(no subject)

[gonnabefamous]

WHO: Casper and Cameron
WHAT: DADA Tutoring and Gossip
WHEN: 10/15
WHERE: DADA classroom
WARNING: Mild language

This isn't the first time that Casper's worked to get another student caught up in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but it is the first time that he's attempted to teach a friend or that he's felt a certain amount of pressure to make sure that everything will stick. Just in case. Because of this, he's been pushing Cameron Carney exceptionally hard ever since they started practicing together and holding him to high expectations. Today is no exception and it's been a challenge to temper his forcefulness with the encouragement and patience he knows the other boy needs not to get burned out. But he's trying and Cameron is making progress. One step at a time. It's difficult to predict when he'll be ready to learn the Patronus charm, but he thinks they'll get there. Eventually. For now, though, he can see that the other boy's beginning to lose his focus and his performance as they practice simple hex-deflection is starting to suffer. He suspects that it might be time to call it a day. He doesn't lower his wand just yet, though, and looks at Cameron from across the classroom. "One more round or are we done? Your call." Cameron never expected Casper to go easy on him. It’s just not his way, and Cameron knows he’s far enough behind that he’ll never learn anything really useful if they don’t push. Still, openly struggling at something isn’t something he’s used to, at least not since he’s been at Gooseberry. When you play the idiot, people are impressed by the smallest accomplishments. Casper isn’t so easily impressed. Cameron has purple splotches across his skin from the times he failed to deflect the gentle hex Casper is using on him, and has insisted on calling them Casper Cooties. If it’s a game - don’t catch the cooties - it doesn’t seem like quite as insurmountable a task. At his roommate’s question, he draws in a long breath and exhales sharply, then plants a lopsided grin on his face again. “One more go, why not? Then we’ll give it a rest for the day.” This answer seems to please Casper. He doesn't smile back but the expression that flickers across his hard face is nevertheless approving and maybe even a little proud. Cameron can act like a fool and a slacker all he wants but that doesn't mean that he actually is one and forcing the other boy to show his true colors from time to time makes their closeness feel somewhat less inexplicable to Casper. He nods. "All right," he says tersely, "Get ready." The hex is an insignificant one, both simple to cast and simple to block, and he doesn't attempt to make this last onslaught easy for his roommate as he turns his wand in sharp, short movements and murmurs the name of the spell several times under his breath. If Cameron manages to block them all, he'll be fine. Otherwise, new purple blotches will bloom across his skin and clothing, including a shot made right for the center of his face. Cameron flashes a wide grin at his roommate; unlike Casper, his emotions are generally right there on the surface. He takes a deep breath and releases it, preparing for the final round. "Salvio hexia," he says, enunciation clear, wand motions exaggerated but precise. The first several spells sizzle uselessly against the barrier, but the force of the last one breaks through and hits him in the face. It tingles across his nose and cheeks like a swarm of gnats. When he looks to his side in the reflection of one of Lilywhite's cases, he can see a smattering of purple freckles across his face, and it makes him burst out laughing. Watching Cameron successfully deflect the first few hexes, just like he's done dozens of times today, Casper silently begins to consider that the boy is making good progress and that next time maybe they'll -- but these thoughts are interrupted when the last shot breaks through and strikes his roommate squarely in the face, erupting in an explosion of purple mist that scatters across his skin and stains it. He'd aimed that shot and he'd known this outcome was possible. But he hadn't been prepared for the look on Cameron's face or the way he immediately turned to look at his reflection and burst into peals of laughter. He feels his own lips twitch and, entirely coincidentally, clears his throat. Then he lowers his wand and raises his eyebrows, putting in wryly, "That's...going to be a pain in the ass to wash off, you know." "Who's washing anything off?" Cameron asks, laughter still coloring his voice. "Looks like Ebonpride to me." He checks his reflection one more time before turning back to Casper. "It'll wear off eventually... right?" "Eventually," Casper agrees dryly, emphasizing the word in a way that makes the situation seem more dire than it is. The faint smirk that finally surfaces on his lips makes it clear that this is intentional, though, and the spots will come off in a day or so if not scrubbed or attended with a counter-spell. Cameron moves to one edge of the padded mats that are available for practice, so that if anyone hit the ground they wouldn't end up with a concussion. His dueling practice with Casper, if you could even call it that, wasn't intense enough to be dangerous, but safety first and all that. "Guess we should put these up?" He lets Casper take the lead. "I'm not used to where anything goes in here. I spend most of my time in the music room. Or the transfiguration classroom." The prefect then slips his wand casually into his pocket and goes to join Cameron in folding, lifting, and putting away the practice mats. He intends to