Closed The Ugly Taste Of Karma

[Aine Thompson]

Aine wasn't quite sure what had happened. Presumably someome had gotten her a bucket after she got back up and hurried her out to the Hospital Wing. Which had been a painfully slow journey, between her feeling disoriented and her having to stop every few moments to spit up another slug. As much as Cameron annoyed her, she was glad her attempt to cast this on him had failed. This was a sensation she wouldn't wish on anybody, even him. Not least because the sheer disgust of seeing the slugs made her want to vomit...thus bringing forward more slugs. A vicious and disgusting cycle.

She was finally ushered into a bed in the Hospital Wing to wait out the curse. Holding onto the bucket with clammy hands, she coughed up another slug and leaned back on the pillow with a moan of discomfort. The whimper of someone feeling sorry for themselves. That would teach her to listen to her inner voice, Aine thought, feeling rather grim. Especially as she heard some painfully familiar laughter nearby. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping she was merely hallucinating in this state.

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron knew he should have expected this when he signed up for duelling. It wasn't like any of his past attempts at shocking himself into actually being good at magic had ever really worked. It always ended up with him hurt or humiliated or, in this case, a bit of both. Maybe he could have stomached it if it hadn't been in front of Aine, if he'd gone up against something like Ngawaiata and lost like an idiot, it would have at least felt fair. Losing to Aine felt like it had just reaffirmed every bad thing he was sure she'd ever thought about him. Cameron let out a humourless chuckle at the thought, followed by a lesson contained peel of giggles before he managed to muffle the noise with his fist, groaning.

He'd nearly been in tears as he left the platform, hoping that anyone who saw mistook them for tears of mirth as he'd pushed himself out of the chamber. He'd spent a while wandering the dungeons, his own laughter echoing in his ears louder than anything he might have heard in the duelling chamber before he realized he wasn't going to be able to manage any counter-spell on his own and was forced to make the mortifying journey up to the hospital wing. Unfortunately, with the duelling tournament in full swing, the staff had more than their hands full with more serious injuries. Cameron wondered if he'd mistake what looked like a massive pair of antlers on one kid before a curtain was pulled across and he was left to laugh miserably to himself on one of the free beds.

Cameron was just starting to ponder if throwing up might stop the laughter, the clenching feeling of his stomach forcing another burbling laugh out when realized the bed next to him had a new occupant at the sound of an off putting splat, glancing over to see Aine's pale and drawn face as she spit up a slug. "Oh-hahaa- of course," he said drolly, dropping back onto his bed with another weak laugh. "What happened to you? Finally met your match?" He asked her bitterly, voice strained and breathy from overuse. Even if Cameron found this turn of events funny, he wanted to save his actual laughter for a time where it didn't actively hurt his stomach so much.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine had to wonder which kind of deity she'd offended to have this sort of luck. Realistically, she knew it was her own fault for jumping into something she knew she didn't have the skill or mentality for and letting her anger get the better of her. Serves you right, she thought, wincing at the very sight of the bucket. This was humiliating, and doubly so now that Cameron was seeing her like this. She didn't even like her own family seeing her sick, let alone someone who seemed to despise her so much and take great joy in her misery. Which she would probably have been doing to him had she not been at such war with herself during that duel. She turned away to spit up another one, not wanting him to see her like this, though she supposed it was far too late and the damage had already been done.

Aine leaned back on the pillow, turning weakly towards Cameron with a rather dull stare. She didn't really have the energy to be mad at him right now, even when he was making fun of her. As far as she was concerned she deserved it. She'd been awful lately. "I suppose you could say that," she groaned, hoping she could get through a sentence or two without being interrupted by slugs. "It was humiliating. You probably wish you could've seen it." There was a trace of bitterness in Aine's voice - it was her fault he hadn't, after all. She turned back up to face the ceiling, closing her eyes and breathing slowly through her nose. "I remembered I actually suck at duelling, froze up and got hi-" she abruptly stopped, turning away again to retch. Her misery seemed to compound with each slug she spat up. "I got hit, and I fainted." She turned back with a wince, fixing her gaze back on Cameron, this time with something of a mixture of anger and regret. "Happy? Now you can make fun of me for ages off of that."

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron wrinkled his nose, unsure if it was in reaction to Aine's apparently self-pity or the wet slapping sound that could only be a slug hitting the bottom of the bucket in her hands. He wasn't quite able to bite back the laugh that followed, groaning again as it made his stomach ache again, the muscles having moved past fatigue and into outright agitation from the constant laughter.

"I want you know - hahaha- That even though the spell is making me laugh right now- ahah!- I would still be laughing about this on my own," Cameron managed, shoving a hand to his mouth to try and calm down the next bought of giggles as Aine finished up her sad tale. It did make him feel a little better, Cameron told himself, the idea of Aine immediately failing right after beating him, but he would have liked it a whole lot better if he'd been the one winning. And maybe if he could have sat next to Aine without her puking up slugs. "You couldn't have -hahaha- remembered you sucked before you jinxe-hehehhh- me?" He said weakly. "Would have saved us both-hahhhaa- a lot of trouble I think."

