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Paul watches her lift up slowly, getting to see the full range of her injuries. His face turns to a grimace.

"Ouch..." Exhales the boy, as he reaches forward to pull some moss-covered bit of dirt from her fringe. Before that though, he chooses to explain the situation. "Uhm... there's a piece of moss in your hair. I'll just..." He pulls it out carefully, not to pull too much and make it painful. "There." He then shows her the piece of dirt on his palm, throwing it behind his back.

"Come on, you haven't ruined it. It's my fault that I pushed you into racing when you said you're not good at sports." Hummed the boy, seeming guilty. "I should have chosen something else that you'd like more. We could have played the hopscotch, perhaps. I've got chalk in my backpack. Or... I also happen to have marbles on me. With your fall though... let's go, get you cleaned."

Does he suggest, before he stands up. His eyes sparkling with mischief slightly again, which means he's getting back to normal.

Stretching his hand towards Corrine, probably to help her stand up, he gives her a small, shy smile. Better not overdo it

"But first... you have to win the race. Do you think you can stand up?"

Location: Courtyard
Tag: @Paul Turner, Open
Date: September 9^th, 2025
Time: Late afternoon

Corrine smiles at her friend weakly. She didn’t even notice the dirt, and although it’s embarrassing to know that it’s Paul who noticed, she supposes it’s better than walking around the rest of the school with dirt stuck in her hair.

“Thank you,” she sniffles. “Please don’t feel guilty. I really wanted to have fun with you too,” she admits, embarrassed. She takes his hand to stand up, wincing. “..I can just wash myself up in the bathroom a bit, we don’t have to go to the infirmary.”

It’d be embarrassing to appear just for the sake of scratches on her face anyway. She might even have to explain that she got it because she tripped so hard she skidded across the dirt face-first.. and that’s not a story she wants anybody else but Paul to know.

A little less embarrassment would be nice, Corrine thinks to herself, her cheeks flushing.

The girl didn’t want him to worry more than he already has. “I can finish the race.” She says in a surprisingly firm manner, her eyes determined. What more does she have to lose? The girl’s already fallen flat on her face once. The only thing worse right now would be is if she.. well, if she trips again.

Paul nods his head when she thanks him and when she takes his hand, he pulls her up. He listens to what she's saying, not reacting till she's finished. Then, he smirks. "Alright then. We're both equally guilty."

Once she tells him that she doesn't want to go to the infirmary. His face immediately appears bare several inches away from hers, probably to inspect it in more detail. "Listen, I really think you should go to the infirmary. You've got scratches. My dad always says that scratches need to be disinfected, so that some bacteria doesn't get into them." Utters the boy seriously for once, as he pulls back.

"Alright. Don't worry, we're not running. I've got a better idea!" Paul claims in an excited manner, after being reassured that she intends to finish the race. There has been his signature grin creeping onto his face again. Almost as if all the falling to the ground thing didn't happen, Paul seems to be ready to do crazy stuff again.

He then turns his back to her, bending his knees a little and crouching down slightly. "Hop on my back, will you?" Did he ask her, ready to carry her. Like a bag of pumpkins, but still...

Location: Courtyard
Tag: @Paul Turner, Open
Date: September 9^th, 2025
Time: Late afternoon

Corrine could feel herself flush even further as Paul leans in close with a focused expression, but she doesn’t move away, only averting her eyes shyly. He’s just checking the scratches, she tells herself, trying to calm her nervousness. No harm done.

When Paul mentions needing to go to the infirmary regardless for the sake of ensuring that the scratches don’t get infected, Corrine hesitates. It’s not like the boy is wrong; although her first tendency is usually to just leave minor scratches like these to go away on their own, there’s always a good chance they’ll get infected if left alone for too long. “Can’t I just wash them with water?” The girl mumbles as she sees Paul pull away.

..Not to mention, she doesn’t know if the infirmary staff were nice. What if they berate her for being clumsy?

To Corrine’s absolute surprise, the boy had turned around and lowered himself to the ground. What is he doing? She thinks to herself, confused.

It didn’t take long for her question to be answered, however, as Paul flashes his familiar grin (which honestly is always borderline a smirk). Eventually, the dots actually connect in Corrine’s head; the boy wants to carry her.

