Burn Out Open Closed

september 10th, 2024		tuesday, afternoon
wc: 450		dhampir | sensitive to sunlight
interacting with: @Emily Shephard		mentioning: nobody

Scout had searched the Great Hall, peered into the Hufflepuff common room from outside of the door, and had done at least three laps around each classroom at Hogwarts. Where in the world was Emily? They were going to hangout today (and Scout definitely needed it), but you can't hangout if one of the people you were going to be with was missing! And it was Emily, so finding her certified best friend was top priority!

At first Scout had reasoned that maybe Emily was just having a late lunch, it'd be super late but she's had some days like that. Her dad would sit a plate of lunch on the table and it'd wait there until half-past three before Scout decided it was time to eat. But after zooming around the Hufflepuff table (and then the other tables for good measure), and seeing that her friend wasn't there, she had a change of plans. If Emily weren't eating lunch, maybe she was just in a classroom doing work?

So she zipped up flights of stairs (and then down them) peering through each door that was open to see if she could spot anyone, and then that was a dud. The only other place she could think of Emily being was in her common room, so she peeked through the door as Hufflepuff's entered and exited, and then asking one or two she recognized.

All three of her ideas were duds. But she had one more trick up her sleeve!

Scout crept through the library, her footsteps light and quiet as she looked around each table of studying students. The last thing she wanted to do was accidentally be too loud and annoy a fellow student or even the librarian themself, so she made it a point to keep her breathing even and quiet. It was a little unnecessary, but when she stumbled upon her snoozing friend, she was thankful she had made that decision.

"Oh..." Emily was asleep... so what now? There was no way she'd wake her friend up, that'd be mean. But... well, she couldn't just leave Emily there, could she? Plus she had a bunch of books and papers everywhere, and if Scout were snoopier, she'd take a glance at them.

But she wasn't, so she hesitantly tugged off the jacket she wore to protect her skin from the sun, and draped it around her friends sleeping form. Awkwardly, she took the seat across from Emily and waited, sitting quietly as she thought about what to do next. Why was Emily so tired, anyway? Maybe she didn't get a good nights sleep...

That was a problem Scout could deal with when her friend woke up.

୨⎯ Burn Out ⎯୧

Ava entered the library, her new quietness a bubble around her, killing any conversation that would reach her ears. In truth, she was finding it more and more hard to care. She felt like a seesaw, her mood switching from destructive to withdrawn. Today was a withdrawn day, the thought of the letters haunting her thoughts.

She wanted to be alone, and she had quickly learned that her common room, the halls and the classrooms were never quiet. There was always some buzz happening in Hogwarts. Sometimes the library had some chaos, but more days than not it was quiet, and blissfully so.

Today she saw two students at a table, and at first she thought they were just two students. At second glance she realized one was asleep. At third glance she realized she knew the student who was asleep. Emily Shephard. They had interacted on more than one occasion, but every single time it had been chaotic.

Maybe could keep up the pretense of an excited student for a little longer. She crept up near the napping student, pressing a finger to her lips to signal to the other student to stay quiet. Once she was close, she smirked and leaned closer to Emily’s ear.

"Boo!" she yelled, disturbing the silence of the library for a second to wake up her classmate.

@Emily Shephard, @Scout Fu-Hai . September 10 . afternoon

September 10th 2024
I'm Awake!! With @Scout Fu-Hai and @Ava Winchect
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics

If sleep could have a feeling it would be that of a soft buzz. That smooth, somewhat gentle rush of blood as one's form tries to catch up on the sleep they've missed. It was almost like being on a cloud or maybe hovering in the air in the dark. Though Emily wouldn't know - being dead to the world and all - her head was swimming in the bliss of a nice and peaceful snooze.

That feeling was unconsciously accompanied by a nice warm external sensation that enveloped Emily's dosing mind. In reality, her Gryffindor buddy had approached her and draped her jacket over her, providing another layer of comfort to the sleeping badger as she remained still in her slumber.

The unconscious half of Emily's being, receiving the conscious signals from Scout's unyielding protection and warmth had made Emily curve a smile in her sleep. She snuggled underneath her blanket of friendship as her snooze persisted.

However, rest is fleeting. One can only get between eight to ten hours of sleep before the sun would force them awake. In this case, the antics of Ava Winchect would be Emily's dawn. Creeping along the floor towards the Hufflepuff's table. Her efforts to conceal her footsteps alerted Scout of one thing. It was too bad Emily was asleep to realise.

But she would wake up indefinitely. As Ava had hoped.

"Boo!"

Emily snorked and shot awake, wide eyed, a sheet of paper stuck to her cheek as her back straightened in her chair. "Where's the fire?!" Her eyes, blurred from sleep, slowly readjusted themselves to see the presence of Scout and Ava, who was no doubt kicking herself in glee over her achieved prank.

