Closed Don't be suspicious

Mania Athanasiou

Mania Athanasiou

[Y48] | Chaotic and talkative.
 
Messages
44
OOC First Name
Faye
Age
02/2052 (11)
Mania was stood at the front of a building that was supposedly the hospital around here. She supposed it was a decent one, not that she'd ever been to one much as her mum was a healer so she mostly took care of her and her sisters if they got sick. She ran her eyes up and down the structures, debating on whether or not she'd find cool things inside. Surely there'd be no harm in taking a little peek inside, right?

OOCOut of Character:
This thread is going to end in a St.Mungo's staff member interfering, no harm will be done! <3
 
Callie had also been stood outside the hospital for several minutes. More than several. Fifteen, at least. She had no reason to go inside, and that was the problem. There were probably all sorts of magical things going on inside - things which, unlike the flashy performances she'd seen on the street, would be difficult to fake with special effects.

After another minute or so, she spotted a girl lingering nearby. Maybe this was her way in. Trying not to think too hard about the moral implications of what she was about to do, Callie sidled over and nodded at the hospital doors. "Someone you know in there?"
 
Mania was brought out of her thoughts by a strangers voice. Slowly she turned her head of brown hair to face the girl that had spoken to her, the girl had pretty features, she thought. Shrugging she looked back at the building. "Mm, not really but I am dying to get a look inside, just a little peek you know." She explained nonchalantly, like it was everyday that a kid would try to sneak into a hospital. "We could always just go in pretend to know someone OR we could just sneak past. I mean we are children, small and unnoticeable for the most part." Mania felt a smile on her face, at least she would like to think the adults in there were too busy with... Whatever it was they did, to notice to girls walking in, but she was no Seer after all. "So what do you say? We go in? Or we could fake an injury?" At this point she'd do that just to get a look inside.
 
Callie raised an eyebrow, half shocked and half impressed at the girl's brazenness. At least she wasn't the only one who wanted to sneak in for curiosity's sake. "Maybe. But you know, you can go anywhere if you look like you're meant to be there," she said. She'd learned that one from her nana. "The secret's to hold your head up, like this, and don't look anyone in the eye. I bet you no-one would stop us."
 
Oh she liked this girl, she liked her a lot. Mania smiled broadly at those words. "I love the way you think, I'm Mania but you can call me Nia!" She introduced herself, holding her hand out and waiting to get a name in return. "Yeah nobody will stop us if we just look the part and if they do just all we have to do is 'oh no I am so terribly sorry, I have lost my way. See our mum oh it's terrible she's here but I forgot the room number could you please help us we just wanted the bathroom.' Then give fake name and as they figure it out in their head we bolt, easy." Easy sure in theory, but it was enough. She wanted to see this through, besides she was rather good at the dramatics. Her whole family was a circus already, not literally though.
 
Callie grinned, shaking the hand offered. "I'm Callie, short for Calliope." Nobody ever called her by her full name, but she liked to volunteer it all the same. It had an elegant sort of quality that made her feel sophisticated, if only for a moment. "Exactly! Have you done this before? You're suspiciously good at it."
 
Mania laughed softly at the insinuation that she'd done this often. "No, well not like this but I have had to act my way out of a few tricky situations I suppose." That was putting it lightly too, she had been in loads of trouble so much so that her parents had jokingly threatened to rename her Trouble. "Alright Callie, let's get to business." She said with a excited tone, using the handshake as a way to pull her newfound friend towards the entrance. She walked through those doors like she had been there everyday for the last few months, acted as if she knew where to go. "Left, right, up or down?" Mania whispered calculating their options. "Ah, up it is I want to see what's on the first floor." She said as she read a sign that told what was on each floor and the first floor? Oh that was interesting Creature-Induced Injuries.
 
