Lost Little Lamb Open

"Its okay, I'm okay" she assured, offering her best smile as the older girl uttered her apology before continuing to follow the girl up the stairs, watching her closely. Where the older girl stepped, she followed precisely in line, if Paris hopped a step, so did Taliesin. She was use to watching people closely, gauging them, copying what they were doing. Years of deportment lessons and having to be acutely aware of the moods and feelings of the adults around her had honed the skill into second nature.

Now, having calmed down from her initial panic about being lost and late, she was able to focus more on the girl she was trailing behind like a lost puppy. It didn't escape her notice the half a moment of hesitation Paris took as they came to the third floor before quickly continuing their journey. Taliesin's own bright eyes glanced towards the other corridor as she followed closely behind. If she remembered correctly from the tour with the Prefects, those big doors went to the Hospital Wing...

Paris made another attempt at conversation, a reassurance that the First Year shouldn't worry too much about getting in trouble this early in the year since a lot of First Years are still getting use to navigating the castle. Taliesin was only half listening as she watched the other girl. She seemed more tense in the shoulders as she moved quickly, clenching her hand in a fist; though when she relaxed it, Taliesin though she saw a small tremor in her hand.

When they'd met, the child recalled Paris mentioning that she'd been on her way to the Hospital Wing after an accident in Herbology by a tenta..tenti-dracula or some other. Some plant that must've been nasty if she was having to go to the Hospital Wing about it. Taliesin didn't know much about plants beyond the ones that Nanny Morgan kept in the greenhouse, and those weren't anything special, "Paris?" she asked in a small voice, slowing down her pace when they came to the next landing, "Are... are you okay?"

“Hm?” Paris was distracted from her rambling thoughts and words and noticed Taliesin slow as they reached the top of the steps at the fourth floor. She thought back to figure out what the younger girl had asked, as she had been paying closer attention to making sure she was walking carefully enough for the girl to follow and that her late-ness worries were eased.

Realizing what Taliesin had asked, she responded in a dismissive and hopefully reassuring tone, “Oh yeah, I’m fine. The tentacula didn’t even get me bad; it could have been a lot worse. Luckily I wasn’t hit by one of its spikes or bitten, cause those are pretty deadly. It just spit some venom on me as I was sti—uh, walking by.” Paris shut up quickly, the thought was registering that she had started rambling fast again which almost made her tell the against-the-rules part. Maybe next time she tried to skip class, Paris should stick with a less dangerous form of aggravation on a less dangerous plant.

She was sure however that the girl had not missed her slip. As an attempt to distract Taliesin from questioning it and to really prove that she would be okay, Paris rolled up the left sleeve of her robe to show the first year her injured forearm. In the fifteen minutes since the venom had been on her skin, Paris’ arm had taken on a purpleish and darker tone, as if a burn and a bruise had merged. Actually this is probably not very reassuring, Paris thought when the color had surprised herself as well.

She rolled down her sleeve again and hastily tried to explain. “I promise I’m fine. It looks worse than it is and it’s better than dying so.…” Paris’ voice trailed off. She hoped her words sounded believable, but she doubted her inflection was right. Just stop talking at this point. You’re making everything worse. Just get the kid to class so she can forget about me already! You’re helping no one by standing here. Paris forced her legs to move again and start up the steps to the fifth floor to add to the I-promise-I’m-fine alibi, and she waited nervously to hear how Taliesin would react to her assurances.

@Taliesin Annwyn so sorry this was so late; ive had barely any internet access this past week

Had there been enough time to properly analyze the older girl's ramblings, she might've caught the near slip. However, whatever cat Paris near let out of the bag seemed far less important once the girl raised her sleeve. Taliesin took a sharp inhale, her eyes getting wide. That certainly didn't looked 'fine'. The skin around the girl's arm had deepened into a sickening shade of purple.