Emily's head spun as she slowly woke up, peeling off the paper from her cheek. She grimaced, but not because of the fact that there was a small spew of drool on the sheet... It was that she was greeted with her Transfiguration homework. Transfiguration. Really? It couldn't have been Potions or something more flattering after being scared awake like a cat near a cucumber?

She shook off her sleepy stature and looked at the two girls, half dazed.

"Scout... And Ava...?"

_{Word Count: 409}

Stats: Stamina: 7 | Strength: 6 | Evasion: 6 | Wisdom: 8 | Arc Power: 7 | Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace

september 10th, 2024		tuesday, afternoon
wc: 350		dhampir | sensitive to sunlight
interacting with: @Emily Shephard @Ava Winchet		mentioning: asteria nagla

It was a little awkward, sitting next to a sleeping friend. It reminded Scout of being at Asteria's for a sleepover, and waking up hours before her cousin would. She'd lay still as can be until the sun slipped through the window. Once she heard 叔叔淘Uncle Tao get up and start making breakfast, she'd sneak out of Asteria's room to find out what he was making. Ugh, she was really missing his cooking right now. But she was still pissed with Asteria, so she didn't let the thought get to her.

Which was why she had wanted to meet up with Emily in the first place. She was pretty red-hot with anger when her and Asteria fought the day before, but now that she had calmed down, she thought it was a good idea to tell her friend about what happened. Emily was a soft and kind person, so Scout knew she could get an honest opinion from her. But here Emily was, asleep.

Not for long, apparently.

It took Scout far too long to realize that the Slytherin girl creeping around her friend didn't have the purest intentions. She had been lost in thought and didn't even notice her until the brunette until she had made a 'shush'ing motion to Scout. She blinked, about to tell the other girl not to disturb Emily- but it was too late, and Scout internally cringed as her friend jolted awake.

"Uh- good morning." Scout whispered. Her response times to everything that was happening was getting a little too low for her own comfort. Maybe her head was just clouded with minor insecurity and dread, or maybe she was just tired. "Whatcha working on?" If just for Emily, Scout tried to redirect the conversation as quickly as possible from her friend's sudden jolt awake. The situation was a little embarrassing, she thought.

She peered at the papers on the table, noting that most of it was homework. Although some of the books didn't seem class related, in fact... was Emily still reading about magical creatures? Scout immediately leaned back, pretending to look disinterested. Her Hufflebuddy could not easily be dissuaded, huh?

୨⎯ Burn Out ⎯୧
1

Ava grinned at Emily when she awoke. "Hi!" she announced brightly, almost too much so. There was no chance she was actually this happy about a succeeded wake up call.

Ava nodded her head to the other girl’s question about what she was working on, eyes scanning the page. A few words caught her eyes, as it became more and more obvious that it was transfiguration homework. A forlorn smile curled her lips. That had always been her favorite subject, because she was good at it. Probably because she understood it better than anyone else, since being a metamorphmagus was similar. How had she never thought about how someone in her family would have to be a metamorphmagus before her? She had been so stupid. Of course her father wasn’t a wizard…or had he just concealed it well? Could she actually be wizardborn? She knew for sure that her mother was a witch, but what about her father? What other secrets were buried in the family?

She was sucked back into the present when she realized she had been staring at the homework for well over a minute, without saying a word. That was often how her day went, little triggers that reminded her of the buried truth she wished so badly she could ignore. She was a halfblood. Even the word sounded wrong in her head.

@Emily Shephard, @Scout Fu-Hai . September 10 . afternoon

September 10th 2024
Slow and Snoozy Resumes With @Scout Fu-Hai and @Ava Winchect
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics

"Uuh..." With her head still disoriented and trying to play catch up with the rest of her body, Emily stared off into space in mild confusion in Scout and Ava's direction. Her eyes began to get a little sharper bit by bit, enough to catch Scout's concern and Ava's unrestrained grin. It wasn't until Scout had asked her question that Emily twitched and stuttered to answer before her eyes fell down to her homework and documents in front of her. Her Transfiguration and Potions homework were at all corners of the desk in between her textbooks but front and centre were the pages compiling her independent study of Half-Humans. Right there for Scout and Ava to see.

Emily's hands padded and moved about the table as she embarrassingly tried to cover up what was written. She didn't know the extent of Ava's preferences on Half-Humans and she knew Scout would probably feel a bit put off by the subject matter. It was better to just avoid the topic entirely for everybody's sake, she figured.

Her hands glided to the textbooks closest to her and pulled them over, hoping to subtly hide her work underneath. "Nothing. Homework," she answered simply.

A yawn possessed her and Emily rubbed her eyes. "Or at least I was... What time is it...? I don't even know when I fell asleep or for how long..." The idea of her face down on the table as people walked past her for Heaven knows how long made her cringe.

She slumped in her seat and sighed incredulously, still reeling at the shock of being woken up.