This was wrong, wasn't it? Sneaking around a hospital, hoping to see something interesting. Callie wouldn't have wished creature-induced injuries on anybody, but, well, if the injuries had already been sustained, then she wasn't doing additional harm by trying to catch a glimpse of some. Besides, it was for science - or rather, for magic. How could she trust that these so-called wizards weren't just trying to kidnap her if she didn't see some irrefutable evidence that magic was real?

But the corridors were disappointingly dull, the doors predictably locked. "Yes," said Callie loudly as they passed a nurse- "I'm sure Mum will be OK. It was only a really small bite." Out of earshot, she dropped the act. "Where is everyone?"
 
Mania was sure if she narrowed her eyes any further they'd cramp and stay as nothing more than lines on her face, but it was so utterly boring. The only thrill was the possibility of being caught, but even that seemed too slim. There was barely anyone around. "I don't know, but makes me feel less bad about this. Nobody's even trying to keep us out, they made it too easy." She huffed turning a corner.

Her eyes landed on a door at the end of the hallway, the door had windows, this was their chance. Pulling Callie behind her she made swift steps towards the door, with every intention to peer inside. "Oh, there has to be something in there, that door just looks Important you know?" Her reasoning may not be the most solid one, but it was an effort. Mania had all the confidence of an 11-year-old as she marched up to that door. She had no hesitation peering inside. "Oh, there's someone!" She practically whisper yelled seeing the two figures in the room. It was just that, two figures seemingly staring at a wall for all she knew. Seriously was there nothing interesting here?
 
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Zennon was used to long days as a healer, and he had grown to like them, even though they kept him away from Finley more than he would have liked. Still, it was something he loved about his life and the two years he’d spent away had quickly evaporated the moment he’d stepped back through the doors. One of the things that had weirdly become a constant in his life was Arvel Ayers, and more surprising even than that was that he’d somehow managed to get to know the man well enough to know when something was wrong, which is what had brought them to this room. “That’s right, deep breaths, in, hold for five, out, hold for five,” he said, coaching Arvel through in the best way he knew how. It was just unlucky he’d turned his head right at that moment when he happened to notice a brunette head peeking through the window. “What the hell?”​
 
Arvel did not want to be here. He certainly did not want to be here with Zennon Baros. But where else could he go? He was a mess - and as usual, he couldn't even articulate why. Nothing particularly bad had happened. Nobody had yelled at him, or asked him to work overtime, or left a nasty mess for him to clean up last minute. He had no reason to be this stressed. Yet here he was, in a quiet room with Zennon, trying desperately not to let any of the chaos in his head slip out. Hold for five. Out. Hold for five. Merlin, he was fine - he didn't need any of this. He didn't need Zennon's help.

He was grateful anyway.

A sound at the door snapped him effectively from his tangled thoughts. "Kids?" he said. "What are they-? Unsupervised? No, just get rid of them. Please."
 
Yeah - it was too easy. Callie didn't like that. She'd come here to see some 'real' magic, but the lack of expected chaos only supported her theory that it was all a set-up. Of course the doors were locked. There was nothing behind them. The 'DANGER' signs were just clever props, probably.

Probably.

"Really?" she said, perking up suddenly. "Are they doing magic?" Callie peered through the glass. It was dark inside, but she could just about make out two figures. Now she and Mania really were in danger - in danger of being caught - but that didn't really matter, as long as they got to see something...
 
Mania saw the two figures, judging by the hushed voices through the door men, turn their attention to the two girls. "Oops." She said backing away from the door slowly, perhaps they hadn't seen them yet, though one of them had clearly locked eyes with her. Had even said 'what the hell?' while at it, but surely he hadn't seen her. Even if he had she could just pretend she got lost looking for the bathroom, right? Clearing her throat Mania made to retreat even more before choosing otherwise. She tried the door and by some miracle it was open. "Sir is it alright in here? It is awfully dark, though could you uhm point us to the bathrooms? Me and my sister here we got lost, you see this place is quite big. Floors upon floors, can never quite find what you are looking for right away, I dragged my poor sister out here in search of the bathroom." She explained casting a glance at Callie next to her, the two men were awfully close. "I think I have seen my sister in a room with her boyfriend like this or maybe my parents." Nia whispered to Callie, making sure to keep it hushed as she narrowed her eyes at the men.
 
