll take that into consideration next time, thanks. Seems the muggle way is not the way to go on this one," Avery fires back with sheepish grin. Now that the shock of the tumble was finally wearing off, the Hufflepuff tried to compose herself to at least some degree before amused girl. There may not have been much of it, but she'd at least try to salvage what dignity she could.
The comment to follow is promptly cut off by the girl pointing out some residual dirt coating her sweater. Mouth still partially open from where she'd gone to speak, Avery's eyes follows the direction of the finger. Sure enough, there was still a sizable patch of dust plastered across the front of the sweater. Well, maybe that dignity wasn't going to be salvaged after all. Doing what she can to repress the red coloring her cheeks, the first year quickly brushes a hand across the spot a couple times to dislodge the dirt. "Right, yeah, thank you. It's been...a day." An understatement.
Avery had some serious doubt in the girl's reassurance, but flashed her a grateful smile nonetheless. She felt like hot garbage. But she'd take what she could get, at least the girl was trying. "I'll definitely take 'perfectly okay' to the alternative of flat on my ass." A hand lifts to try and unruffle her hair a little bit, back into a 'just rolled out of bed' kind of messy rather than 'rolled head over heels' disaster. "And I think so," she responds, straightening back up and giving her neck an experimental twist. Nothing felt broken, at least. "I've no doubt there'll be some fun bruises in decidedly un-fun places, but I imagine I'll survive. Absolutely not explaining what just happened to the nurse." The thought was almost enough to elicit a shudder.
As at least some of the initial embarrassment began to fade, the other girl's amusement was considerably easier to stomach without a flush creeping up her neck. Avery *knew* she'd be in much the same situation had it been someone else. Much different situation when it's yourself. But the smile manages to bloom into an amused smirk of her own at the teasing. "Closest I've come is balancing on barn rafters, but I fell then too, so. True shame my future in ballet wasn't meant to be," she shoots back, clasping her hands behind her back and bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet. Spatial awareness was definitely not one of her strong suits.
Adelaide's teasing introduction prompts an amused chuckle. This was certainly not the first time Avery had found herself being teased for one thing or another, but as good-natured as it at least seemed to be, she found it easy to take in stride. "Well damn. You must've heard of me, got it in one guess." The Hufflepuff snickers quietly, head tilting to the side a little as she studies the girl before her. "Avery McCall, though klutzy may as well be my middle name. My apologies for interrupting you with my impeccable timing for failure. It really is my true gift." At this point, the first year couldn't even remember what she'd been off to do. Damn, maybe she had hit her head a little.
"I do appreciate the check in, though, thank you," she adds, amusement shifting into more genuine gratitude. The other girl very well could have laughed and continued on her way and Avery wouldn't have been able to fault her for it. "It's good to meet you, though I could've done without making an idiot of myself to do so. At least you know it's on brand now I suppose." Avery offers up a small shrug. She'd long ago accepted her lack of coordination as one of her shortcomings. Not that she was at all pleased with it. "Lesson learned, I guess. Always watch your step here," she states, gesturing at the castle as a whole.────────────────────────────────
𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @Adelaide Barlowe
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31 Dec 2022, 23:44
Watch Your Step
Mentioning:───────────────────
Time: Afternoon
Outfit: x
Pointing out the fact that the girl still had dust on her sweater didn't seem to be the best idea, if the tinge of red on her cheeks was any indication. Hey, at least she didn't need to walk through the corridors now with dust still on her clothes. That probably would've been more embarrassing. "Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I bet everyone who saw your unfortunate mishap will forget about it in 10 minutes. They're either going to do something embarrassing themselves or they're probably stressing over weekend homework they forgot they had to do."
It's likely easier said than done, trying to forget about something embarrassing you did. Adelaide's too confident in herself to ever be really, truly embarrassed, so luckily she's never had to deal with sitting awake at night thinking about something embarrassing you done that no one else even remembers, but at least she was trying to help the other girl by offering some advice. Likely no one's going to care or even remember that someone fell down the staircases on a random Saturday in September.
Either way, something tells her this isn't the first time this girl has found herself in an unfortunate and embarrassing situation. "The nurse has most definitely had to deal with people in far more embarrassing circumstances, so it definitely wouldn't be the end of the world if you did need to explain it to the nurse. Plus, a lot of people have probably fallen down these stairs before. They move around, for one, so anyone with bad balance will very easily fall off and I'm fairly certain that there's trick steps on multiple staircases just to make you trip and fall." The Ravenclaw had zero evidence to back that up since she'd never actually encountered an infamous trick step, but there'd been a lot of rumors throughout the years, and it was more than likely true. This was Hogwarts after all.