_{Word Count: 313}

Stats: Stamina: 7 | Strength: 6 | Evasion: 6 | Wisdom: 8 | Arc Power: 7 | Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace

september 10th, 2024		tuesday, afternoon
wc: 350		dhampir | sensitive to sunlight
interacting with: @Emily Shephard @Ava Winchet		mentioning: @Colin McCoire

Oh, poor Emily! Scout felt incredibly sympathetic towards her friend. Emily must've been so tired, and here she was being awoken by a Slytherin! (Right, her name was Ava- or at least that was what Emily called her earlier.) At least her friend seemed to know the other girl, but Scout didn't. Man, this whole thing was reminding her of the end of last year with that Slytherin boy and his Ravenclaw brother. (One of them was called Colin, the other was called Liam. Scout was not confident as to which was which.) Why did Emily know so many people? Actually, why did she know so many Slytherins, specifically?

"It's just a little after noon. You can't have been asleep for that long, I saw you at breakfast." Which is when they had planned their hangout session, right- which was why Scout was even looking for her friend in the first place. How had she forgotten that already? She still wanted to tell Emily about her fight with Asteria but... not with that other girl around.

She should save that conversation for a rainy day, instead.

"Why're you so tired, Emi?" She asked, leaning on her hand. "Did you not sleep well last night?" Inadvertently, she was trying to ask Emily whether or not she had spent an ungodly amount of time studying or working instead of sleeping. Or maybe her friend was studying more about magical creatures, which would explain the books Scout had peeked at. If only Scout could've been more helpful on the topic. "If you need to, we could walk you back to your common room?" She assumed Ava wouldn't mind, either. Good friends never leave their buddies sleeping in the library!

Now this only left one more thing for Scout; when was the appropriate time to get her jacket back from Emily? She couldn't really properly walk around school without it. (She could, but if she lingered too long under a shiny window, she'd feel the effects pretty quick!) It wouldn't be the worst thing ever since she had backups but, like, she didn't want to get burned going back up to the common room.

୨⎯ Burn Out ⎯୧
1 2

Ava smirked at Emily at her feeble attempt of a lie. Just homework. Right. "Ha! What are you hiding under those sheets of poorly done homework?" Ava asked, although her words were slightly offensive, they were all too true. In this sleep deprived state, there was little chance that this homework was being filled out to the best of Emily’s abilities was unlikely.

Personally, all of Ava’s homework was a mess, but that wasn’t important in the moment.

She listened intently to Scout’s first question, and before Emily could answer it, she butt in. "It’s definitely whatever is hiding under those papers that’s keeping her up." Ava announced to Scout and Emily, giving Emily a curious side eye.

While Scout had offered to walk Emily back, Ava was much more focused on whatever was being hidden. "What are you hiding?" she wondered aloud, reaching for the stack of papers.

In the back of her mind she knew this was a slight invasion of privacy, but she could apologize later. It was possible answers could be covered by then.

Ava was a creature of curiously, and a creature of impulse. Nowhere on that list was self control. She wasn’t intentionally rude, she was just to the point.

@Emily Shephard, @Scout Fu-Hai . September 10 . afternoon

September 10th 2024
Trying (And Probably Failing) To Conceal Secrets With @Scout Fu-Hai and @Ava Winchect
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics

"Ha! What are you hiding under those sheets of poorly done homework?"

Of course Ava would want to know like the suspecting viper she was. Emily's face crumpled under her curious eyes and remained committed to not slipping up, her hands pressing tighter into the desk to conceal her documents. If Ava caught sight of the fact that what she had written underneath her "poorly done homework" was all for the cooperation and hopeful bonding with Half-Humans and other magical creatures and beings, then no doubt there'd be a debate and perhaps a strong tongue-lashing if Ava was opposed to any of what Emily was trying to achieve.

Emily kept up a vigilant stance. "It's nothing you need to worry about..."

But naturally Ava wouldn't buy it at all. She sure liked to stick her big nose in when it came to anyone's business. That's if she wasn't prancing around pretending to be the "Big Bad Prefect" that flies her broom in the corridors past curfew.

Scout had offered to walk her back to the Hufflepuff Common Room - Emily really didn't deserve her at all. Casey once described Emily as "sweet and strong" but that honour would go to Scout in a heartbeat if he only knew just what she was like when spending a day with her. Ava clearly had other intentions.

"What are you hiding?"

Emily bit her lip. Even if she wasn't doing it to be mean, Ava sure had a way of being even mildly relentless. And Emily thought she was too curious for her own good... Well, at the end of the day it would just be embarrassing for Emily if she told the two of them on what she had stuffed under her books. Especially if it were to spark a whole argument on why Emily loves magical beings when really she should hate them like other people do.

In a high pitched squeak, Emily responded. "Nothing..."

_{Word Count: 374}

Stats: Stamina: 7 | Strength: 6 | Evasion: 6 | Wisdom: 8 | Arc Power: 7 | Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace