gooseberryhigh | (no subject)

Who: Gabi Flores and Levi Kramer
What: Levi escorts Gabi back to Ribbonfin
When: October 4th, after this.
Status/Rating: Complete/G

Stepping back out into the night was difficult; if Levi hadn’t offered to walk back with her, Gabi wasn’t sure she could have done it. The lodge was so warm and welcoming, and Prospero had been so kind, and the hot chocolate so nice, and…

Well. When she got right down to it, in her heart of hearts, Gabi was a little scared now, to go back out there, into the dark. What had happened hadn’t been frightening, precisely, but the Grotto wasn’t so far from Ribbonfin as the crow flies, and she didn’t want to feel it again, didn’t even want to take the chance. Certainly didn’t want to feel it alone. It had been so strong, the sadness, so enveloping. If Professor Elmasry hadn’t been there with her, and Levi, she wasn’t sure she would have been able to walk away, or cast a spell, or do anything at all.

It had reminded Gabi of when her mother had first died, the sadness, and she didn’t ever want to feel that sad again. Ever.

Levi was coming back to Ribbonfin with her, though. It was so kind of him. She didn’t know the older boy very well at all, but he was being so nice, and sure, the campfire was tonight and that was a good reason for him to come along anyway, but still. It made her feel better, better enough to walk out of the lodge and start down the path along with him.

She did not, however, want to be doing it in silence.

And what else was there to talk about?

“Professor Elmasry was so good,” she said after a few moments of quiet, unable to help it. “He knew what to do. Do you think that happened to him before? He looked so sad when I found him looking, the other day. Maybe it wasn’t because he wanted to get to the Grotto at all, but...that?”

Whatever it had been. Gabi wasn’t sure what to call it.

Levi kept close to her as they walked, one hand resting protectively on her shoulder while the other held his wand out to light their path and the surrounding woods. Nothing would be hiding in the treeline, or so he reassured himself, but he couldn't help but remain on high alert after their brush with-- something near the Grotto. His expression was focused and uncharacteristically stoic as they began to head out from the lodge, but it all too quickly softened into a superficially cheery smile as she spoke of Elmasry. A laugh came too soon, too easily; he was nervous.

“Oh, yeah, the way he handled that was totally dreamy,” he said, trying to make light of it. “I was just standing there like a dumbass, but he knew just what to do. Maybe he was investigating it when you saw him? But it probably does have a connection to the Grotto if he was willing to take us up on our offer to lead him there.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze, genuinely snickering before his foolhardy suggestion, “A couple of us Seniors could go investigating.”

Gabi shivered a little, involuntary, at the thought of going investigating. That did not sound appealing; she was a little surprised that Professor Elmasry had agreed to go back himself. But, she supposed, you got braver as you got older. Teachers had to be very brave indeed.

Glancing over, she looked up at Levi, forcing a smile. It didn’t come as easily as they usually did to her, but she managed. “That’s very brave of you. I think, maybe, if you do, somebody ought to be ready with a Cheering Charm!”

"Oh, yeah, that's an idea!" he chirped. "I'll have to bring someone really smart and good with spellwork." Tess, Nate--... uh… Quinn? … Ravi, maybe, he was smart… Levi frowned sharply in realization. "-- But everyone I know like that is also a Prefect, so they wouldn't." And all his friends that would happily fling themselves into spooky unknown danger weren't quite so gifted. Maybe there was a correlation. Maybe this was a sign that it was a bad idea.

He laughed again, playfully swishing his wand. "Ehh, it'll be fine. I could probably convince Dahlia and Faye to do it." Maybe a few others. His circle of friends wasn't known for being the best and brightest. "Anyway, it'll make a great story to tell around the campfire, right?"

Gabriela’s brow furrowed in confusion. “I am a prefect,” she pointed out; not that she was as smart as most of the others, but… “Why would they not want to come?”

The thought of the campfire perked her up again, and she nodded, though she wasn’t actually very interested in telling this story. Just being in the warmth and the light, surrounded by her housemates, though...that sounded good. Very good.

"Yeah, but you're a fetus," he responded amicably, as if he hadn't just insulted her. "I wouldn't ask you to come back after that. I'd ask a Senior, but the Senior Prefects I'm friends with might not be keen on hunting down spooky Depression Demons in the woods." Levi hadn't a clue what that experience was, but it seemed an apt descriptor for what he felt. There was a warm, flickering light source ahead, and the reassuring sound of distant laughter and merriment eased some of the tension from his posture. His smile grew wider; teeth flashing, cheek dimpling, all to prepare himself to present an illusion of fun.

"Besides," he continued, keeping his tone jovial despite the subject matter, "Would you go back now that you both know and don't know what's out there?"

Gabi considered that. She wasn't quite sure why Levi felt compelled to call her a fetus, but she was younger than him, that was true, so she didn't protest. As for the last bit, well.

“If somebody needed me to,” she replied, earnest. “Not alone. But maybe...maybe whatever is there, maybe it's sad and it just needs some cheering up?”

Levi held his smile, though he was oddly quiet as he considered her theory. "Y'know... Maybe," he agreed, somewhat unhelpfully; he didn't want to play on the young girl's sympathy and encourage her to return. They were so close to the camp now, he instinctively picked up their pace and slid his hand to the center of the back to urge Gabriela along. Out of the woods, get out of the woods.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Gabi. I'm sure Elmasry will figure something out." Though Levi would not confess that despite his own rattled state, his curiosity was already begging him to return to that spot in the woods to see if he could replicate their results. Was it a passing entity or a bound field of sorrow? Were the results consistent or dependent on certain factors? "I'll bet he knows way more than we do."

As they entered the clearing, he lowered his wand. "Nox."