Who: Morag and Mandy Where: The corridor outside of the Hospital Wing. When: 21 January, 1998. Night! What: Mandy has an attack of philosophy; Morag cleans up. Rating: ... I guess it'd be PG-13 since they get out the big curse words? Eh. Status: Complete
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Bludgers to any part of the body aren't uncommon in Quidditch, and Mandy failed to see why remaining in the Hospital Wing any longer than was necessary was, well, necessary. She'd broken no bones, had no concussion, no ill side-effects except for a lingering soreness along the right side of her chest, along her ribcage. That would, however, be taken care of by the potion she'd just taken and a good rest until morning. Thus her confusion as to why Madam Pomfrey kept her in. Perhaps she expected that Mandy would grow horns or develop some new strain of Dragon Pox? Sighing roughly, she flopped back onto the bed, legs swinging idly as she waited.
The only other sounds in the chambers came from the hallway outside, where Morag was to be found. She rapped thrice upon the door and cupped both hands around her mouth. "Hullo in there!"
Mouth quirking into a half-smile, Mandy echoed back "HULLO... hullo... hullo!" before lifting herself up and making her way a bit gingerly to the door. "Please tell me you're hear to break me out?"
"If you can let me in ..."
"If. If... the world is made of if." A simple movement of the wrist turned the knob, and the door opened to reveal Mandy to Morag, standing in muddy Quidditch robes and with a scratch on her cheek that she hadn't allowed Pomfrey to heal. "Ah! They deceived me, the bastards. Do come in..."
" ... do come out," she replied in kind, motioning to the empty hall behind them. "Tell Pomfrey that you're a sleep walker."
Head tilted to a haughty angle, she stepped into the corridor, pausing before Morag. "Pray, don't wake me." Not wanting to let on that the potion hadn't quite taken effect, she pointed to her right. "I'm late for my tea party with the squid. ... Did I tell you about that dream?"
"Holy fuck if you are drunk off of your medicines -- GO BACK TO BED!"
She frowned slightly. "No, I really had a dream about the giant squid last... Friday I think it was. Thursday or Friday." She started walking, then, unwilling to go back into the infirmary. "I'm not drunk, Morag."
She jogged after her friend, even completing a complete circle before grinning. "Well, nothing should keep you from your one true love. The squid."
"Yes, I am quite suffering from lack of his company. I can't take it any longer, I mean it." Smiling, she beckons Morag closer. "Shall I tell you of my crush? Of the limbs that really do go on forever, and of his great, googly eye that sees into my very soul?" She paused dramatically. "I saw eternity."
Inching closer upon her friend, her eyebrow rose quite into her mass of unruly curls. "Excuse me?"
"I am simply indulging in a flight of fancy." Smile fading, she set aside her nonsense until such time as she could write it out.
" -- you're not in love?" An incredulous pause. "Mandy, did you receive a bludger to the head?"
She blinked. "In love? With whom?" She shook her head, gesturing at her side. "No, bruised my ribs. I'll be perfectly fine in the morning. Why?"
Her head shook vigorously as she laughed, placing her arm inside of her friend's elbow. "Come, come. To bed."
She didn't move. Perfectly sober: "Morag, I'm fine."
" ... to the Common Room, then. I'm not fine; I'm terribly cold."
"Have you ever felt that people simply humour you?" She walked, though, hating the potions she was forced to take, usually recovering from them on her own. "I'm getting that feeling now."
"I don't have the patience to humour people," she states plainly, adding a shiver for effect. "Do whatever you would like in Ravenclaw Tower; but I want the fire."
Then, it erupted. "I don't even know if I want to be in school now. It's always the same thing, with the occasional trip to Hogsmeade or Quidditch match to look forward to, and there comes a point where that simply isn't enough." Hugging her arms about her waist, she frowned.
The portraits around them grumbled and shot dirty looks at Mandy to which Morag attempted to shield her from the greater part of them. " ... where is this coming from? Oh, Mandy. Tell me all of it."
The attempt was appreciated, but the portraits' irritation was still evident, and dismissed all the same. "I don't even know. It's like every thought I've ever had wants to be spoken, all at once, and underneath it all is a dissatisfaction with the very world. Nothing's as it seems, is it? All of it, all of us... we fit into these perfect little parts that we're expected to play without complaint, and if we deviate we're looked on as not quite right. Even if some ideas make sense whilst others don't... or the ideas that do make sense have their logic and reasoning so fucked up that there really isn't anything to hold them up." Then, a breath, dragged in deeply, let out slowly, thoughtfully.
Her mouth twisted into a smile. " ... you're afraid to be a mad one. Speak, be, live. Do what you wish."
"No... no, I'm afraid that if I let go, then I'll fall apart, and not only will I not know who Mandy is anymore, there won't be a Mandy."
"Am I a Morag?" Pause. "Have I fallen apart, Mandy? Your fear is impeding you."
".... You're not mad." A statement, flatly, plainly given and with perfect truth.
"You know truly that many think I am."
"And also truly do I know that they fail to see the forest for the trees, and only study what is presented to them." She shrugged. "Maybe I'm afraid of what I'd find, dear friend."
Her laughter was short; it barked in the quiet hall. "Oh, Mandy. Fear. Is that going to dictate you?"
Slowly, she slid to the floor, robes catching only slightly upon the roughness of the stone wall. "There are times when I'd argue that it never has, but you'd see that lie immediately. But the answer. The answer is no. Or, rather, I don't want it to. I wish to stand on its shoulders and cause it to bend and then break."
She remained standing, letting her shrug fill the void left by Mandy. "Then ... just be."
"More sound advice has never been given." Craning her neck, she smiled her thanks. "I shall take it."
A grin. "Will you also take my advice and return to the Common Room? Please?"
Wincing as she regained her feet, she nodded her agreement. "And, possibly bed. The potions have hit." She linked her arm with Morag's, content to allow her to lead the way.