Zennon nodded to Arvel, ready to defend him from whatever it was that was peeking in through the windows. At first he'd thought it was the head healer, but with some luck, it turned out to be kids, or something. Because one of them walked in the door. When she mentioned it was dark, Zennon nodded. "Yes, because this is a dark room for those that are sensitive to light after an encounter with one type of creature or another," it occurred to Zennon immediately he probably shouldn't give out too many sensitive details to children, but he also wasn't sure why they were here, since they were clearly not visiting. "Where's your visitors badge?" He asked, subtly stepping in front of Arvel to usher the two girls out. "You usually will have needed one to get by, but perhaps you left it when you went to visit your family? Come on, I'll take you back to see them." He had a sneaking suspicion that they didn't have a visitor's badge, and actually he was quite impressed they'd made it this far. Arvel didn't need two random kids seeing him when he was in a vulnerable state, regardless. It was probably bad enough Zennon had. He pointed down the corridor and to his left where there stood a big sign that said "washroom" for them as he moved to usher them out. Just in case they wanted to stick with their bathroom story.​
 
Oh, Mania was clever. Callie would never have thought to open the door; she would have scurried off as soon as the men had spotted her and hoped she could find a good place to hide. But that was how guilty children would behave, and she and Mania were allowed to be here. Yes - they had simply got lost looking for the bathroom, and now, by stroke of luck, they had stumbled upon a pair of doctors, or possibly a doctor and a cleaner, judging by the uniforms. A less sheltered girl might have reached the same conclusion as Mania, that they had interrupted something romantic, but Callie didn't even make the connection when it was whispered directly in her ear. Boyfriend? Parents? What on earth was she talking about?

"Badge..." Callie repeated. "Have you got it, Nia? You've taken it off! Why did you take it off? Mum said one of us had to wear it. Sorry-" Callie turned back to the man with Baros printed on his robes- "I think we must have left it in the ward. The, um... elemental ward?" There had to be a department for that, surely? Elemental magic was a staple in any good fantasy universe; there was no way it didn't exist in this one. "That's where our mum's staying. Ruth Gower. Can you take us there?"
 
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Arvel grew increasingly grateful for Zennon as one of the children opened the door. They were lost, apparently, but they didn't sound too concerned about it, nor seem entirely sure where they'd come from. Elemental ward? Was there a department Arvel didn't know about? Perhaps they meant the spell damage ward. Either way, he could do with a bit of a walk himself. Better that than stay in here by himself until a less understanding member of staff found him. "I'll come," he said.
 
Mania followed the movements of the two men, one shielding the other, cute. She listened and pursed her lips together realizing her mess up. A badge, of course there'd be one needed for visitors. Before she could speak Callie spoke up and for the life in her she wished the girl hadn't tried to explain. Elemental ward, that was not on the floor directory. Suppressing a sigh Nia narrowed her eyes slightly before making a worried face and turning to Calliope. "Are you well Callie? I'm so sorry sirs... Misters? Uh employees? Whatever you prefer, my sister she gets a little confused sometimes, our mum is at the spell damage ward and as you can imagine it is a lot to take in especially for us children so she must have just confused, yes?" She explained with a sympathetic tone turning back to the men. She had chosen the ward not only because it seemed best to be mixed up with something such as elemental, at least in her humble opinion, but also because it was at one of the the top floors giving them the perfect advantage to bolt down the stairs.

"Oh, actually mister, actually you are now Pim," She said pointing at the man with the Baros name on his robes. "And you my friend, you are Pom." She said turning to point at the man with much lighter features. "So Pim as I was saying before giving you two your cute new names, you two work here yes? Before you take us to our mother could you show us something cool? You know maybe uh, I don't know do you have any creatures, like snakes or rats here?" Mania could not pass the opportunity to see something now could she? That would be the exact type of tomfoolery she swore to never get down to.
 