Taliesin decided that Paris must've had an affinity for trying to toss distractions around as she quickly tried to brush off what certainly looked like a severe situation. A knot of guilt wound itself in the pit of her stomach that the other girl was taking so much time to try and help her when clearly she needed to get on to the Hospital Wing. Even still Paris was trying to hurry her along to continue their journey to find her class.

The child's mind was grinding away, getting the inclination that the older girl wouldn't give into her insistence that she go along first to the Hospital Wing; not with how desperately she was trying to seem nonchalant about the whole thing. No, she'd need to contrive something, a reason for redirecting their destination... or maybe just use a believable reason for it.

Taliesin schooled her expression a moment before bending a little to pull up the hem of her robes and the dress skirt beneath it. Behind the curtain of fabric, a bright bruise from where she'd tripped and landed on the stairs earlier was blooming, along with a shallow abrasion from the fabric of her clothes during her landing. To say it was bleeding would've been a stretch, but it was certainly red and at least the topmost layer of skin broken. She could make it work.

Bright hazel eyes flickered back up towards Paris. Taliesin was definitely missing Transfiguration today.

"I need bruise paste." she spoke, "I think I fell harder then I thought. My knee hurts too much to keep climbing up."

Her statements were short and deliberate, with a feign of innocence in her tone. She might've been a sensitive, crybaby; but she certainly wasn't so weak she couldn't be taken down by a skinned knee. All the same, the girl turned carefully to start back down the stairs where they'd come from, moving carefully to try to retrace their steps, moving tentatively, as though to spare herself additional weight on her 'bad knee'. After a couple of steps down, she looked back over her shoulder, a little expectantly, "You'll take me there instead... won't you?"

Paris turned to Taliesin when she heard the girl stop below her on the stairs, unsure as to why she now seemed unconcerned with being late to Transfiguration when just 5 minutes ago, she had been crying about it (it was 6 minutes and 47 seconds, but Paris knew no one appreciated it when she specified that kind of thing).

Taliesin lifted her skirt, and Paris could see a bruise forming where the first year had hit her leg on the disappearing step earlier. It honestly wasn’t all that bad, and Paris didn’t want to articulate the thought, but if this girl was concerned about something so small, she must be a pretty sensitive kid. Paris that’s rude! Don’t call the poor girl a crybaby—I don’t care that it was only in your head! I’m sorry Taliesin! I didn't mean it!

Paris might have tried to comfort her again, but her eyes narrowed as she thought about Taliesin’s tone again. Was she really that hurt? Playing it up for sympathy, maybe? Was Paris walking too fast again, and this was the girl’s attempt to get her to slow down? Taliesin didn’t seem to Paris like a very accomplished liar, and it showed, at least to Paris. But what could she really mean?

Paris considered the context in which Taliesin had brought this up. It seemed a little late to be complaining about this, no? Paris’ mind latched onto a thought. What if this girl was trying to get Paris to prioritize her own well-being over taking her to class? That seemed a likely answer.

But…Paris really would be fine. Really. Probably. She sighed internally, knowing that she couldn’t very well tell Taliesin ‘no’ to the hospital wing. But they would just stay for bruise cream. Paris knew first-hand that treating tentacula venom took more than just a few minutes, as her agya had once come home with his leg covered in it—his skin never did turn back to normal, even after extensive treatments—and Paris didn’t want Taliesin to be any later than she had to be. Lateness was more excused than absence.

She sighed aloud this time and started back down the steps. “Fine. I’ll take you to get your bruise taken care of. But we are not staying for me. It takes too long to fix this. I’ll go back later after I get you to class,” she said in a firm voice, hoping to convey her unwillingness to negotiate on this topic.

@Taliesin Annwyn

For once, Madame's training could pay off. Despite the relief that Paris was going along with her little excuse, Taliesin did a good job maintain the exact expression of feigned innocence; even though she was beaming on the inside that her little plan had worked. Whether or not Paris actually believed her didn't matter. What mattered was that the older girl was agreeing to go to the Hospital Wing.

"Just for bruise cream." she echoed, giving a small nod in agreement, even if it was a bit of a lie.

