Pulchre Destructa PV S. Alexander Finished

"Yes, indeed, the view is quite stunning," Ami said with a wide smile. "But removing the windows altogether... quite outrageous, don't you think, Mr. Alexander?" Mr. Alexander? And just exactly where had that come from, again?

"Imagine the sick and injured, just tumbling out of the window one by one to their doom. Certainly not the most ideal situation for Hogwarts, I would imagine." The way she understood it, from just exactly what had happened over the course of her first year, Hogwarts had a strangely high injury rate for a school. Removing the window panes from a room this high up... surely, that was a recipe for disaster.

She stuck her tongue out him (playfully, of course, not in seriousness) at his mention of dropping her on something. "You? Dropping me? Unbelievable, and imagine, all this time, I thought we were friends..." she protested, giving him a woeful look at the end. "Really, Scott, I never expected such a level of betrayal from you. How on earth are you supposed to make it up to me, just a poor, poor damsel in distress...?"

Really getting into the role, Ami batted her lashes (pretty horribly, considering she'd never done it before), and pressed the back of her wrist to her forehead as if she were about to faint.

“How on earth are you supposed to make it up to me, just a poor, poor damsel in distress?”

She played anguished, and Scott thought about it. Although he knew she was joking, there was something else utterly ridiculous about it: Even with her practically hanging off of him, weak from injuries, Ami being a damsel in distress was unthinkable.

“Woe is you,” He said, but laughed and broke character. “We speak as if we’re in a play.”

Scott turned her away from the window and proceeded to cross the room. It meant leaving the safety of bed rails and mattresses to fall back upon behind, but felt they should be able to at least make it so far in their pace.

“Have you ever been to one? A play, I mean. I’ve only ever been to muggle theatres, actually. My father takes us. Mother pays, but he’s the one to tell us all about them. Even been to Shakespeare’s Globe, which looked a lot less impressive than what my father tells me it should be.”

Scott scoffed, and placed a hand around Ami’s shoulder in order to support her more, stepping out on the floor.

“I’ll be honest with you and say I’ve never understood a play. Doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them all the same.. you beginning to wish there was a rug here as well, are you?”

Scott tapped teasingly on the stone floor, but found himself not letting go of Ami for a second.

"Not plays, no," she admitted. Ami had never imagined Scott to be the type of person to go to plays written by Shakespeare, but then again, it also seemed like exactly the type of thing he would do.  "And not in London. Dad would always take me to the theater to see musicals though, in Chicago." 

She had heard of Shakespeare's Globe, however, and it was definitely on her bucket list of places to visit sometime in the near future. She would have to remind her mother, then. Wasn't she always looking for mother-daughter bonding activities?

"Plays are for people who actually understand morals and metaphors," Ami agreed, her voice faltering slightly as they began to move away from the beds and towards the empty floor. Her face betrayed next to nothing, however- in fact, she looked somewhat excited and pleased with herself.

"Rugs are for the injured," Ami retorted, sniffing indignantly. "Do I look injured to you? I'm no invalid." Insert another wounded huff and wounded look, but that quickly gave way to a cheeky smile.

The smile turned sincere and genuine, however, at her next words. "Thank you, Scott, for everything. You didn't have to visit me, it means a lot more to me than you'd think."

”Do I look injured to you? I’m no invalid.”

Scot searched her up and down demonstratingly, but said nothing as she kept talking.

“Thank you, Scott, for everything. You didn’t have to visit me, it means a lot more to me than you’d think.”

Scott blushed and looked away, not sure what to say for a little while. Of course he had to come, He wouldn’t have been able to focus on anything else had he not done so, knowing Ami was most likely alone here.

“No probelem. Really, I’m having a better time here than I would in the dorms, you should know that.” He gave her a smile and had her stumble more towards the bed on the other side of the room, as it was closer now. There she could sit, should she like, or just grip the mattress.

”Just know you’ll have to visit me once I end up here. It could be sooner than we expect, I am no more than a fragile little child after all. I understand I look like I’m the strongest man alive, that have fought hundreds of battles, but you would be surprised..”

Scott gripped the mattress a bit himself, partly because he needed to, and partly because he wanted to invite her to do so without hesitation. The soft fabric had him wondering what it would actually be like to spend such a long time here. Were the pillows soft, too?

"So strong, the absolute strongest there could ever be,"Ami nodded in agreement, flashing a grin at Scott. Sure, he was a little on the scrawnier side physically, but mentally, he was incredibly strong as well, somehow managing to put up with the verbal abuse of his dormmates. 

His hinting at him getting injured was rather unnerving, however... was he suggesting that he had gotten in some sort trouble with those bothersome roommates of his? Man, she really hated having to beat someone up so soon after healing... but if the need ever arose, she would go to war on behalf of anyone she cared about. 

"Of course I'd visit!" she cried indignantly, adopting an injured, offended expression. "What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't? A total trash one, that's what." Scott gripped the mattress of the bed tightly, clearly inviting her to sit down, which she did with a sigh of relief. 

Her legs had begun to ache, although of course, she would never say anything- at least, not to his face. She had to remain the strong one, after all- mostly for her own sake. Swinging her bare feet up onto the cot and shifting so her head now lay on the pillow. 

This room would be her home, then for the next... oh, say, week or so? Magic healed relatively quickly, although, with all of her burns, she wasn't quite sure how that would work. Did they have some kind of salve for it? Probably.

"You must think I'm an awful friend,"Ami said suddenly, hauling herself into a sitting position, staring earnestly at Scott. "I mean, I feel like I barely know anything about you... like, say... when's your birthday?"

"You must think I'm an awful friend,"

Scott laughed, because she had to be kidding. But her face didn't look like it, and with her head leaving the pillow so immediately.. he quickly shook his head, reassuring her that she should never think that.

