Closed Absolute Victory Brisk Basilisks

wearing his broom racing uniform | hex: #3a5948

The more Wyatt’s vision focused and he regained his senses, the better he understood himself to be in the hospital wing. There was an incredible gap in his memory between the game, feeling the impact of something sharp in his back, and waking up in the wing. All Wyatt knew now was the kaleidoscope of pain that enveloped him. Dull and sharp, deep and surface-level. He adjusted himself on the stiff mattress in a poor attempt to get more comfortable and landed on other bruises.

His sunken eyes darted across the wing, collecting clues as to how long he’d been there. He couldn’t clock anything other than the light spilling through tall windows. Wyatt gathered that he was alive from the fact that he could see, but recognized that Slytherin had likely lost the game. With him out, there were two racers left in the air, and all of Hufflepuff against them. He was conflicted. Wyatt didn’t start for the glory; It was the guts that drew him in. Wyatt would have rather been an urban legend than a plaque on the wall. Other students didn’t seem to view sports or their social standings the same way. They wanted to be medals and trophies and victory. Plaques, too. Wyatt hadn’t understood until he fell in love with broom racing. Now, all he needed was to feel like nothing could ground him. He longed for the chaos of being in the air, not knowing if the light that whizzed by your head was a spell meant to heal you or an illegal spell that’d kill you. The issue was deciding whether he was in it for the finish line or for the feeling of it all.

Trying to push himself to a seated position, Wyatt realized that his arm hurt. Everything aches, he figured, why should my arms be any different? His sigh alerted the nearest nurse of his consciousness, and they immediately brought him a cup of water. Their request for him to drink was more like a threat, and their tone made Wyatt wonder what he said as he was drifting in and out of consciousness. Before he could ask them for the date, they were gone. It couldn’t have been over a day–sports injuries rarely took that long to heal–but somehow every minute felt like an hour.

That cup of water mocked Wyatt from his bedside, and in return, Wyatt glared back. He may have been a little lightheaded and he wasn’t sure of the last time he ate anything or what time it was, but he could have sworn something in the way the water moved was hurling insults at him, only in water form. While his vision was slightly sharpening, his brain was still clouded in fog. And that’s without getting into the nausea. Wyatt felt like he just stepped off of a suspiciously squeaky carnival ride. From this, Wyatt assumed he was concussed. The concussion might have plagued him for months if it weren’t for magic, and he was beyond thankful for magic now. With the right potions, he would be back to normal by the next morning. But the next morning was way too late for Wyatt, who needed to get back on his broom. After a game, the best thing to do was to think back on his weakest moments and work on those. If he waited until tomorrow, would he be able to remember everything that needed work? He scanned the room for a quill and parchment, but he saw nothing within reach.

Nothing except for his entire broom racing team. At first, Wyatt was embarrassed to be seen in such a pathetic state. Very quickly, however, he came to the realization that his team was in no position to mock him, considering the fact that they were similarly… what, bedridden? None of them were in “critical condition,” but none of them were in good enough health to make fun of each other. Plus, none of them seemed like the type to be rude for no reason, even if they were healthy.

That being said, Wyatt didn’t really know any of them beyond their names, save for his dormmate, Percival. Even then, he and Percival never got to know each other due to the unfortunate fact that Percival Gray was an abominable twat. Or maybe because the two boys had already decided that they didn’t like each other and were willing to live their lives accepting that. At least Wyatt was.

"Did we win? Did someone die? Was someone set on fire? Did I die and was set on fire? I don't smell burnt ashes though," Vale Ashwood asked to the open air, cutting through the heavy silence. Understanding he was being watched, Wyatt only let out a hiss as he was propping himself up. He could have sworn that this muffled voice he’d heard earlier also belonged to Vale, as no one else seemed to be as conscious as her right now. Half in response, Wyatt rolled his eyes.

“I do not think we won, Ashwood,” Wyatt confessed, pessimistically. “In any sense of the word.”

Without thinking, almost subconsciously, Wyatt reached his hand over his shoulder to touch his back in the spot the arrow had hit him. He inhaled sharply and quickly, dropping his hand to his side. Yes, it hurt. It was bandaged, but—thanks to whatever magical treatment he recieved while unconscious—the wound had closed up. Wyatt allowed his head to collapse onto the pillows behind it, and he looked up at the ceiling. Everything about this was just the worst, wasn’t it.