There was still a knot of anxiety in her chest over the prospect that now, instead of accidently missing class, she was more or less doing it on purpose. Hopefully her teacher would be forgiving considering the wild circumstances. And at least the nurse could corroborate that she was there with another injured student. Whatever, she'd figure out the details of her excuse later. It was easier to ignore the anxiety when there was a more important matter at hand that she needed to deal with; after all, Paris' delay was kind of her fault.

Her eyes watched her feet carefully, trying to be acute in her steps on the tricky stairs. Occasionally her eyes would go back to Paris, as though nervous that the girl might change her mind or call her out on her fib. Lying really wasn't very becoming or ladylike. However, Taliesin figured there had to be a time and place for an occasional teensy one. What was it Nanny use to say? 'A white lie is a small price to pay for a bit of peace and quiet'. Taliesin wasn't sure that really applied to this situation, but surely Nanny would agree she was making a good choice.

As they made their way back towards the Hospital Wing, Taliesin couldn't help herself from asking, "Why did the tent...tenti...ca-la," she struggled a bit trying to wrap her tongue around the strange name, "the plant. Why did it get you?"

Stephanie, like Taliesin, had been very lost. She had not been made aware that some of the walls in Hogwarts, like the staircases, trick you.

She was on the complete wrong floor and gotten caught out by this, which resulted in her walking headfirst into a wall that had seemed like a hallway. Looking back at this, she realises she should have noticed. The placement did not make sense for another hallway. But now she knew. And now she had a rather big headache.

She holds her head in one hand and tries to get a sense of direction, would it be more embarrassing to be late to Transfiguration with a had on her head, or later than that and be healed? She weighed her options out, she should probably get to the Hospital Wing. She remembers hearing an older student talk about one in the hallway.

She couldn't help it, her ears tuned in the conversations in passing. But now she had to find the Hospital Wing which was a whole new destination. She tries to think, which floor was she on? And which way were the stairs. She tries to self discipline and stops biting her lip, which she had been absentmindedly chewing as she looked left and right, in front and behind. This did not help her headache at all.

Hi! Hope I'm not too late

Paris hoped Taliesin wasn’t lying about this part, but she could tell that the girl really did want to make sure she was alright, which Paris found sweet. Her usual ‘yeah whatever I’m fine’ attitude seemed to make people think she was tough and hardly fazed by anything at all, and she was used to it, so Paris was surprised to find how nice it felt for someone to care. Or, the more likely option, her brain told her, is that this girl really is a tiny bit of a crybaby and only cares about her scraped leg. Why kid herself into believing anything else?

Paris bit back a groan when Taliesin asked about the tentacula. Why couldn't she have asked about absolutely anything else? Taliesin seemed like a good kid; Paris did not want to ruin that with ideas on skipping, secret passageways, and getting out of class without suspicion. It would corrupt the poor girl, and Paris had been enjoying being seen as a good student for once.

But Paris wasn’t in the mood to find a suitable lie. The truth would have to do. She sighed. “The tentacula. We were extracting murtlap essence—and that stuff smells disgusting. So I sorta… on purpose aggravated the venomous tentacula so I would have an excuse to get out of class. It wasn’t a big deal, really. I was super careful not to get bitten or stung. Though it may leave my skin purple for the rest of eternity. Didn’t really think that part through.”

Paris kept her face expressionless to let it be assumed that this could just be a typical day. Turning the corner to enter the third floor corridor with the hospital wing, Paris noticed another girl who was either lost or really good at pretending to be to get out of class. Paris held back a smirk; she had pretended to be lost a couple of times in her first year. However, she assumed that this wasn't the case in this scenario. She approached the girl. How many more lost kids was she bound to help before the end of this class? “Hey… you good? You seem a bit lost. And is your head okay? We were just on our way to the hospital wing. Want to come?” Woah, chill Paris! Don’t bombard her with questions again like you did with Tali. Hey, Tali’s a pretty cute nickname. Probably shouldn't call her that though… Gah, get back on track! Don't talk fast! And walk slower for Merlin’s sake; Taliesin’s supposed to have a hurt leg.

no youre totally fine; happy to have you!
@Taliesin Annwyn @Stephanie Kensington

Stephanie looked at the older student with a bit of surprise and relief, thank goodness someone was here. She recognises Taliesin and the familiar face helps settle her nerves. It did not take her very long to see the slight limp in the red headed girl, and the hesitancy in the older girls arm movements. They were both injured too it seemed. Her assumptions proved correct when the older girl mentioned their destination.

