June 1st - June 19th
It's almost summer! The last few weeks of school have come, and students will need to study hard for their final exams! Don't let up yet, or your grades won't be what you want them to. Of course, the weather is almost perfect and pristine, in attempts to lure students away from their studies.
Fun in Phobia [3.13.09] (Ig and anyone else!)
Lydia sighed heavily as she leaned on her old broom. She had been trying to sweep for the past several moments. The key word here was trying. Unfortunately at the same time she was trying to tidy up the Hospital wing the weather decided to screw up on her. That was the last thing she needed. While she had gotten better with her fears over the years, Lydia still hadn’t shaken free of them completely. So there she was, trembling slightly as she clutched the broom handle tightly, standing up straight and staring wide eyed out of one of the many windows. Why were there so many? Why!? Lydia wagered that she wouldn’t have been so frightened if there had maybe been one or two of them but there were like, well, there were a lot.Too many. Way too many. “It’s all right though,” She said in hushed tones. “It’ll be okay.” There was hardly a time when the middle-aged Healer could assure herself. Of anything. “Just breathe. In and out.” If she held the broom handle any tighter she probably could have snapped it in two.
Once again her brown eyes looked beyond the window. It was raining pretty hard and those clouds...those clouds looked like lightning could emit from them at any moment. “Draw the curtains.” It was easier said than done. Drawing the curtains would mean that she would have to get near the windows. And everyone knew that windows would not protect you from being struck. Lightning seemed to be attracted to stupidity. It was during these times that Lydia was slow to thinking on everything. Had she been in her normal state she would have already thought of just drawing the curtains with her wand. Dammit all. “Just – Just take a walk.” She was already out of the Hospital Wing before the sentence was finished. Fear was a good motivator. Of course, it would have been better if she had a source of light. Navigating in the dark was close to impossible.
“You should be over this by now, Lydia.” She told herself as she drew her wand. The tip of it was lit now, though still dim as she did not want to bother the paintings. Of course, they couldn’t really do anything aside from complaining but when they complained it got annoying. So annoying. It made her want to set some of them aflame. Ah, but how could she be mean to such works of art? Something in the back of her mind told her it was really easy to be mean to paintings. She smirked. “I really ought to stop going off on thought tangents.”
Quite a large amount of time had passed since Lydia had been wondering aimlessly around the castle of Hogwarts. She hadn’t heard anything that resembled anger from the clouds but one could never be sure. All of her paranoia powers had been summoned. She was just waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting...
And BAM! Even though she knew it was coming, even though she knew the thunder would sound off as soon as it got too quiet it still scared the hell out of her. With a high pitched “Oh, Merlin!” she was on the floor with her back pressed against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest.
Thunderstorms never really bothered Ignatius. They were rather fascinating, actually, the way the light spidered across the sky and the thunder shook even the very stones of the castle. It was immensely powerful, immensely awe-inspiring, and to many, immensely frightening. Something that could evoke so many feelings was deserving of respect, which Ignatius duly gave. Not many people shared his liking of the natural spectacle, but oh well.
He was ambling around the hallways, a cigarette in his mouth, his bat hanging from his ear, and the ever useful lantern stick slung across one of his shoulders. The light from the lanterns competed with the occassional light from the storm, and of course they lost everytime. They put up a good fight though. The cigarette was a testament to his unpersistent will to quit, no matter how many times he reminded himself it wasn't good for the brats. At least he never smoked in front of them, and he managed not to smoke while classes were in session at all, even if he wasn't in the castle.
Kudos for him.
Afterhours, however, he indulged. Any glares from sensitive paintings or staff members went unmatched. He just wanted to unwind, as everyday felt like a Monday until the students were in their houses. Then it could feel like a Friday.
Either way, Ig was sauntering about, doing his usual rounds. It was curfew time for the students, and a well meaning wave of his hand was enough to send them scuttling away for their houses. Sometimes Azzy would escort them, if Ig didn't trust them. Which was most of the time.
