Selina Skies
May 20, 2022 6:45 PM
Fast & Furious by Selina Skies
Welcome to Fast & Furious!This is a rapid fire posting event where word count rules are waived! Only got one sentence? Post it. Only got your character going 'Huh?' Post it.
You can continue existing threads or write in response to any existing school event, such as the zoo trip, Quidditch event, or classes. You can also just start brand new interactions, especially if you don't feel up to speed or confident with those events. You can literally just write your character walking down a corridor or sitting down for dinner, and wait for someone to come along and help you make it into something.
HOWEVER, please post under this thread - this keeps all the event posts in one place, and means there aren't a bunch of posts that don't follow site rules scattered about, which can be confusing for new authors if they find them 'in the wild.'
The event will run for approximately 48 hours, going Friday night - Sunday night in the USA. The usual cut off is 'when people get bored and go to bed on Sunday' rather than a strict 48 hours.
So, have fun, have at it! Any questions, ask in chatzy.
Subthreads: To the penguins! [tag Piper] by Leviosa Scurlock
[zoo] hi, cuz (Mab first then anyone younger than Mab) by Lenny Pierce with Mab
Better go for high intensity then [Henry] by Xavier Lundstrom with Henry Spellman
Good [Henry] by Oz Spellman with Henry Spellman
Dancing teacups by Yaniel Ayala Velez with Claire Osbrook
You don't sound convinced [Yarielis continued from Zoo] by Iris Cobb with Yaniel Ayala Velez
I think I don't remember how to read now. by Graham Osbrook
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Selina Skies
Fast & Furious
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Oz Spellman
May 20, 2022 9:56 PM
Good [Henry] by Oz Spellman
OOC: Continued from the library thread with Henry BIC:
"That's actual law. It's different than teacher logic," Oz pointed out. They would say Henry should have reported it if he knew about it. That was why he hadn't told him. But he also couldn't fake that he wasn't losing sleep, and he'd promised not to lie...
"No," he assured Henry, when he asked if he was getting hurt. "No, it's nothing like that," he said, trying to inject his voice with as much reassurance as possible. Maybe if that was the line, then this was trivial and stupid, and he didn't need to tell Henry - not cos he was keeping a secret, but because it was the kind of 'secret' that didn't matter. If the line was whether he was in physical danger, then he wasn't breaking their agreement.
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Oz Spellman
Good [Henry]
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Henry Spellman
May 20, 2022 9:59 PM
So tell me yours. Then I'll have one too. by Henry Spellman
"I think they probably have to follow the law. I'll look into the magic ones but I'm not worried they're gonna throw me in jail or something probably." He was glad to hear Oz wasn't getting hurt but also was pretty confident that his and Oz' idea of what counted as pain were different."You know this is when mom would remind you that guilt, shame, and emotional pain are also hurts," he pointed out, making it a question to avoid his own 'mom voice,' since he was well aware his brother hated that. "Tell me your secret. My lips are sealed." There was no question for him of that; his brother needed him and there wasn't anyone else in this world he suspected either of them trusted enough to go to even if Henry thought it warranted that sort of action. The idea of tattling was the not on his mind, just of supporting his brother.
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Henry Spellman
So tell me yours. Then I'll have one too.
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Oz Spellman
May 20, 2022 10:06 PM
They're not great things to have by Oz Spellman
"They could throw you out though," Oz pointed out. He didn't want to be the reason anything awful ever happened to Henry.He made a noise between a huff and a growl when Henry pointed out that hurt feelings were also hurts. But it wasn't aggressive, just annoyed. Mostly at Henry being right.
He sat for a while, trying to find the words. Other people probably would have interrupted, probed him with more questions which would have tied him in further knots. But Henry was Henry. He was quiet as a rule, and he could see when Oz was thinking, even when Oz pushed it as far below the surface as he could.
"Xav's been self-medicating," he said quietly, his tone careful and flat. "With stolen potions ingredients. He had to, you know nothing was working, and they made all those rules that he could only see his family if he got better," he reminded Henry, his voice taking on a slightly pleading edge. "I dunno why I'm even telling you," he huffed. It was Xav's secret really. Oz was sort of keeping it by proxy. But it was still a secret. And emotional hurts were still hurts... "It stresses me out," he muttered.
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Oz Spellman
They're not great things to have
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Henry Spellman
May 20, 2022 10:15 PM
Well now you've told me so it isn't a secret anymore. by Henry Spellman
Henry was very quiet and then let out a lot of air all at once when Oz finished. He had a practiced neutral expression but this didn't seem to warrant that because Oz wasn't stupid and he knew it wasn't a neutral situation."That sounds really really hard," he said first, trying to think of what their mom would do. She was always empathetic first so he tried to start with that. "For you both," he added, because Oz wasn't stupid but sometimes he could be a little stupid and Henry didn't want him to dismiss the fact that it was hard for him too. "Do you want . . . advice? Or just for me to listen?" he asked. It was so hard to not be all over it with advice but he was pretty sure that wasn't a good way to keep their relationship good and Oz was telling him something big. He wanted things to be good.
