(no subject)

[eighttimeshandy]

WHO: Eriq Slepner (Open post)
TONE: Hurt and comfort! Or Schadenfreude.
RATING: PG
WHEN: Saturday morning
WHERE: The Hospital Wing / The Great Hall
WHAT: Coming back to life is a little traumatic
STATUS: [ONGOING]

As of Thursday morning, laid out on one of the beds of the Hospital Wing, was a corpse.

As of a minute past midnight, Saturday morning, that corpse promptly gasped for breath, snapped its eyes open, and sat bolt upright. For a moment, all was still.

Then it let out a scream loud enough to wake the dead, curled into ball, and threw the covers back over its head, sobbing hysterically.

Later that morning, at breakfast time, Eriq Slepner slipped into the Great Hall and at down at the Slytherin table, arms wrapped around himself and eyes on the floor, shoulders shaking.

Comments

[preanimator]

The smaller boy stared at him with huge, startled eyes, and then he jerked back, grabbing on to the strap of his book bag with both hands until his knuckles were almost white. "Don't- you got what you wan- "

But in a rare display of self control, Herbert didn't finish the thought. Maybe later he could be mean, maybe later he could say all the bitter things he wanted to, even though he was pretty sure the only good they would do would be to make Eriq really, really glad he had a girlfriend to cozy up to, and not some short, awkward, male friend.

Instead he stood his ground, and just shook his head a little. "It doesn't matter. I was being stupid. Same thing I always tell people not to be," he said, trying for a dismissive tone. "Live and learn, I think they say. Whatever. Anyway, you missed a few days of homework. I wrote it down for you, if you want it. It's simple enough - you could probably do it in a free period. I think the professors have been distracted."

He was babbling, he realized, and to stop himself, he looked down at the bag he was still clutching with a death grip, forced himself to relax his hands, and started digging through it, grateful for the excuse to look down again. He'd always been complete crap at this kind of thing, any sort of deeply personal interaction, and a few days of enforced pleasantness hadn't actually given him any better ways to deal with it other than pretending like none of it could possibly matter.

[eighttimeshandy]

The moment Herbert pulls from his grip, Eriq's hand drops to his side, his entire body sagging as if whatever support that had been holding him up was jerked out from beneath him. Even his eyes dropped, his attention going to the ground. He almost wished he could sink into it, like he'd been able to before. He was hardly Mister Sensitive himself, but he knew Herbert, and he knew that if the other boy was cruel...

Then he deserved it. He deserved everything Herbert was going to say, but never did. He could practically hear the rant in his head, unfolding like a red carpet to his personal condemnation.

"Herbert, please..."

[preanimator]

"You don't want it?" Herbert asked, looking up again. He had no idea how else to address this - please what? What was he supposed to say? Yes, it's completely fine that I fancy you and you're not going to feel the same way, I forgive you everything, it was all a big mistake, so let's just go back to being best friends the way things were before, so you can have everything you want. The sad thing was, Herbert knew that was what would happen. Eriq would feel bad for awhile, obviously he already did, and then Herbert would forgive him, because who else understood him? And Eriq would have the beautiful girlfriend and the best friend and live ... happily ever after, or however that worked for normal people. People who knew how to be around other people. And probably a really good friend would be happy for him, but Herbert wasn't a really good friend. He was a petty, jealous person, and he couldn't help but wish he'd never, ever been so stupid as to think kissing Eriq was a good idea.

"I imagine someone else saved it for you, anyway. I knew you'd come back. You had to, even if Kirkland was an utter arse and wouldn't let me come in. Or the professors did. You probably don't even have to do it, so I'm not sure why I bothered. Something to do, I guess."