Closed Easy Breezy

[Zagreus Kohler]

Zagreus always preferred being outside to being all cooped up indoors, so maybe it was no surprise that he spent most of his free time roaming the grounds. being around nature always did help him clear his head, and studying under the shade of a tree was much nicer than being all cooped up in the stuffy library. Not to mention there were no rules against talking out here. (not that he really had anyone to be talking to).

It was a nice day out and the second year decided to try and make the most of it, grabbing some homework he still needed to do under his arm before heading out. Though it was only once he was outside that he notice that it was quite windy, having to duck his hair as the breeze tussled with his dark curls. But he was out here now and he was not going to let some wind put him off, so he decided to press onward. Unfortunately, he didn't really make it much further before a particularly strong gust of wind stole some of his worksheets right out from under his arm. "Ah!" Zagreus managed, trying to make a grab for a sheet, but his fingers ended up curling around nothing but air. "Someone grab that!"

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine was getting better at spending more time outside. Sure, because of her fair complexion she had to put on a whole lot of sunscreen, but she was surprisingly good at remembering to do so. Which said a lot, because she could be forgetful at times. Or at the very least, disorganized. But she was getting tired of being cooped up in her dorm, or the library. At least it was warm but not too hot outside, and there were plenty of shady places to sit and read and have a bit more space to call her own. Not literally her own, but not as though she was forced to share it. Or have people pay too much attention to her.

It was, however, windy, and she moved a hand to push errant strands of hair out of her eyes. It was growing long enough that she could tie it back, but she never did a particularly good job of it. She heard a familiar voice calling out, and as she blinked she saw some papers in the breeze. Aine recognized the voice as Zagreus, one of her classmates, who she didn't know that well or even really at all beyond being able to say 'good morning' before class. She had a vague memory of her hat blowing away and last year's head boy using a summoning charm to get it back for her, but she didn't rush for her wand, her first instinct being to break into a very ungainly and embarrassing sprint, dropping her book and reaching out to try and grab the papers. She did manage to get one, tripping and stumbling and barely managing to stop herself from falling over as she did. Wheezing, she turned back around, holding it out with a shaky arm. "I got one," she panted. "Do you...do you know how many there were?"

 

[Zagreus Kohler]

Now he was in trouble. If he lost his notes then he was going to be absolutely and royally screwed for his exams. There was no chance he could borrow off someone else just because he was too awkward to actually ask anyone. And because it was not really like he had any friends he could ask, either. Which he was trying to change, but making friends was not easy when you were socially awkward and didn't know what to actually say to people. He was always worried about saying the wrong thing or making people think he was weird. And who wanted to be friends with a wierdo?

Thankfully, he was in luck as Aine happened to be nearby and managed to at least grab one of the sheets of paper out of the way. "Thank you," Zagreus muttered, going a little red in the face as he took the paper back off her and tucked it with the few ones he actually left. Then, he counted through them, looking up again. "I don't... I don't remember." He had just grabbed a handful hoping to get a lot of reading and studying done, but apparently, that was now not going to happen. The wind had gotten a hold of all his hard work and was now scattering it all over the grounds. "I'm dead."

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine felt bad, like she should've been able to grab some more of the papers. She wasn't completely out of shape - going to school in a castle would do that to you - but she still wasn't exactly fit. Her exercise of choice was swimming and it seemed like that was ill advised in the lake. And she wasn't quite sure if the eel ate people or not. It didn't take a bite out of her, at least, if that was in fact the eel that she'd seen. She'd have to look into that more. And then she was getting sidetracked.

"It's okay," she panted, straightening up. "I can...help you find more of them. Was it a specific subject or was it like...general?" At least they had all the same classes so she had an idea of what she was looking for. She figured she didn't really have anything better to do and she wasn't going to leave one of her housemates out to dry, so to speak. "If you need you can use some of mine...though they're probably kind of illegible to anyone else but me." Her handwriting wasn't bad, the notes probably just only helped her specifically and wouldn't necessarily have the information in the order someone else would appreciate.

 

[Zagreus Kohler]

He did feel a little bad for dragging the girl into his problems, even more so when she was being so nice about it and offering to help him find the others as well. Though he had a feeling it was a bit of a lost cause, the wind was quite strong and he was sure all his papers were all over the place by now and lost forever. Or stuck up trees or something.

"It's okay you don't... have to help," he didn't really want to take up any more of her time if she was busy with something else. And he did feel bad about it as well. "Thank you though, for the, um, offer. I can probably just... re-write my notes... or something." Though he didn't know how he was supposed to do that as he couldn't remember everything they had covered that semester in all his classes.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine shook her head, giving Zagreus a small smile. Despite everything, she wasn't a bad person. At least, she hoped. "Nah, it's really okay," she said, earnestly. She really didn't have that much to do at the moment, and it wasn't as though she had many people to talk to. Her face quickly fell as she realized what she said. "Well, not okay okay, I mean, your notes went flying and it's probably a bit late to try and summon them if that would even work, magic kinda sucks a lot of the time, but like, I don't mind helping if you need it cause then we can both revise. Or something." Aine blathered, quickly feeling embarrassed about how she was going on. She'd never really group revised before - she'd worked with Valerius in the classes they had together but that was more him guiding her rather than people helping each other out. "Um. Sorry."

 

[Zagreus Kohler]

Zagreus still couldn't help but look quite sure when Aine continued to try and tell him that she didn't mind helping. But no matter how many times she said that or reassured him, Zag still felt guilty about it. It was his fault, if he had just kept a better grip on his things then he wouldn't have to have to ask anyone else for help in the first place. "Magic does suck," he did have to quietly agree, mostly to himself as he shifted his head into a small nod. At least, it sucked for him. He still struggled to cast the most basic of spells and was quite sure if he were to try and duel, a first year could beat him quite easily. There had been a reason he didn't sign up for the duelling tournament. "I don't... want to be a bother... or anything," that was really the last thing he wanted. And he didn't want someone helping just because they happened to feel bad for him or whatever, "You, um, really don't have to. If you don't want to."

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine felt rather guilty, like she was placing too much pressure on Zagreus to accept her help or acquaintance. Maybe this is what it had been like with Valerius, she thought, although she'd been less shy and more self-effacing and hysterical. She probably didn't completely understand his position or point of view, but she did kind of get it. Accepting help was like being pitied or having someone feel sorry for you. Even though that wasn't Aine's intention, she could see how it might come across like that. She backed down a bit, awkwardly biting her lip. At least she wasn't entirely alone in thinking magic sucked. It was good sometimes but it only seemed to work in a pinch for her. "It, uh, wouldn't be a bother, but I don't wanna make you feel uncomfortable or anything." Aine shrugged, looking a little contrite. Her pride had taken a bit of a hit lately. "I just thought maybe we could have like a second year Hufflepuff study group or something. Maybe someone in the year will make magic make sense suddenly." She winced. "That sounds really sad saying it out loud. Sorry."

 

[Zagreus Kohler]

Maybe he was being too obvious. Or maybe he was just making Aine feel even more awkward by how hard he was seemingly trying to push her away. Not that was what he was trying to do, but he continued to just feel horribly guilty for dragging her into this mess in the first place. He knew that he shouldn't feel guilty, it had just been an accident, but then again, his brain did like to jump to the worst conclusions and overthink literally everything. "I'm not uncomfortable," he was quick to stutter out with another soft shake of his head, "I just... um... you know... feel bad." Though saying that out loud sounded pretty lame and his shoulders deflated somewhat. Though he did offer a small laugh, "If you work out how magic makes sense, then please let me know."