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Henry Spellman
Well now you've told me so it isn't a secret anymore.
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Oz Spellman
May 20, 2022 10:21 PM
I... are you sure? by Oz Spellman
Oz tried not to wriggle or snap. Henry wasn't wrong. The sympathy just twisted uncomfortably under his skin because he didn't deserve it. He stabbed holes in his parchment with his quill."Yeah? Advice sounds good?" he said, when Henry offered it. He felt like it was one of those big stupid Oz messes that was beyond fixing but if Henry had something smart to suggest, he'd take it.
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Oz Spellman
I... are you sure?
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Henry Spellman
May 20, 2022 10:32 PM
Yup. by Henry Spellman
Henry tried not to look too happy that Oz was open to advice because WOW he needed it. Not that Henry necessarily had the greatest ideas ever but he had a pretty good track record for decent ideas at the very least, and an outside perspective sounded helpful in this situation."So, first, you said he 'had' to steal stuff to do his own medicating, but like . . . that means that even if he found something that worked, he wouldn't be able to report it or whatever so it doesn't help any. I don't know how wizard CPS works but they're gonna wanna know how he's getting better and make sure he has the meds at home too, so it has to be official. Also, if whatever he's got isn't working, then we have a school full of weird magic geniuses who could help. Potions teacher or the nurse or something could definitely help."
He was hesitant to suggest outright that Xavier was abusing drugs recreationally and he didn't know the guy well enough to know whether it was him or Oz or both that weren't thinking this through all the way but his opinion of him was definitely getting a lot of qualifiers.
"The other thing, you said that he has to be better to see his family. But that means his family is making him worse, right? Or he's dangerous for them, but you said it's just really bad headaches and stuff? So it sounds like they're not safe. Remember Jaxton a couple years ago?" he said, recalling a foster kid they'd gone to school with for a few months. "He was in and out of his home, his foster home, another foster home . . . he had to get adopted. Stuff at home was worse. Is it really worth stealing stuff that could possibly kill him just to go see people who aren't safe? Can you just see if he wants to come to our place this summer or something?"
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Henry Spellman
Yup.
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Oz Spellman
May 20, 2022 10:48 PM
It doesn't feel like it's going well by Oz Spellman
No. No, no, no. Henry was trying to logic things but all of it was wrong. Oz tried to push down the prickly feeling that made him want to shout at Henry. This was another part of why he didn’t let Henry in on problems, because Henry was always trying to apply this black and white logic that didn’t work with how messy and complicated the world actually was. Henry always believed there was a concrete solution, and so many times there weren’t.“No,” he said, forcing himself to keep his voice even. “They tried. For the first two years he was here, the healer gave him every possible potion in existence, and none of them made a fricking bit of difference. He tried. He tried following all the stupid rules, but they were all broken, and no one had a clue what they were doing. And they don’t care. They haven’t made him prove anything… They didn’t say he has to be successfully medicated, they said he has to just never get ill again in the first place. They’re messed up.”
They were the bad guys. Not Xavier’s family.
“And think about all the people who mom told us not to answer the door to,” he pointed out, unable to believe that Henry, of all people, was defending CPS. “Cos they’d just see it as black and white and say she was a bad mom for being out or not being able to pay the gas. Sometimes families do bad stuff. I know.” They’d both seen enough evidence of that where they grew up. “But sometimes the people in charge just make shady bad decisions cos they don’t actually care about the people they’re dealing with and they don’t understand. They’re picking on him cos he’s Muggleborn. You should be on his side.”
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Oz Spellman
It doesn't feel like it's going well
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Henry Spellman
May 20, 2022 11:00 PM
Hard secrets never do I think. by Henry Spellman
Henry was quiet again, familiar with the quiet rage that made his brother's voice sound so different from his own sometimes. Henry had rarely managed to be angry the way Oz could and it was a trait he'd always been jealous of. Oz felt everything so much bigger than Henry did it seemed, and Henry felt small when the best he could conjure up in himself was resigned disappointment. Oz was the kind of person that would change the world; Henry was the kind of person who would perpetuate crap systems because changing the world was too hard."They don't make him prove anything?" he asked, trying to make it clear that he was on Oz' side and that the system was the bad guy, not him. That, at least, was easy enough to agree with. "I didn't know that," he added quietly, hoping to remind Oz that he was coming into this more than a little bit blind. He didn't even know Xavier that well and keeping track of all the vague things Oz told him about a complicated situation someone else had going on was a big ask. He tried but he couldn't be perfect. "That seems really messed up." Agreement. I agree with you. I believe you. I'm here for you. Please don't push me away again. Please don't make me be alone again.
He swallowed a lump in his throat.
