Closed Practice Makes Perfect

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy had gotten in some trouble last year trying to read her books while she walked, but she was still trying it. It would make for a much more effective use of her time, and Ivy was sure she would manage it eventually. She was going over her book for Ancient Runes, trying to make sense of it all. She was mostly managing to avoid collisions, though there had been a close call with a suit of armor earlier, and Ivy thought a portrait had giggled at her, but she was slowly but surely getting better at it. Even if she had to read the same paragraph a few times. She was heading to the student lounge to study more, moving past a few students as she turned the page and kept on reading.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer was probably moving faster than he strictly should considering there were other people around in an enclosed space, but he just knew the staircase was about to move again. If he missed this flight, there was no telling how long it'd take him to find an alternate route downstairs. He did see Ivy, though he'd rather assumed she'd see him as well, which he quickly found out was not the case as he shoulder checked her. He managed to spin with the collision, swinging around on his heel, hands already raised to apologize, when the swinging motion of his messenger bag knocked into a nearby portrait frame and now Sawyer had to apologize to Ivy and a rather incensed 19th century nun who was looking decidedly crooked on the wall.

"Sorry- Sorry, ah, I was- Okay hold on! Sorry, sorry," he said, scrambling between Ivy and the portrait trying to decide who he needed to grovel to first. Ivy was intimidating in a pretty, knows everything sort of way, but the nun had an extra century of two of living with which to learn how to curse out rude students so Sawyer was struggling.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy nearly dropped her book when she felt someone's shoulder bump into her, and she looked up in alarm and frustration at this interruption. But as she saw how the boy knocked into a portrait as well, Ivy couldn't quite help the slight smile that appeared on her face, especially as he seemingly tried to apologize both to her and to the portrait at the same time. "Right, here." She said, adjusting the portrait for him, hoping to would make the nun calm down slightly. It didn't entirely seem to work, so she paused. "Maybe we should... go." She suggested under her breath, quickly marking her page before closing her book and gesturing for Sawyer to follow her before the portrait could rant at them.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer was eager to let Ivy take charge when she stepped forward to straighten the portrait. The Nun was still muttering darkly, her gaze intent and hostile on Sawyer's, and he was happy to move away when Ivy suggested it. "Yep, great. Good plan, thanks," he said, trying not to make it too obvious how keen he was to try and put her between him and the portrait. There were a lot of talented witches in their year, and Sawyer hoped if anyone could deflect a curse from an angry nun, Ivy was one of them.

"Logically, I know she can't actually do anything to me, and yet," he said sheepishly, throwing a glance down the hallway as they started to move away. "And sorry again for, you know." Sawyer made a vague hand motion to indicate bumping into her. Ivy still intimidated him a lot, but she was less scary than the portrait had been. And she probably accepted apologies a lot better.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy glanced over her shoulder at the grumpy nun as they walked away quickly, the corner of her mouth turning up a bit in amusement. "I get the feeling she could crush our spirits with just a few words, to be fair." She said, half-joking. Ivy shrugged at his apology, any annoyance about the incident long gone. "It's alright. I... am starting to think reading while walking isn't worth the risk, despite its efficiency." She said, frowning at her book for a moment. "It just feels like a waste of time to just walk to class without doing something else." She said, thinking out loud a bit. "It would be so convenient if the textbook could read itself out loud to you, or something."

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer was trying not to side eye Ivy too much as they moved down the hallway. He wasn't used to her making jokes or even apologizing. At least that's what Sawyer thought she might be doing. Ivy didn't strike him as the apologetic type, at least going off how she was in class. Efficient certainly seemed like a better word for it. "At least there's no toads to lead us into disaster this time?" he offered, unsure if he should even bring up them getting hopelessly lost in the dungeons last year. Sawyer would be surprised if any professor accepted 'lead astray by a toad' as an excuse for being that late to class.

"Here I am wasting all my time just walking," Sawyer said, shaking his head in mock shame. "All that time wasted. Though I bet there's a spell for that. Wouldn't be surprised if you could figure it out." Sawyer ducked his head, hoping Ivy took that as a compliment. He'd never spoken to her properly this long and he found himself still scrambling for something smart or funny to say to impress her, even more off kilter than when he'd been dealing with the nun.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy smiled at Sawyer as they walked away. But her smile turned into a frown as she was reminded of the incident with the toad. She had tried to read while walking that time too, with less than ideal consequences. "And no Hester, more importantly." She said, seeing no point in pretending the girl didn't frustrate her.

Sawyer's comment made Ivy laugh a bit. "Well, you seem to be very efficient at making portraits angry with you while you're walking." She teased lightly. She actually felt get cheeks heat up when Sawyer said she would be the person to figure out a spell like that. She was pleased that he had noticed she was good at magic. "I'll do some research and let you know." She finally said.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer didn't miss Ivy's frown at the mention of Hester or her toad and immediately wanted to backtrack. He'd been surprised at how well the conversation had been going so far and he really didn't wanna screw it up already. Thankfully, his next sentence seemed to have managed to make Ivy laugh, which made something in Sawyer's chest feel light and fluttery and he spent a moment basking in that instead.

"Well, yeah, what can I say, it's a talent," he said, running a hand through his hair to combat the sudden urge to say or do something else that might make Ivy laugh. "Yeah uh, maybe I could help. Or hinder, I guess. But I could keep you company? And like, fetch books and stuff. I am an excellent fetcher." Sawyer willed himself to stop talking, but he wasn't sure he'd get another chance to talk to Ivy without anyone else around. And he just knew he'd make an even bigger mess if he had an audience. At least if he made a fool of himself now, it was just Ivy who got to judge him for it. And maybe the portrait.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy smiled a bit at Sawyer's words, he was funny in an awkward sort of way. Ivy was pretty sure he was friends with Delilah, and she could understand why. She was surprised when Sawyer suggested helping her, or at least keeping her company. It wasn't often that people seemed to want to spend time with her. "Really?" She asked him, tilting her head a bit as she looked at him critically. "You'd want to fetch books while I research?" It didn't sound very fun, but he had offered it on his own. Unless he was joking?

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer didn't managed to make her laugh again, but she still smiled and he was counting that as a victory. Especially considering how pretty she was when she smiled. Sawyer had to focus so he didn't walk into any more walls just looking at her. "Yeah! I mean, sure," he said, clearing his throat and trying not to come off too keen. "I'd be putting my retrieval skills to waste if I didn't use them sometime, right?" Sawyer said, twisting his bag strap in his hands when it seemed like Ivy was actually thinking about saying yes. "Just say the word any time you want a study buddy. I'm your guy," he said, jabbing a thumb at himself and resisting the urge to strangle himself for coming across like an idiot. If he was lucky, Ivy found it endearing and would still agree. Thankfully, he had to get to his next class soon, so he had a time limit on many more dumb things he could say before he had to leave.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Even though Ivy was looking for it, she couldn't spot any insincerity in Sawyer's words. It really seemed like he wanted to spend more time with her, and it made her feel nice. Like she was making a friend. "Well, I'd enjoy that. I'll let you know." Ivy said, tucking some hair behind her ear as she smiled at him. "But you'd have to do some studying too, I think you can't just fetch my books for me." She joked lightly.