"Hello-" she starts "Uhm, yeah I have no idea where I am, I'm supposed to be at the Transfiguration class, but I can't find it. Then I got tricked by a wall and hit my head. Then lost my sense of where I am, and where the Hospital Wing even is-"She realises shes rambling and her eyes had gotten a bit more watery, no, no don't cry right now.

She took a slight breath to calm herself. "Sorry-" She had a habit of apologising. "I'm Stephanie, Stephanie Kensington" and she was going to be okay. She had a familliar face and an older student who definately knew where they were going. And on the bright side, she wouldn't turn up late to class alone. Perhaps they could bond over that.

Happy to be here!
@Paris Soliel @Taliesin Annwyn

"Tent-a-cula." Taliesin echoed quietly to herself, making a mental note to skim through her herbology textbook later too look into it. The girl liked plants. Working in the garden and greenhouse with her nanny had been one of her favorite activities with the woman, along with occasionally being allowed to watch the woman brew some of their household potions. She wasn't familiar with this plant though. Clearly it was a pretty nasty one and it wouldn't surprise her if it was something Nanny simply wouldn't keep if it was this dangerous, "That seems like a silly choice." she mused softly.

It seemed so silly though to go through such a massive mess just for the sake if missing a class; especially if it might result in permanent damage. Why would anyone want to skip out on class anyway? Classes so far had been so interesting... though she did ponder if the only reason she thought that was because it was all still so new and exciting to her. Paris was older, after all. Maybe all the luster wore off quickly.

Her thoughts were broken when something, someone, else seemed to catch Paris' attention. Another lone First Year wandering about. Though Taliesin actually recognized this one for once. The snake hung back a little (after all, she was suppose to be injured, mustn't give up the ruse yet) as Paris approached the other girl, watching intently.

It was a bit of a taste of her own medicine, watching the blonde look so close to tears and a touch frantic. Taliesin made another mental note that she would definitely have to get ahold of her crybaby nature if that's how pathetic she looked when Paris found her... more so, given Taliesin had been a full blown crying.

She hovered close and slightly behind Paris' non-injured side when she reached the pair, listening as Stephanie introduced herself, "She's in my house." she told Paris softly. At the very least, the appearance of the other snake would aid excuse and bide a bit more time to convince Paris to stay in the hospital wing long enough to have her arm looked at.

Paris smiled and directed Stephanie to follow her as they continued down the hallway. She had a funny thought just then; it felt as though she were gathering a small flock of birds, like she was a mama bird showing fledglings how to fly. She knew it was a weird comparison, but it was the first metaphor that came to mind.

The two Slytherins had both been in need of help, and Paris thought she was a strange choice for fate (or whatever makes life exist) to choose to help these girls. She was in no way a perfect student as first years tended to think of many older students. Paris often had average grades and procrastinated, and the only class she'd never skipped at least once was Charms. But despite that, Paris supposed that she may be an adequate person to help these Slytherins; not everyone would actually help them. Paris had seen several people simply ignore lost-looking first years.

Standing in front of the hospital wing doorway, she stopped. Paris turned to Taliesin. She needed to make this point very clear. "Taliesin, it's like I told you. We are just staying to get your knee fixed. And get Stephanie's head looked at." Paris nooded back at where Stephanie stood near them. "I want you guys to be able to get to class, and fixing my arm will take too long. I can promise to you that I'll come back later if it makes you feel better."

@Taliesin Annwyn @Stephanie Kensington