"If they were really determined to take us away, a door isn't gonna stop them," he pointed out. He knew as well as Oz did that CPS definitely didn't seem to always have kids' interests at heart, but they'd seen people go to great lengths to hide their kids away and that never worked either; if the government wanted to take you away, you'd be taken away. "Still, if his family isn't the problem, then that's really freaky. It's not both? Like they definitely sound shady, but you're sure his family is good to him? I just wanna make sure. I trust you." He added a defense in preparation for an offense he knew was coming. "I'm on your side, Oz," he said quietly.
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Henry Spellman
Hard secrets never do I think.
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Oz Spellman
May 20, 2022 11:15 PM
Urgh by Oz Spellman
"I'm sure," he pressed, glad Henry seemed willing to listen. "At least... They've only done much as mom's ever done to warrant us being taken away. Maybe less." He couldn't swear Xav's family was perfect, though it sounded pretty idyllic. But he knew that Henry knew what he meant by that... You could have your own messy problems but still be better off together."The whole thing's a mistake. It's messed up. And he tried jumping through all their hoops and doing what he was supposed to and none of it worked. The only option left is figuring it out on his own. Except... not alone. Cos that would suck.
"I just want to help him," he stressed. Because when Henry had offered advice, it had to be advice that got them to where Xav needed to go. Or maybe Oz had never wanted that, he only wanted to be angry and be listened to. He wanted it fixed. He didn't know what that meant. "He needs someone in his corner, but it's just so hard when what he's doing freaks me out so much. I mean, I don't think he's about to die. Like, that was a thing I had to think about. But it's not... I just hate that this is happening, and I want to help, but maybe I'm not even doing that. And like.. how can doing the right thing feel so like doing the wrong thing? And I just miss him. Like... when he's medicated, he's all over the place. I just wish he was normal again. But normal was killing him, and meant him being ill all the time, and meant no one listening to him or believing him about what was happening... So," he shrugged hopelessly. Wanting it back how it was was selfish. He just really wanted to be out the other side, where none of this was a problem any more.
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Oz Spellman
Urgh
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Henry Spellman
May 22, 2022 3:55 PM
You're not alone, brother. by Henry Spellman
Henry listened to Oz with the distinct feeling that he was missing something. Part of it was that, with the sheer volume of information he was getting all at once, it was hard to be sure he was even getting all the pieces of the same puzzle, let alone actually putting it all together correctly. Beyond that, Oz was talking about it like the biggest problem was he was worried about Xavier, but Xavier may or may not be risking death and be stolen away from his family? So? That seemed bad. A light bulb went off for Henry and he lit up with the grin of an idea he was sure he would work."Dude," he said, reaching out to touch Oz' shoulder. "Let me come with you next time he's gonna do it. Either tell him first or, if he doesn't want people knowing, we can fix my hair up and I'll pretend to be you. You could even take a 'bathroom break' and I'll come back in so he's already medicated. I know it's a little sketchy . . . but if it's for his own good, it can't be more sketchy than letting him do it in the first place, right? I might notice something you haven't noticed before or something and be able to help. I can do some research too. I know there's some good books around here on medication and dosages and stuff. When are you meeting him next?"
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Henry Spellman
You're not alone, brother.
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Oz Spellman
May 22, 2022 4:24 PM
Thanks. But figuratively will do. by Oz Spellman
Oz wasn't sure what he expected Henry to be able to do but so far none of what he was saying made Oz feel any better.First, this was precisely why Oz had made himself look different to Henry in the first place - so that Henry was never in the position of taking the fall for Oz's stupidity. Then there was Xav... He didn't always get touchy, but Oz definitely didn't want Henry seeing that. And the thought of Henry pretending to be him... Of Xav raking his fingers through Henry's hair... His stomach squirmed.
"No," he said, the word carrying the force of a slamming door. "It's bad enough that you know. I don't want to drag you any further in."
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Oz Spellman
Thanks. But figuratively will do.
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Henry Spellman
May 22, 2022 4:27 PM
I'm not confused often but right now I'm confused. by Henry Spellman
Henry physically recoiled, not sure where Oz' sharpness came from. He was more confident than ever that he was missing something now, but he didn't want to force anything either."Okay," he said quietly. "I just wanna help is all."
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Henry Spellman
I'm not confused often but right now I'm confused.
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Oz Spellman
May 22, 2022 4:49 PM
Emotional support > physically jumping in by Oz Spellman
This was why keeping secrets was good. When Henry knew, he either wanted to fix it when he couldn’t, or help when he shouldn’t. Oz should’ve kept it to himself. How was it possible that he was driving a wedge between them again when all he’d wanted to do was bring Henry closer?Screw up.
“Hey, you are,” he assured Henry, reaching out and gripping his shoulder firmly, like physically hanging on could stop all of Oz’s words and stupidity from pushing him away. “Maybe I just made a mess that’s too big even for your brain to sort out.” Again.
“I thought… Y’know when you said about sometimes you can break the rules for a good reason? I thought maybe this was that. That I was at least doing the right thing to help Xav, even if teachers and stuff wouldn’t think so…”
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Oz Spellman
Emotional support > physically jumping in
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