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine slowly lifted a hand to her face, pressing it over her eyes and nose as she took slow, deep breaths. There was a hollow feeling in her chest she couldn't quite place, but she supposed it was probably just because she felt awful. Miserable, and self-pitying. Very pathetic - and yet Aine couldn't help but remind herself that this was all her own fault, and she deserved to feel this way. Although even she thought she didn't deserve the slugs. Magicians were really awful.

"I was really mad at you," Aine eventually said, slowly, careful not to push herself lest she cough up any more slugs. "I can do magic when I'm angry. And then it kind of...stopped." She didn't know why she was admitting this to Cameron, of all people. It wasn't as though he needed more reason to make fun of her. She'd given him plenty of ammunition already. She was just relieved he didn't have his camera with him, or if he did he was too sore from the jinx to take a picture of her in misery. Aine was smart enough not to make a point of that, at least, in case he did somehow summon the energy to take a picture. "You know that's the reason Valerius and I are friends? Or, well, were, until you two humiliated me at-" Aine leaned away again, retching, coughing up more slugs, and groaning pathetically after she did. "At the Great Hall." More slow, long breaths. "He saw how much I sucked at magic and felt bad for me." Aine pressed her hand back to her forehead, not really wanting to touch her mouth although the intent to silence herself was there. Often her mouth just moved without thinking. She was already at her lowest, she didn't need to act as her own shovel to go lower.

But dig she would. "For what it's worth, I-" she started, but once again was cut off by more slugs. Aine sighed after a moment, looking over at Cameron. Aggressive Aine had been brought to heel by a wave of slugs and what was left was far more contrite. "I'm sorry."

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron glanced away when Aine said she'd been mad at him, feeling his face heat up that words, a pit in his stomach at the idea. For all he poked at prodded at Aine, it still stung to hear she'd apparently been mad enough at him to forget she had stage fright or whatever her issue with magic was until after he'd left the room.

He gripped the sheets on the bed under him, apology on the tip of his tongue until Aine mentioned Valerius, snapping his mouth shut only to burst out in an unprompted fit of giggles again, much to his frustration. "Sounds like a crappy-hhahha- Crappy reason to be friends," he muttered, ready to say something else until Aine had to stop to puke up more slugs. "Gross," he mumbled, letting out another breathy laugh.

He sobered some when Aine resurfaced from her bucket, voice tired but seemingly sincere as she apologized, her voices making Cameron feel itchy all over. "It was just a duel," he said tensely, eyes roaming around the room as it suddenly became too weird to look at Aine. Probably cause she kept spitting up slugs, he assured himself. "But whatever. Sorry for laughing at you and stuff. I mean, before. Whatever," he said, flapping a hand before shoving it under his thigh, frowning down at his knees. Things were all weird now and Cameron hated it, stomach tight with a different feeling instead of just the fatigue as the laughing charm slowly wore off. "....How many slugs you think you gotta puke up before you stop?" He eventually asked, grasping for a change of subject.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine felt a bit sheepish, but did manage a tiny smile at his comment. "It is, isn't it?" She'd have to apologize to Valerius, she knew. Not right now, but soon enough. At least to clear the air. She appreciated the friendship but she wanted to be sure it was on better terms than him feeling sorry for her, or feeling like she needed help with everything. Her grades were very good, after all, and she was having a good time writing for the Hogwarts Monthly and she'd even managed to win a duel. Although there was an asterisk next to that one and she didn't necessarily want to count it. Sure, she struggled with the magical world, but Aine was a lot tougher than she looked, and she needed to be sure Valerius understood that.

Not that she felt it right now. As Cameron apologized in turn she felt odd about the whole thing. A little surprised to hear it, perhaps, and feeling even worse for having hurt him with the jinx. Aine almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, but she couldn't quite get there. Her face felt warm, but that was probably just the sickness from the slugs. "It's okay. I mean, I, uh, overreacted." She looked away, suddenly feeling like she couldn't look at him after saying that. Quietly, she was relieved he'd changed the subject. "God, I hope it stops soon. I'm going to spend at least an hour washing my mouth and cleaning my teeth once it's over. Whoever invented this spell should...uh, get hit by it." Aine screwed up her face, leaning back on the pillow and taking some slow deep breaths again. It seemed like it was easing up, but she couldn't be sure. "Um, I...I don't know if the counter-spell works on either of these," she admitted. If it worked and she could do it she could at least clear the last of it on Cameron and consider that her proper apology and let him leave, at least so he'd stop seeing her puke up slugs. Even though the damage was already done.