taxonomites | [holo | Sanctuary] Wonderful muggle things

One moment he is running through the forest of Serbia.

There are howls and screams following him, inhuman despite the lack of moon in the sky. His muscles burn from running but he forces himself on, needing to get outside the edges of their territory. If he can just make it to the edge of their territory, he will be fine.

Screeching phantasms rush up from behind, shrieking his position to his hunters. He blasts them as fast as he can to silence them, to buy himself those few extra strides that get him ever closer to safety.

One moment he is running, bursting through the shimmering wards that mark the territory. The next he is letting himself fall, whispering for the magic to rip him away and back to his hotel in the middle of the Muggle townstead.

That isn't where he lands.

There is a distinct lack of smoke, dust and noise in the next moment. And far too much light to be his hotel. Or, indeed, the townstead, which is still mostly relying on gas and goodwill to stay lit at night.

But there is a lack of angry, murderous werewolves, so all in all, it isn't worst place he could be.

He sits down, deciding to get his breath back first. A pat down reveals his situation. "Bugger." He's lost his compass (which he didn't need anyway), his map (which probably wasn't going to help right now, all things considered) and his last bar of chocolate (which is a pity, because he really could have used that). But he still has his wallet and his wand, so the important things were taken care of.

"Right. Well. There's no door," he murmurs. "And a big... pointy... thing on the ceiling. Muggle thing. And another muggle thing! Wonderful. I wish I had been to school in the last ten years or so and I might know what that was." He rubbed his stubble thoughtfully. "No one's trying to eat me. And there's nothing hosing me down, tying me up or screaming in my ear, so it could be worse. However I have no food, no water and no idea where I am. That's less wonderful. But I have a wand. So they don't want me harmless. But they can interrupt my apparation, which means they probably consider me with a wand a negligible threat anyway. Merlin's beard, I have spent far too long on my own if I'm thinking out loud without knowing if I'm being listened in on. Hello out there? Could you let me out, only I've got some rather important business to get back to, thanks awfully."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"No, I understand. Accidents like that can happen back in my world." A misspoken word, a poorly chopped ingredient, the tiniest thing could cause a catastrophic accident. Never mind splinching yourself apparating.

Madelyne laughs, startled by the comment that those things happen back in his world. "Well, good. It will be nice to have someone who is more used to that sort of thing. It startled the hell out of me."

He smiled a little at making her laugh. "One of my students accidentally blew his head up to the size of a reasonable pumpkin last year."

"I hope it wasn't permanent? Or painful?"

She sounds concerned. That really sounds like a horrible experience to have.

"Oh no, just alarmed him for a few minutes until we got the spell under control. A small stammer can make all the difference."

"That's good. That's good. I can imagine that would be more than a little alarming to me but then, if you grew up with it, it might not be such a big deal." Shaking her head, she lets out a slow breath, sort of astounded by the whole thing.

"Magical mishaps can't be helped. I saw a classroom stained pink by an exploding cauldron once."

Madelyne snorts. It isn't an elegant sound but, still, it escapes her nonetheless. "Teaching mutants has mishaps but usually nothing quite like that. Still, when you have young ladies who can walk through walls and young men who can shift probability things can get a little strange."

"It doesn't so different from the school," he murmurs fondly. "No magic at home means they spend all school year doing everything they think they can get away with a bit more."

"Now if only the school weren't destroyed so often, it would have been perfect, really. A safe place to go and learn about those things that make you different and frightening." It is an ironic and sort of light-hearted statement but it does say a lot about the wort of place she was used to living.

"Okay, my school has never been destroyed, not even a little bit. Too heavily protected." And that was despite the best efforts of students after exams.

"Unfortunately, we can't build technological solutions that defend the place as there are always others better than us. And, well, most of our powers are not able to sustain themselves and most of us still have to sleep."

Not to mention all of the other things one might want to do with a day other than intense concentration.

"Oh, that must make it difficult." Frightening, even, to have that constant edge that you're not safe where you sleep. He hates it, personally.

"It does, though it is still a good life, even with the danger."

A soft laugh, "Some people couldn't live without the danger, though, after all of these years."

"I know the type," he sighs. Sirius was a consummate danger addict, made worse by his time in Azkaban. "You spend half the time trying to convince them they don't need to look for danger and the other half hauling them out of it when they find it."

"I don't know who is worse - the danger addicts or the responsibility addicts. Sometimes people can't let go of making sure people are taken care of and safe. Even if it means driving themselves into the ground as well." Madelyne nods a bit, an understanding expression finding her face, as she chuckles.

Remus nods, eyes closing for a moment. "Or there's that. I fear Harry's going to end up that way and he's not quite fifteen."

"I'm not sure I should ask but, Harry? This sounds like the sort of conversation that should be had over dinner or wine or something."

She realizes that she almost sounds like she's asking him out on a date, though it was entirely unintentional. The realization causes her to flush just a little. Maybe it won't be noticeable.

"My, well, not my godson but I thought of him as my godson for many years. I was close friends with his father and mother before their death and he was one of my students when I was teaching last year." He waves his hand. "My, it sounds far more complicated than it actually is. Tell me, if you don't mind me asking, who is it in your life that seems to be a trouble magnet?"

The explanation brings a different smile to her, her gaze going distant for a few moments.

"A trouble magnet? Me, usually, though if Nate is around it will be him, without question. I get into more than enough trouble on my own, though."

He nods. "So if there's a plume of smoke on the horizon, I should go looking for you at the middle of it?"

"At home, that would be the case, or it would have been at one point. Here, though, I'm trying to hold myself back. I... Well, I've been trying to be more responsible."

Sure, that's a way to say it, isn't it?

"Trying to be responsible? You call for back up before you go in now?" He says it with a grin.

That catches her off guard enough that she outright laughs and it takes her a moment to pull herself back to the conversation.

"I warn people, actually."

"Or you can do that," he agrees. "I'm starting to think I need to explore around here."

(no subject)

genequeen - 2012-04-10 03:26 (UTC) - Expand

apackofone - 2012-04-10 03:27 (UTC) - Expand

genequeen - 2012-04-10 03:31 (UTC) - Expand

apackofone - 2012-04-10 03:43 (UTC) - Expand

genequeen - 2012-04-10 03:52 (UTC) - Expand

apackofone - 2012-04-10 05:40 (UTC) - Expand