Was he like this as a child? Finley wasn't like this, was he? He liked children, he thought, but was it only his own children he liked? There was something in the back of his mind that kept making him want to crack a smile, but he couldn't allow the girls to know they'd gotten to him, he was supposed to be professional, and he had a bad experience with laughing at people when things happened. His head turned around to look at Arvel for the moment as the memory raised up for him before he looked back at the girls in front of him. "Ah, spell damage, yes, coming all the way down from the top floors to the first floor makes a lot of sense of course." He said, raising a conspiratory eye at Arvel. He didn't have kids, so he might not have picked up on what Zennon had, but he wasn't going to make assumptions either. Especially given Arvel was hardly in the best of conditions right now. He pulled his wand out of the holster on his arm and waved it over the one called Callie, concern for her etched across his face. Well if the poor girl is getting confused, it's a good job Zennon is a healer!

He checked his wand, as he thought, not a thing wrong with her, but his frown deepened and he quickly conjured a chair for her to sit in. "You better sit down, I'm so sorry I didn't see it before, here," he quickly summoned a juice box, handing it to the girl. "You better drink this before you feel sick, confusion can be a lot on a young girl, but you're in luck, because we have just the thing for when kids get lost, don't we Arvel?" he said, nodding to the map on the counter besides them. "You sit here and drink that, it'll make you feel better." He looked at the other girl before pointing his wand at her too, again finding nothing wrong. "Ah, you're in the same boat it seems, you better have this," he pulled out a piece of chocolate, Tinsel, his snake, curling out from inside his pocket and up onto his shoulders. "Tinsel wants to share with you."​
 
Clearly, Callie had said the wrong thing. She nearly objected to being called confused, but she'd got herself and Mania both into enough trouble already. Her mouth contorted into a grin. Doctor Baros was onto them, but he was one of those nice sorts of people who appreciated curiosity. She followed the wand with her eyes, unflinching, as he waved it over her head. Was she finally about to see some real magic? Probably not. She certainly wasn't afraid of him or his fancy stick, in any case. Theme park actors weren't allowed to touch you. She'd been to a haunted house before. She knew the rules.

Unless... unless she was confused. None of this made any sense, after all. If they were in some sort of theme park, if this was all an elaborate joke, then why had someone come all the way to England to collect her? Why go to so much effort? Nana probably had enough money to orchestrate something like this, but she would never have had the time. But if it wasn't a prank, that only left two options: one, magic was real, or two, she'd just hallucinated a chair appearing out of thin air.

She sat down. Her arm raised automatically to accept the juice, which may or may not also have been a figment of her imagination. She'd wanted to believe that magic was real - it was, oddly, the most sensible explanation for everything that had happened over the last few weeks - but now Doctor Baros was looking at her with an expression of great concern, and telling her she was confused, and suddenly she wondered if any of this was real.

The snake wasn't. It couldn't be.

"What's happening to me?" she asked, glancing between Mania and the two men. "Where's my nan? I need - I need to go..." But she didn't move, because her vision was a bit spotty at the edges, and because she didn't trust the corridor not to dissolve around her as soon as she stood up. Someone needed to tell her what was going on. Now.
 
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Arvel stared blankly. Coming all the way down from the spell damage department to creature-induced injuries made no sense at all, and he almost said so, except that he sensed he would have sounded stupid. He wasn't always sure why he was being stupid, but he'd gotten better at recognising that he was before he broadcasted it to everyone else. So he closed his mouth and lingered behind Zennon, using him as a sort of social shield. "It's Arvel," he interjected at one point, in case the girl who'd referred to him as 'Pom' actually wanted to know his name, but once again, he got the feeling he'd missed the point.

It was true that Arvel could barely talk to people his own age, let alone children. But he was keenly attuned to distress. He tapped Zennon with the back of his hand, frowning. Was there actually something wrong with the girl - Callie? Arvel considered going to get help, then remembered Zennon was the help. Zennon was a healer. He'd know what to do.