"Barn rafters, hm? You live on a farm then?" She couldn't help but be curious, especially since she grew up in London, and in a Pureblood manor no less. She'd never even been on a farm before, so it was always interesting to meet someone who had grown up in an entirely different situation than herself. "But honestly, ballet would probably help you with your balance. That is, if you want to stop falling all over the place. If not, then you know, keep doing what you do."
She had to admit, she was enjoying this dynamic they had going on. At least Avery didn't seem to be taking the teasing too bad. "Oh yeah, you're definitely very famous around these parts. I'm so honored to have met you, truly," she lets out a faux gasp, placing a dramatic hand over her chest to really keep up the act, "Do you do autographs?" She lets go of the act after a few minutes, dropping her hand from her chest as her mouth tilted up into an amused smirk, "Well, Avery, it's nice to meet you. Probably not nice for you to fall on your ass but, you know, it is what it is. And it offered me some entertainment for the day before I head to the library to study so, thanks."
Adelaide waved her hand in a dismissive gesture, "Don't worry about it, honestly. I was feeling in a good mood today so I decided laughing in your face and then asking if you're alright was the best thing to do in this situation. But yes, definitely watch your step around here. Though I probably won't be surprised if I see you falling elsewhere. It does seem pretty on brand for you." She couldn't help but smile, thankful that Avery did seem to be such a great sport about falling on her ass. Anyone else probably would've hated Adelaide for laughing.
3 Feb 2023, 00:10
Watch Your Step
Wow, this girl did not pull punches. At least the teasing was all in good fun. At least, now that she thought about it a moment longer, she hoped it was. Nothing hinted at it being malicious yet at least, so she'd take it. "I think that's a fair point. Never know until you try I suppose. Or, y'know, whatever that saying is," she quips back, cheeks still holding a faint flush despite the goofy grin that has taken up residence.
This had certainly been an unexpected twist to the day. Avery could confidently say she no longer had any actual memory of what it was she'd set out to do. Between the suddenness of it all and the suffocating embarrassment that had initially followed, all she was left with was a blank slate. Well, at least now she had no expectations for how the day was to go.
She does, however, offer a quiet hum in agreement at the observation. Hopefully literally everyone forgot this entire incident happened, including herself. That'd probably take a bit more of a concerted effort, though. "Yeah, fair enough honestly. I think I'll just tough it out, I've gotten worse during Quidditch practice." Bludgers were most certainly not her friend. There'd been many a sore nights spent staring up at the stars from her hammock and wondering why she had willingly picked a position purposefully on the receiving end of them. At least the sport itself was fun.
As the questioning continues beyond the surface level checking upon, the Hufflepuff perks up slightly and turns to face Adelaide a little more fully. Maybe her mishap would lead to a new friendship? "Oh, yeah! My family has a small farm just outside Carlow. Nothing fancy, but it's enough for us all to get by comfortably." She tried to imagine herself in any sort of ballet setting. The mere thought brought about a slight scrunching of her face. "Yeah, sounds like it'd be helpful but I'm gonna just stick to what I'm good at. I've already got the precise technique of falling down pretty much nailed."
The dramatic turn to the banter draws forth a wry grin. Avery watches Adelaide in her bout of dramatic fawning for an autograph with an upturned eyebrow, smirk firmly set. She examines her nails for a moment as the faux question hangs in the air. "Hmm, well it's not often I willingly hand out autographs...and this still isn't one of those times. Maybe next time," she teases, dropping her hand to her side once more. "And happy to be of entertainment I suppose, though I'll try to not make it a habit. But no promises."
Avery offers the girl a warm smile. Despite the teasing, she seemed genuinely sweet and considerate underneath it all. And it wasn't like she couldn't keep up with the teasing on its own. "Well I'm definitely glad I at least caught you on a good mood. Hate to see what a bad mood might involve with something like this." Probably getting pushed down another couple flights of stairs at least. Fun times. "But I'll take your word for it and try to...avoid falling down more stairs. It's a big ask, but I'm sure I can mostly manage. After all, I've apparently got a brand to keep alive." She fully prepared on this happening at least twice more in the coming years, if she was generous. Maybe this year alone. Sometimes you just can't help getting stuck in your head at the most inopportune times.────────────────────────────────
𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @Adelaide Barlowe
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