"February second. A winter's boy, can you tell? Probably not.. I once met a, Mother says self-proclaimed, Seer who insisted I was born in October. She wouldn't let it go."

Scott laughed at the memory. The woman had even second-guessed his parents when they said he was in fact not adopted, and that they were yes, very sure about their son's date of birth.

"When's yours? I figure I should know.. or at least Mia should, after the party you planned for her. You set the bar high early on, Ami, was that the plan?" He raised his eyebrow boldly, of course not being serious. Still he smiled warmly so not to worry her too much, or make her think that's what he thought of her, because it wasn't. He knew very well that Ami was a genuine friend.

Scott sat down at the end of the bed, where there was room for him to sit, and looked over to where he'd first seen her lay.

"Quite the promenade, dare I say it myself. Not Hyde Park, but still quite a beautiful stroll."

"February?" Ami said excitedly, laughing slightly. "No kidding? I'm February fifteenth..." Her smile slowly disappeared as she did the math in her head, however. "Dang it, you're thirteen days old than me, not fair." She honestly thought that she'd be older than him... guess not.

"Okay, but then, that's also hardly anything," Ami continued, shooting him a meaningful look. "Like... okay, who do you like better- your mom or your dad? Or, what's your middle name?" Flopping backward back on the cot, she sighed heavily in exasperation. "Friendship is so hard, I don't get how people do it."

"Setting the bar high? Oh, honey, that was nothing," Ami said with a laugh. "She looked like she needed a pick-me-up... plus, if we had lockers here, y'all would be insanely surprised by what I can do to a locker." 

Yes, it was true. Lockers, the usually the biggest decoration point of school birthdays, were also Ami's strong suit, because.... oh, she could go on and on forever about lockers, but that wouldn't make a good narration, would it?

"I've never been to Hyde Park," Ami admitted with a smile and a laugh. "But really, I'd prefer a promenade here with you than there without. I would imagine walking alone in such an enormous park would be relaxing, sure, but lonesome." 

Besides, why would you choose to walk around a gorgeous park taking beautiful pictures when you could walk around a Hospital Wing theorizing its remodeling?

"Abraham. Very muggle, I know, it was my dad's pick. I like it. What's yours? Something that can peak both Ami and Pinocchio? I doubt it's possible."

Scott laughed, wondering if she noticed his skipping of her first question- because it was a hard one.

His mum or dad? Mother or Father? Of course he loved them all the same.. but he wondered if it was a given that a child should like their stay-at-home parent more, because they spend more time together and thus share all the best memories.. In that case it would have to be his father, but saying it aloud was more than Scott was willing to do- even if it was a seemingly harmless question.

Ami kept talking about birthday celebrations and lockers, then continued on to his mentioning of Hyde Park.

"I would imagine walking alone in such an enormous park would be relaxing, sure, but lonesome."

"Oh it most definitely would. And scary, too, when the sun goes down. I lost my way once and it got dark.. Silas found me beneath a bench with a dead person's name on it. I was only about five, but I'm telling you I'm not ever doing it again..

Didn't you have other parks where you grew up? Where'd you go with your family?"

What's yours? Something that can peak both Ami and Pinocchio? I doubt it's possible.

"Ami Charity Procoppio, that's my full name," Ami said with a slight roll of her eyes. It was quite a ridiculous choice by her mother, literally naming her daughter Charity, but clearly, Abella was found of the name, considering she usually called Ami "Charity".

Ami couldn't help but chuckle a little at Scott's after-dark horror story, especially because it sounded like something that she herself would do. In fact, she had done such a thing, going to a park after dark... and that was the whole event that sparked the turn of events that landed her here, in the Hospital Wing, in the first place. After all, she had met Eris at the park, and if they hadn't bonded during that fight, Eris wouldn't have felt the need to extract her revenge.

"Depends on which country you're talking about," Ami mused, in response to Scott's question. "In Chicago, it was always skateboard parks, all day, everyday. I'd go there all the time after school with Thomas and watch this group of girls. God, they were so cool... I learned mostly by watching them, and then copying whatever they did. In London, there was this park by our house I'd go to whenever I got upset with my mom."

Did she really just let that slip? Hopefully, Scott didn't notice. "Dad and I went to the gym more than we went to the park," Ami said with a shrug. "And Mom got her cardio from five hour long shopping sprees."

With a rueful smile, Ami glanced at Scott once more. "I'm not boring you, am I? I know I can talk a lot. If you ever want me to shut up, just tell me."

”If you ever want me to shut up, just tell me.”

Scott laughed and fidgeted with his sleeves whilst peeping at her from under his eyebrows.

“Will do, don’t worry about it. But you’re forgetting who you’re talking to! I’m the king of trailing off. My mother says-“

And before blabbering on, and thus proving his point, he winked self-awarely down at her from where he sat.

“-that it’s a bad habit of mine. She blames my dad and his endless stories for it. Though dad insists that it’s a trait I’ve inherited from her. Which makes a lot of sense, and is quite often the case, actually.. but only when it comes to things like that. Blabbering, posture.. more often than not it’s Silas that people think is the most like her. You would think that shouldn’t make sense, because I’m the only one related to her out of the three of us, but it’s true. I think it’s his calmness. Neither Ben nor I can stay that calm day in and out like he can. Though that might be because he’s old..”

Scott smiled to himself, and then to Ami.

“But I’ve got her hair. And her nose..

What about you? Don’t you have siblings? Are they also called things like Charity, which by the way isn’t a name. If you don’t then you should get a pair. Though I wouldn’t know what younger siblings are like.. all I know is that I’m delightful.”