What, and that meant Arvel should just stand there behind him like an idiot, did it? For god's sake, he was tired of being useless. He wasn't a healer, but that didn't mean he couldn't do anything.

"Where are your parents, really?" he asked the more talkative girl, finally emerging from Zennon's shadow. "Where's your nan? Is she in the building?"
 
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Mania narrowed her eyes, not buying the act of the man believing any of their words, but he was playing along. What was the harm of playing a little further she had thought before she actually heard slight distress in Callie's tone. Turning around faster than she knew she was capable Mania stepped between the man and her friend. "Callie, I'm sorry everything is fine. We are at the hospital, we said we'd take a look around. These are Pim and Pom they just uh were in this room having a chat? You are alright just drink your juice." She explained calmly, keeping her tone hushed, feeling guilty that perhaps she was the cause of this confusion.

"As for you Pim and Pom, I shouldn't accept any food from strangers but I'll pet the snake if that's alright with you Pim? Our nan is probably home, like I said we are here for our mum. We'll get going in a bit." She said, for the first time today feeling a little unsure of herself. "The snake is beautiful, may I pet it? Or does it bite? Actually if it bites it is good we are here then you can just heal me right? Controlled environment and all that. Pom, your name is Arvel I like that but I will still refer to you as Pom." Mania was still talking when she cast another glance at Callie, if anything happened to her it'd be her fault probably so she'd better make sure the girl got out without too much stress and anxiety. Besides Nia quite liked her. "Did you two go to Hogwarts? I am supposed to start this upcoming year, quite exciting really." She couldn't help the automatic jump from one subject to another.
 
Zennon immediately felt bad when the girl seemed to take what he said a little too seriously, and he steps back, giving her space and the aura of a joke falls away as he looks between the pair of them seriously. He looked to Arvel. "They're not supposed to be in here, they're trying to play a game," he told him, looking back at the girls again. He didn't want to call them liars, because that seemed a bit harsh, since up to this point no harm had been done that he could see, but he'd overplayed it, and now there was some actual confusion and Zennon didn't like that. "What your friend said is correct, this is St Mungo's hospital for magical maladies, there is nothing really wrong with you. I apologise for playing with you like that, I didn't mean for you to take it quite so literally." He said, Tinsel curling around his neck to stare down at the other girl whose name he didn't know. Well, he didn't know if this one's name was Callie either, but he felt like it didn't really matter right now. Instead, he knelt in front of Callie, but gave her as much space as he thought she might really need. "I'm Healer Baros, this is my place of work, and you if I am not mistaken are quite new to magic, and probably shouldn't be here." He looked between the both of them this time. "I appreciate your need to adhere to stranger danger, but I rather think you crossed that line when you walked into a hospital unaided and proceeded to ignore all of the warning signs that told you this area is both dangerous and off limits to visitors." He said, gesturing to those very signs that said staff only they had blatantly ignored.

He stood up again when the other girl asked about Tinsel, and he turned to look at her, "she wants to pet you, why don't you go and keep her some company as we escort them out, and then watch them to make sure they actually leave," He said, in parseltongue, holding his arm out for her to curl around and land at the other girls feet, before she started to curl around her. "She won't hurt you, I'm a parselmouth, I can speak to snakes. And yes, we both attended Hogwarts, good luck with your sorting."​
 
Callie knew Mania was trying to be helpful, but she wasn't telling her anything she didn't already know. Of course they were in a hospital. The question was, were they going to let her out again? Suddenly, the idea that this was all a big practical joke had gone from the least desirable outcome to the most; any second now, someone would jump out with a party cannon, and she'd have a good laugh at the way Mania and Doctor Baros had almost convinced her she was losing her mind...