Ignatius turned a corner and continued ambling as a rather violent thunderclap shook the school. He grinned to himself, then stopped walking when he heard someone shriek.
“Oh, Merlin!”
It sounded like a girl, but could have been a young boy as well. As he edged closer and his lamplight illuminated the scared person, he realized it was a woman. A fully grown woman a good decade older than he was who was hunkered against the wall and curled into a tight little ball.
Re: Fun in Phobia [3.13.09] (Ig and anyone else!)
Now came the hard part of actually making herself get up. If at all possible Lydia could have made a sprint for her sleeping quarters but her sleeping quarters were part of the Hospital Wing. Oh, how lucky I am. She sighed and rested her head on her arm while balancing her dimly lit wand on her finger. It was really easy for someone with such balancing experience as her. There wasn’t a lot to do in hospitals when patients weren’t dying or having some form of magical attack. Balancing her wand and various other things on her thin fingers became an amusing pass time. If there were more than two employees around she would often hold contests to see which person could balance their wand the longest. Lydia always won. You could say that she cheated somehow, but practicing did not count at cheating and anyone who said differently was a goddamn dirty liar.
It was amazing how simple it was to get her mind off of her fears. All Lydia had to do was think back to old times and she was instantly happy again. It was too bad that she couldn’t always remember to think when it came to her fears. Perhaps she should start to consider carrying around a small notepad.
Now, Lydia wasn’t expecting anyone to stumble upon her small form as she had completely forgotten that it was the caretaker’s job to take a walk around the castle for a good amount of time, occasionally scaring the pants off of students who knew they weren’t supposed to be out after their curfew. But he, the caretaker, was there now, standing over her with a grimace on his face. The clearing of his throat had startled her just a tiny bit and caused her wand to clatter to the floor. For a moment Lydia stared at him before grabbing her wand. “You know that you shouldn’t have the light so bright. The paintings get a might bit bitchy when their sleeping is disturbed.” How did paintings even sleep? There was so much that Lydia could not comprehend of this world despite being in it for her entire life. Goodness.
With a small grunt Lydia was standing once again, back still firmly planted against the wall. “My apologies, I must have been in your way. Feel free to pass now. I won’t promise I’ll be gone by the time you come back though.” Was there something wrong with striking up peculiar conversation with people you barely knew? Of course not. HA HA.
Re: Fun in Phobia [3.13.09] (Ig and anyone else!)
Ig's eyebrow cocked curiously toward the sky, his scowl still welded to his face as the woman dropped her wand. She was so skittish, what was wrong with her? Did he startle her that badly? Or maybe it was the storm...There were infinite reasons why she might be huddled against the wall.
“You know that you shouldn’t have the light so bright. The paintings get a might bit bitchy when their sleeping is disturbed.”
"Sleeping won't help 'em any," he grumbled, looking at a portrait of a warty old crone nearby. "It's not like a good night's rest will clear the blemishes of an unskilled artist."
The crone glared, and he glared back, then ignored her as she started swearing in German. Ignatius turned back to the woman on the floor, pausing to take his cigarette from his mouth and blow out a stream of gray smoke. He took a step back as she gathered herself into a standing position.
“My apologies, I must have been in your way. Feel free to pass now. I won’t promise I’ll be gone by the time you come back though.”
Ignatius held the cig between his fingers for several quiet moments, looking at the woman through the curls of transparent smoke that leaked up and disappeared into the rafters. She had really big eyes. They made her seem almost younger than she must have been, but Ig was still sure she was older. He was probably the youngest staff member at the school anyway.
Re: Fun in Phobia [3.13.09] (Ig and anyone else!)