leave the space just as they'd found it; he's got too much respect for Ms. Lilywhite to do anything else. "Over here," he murmurs, nodding his head in the appropriate direction once they've got the first mat up and ready to move. He takes on the minor burden of walking backward and looks at Cameron from across the mat. He'd known about the time his roommate spent in the Music room; that basically goes without saying. But his eyebrows raise at the mention of the Transfiguration classroom. "Why? You hardly need the practice in Transfiguration. Or are you just hoping to see Ms. Rhee turn into a bear?" Cameron helps him lift and move the mats, following his lead about how to fold and where to put them, though he's not a neat person. "Gettin' in trouble a lot," he answers, half joking, half out of reflex. Of course, Casper knows better. The biggest frustration Ms. Rhee has with Cameron is his ever-running mouth. But it's easier to fall back on that old line than talk about how he's closest to her out of the faculty and goes to her first when he has a problem. He totally gets why Casper is in love with her. "She's pretty great though, right?" Casper scowls slightly at this joke in place of an answer but he doesn't press Cameron to be serious. He might have. But that question doesn't give him the chance. He isn't in love with Ms. Rhee but he does love Ms. Rhee in a way. Because it's easy to respect her. Because she always sees more in him than he does. Enough so that she'd not only made him a prefect when he probably didn't deserve it but she'd also given him a second chance last winter when he definitely didn't deserve it. Because she's always been there for him. He lapses into silence for a moment, expression serious as he tucks a bit of hair behind his ear and nods and turns to go back for the second mat. "...Yeah. Ms. Rhee's great. We got lucky." Cameron is watching every gesture, reading into every silence, investigating this case like a private eye. "Yeah," Cameron agrees. He takes one of the folded mats, lifting it above his head to place it in the top of a closet. He could levitate it, but he's so tall, there's no need. "I'll miss her when we graduate. What are we going to do without her?" With all of the mats now put away and that odd question lingering between them, Casper turns to look at Cameron with a tense expression and slightly uplifted eyebrows. He's never heard the other boy talk about a member of the staff like this before and he hadn't ever realized that the two were so close. Slowly, he shrugs. "You have friends that graduated last year, Carney; it's the same thing. If you want to keep in touch with her, you can. It'll just require some work." "Yeah. It's kind of scary to think about. Graduating, I mean," he says thoughtfully, a little absently. He makes his way towards the classroom exit, seeming to refocus as he walks. "Are you going to date when you graduate, d'you think? Or will you be too busy being an Auror trainee, too busy being an Auror, then too busy being a grumpy retiree yelling at kids to get off your lawn?" he teases gently, trying to subtly reel it back into the prying realm of romance without Casper catching on and shutting him down. He opens the door and lets Casper exit ahead of him. Casper's about to give the same response he always gives when his peers bring up graduation. That, no, graduation isn't scary. That he's ready to be done with school and done with being too young to do anything useful or make decisions for himself. That he's restless here. Even if he's come to care about this place and the people in it far more than he ever expected to. But then Cameron changes the subject and, as he passes through the door that the taller boy is holding, he exhales a small, vaguely exasperated huff of breath. "I don't know, Carney. It's...secondary." Cameron lets out a sound that's half laugh, half sigh. Secondary. Yep, that sounds like Casper, a grumpy old man in his teens. However, Cameron's still doesn't buy it, not with the bear patronus and all. "Maybe. But I bet if you found someone you liked, you'd change your tune," he says. There's a grin at the corners of his lips when he says, "Unless there's someone around you already like...?" This sound, whether sigh or laugh, is enough to earn a mild glare from Casper but he doesn't press the matter. Mostly because he's too busy bristling over the implication in his friend's smile. "There's not," he replies flatly, shoving his hands down into the pockets of his jacket, "Why is everyone so preoccupied with my fucking love life?" Casper's glare is too commonplace to have any significant impact on the members of his cabin anymore, but Cameron does try to tone it down a bit. He doesn't try to rile the other boy, not usually. Still, there's a shadow of a grin still at the corners of his mouth. "Some folks love a challenge, and getting you to open up is like robbing Fort Knox?" He offers. It's less touchy than saying, I just really want you to be happy, buddy! "If you ever did want to talk about it, though, I'm all ears." This prompts a soft scoff from Casper that sounds suspiciously like a stifled, one-note laugh. Still, he doesn't seem to mind being compared to Fort Knox. Cameron could've done worse. Then he shakes his head. "Just because you want me to have a secret for you, Carney, that doesn't mean that I do. I've got nothing to talk about." "Alright," Cameron says, sounding content to drop it, at least for the moment. "But if you ever do want to talk about that, or anything else, you know where to find me." He gives Casper a friendly slap on the shoulder. "It's the least I can do."