But there was no confetti. The doctor knelt down in front of her. He spoke kindly, but Callie's frown deepened as he went on. Magic was real. Magic wasn't real. Magic was real. Couldn't anybody just tell her straight? Even her nana had had trouble making up her mind. At first, she'd forbidden Callie from going to Hogwarts, then the next day insisted she had to go, all the while refusing to explain why the sudden change of heart. People were keeping important things from her, she just knew it. They thought she wasn't mature enough to know the entire truth. Just uproot Callie, tear her away from her friends, and send her to the other side of the world - no need to give her the details. It wasn't like it was her life or anything.

"Well, maybe if someone would tell me what's going on, I wouldn't have to come looking for answers myself," she said, a bit more brusquely than she'd intended. It just wasn't fair. How come Mania was in the loop and she wasn't? Callie didn't even care about sticking to their story any more. She just wanted to know the truth. "First my nan says I'm not a witch, then she says I am, then she starts sulking and won't tell me why, then she drops me off here like some sort of parcel, everyone else seems to know what's going on, I'm probably going crazy, and now you're telling me you can talk to snakes?! Is this a joke or not?"
 
Arvel nodded. He'd just about reached the same conclusion himself: the girls had sneaked in, perhaps gotten lost, and now one of them thought they'd actually come down with something. They were far too young to be messing about in a place like this. Not that there was a good age to start gallivanting around hospitals, but there were things here that no child ought to see, especially if they weren't familiar with magic in the first place. Thank goodness very few of the other doors had windows in them.

A strange hissing noise made the hair on Arvel's neck bristle. Parseltongue... He hated the sound of it. Not because it was unpleasant, but because it reminded him of a shameful time, when he'd naively believed everything his father told him about dark wizards and their serpentine propensities. A time when he'd been full of fear and misdirected bitterness. He'd never apologised to Zennon for what he'd said that day at school. He'd wanted to, but he'd never been able to find the courage. What if he sounded insincere? What if Zennon had forgiven him a long time ago, and laughed at him for bringing it up? It was complicated.

Arvel retreated back behind Zennon's shoulder. Sometimes, he forgot that he was an adult - that kids saw him as someone who knew things by default. Little did they know, he couldn't even muster a 'yes' to a simple question of 'did you go to Hogwarts?'. Sorry, he thought, again and again, as if by thinking it hard enough, Zennon might be able to feel his remorse. He didn't want to leave all the talking up to his colleague, but he didn't have a clue what to say.
 
Mania felt some sort of an emotion, maybe fear? Regret? Creeping up her spine all the way to her throat. She pursed her lips together tightly and shook her head. "Pim it was all my idea, I wanted to see how things work here. I did not mean any harm, I am so sorry." She apologized with urgency. Had she known that the other girl was seemingly very new to magic, most likely from a non-magical family by the sound of the confusion, she wouldn't even have proposed an idea of sneaking in. It was foolish of her, like her parents always said she had a bad habit of acting before thinking.

The feel of a snake curling around her did little to ease the shame, she had done this. Caused Callie to become confused, it had not been her intention at all. "Can you please help her, explain to her somehow, I, we just met outside so I have no idea how to handle this situation. I'll go stand with Pom again I am so sorry. I promise to never do stupid things like this again." Mania couldn't even look at the man in the face, she just smiled at the snake that was on her arm and brought it closer to her chest while retreating towards the silent man. "Pom I am sorry, I didn't mean to cause any harm to anyone. My parents always say I do things without thinking it through. I am sorry, do you think Callie will forgive me?" Sure Callie had agreed out of her free will, but that didn't mean Nia didn't feel responsible for this mess. She was glad though, that they had stumbled upon these two seemingly kind men that weren't yelling at them for being children. She just hoped Pim could somehow explain and calm Callie down. "It is quite fascinating that he can speak to snakes though, don't you think?" Mania said to maybe Pom maybe the air around them, or maybe only for herself. Surely she had heard legends, of those that could speak to snakes, but she had never known of an actual person never mind seen one so close or much less in the act. She found herself quite adoring the small creature on her arm, gently stroking it's head and following every little movement with her eyes. She wanted a snake she decided and not a single person on this earth could stop her.
 
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