“Oh, well, that’s not nice.” Lydia commented in a passing way. She wasn’t meaning to sound like she was scolding him, but she did want to point that out. He was right though. That was one ugly ass painting. Lydia wished someone would have told the artist that there were certain colors that did not mesh well together. Oh well, he was probably dead by now anyway. Instead of saying anything more on that subject she grinned at the crone and patted the top of the frame. “Now, now. We shouldn’t be getting mad over tiny things like this Ma’am. You won’t be able to do anything really so maybe you should just relax and go back to sleep. I’m sure there are nicer people in your dreams.” Did paintings even dream?
After a few moments there was a brief exchange of silence between the two adults. Lydia wasn’t exactly sure why he was just standing there with a cancer stick between two of his long fingers. There was no point in lecturing the young man on how smoking would eventually kill him one day. She learned that people liked to choose their own path to dying and saying anything would not make them change. She sighed lightly as she stood before him, her hands clasped in front of her. He was a tall one and her neck was beginning to ache just a tiny bit from having to stare up for such a time. The poor boy could have also used a good amount of shampoo on that hair of his. It was just screaming ‘WASH ME!’ Lydia knew that if she stared at him for too long she would develop a new compulsion so she averted her eyes, choosing to concentrate between his shoulder and the empty corridor. It was a nice balance, she thought.
"Who are you?"
Well, she couldn’t NOT look at him now. Lydia always had to look at people when she talked to them. Eyes, she thought, just look into the eyes. You can’t fix eyes anyhow. And so she did, smiling pleasantly as if he had just given her a compliment on the nice red and white dress she was wearing. “Lydia.” She said simply as she performed a low bow. Bowing was fun. “Lydia Zanini. The tender of wounds and the one who provides the cure for what ails you. I’m not surprised you haven’t seen me around. Judging from the bags under your eyes you spend most of your time in the night. You’re the caretaker, am I right and who is that cute little creature on your ear.”
Re: Fun in Phobia [3.13.09] (Ig and anyone else!)“Lydia Zanini. The tender of wounds and the one who provides the cure for what ails you. I’m not surprised you haven’t seen me around. Judging from the bags under your eyes you spend most of your time in the night. You’re the caretaker, am I right?
Ignatius lowered a heavy brow over one of his eyes at that long stream of information. By her poetic attempt to describe her job, he figured she was one of those people. She sounded like she was trying to intimidate him. Maybe he was just being paranoid, since he felt almost everyone was trying to intimidate him. She was really too little and round and big-eyed to intimidate anyone.
"The new healer," he rumbled with no small amount of a grimace. He always envied people who managed to become Healers, since he simply would never be able to. Damned wizard, damned label. Damned everything.
She was right about him being the caretaker, but when was that a surprise? What else could he be; he certainly didn't look like a teacher. Caretakers probably had the reputation for looking quite ramshackle and grimy. "Yes, I'm Ignatius Flint," he murmured. He didn't offer any hand for a shake, since she didn't. "Pleasure to meet you Miss Zanini."
It was obvious by his tone that it was no real pleasure at all.
And who is that cute little creature on your ear.”
Ig almost forgot Azkaban was hanging there, and figured his hair would have hidden the creature from this woman's eyes. Oh well. He reached up and plucked the bat from his ear, then tossed him in the air. Azzy opened his wings and went about flapping in his drunken manner around Ig's head, chirping excitedly.
"That's Azkaban, or Azzy," Ig said, taking another drag of his cigarette. "He's my bat."
Re: Fun in Phobia [3.13.09] (Ig and anyone else!)
Everything that came out of the man’s mouth sounded like it was either hard to say or that it just hurt a lot. Maybe he was just better off not talking. He could take up sign language. “Righty-o.” Lydia answered in her cheerful manner, bowing once again. She liked to bow. It was fun.
"Yes, I'm Ignatius Flint. Pleasure to meet you Miss Zanini."