Interacting: @Vale Ashwood
Mentioning: @Colin McCoire @Opeila Winters @Percival Gray @Starlee Kennedy @June Selwyn

June sat upright in a panicked bolt. Why am I lying down...? She put her hand up to block the harsh afternoon sun streaming through the windows of the hospital wing. Hospital wing?

Oh. Right.

The young Slytherin looked around at her team, all of them in various states of consciousness and impairment. This was terrible, her first ever broom race and June was in a position to secure some sort of victory for the team when all of a sudden-

June took in a sharp breath as pain shot across her back. Had she been hit with something? From where? She was far ahead of everyone as far as she knew.

The many uncertainties only further sank June's mood. "This blows," she said quietly as she crossed her arms. "All in favor of hiding dung bombs in the badger's schoolbags say 'Aye'," she let out a mirthless chuckle. It was a joke, a sad attempt to lighten the mood, but June wouldn't put herself above taking out her frustration right now. Especially against a certain Hufflepuff second and fourth year.

June sighed and gently shook her head. There were more important things at hand right now, like being a good teammate. "Everyone okay? That was pretty brutal."

October 15^TH | @Wyatt Starkey @June Selwyn @Vale Ashwood

All five. Yes, indeed all five racers had been brought to the hospital wing after this disaster of a race finished with all five of them on the ground and unconscious. With a terrible feeling in her stomach, Opeila had followed them upstairs, watched them being placed on the bed. Picked a chair next to Wyatt's bed and waited.

They had done amazing. After every race, no matter the repeated losses, Opeila couldn't help being impressed by all of them. She had participated in one Quidditch game in her second year and disliked it entirely, she could not picture herself participating in a race. It didn't need a professional to see that the fourth year was an entirely ill fit for a captain when it came to the practical parts. Maybe this was indeed the downside of two duellists being captains- they had no darn experience at all.

Vale was the first to wake up. The kid Opeila mainly remembered for trying to make it a vote if they got to use spells in her detention or not. Today she had also impressed Opeila, despite breaking the rules- it had been a bit of a desperate move, she felt. But one that had remained unseen by the referee.
And the first words she said now almost made Opeila break into a giggle she found very tactless given the team's situation, so she bit her tongue.

"We... we didn't win, sorry. Everyone went down. But that fire spell was awesome, really.", she answered, smiling at the younger Slytherin. Was it right of her to encourage the child this way? Probably not, but Opeila found that there was nothing wrong with giving the team a few words of comfort.

Opeila didn't notice that Wyatt had woken up as well until he also answered Vale's question. Immediately she turned to him. "Hey, how are you? Careful! That arrow got you good." Too good really. From her place in the stands it looked even worse than it was when her classmate was shot down. She had been a bit of a mess from that point until she was told that he would be okay.

And then June sat up rapidly in her bed too, making Opeila have to suppress the urge to tell them all to lie back and take it slowly. She rarely was in the hospital wing outside of internship duty nowadays and it was difficult to push the habits aside she had developed. But June's suggestion to hide dungbombs in the Hufflepuffs' bags made her chuckle after all.
The fourth year would reach down into a bag by her feet, grab a chocolate frog and throw it at June. "Aye. Here's something to make the day a little better."

Opeila had taken a lot of candy with her to the race but in the end barely ate any of it. But this was a good thing, by the looks of it, the team could use some sugar. "Anyone else want any?"

wearing his broom racing uniform | hex: #3a5948

When Opeila’s voice answered Vale’s question as to whether or not they won, Wyatt was pretty startled and turned to face her as fast as he could (which, in his condition, wasn’t incredibly fast). Sure, it was a nice thing to check in as captain of the team, but it wasn’t required at all, was it? He hadn’t expected her to be there if he was being honest. And he very much wasn’t expecting her to be at his bedside. Well, maybe it was that internship? But she didn’t seem to be working. He gave a small smile, despite the way she fussed about him getting up, something he’d usually find quite annoying.

“Everyone went down,” Wyatt mused, his tone as playful as his tiredness would allow. Vale was quite the trendsetter. “At least we lost as a team.”

"This blows," came a voice, June Selwyn’s, from a bed a short distance away from Wyatt. To tell the truth, the fourth year could not agree more. He had gotten so far ahead of like… everyone? And then he hit the ground and none of it mattered. Selwyn followed it up with a small effort to cheer everyone up and a lifeless chuckle. "All in favor of hiding dung bombs in the badger's schoolbags say 'Aye'."