If she wasn’t flushed before, she certainly is now. Carry me? I’ve never been carried by anyone outside of my dad or mom before..

“Is that a good idea? What if I hurt you? What if carrying me makes you trip and you get hurt?” She can’t help but fuss in a worried manner. “I don’t think it’ll be easy carrying me. Maybe I should just walk instead?”

"Uhm... I dunno. Maybe?" Paul shruggs after she suggests washing the scratches with water. "My dad usually disinfects them with a special spray, though. It stings like hell!" Yeah, and that's because it's healing, Paul... as if I heard my dad. He grimaces, feeling an urge to roll his eyes based on the latter thought about his dad.

Oh crap, dad... He'd be so angry with me for this. He'd be like... I told you so many times to be more considerate about other people's feelings, Paul, but you never do what I tell you to do, and blah blah blah... who even cares, dad? Just... let me be, geez! The grimace doesn't disappeare yet, until he flashes back into reality.

"Huh... I guess water is good. It surely won't sting that much." Does he suggest afterwards, pensievely.

As Corrine starts worrying about him carrying her, he keeps grimacing. Is she always so over-considerate? Probably. What a weirdo... but, whe's the nicest person I've ever met. He shakes his head in the end, as the corners of his lips start twitching.

"You won't." Likely a reply to her second question about getting hurt.

"I won't!" Like a reply to her third question about tripping. "I'm a football player. When I trip, I jump and keep running." Did he assure her, amused, however, also somewhat... growing more impatient with every question of hers.

With her last question, he just rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on! You're like... forty kilos with all your clothes and shoes included! I'll manage, don't worry!"

He wasn't giving up.

Location: Courtyard
Tag: @Paul Turner, Open
Date: September 9^th, 2025
Time: Late afternoon

Seeing how determined and impatient her friend was getting, Corrine sighs. Maybe I should take his word for it, she thinks, hesitantly stepping forward. I really hope he doesn’t fall and hurt himself just because of me.

“I’m getting on,” the girl mumbles quietly as she begins to climb on his back. Her legs wrap around his waist, followed shortly by her arms wrapping around his neck.

It’s so close, she flushes, unused to the close proximity between the two of them. As she slowly leans in to fully place her weight on him, she could feel herself relaxing and even melting into his carry.

Initial thoughts aside, this actually feels pretty comfortable. Paul is clearly a strong boy for his age, especially as he’s able to carry Corrine up with ease. When the boy does eventually stand, she can’t help but yelp, wrapping her arms around his shoulders in an attempt to stay on.

As she looks around in slight wonder, she realizes that she’s taller now that she’s on Paul’s back. This is fun, she smiles, her eyes sparkling.

Corrine glances at the boy, wanting to make sure he’s okay. She leans close to whisper in his ear, slightly concerned. “Are you okay? Still able to carry me just fine?”

She’s asking not necessarily because she doubts his strength, seeing as he seems to be having zero trouble carrying her like this, but mainly for the sake of soothing her worries about him being okay.

Upon getting close, her vanilla perfume becomes even a bit more prominent.

“I’m getting on,”

"Hurray!" Does he mumble, as she jumps on. Finally!

Paul waits for her to settle on his back and when she's on it, he launches up sharply, his feet perhaps leaving the ground out of inertia. All that is done so that she gets a little upper, to make it easier for him to run with her. He also puts his hands behind his back, to hold her under the knees, to prevent her from falling.

"Uh... I'm fine!" He forces out after she asks him if he's okay. His reply is hopefully sufficient to answer her other question about whether he's able to carry her, too.

"Alright, on three! One..." He breathes in.

"Two..." His heart starts pounding a little faster than before, his muscles flexing with the weight of another person on his back.

"Three!" With that, he launches forward. He's not running as fast as he would without her. That seems not to matter though. All that matters is to make this fun for her.

He can feel the wind on his face, imagining that perhaps, Corin can feel it in her hair too, and that this whole... thing could be taken as a scenic ride, or a joyride even. Depending on how much into it she is, of course.

Paul huffs halfway through. His heart is now beating much faster than in the beginning, his cheeks are turning rosy and there's certainly some sweat appearing on his forehead and below his lower lip, from the physical activity. He chooses to slow down slightly, and for a blink of an eye, he stops to, again, jump up slightly, in order to move Cor upper on his back.