It didn’t sound like Ignatius meant it but Lydia smiled anyhow. How could she not smile? Meeting new people was always a fun activity. As a matter of fact she had yet to meet most of the Professors. She spent most of her time checking and rechecking the shelves, making extra sets of potions for ‘just in case.’ She made a lot of ‘just in case’ potions. There were so many that she had to buy crates in order to save space in her office. Yup, Lydia definitely needed to find a hobby so she wouldn’t OCD herself to death. “It is a pleasure to meet you as well. You can call me Lydia if you like.” Both names had the same amount of syllables but Lydia seemed easier to say. She didn’t want to hold up the man any longer since it seemed like he wasn’t that fond of people in the first place but the bat currently flying around his head was too cute to pass up. “Well that’s just adorable!” It was quite hard for Lydia to keep herself from flailing about but somehow she managed to keep her somewhat calm disposition. Only her eyes gave way to her excitement.
“Ah, well, I should get going. The worst of the storm is over. If you’re thirsty then you can stop by the hospital wing. If you’re not then you should come by anyway and I’ll give your bat some fruit.”
Re: Fun in Phobia [3.13.09] (Ig and anyone else!)“It is a pleasure to meet you as well. You can call me Lydia if you like.”
Ignatius made a face, shifting his weight from one leg to another to add to his discomfort feelings. He had a slight aversion to addressing those of "superior" rank by their first names. Surprisingly he was slightly modest about his position, thought it didn't help that his father constantly berated him with comments about just how lowly a job he had taken. Teachers were certainly above him, though he had low opinions of the current "headmaster." A healer was especially someone to admire, since he had once wanted to become one.
"I'll just call you Miss. Zanini," he murmured, reaching up to scratch his neck and looking off at a dark spot on the wall.
“Well that’s just adorable!”
Azkaban the bat could somehow pick up on the fact that the lady was complimenting him. Her excitement pervaded the air so thickly even his human companion could pick up on it, even the woman wasn't fluttering around. Azzy chirped happily and dropped from Ig's ear, bumping against his shoulder and finally managing to flutter into the air before completely splatting against the ground. He flapped drunkenly toward the woman and squeaked happily as he circled around her head.
“Ah, well, I should get going. The worst of the storm is over. If you’re thirsty then you can stop by the hospital wing. If you’re not then you should come by anyway and I’ll give your bat some fruit.”
Ig made another face. Why would he stop by the infirmary just for a drink? He had his own drinks to drink and water was easy to get. "Yeah whatever," he grunted. "Azzy'll prolly eat anything." He gave her another look, from head to feet and back again. "You sure you're all right now? I can walk you back to the hospital wing. Do you even know where you are?"
Re: Fun in Phobia [3.13.09] (Ig and anyone else!)
Lydia watched in amusement as the Bat began took flight. It was adorable when cute animals ran into things (provided they didn’t die). It took everything in her to keep from clapping her hands. A few of her healer friends had told her that it was best not to clap at every little thing that she found cute and amusing. For some reason it put people off, though Lydia could never figure out why. If people smiled and clapped a lot more the world would probably be a better place. Those were her thoughts at least.
And now the cute little bat was flying around her head which was almost too much to take. It made her want a pet of her own more than ever. “I’ve never seen a but those close before. I feel privileged now.” It didn’t take much for the Healer to feel anything, really.
"Yeah whatever,"
His response made her twitch involuntarily. It was a small twitch in her shoulder that made her flinch. Well, if he didn’t really care about getting a beverage or not then why was he volunteering to walk her back to the hospital wing. She would just chock it up to reflexes. With a sigh and a shake of her head Lydia waved her hand in a dismissive manner. “I am well aware of where I am,” She kept her tone as polite as it was before. There was no point in unintentionally offending anyone. Lydia did not need that on her conscience. I’m sure I can get there on my own. It was nice meeting you and your bat, Iggy.” She began her trek back to where she came, waving once again. “I don’t want to keep you from doing your work so please go on about your business and don’t worry about me. I’m sure being lost is the least of my worries right now.” That’s right. There was still the storm. Lydia began to hum then, admiring the echo that came after every sound. Hopefully when she met up with Ignatius again he would be in a more pleasant and less awkward mood. She had a hard time dealing with less than happy people.
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