Wyatt would’ve loved to “aye” at that, but he felt dung bombs wouldn’t be nearly enough revenge for the state those badgers put their whole team in. Wyatt didn’t feel all of the sting, though. It was possible some of his teammates didn’t expect Hufflepuffs to be so vicious, but Wyatt had met more than enough questionable badgers to treat this game like any other. Unfortunately for the team so far, treating the game like any other meant losing. Still, losing this brutally? It hurt. Physically, it hurt a lot.

Opeila offered chocolate, and the longer Wyatt tried to remember the last time he ate, the more he thought he should just take it. “I’ll take one,” he said. If she chose to toss it at him like she did to June, he wasn’t confident he’d be able to catch it. Nor was he certain his appetite would allow him to put so much effort into tracking down a snack just to barely be able to eat it. But it would be nice to have later, anyway. Wyatt took another glance around the wing, feeling odd. This was a bad loss.

If anything, the game must’ve been entertaining as hell.

Wyatt briefly wondered how Percival and Colin were holding up. They hadn't woken up yet. Since Wyatt had gotten knocked out before Gray, he had no idea what it was that got him. As for Colin, Wyatt had seen how the badgers pelted stuff at him till he was unconscious.

Interacting: @Vale Ashwood @Opeila Winters @June Selwyn
Mentioning: @Colin McCoire @Percival Gray

^{@.Noah Jupe}

----As Vale thought, the mood was grim. They did not win after all, according to Wyatt. But why was the mood still so grim? That was a enjoying, painful race! Vale got what she wanted in the end-

Did her captain say she had candy?

"Candy! Quick, throw me a bite! Or two! Make it two!" Despite the circumstances, Vale will easily pass off any sort of handheld grudge from this race she was in. It was impossible for her to ever hold a grudge. It made it all the more strange that the young girl had a old voodoo doll of her own. A short twist of her head, and she immediately came into eyesight of one of her dolls.

"Ashes! What brings you here? Did someone bring you to me?" Vale attempted to reach for the doll-

"Ow!" She was immediately discouraged to keep reaching for her doll further. "Just dungballs? Can't we set their robes on fire? Wait, we sneak into their rooms and place mysterious fingernail clippings in their beds! ...How would we get past their house door though..."

Vale already was hatching her own over-excessive plan of revenge, even if she would have no satisfaction from the 'revenge' portion of it. "Ashes, what do you think? No, that's pretty illegal. I think I'd get sent to Akzaban for that one. Hm, no...it would be hard to get a light sentence for that. I don't think I have a charming enough personality to get away with that..."

Vale chatted away with her doll as if it was having a conversation that everyone could hear and understand. She blabbed away, nearly forgetting she was in the hospital wing with her other team mates.

Mentions | @Colin McCoire @Percival Gray @Starlee Kennedy
Interactions | @Wyatt Starkey @Opeila Winters @June Selwyn

"CLAAAIIIRRR!!!! Where are you? How do I fly this thing!?" Colin shouted suddenly as he sat up! He found himself covered in blankets with bandages all over his arms and chest and back. "Oof." Something was on his head. More bandages. The faint smell of blood wafted through his nostrils. Colin looked around. Captain Opeila was sitting in a chair over next to Wyatt; June was there too and Vale. She was next to Colin and was playing with some kind of dolly.

Wait.

Was this still part of the dream? "Mate! Am I awake now? I was having a brilliant dream! Maybe I still am! Me and Clair were flying on this wicked fast broom! Twas really really long and had brooms sticking off the sides and other brooms sticking off the back! And then Clair disappeared. But I didn't know how to fly it! It wouldn't follow any of my commands or nudges. And then it started plunging down onto stones and I crashed!"

Colin spoke rapidly, for the dream was vivid and and he was excited on waking to tell the others. "Whoa." Colin shook his head, which gave him a bit of headache. He'd forgotten that his head had been bashed. As he looked around, it seemed like all the others were bandaged up as well. "Vale? June? Are you okay mates? I don't even know what happened! Did we win the race?" Colin's eyes shifted from one injured racer to the other. Percey still wasn't awake. "We didn't even finish the race, did we Cap?"

Colin stared at the floor for a moment. Then he shrugged and smiled. "When is our next race!? It's Gryffindork, right? Let's knock them all down too! I can't wait to get back in the air!"

@Vale Ashwood | @Opeila Winters | @June Selwyn | @Percival Gray | @Wyatt Starkey || Mentions: @Clair Fernandez