trans_9 | On your broomsticks! [OPEN]

Following the instructions given to him by crew members here and there, Cedric stepped through a green archway tucked on a corner of the fifth floor and entered a grey void. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the sort of place that would be perfect for a day of flying. He imagined a bright grassy plain, a large lake, and a forest off to the side. Vague memories turned into vivid images surrounding him, so thoroughly convincing that he really believed he'd been taken from the ship and placed on a field back on Earth. It was quite a convincing illusion
.
All it needed now was the key piece: a group of brooms. He thought for a moment on which brooms to provide them with. Firebolts were the world standard, but he'd never known one well enough to be able to picture it accurately. The school brooms, Shooting Stars, were nice and safe for new riders but not quite reliable. In the end, he knew his own broom best: a sleek Nimbus 2001, gifted by his father. As long as he instructed the fliers to go slowly, they should be safe on those brooms.

Visitors would find Cedric side-mounted on a broom in his black and yellow Quidditch robes, gliding just slightly over the grass. As soon as he spotted them, he'd greet them enthusiastically and move to touch down. "Hi!"

((ooc: wide open for everyone to join in! We'll be doing some group exercises too, so thread around! Fly as a group when you're ready!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I quite agree," Cedric laughs. It was a bit hasty, wasn't it? He'd never do that sort of thing.

He nods. "They tried to keep you safe. Somehow it never quite works that way when people try it."

But he's going to try harder, yes he is.

"You'd think about a few thousand years of evolution people would be over it." He wishes he could care, actually. His complete lack of interest in sex is one of a large pile of things that makes him feel disconnected from other people. That Cedric agrees with him, even jokingly, does make him feel a bit better.

"I got safe my own ways. And then they all disappeared so it didn't really matter." He shrugs. "I mean, what can anyone do but try and plan for the worst? At least you're ready that way."

"I've heard it's fun. And when have we ever known people to surrender their fun?" Cedric certainly hasn't! His is simply on a broom for the moment.

He nods. That's a sad way of looking at the world, but he supposes it makes sense. "That's true. I've been told I should worry more about that, but I don't want to edge into the other extreme, you know? We had a professor like that---or at least we thought he was our professor. Placed wards all around the classroom, forced us to prepare for the worst curses, told us terrible things would happen."

Even in the end, it hadn't been enough.

"Good point. Back home we had some kids nearly starve to death because they couldn't be bothered to give up their playtime and go work in the fields." Even being up in the air can't lift Howard entirely out of his tendencies to be morbid. Although he does have to admit this is fun. The only things he has to fear, this high up, are lightning and falling. Counterintuitively, he feels safer up here than he does on the ground.

"And he was right, right? Or else you wouldn't be here."

How silly. Cedric hopes they'd learned to take care of themselves eventually. He shakes his head, clearing some space for other thoughts. More morbid thoughts.

"Yeah. Of course, he was plotting to resurrect the most evil wizard in modern history and to murder my rival. It went fairly well for them, except that they killed the wrong person."

Ah, plots. Always prone to go wrong. "But someone like him would know best, wouldn't he."

"Sucks to be collateral damage." And Howard actually looks genuine as he says that. He's been caught between larger forces vying for power too, stuck as just someone stuck in the middle trying not to die. It's not fun.

"Hey, good guys can be conniving too. You just sort of have to be gun-shy to go along with it."

Cedric doesn't say anything further on the death subject, but he gives Howard an appreciative look.

"Gun-shy? Right. That means they'd have to be less willing to immediately resort to violence, doesn't it?"

Wizards avoid guns. All those mechanics and all the blood. Murderers much prefer the killing curse, it's far cleaner.

"Right. I'm not big on violence. Barely even know how to fire a gun, you know?" He doesn't imagine Cedric is big on it either. Cedric seems remarkably restrained with his talents, height and looks and athleticism - like someone who believes they are lucky gifts, not something one is entitled to.

"Got it," Cedric nods. "Subtlety. It's remarkably hard for most people I know to pull off."

Himself included. He takes a swing, one more loop around the field, enjoying the wind all around.

"But you know that, don't you?" Howard knows a lot, Cedric thinks. Wherever he was before, he'd had to learn. Fast.

"Well, most people are pretty dumb. They need things explained five or six times first." Howard follows Cedric's course, slower and much more unused to the broom, but marginally less afraid now.

"Yeah, I know. I mean, there's a place for brute strength and explosions, there really is, but if it isn't something you're naturally good at you sort of pick up the subtle side of things."

"Exactly. I know I'm guilty of all those things too, but it's almost a miracle that the school was still standing. After all those feuds, something should've fallen by now."

He shakes his head. Exasperating! People wasted their energy picking the wrong battles, he thinks. It's better to lie low and strike when it counts.

"At least Medical can't be that bad. Right?"

"So what are wizard feuds like, anyway? I mean, not the serious ones where people die, but just fights at school? Do you curse people with bad hair days instead of shoving them in lockers? Jinx their mouths shut instead of swirlies?"

He nods. "Medical's good. Mostly calm, except the field work, and usually you've got too much adrenaline going for the terror to kick in. It's...nice. Almost relaxing, you know?" He likes the Med Bay especially. It's become a safe haven, a place where he feels like he belongs and doesn't have to dwell on fear.

On your broomsticks! [OPEN]

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