Who: Rebecca and Greg What: Grudging acceptance of company Where: On the way to, and then in, the Forbidden Forest When: Tuesday, after lunch Status: In Progress SFW?: Probably, swearing and general Rebecca-ness aside.
She hadn't been able to relax since the whole business with Amber at Duelling Club - not even for the very loose definition of 'relax' in Rebecca's vocabulary. The nightmares were worse than ever, and the days weren't much better, oppressive and overcrowded. She was all too aware of the staff watching her, and of the walls around her, and of how carefully she had to step. She was all too aware of being trapped, and being trapped only made things worse.
And then, suddenly, the cold snap, and the opening out of the skies, and she'd realised that she didn't care any more. Couldn't care any more. She needed to get out, and if that meant she got punished, even expelled... well, she didn't want to get kicked out, but it might not be so much worse than staying trapped. She needed to get out, to breathe. The sky was icy, clear, and dry, the world was opened up, the Forest was calling; she was on thin ice with the professors, and she didn't care.
She'd been out already, since before breakfast, sitting in the fork of an old tree and breathing in the gloriously open air. She'd returned for lunch, though, her stomach grumbling protest after so long without eating. Now she stepped outside again, the cold catching her throat and cutting through her leather jacket. She could already feel the goosepimples starting to rise, but she was tough, and besides, she actually rather liked being cold; liked the feeling of being uninsulated from the world. There was a light breeze rising, plucking at her loose hair and stinging slightly at her eyes, as she started towards the dark shape of the Forest. Despite herself, despite everything, despite the half-remembered thought that Vaisey might actually make good on his promise (threat?) to join her, her spirits lifted.
It was stupid, and weak, and if she'd noticed she was doing it she'd have stopped herself, but as she walked away from the castle, she almost smiled.