“Are you okay? Still able to carry me just fine?”

"Totally fine... As sound as a bell!" Does he reply, producing several more, heavy exhales.

Nobody would call his performance running towards the end. But, despite all the odds, he somehow manages to reach the destination, with Corrine on his back. Yet, he doesn't touch the tree just yet, not even making any effort to do it. Quite the opposite. He actually turns slightly, so that she'd be the one touching it.

"Uh... we're here, princess. Touch the tree so that I can, uh..." Paul inhales. "Put you down!"

Location: Courtyard
Tag: @Paul Turner, Open
Date: September 9^th, 2025
Time: Late afternoon

As soon as Paul begins running, Corrine can’t help but laugh as the wind whips through her hair. This is so fun! she beams, even throwing up a hand to feel how fast the wind was going. It’s not inhumanely fast, but compared to how she had been running prior, she’s basically racing through the air.

And even better, she isn’t actually running, since Paul is doing all the work. No painful ache in her lungs or in her legs, so it just leaves her the chance to appreciate everything else. She doesn’t have to worry about whether or not she’ll keel over to gasp for breath.

For a moment, Paul slows down, and Corrine can’t help but feel a spike of disappointment at the thought of it already ending. She had just started enjoying it too.. preparing to ask if she wanted her to get off, she opened her mouth, only to let out a startled yelp as Paul jumped up slightly, lifting her up further onto his back. His hands tightened their grasp on the back of her knees, seemingly to make sure that she didn’t actually slide off.

It takes a moment for Corrine to process what had happened, but eventually she bursts into a fit of giggles, feeling her heart warm. Soon enough, the two reach the tree like intended, but Paul makes no move to let her down quite yet. Corrine glances back down at her friend, noticing how breathless the boy seemed to be now that he’s ran with the weight of two instead of just himself.

At his encouragement, Corrine reaches out a hand to touch the tree, still giggling. “Let me down before you actually hurt yourself!” She says in a loud manner, patting him on the shoulder. As soon as Paul lowers himself just enough, she hops off, not wanting to make him feel worse.

Finally, as she touches the tree, he lowers in his knees to let her hop off. After he does so, he straightens up, his hands on his hips. He stretches his back then, arching his back for a few secs, then forward for approximately the same time, then to the left and to the right. Lastly, he turns to one side and then to the other.

"Oof!" Does he ultimately huff in relief, glad that they managed to get where they were.
"That was... cool, haha!" He takes a moment to consider his thoughts for once, attempting to remember all the highlights of the run. Corrine's giggling, however, appears to be contagious, as Paul starts to laugh himself while looking at her with joy in his eyes and some tired happiness too.

"Now, you're the winner, Proofreader." With that, and perhaps, a little crooked smile - smirk, he leans his hand against the tree several seconds after Corrine, leaning against. That might be a way for him to rest a little, before they get on the way back, or get on to do any other activity. "See? Told ya you could do it."

He turns silent then, in order to get his heartbeat and breathing back into normal.

Location: Courtyard
Tag: @Paul Turner, Open
Date: September 9^th, 2025
Time: Late afternoon

As Paul begins stretching after she gets down, Corrine sighs as she relaxes, sitting on the floor against the tree. She’s still stuck on how the wind felt against her hair, and honestly, suddenly she understands the appeal of Quidditch. If running at that speed felt amazing, she could only imagine how it’d feel on an actual broom that will certainly go faster than her (or even Paul) running.

The girl smiles up at her friend. “I wouldn’t have won if you didn’t come back after I tripped,” she says in amusement, shaking her head. By now, the sting of the scratches on her face have subsided considerably, and she can now voluntarily ignore whatever slight pain there was in favor of being happy. “Or if, you know, you didn’t let me touch it first.”

After a moment of laughter, her gaze softens as the glee makes way into contentment. “Thank you, Paul. Really.” She says, sighing as she leans back further against the trunk of the tree in relaxation. Never did she think she’d enjoy being outside instead of being in a library or in her dorm, but Paul successfully proved her wrong today. Maybe, just maybe, sometimes she might choose to go out into the courtyard or into the grounds instead of being cooped up all the time.

A moment of silence passes.

“..Do you think I need to put bandaids on my face?” Corrine asks, curious. She didn’t know how bad the scratches themselves were.