(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

Hospital wing - night

[mammas_goot_to_hyu]

[Jumps at the scream and hurries over to the bed, not at all phased by a corpse coming back to life.]

Sveethott, hyu okay?

[Puts a hand to his back over the covers, rubbing gently.]

[rule_britannia]

Having Eriq's ghost hanging around him, he hadn't really had the chance to miss him or mourn him like he would have normally, so Arthur had only been a little put-out when he'd abruptly disappeared mid-conversation and hadn't thought on it very much.

That was, until he came walking into the Great Hall, very solid, very much alive, and quite obviously very distressed. His first reaction was to just.. stare, his urge to jump out of his seat and grab him up in a hug stalled by his shock at actually seeing him alive at all.

He got up, and made his way over to Eriq, sitting silently beside him. Both elbows rested on the table in front of him, and he pressed two fingers to his lips, then very carefully put one arm around the other boy, gripping his shoulder.

"Hey."

[preanimator]

Herbert had gone back to normal himself sometime before Eriq had recovered, having spent most of his 'nice' time with his friend's ghost. Once he was more aware of what was happening, that effects were wearing off, he'd gone to the hospital wing, but that horrible girl was there, so he'd lurked around outside, just waiting. It had been hard, but he consoled himself bitterly with the thought that Eriq didn't need him, and when curfew came and he was shooed away, he slunk back to his dorm, wishing there was some way he could check.

During breakfast, he hardly could admit his huge relief to see the Slytherin alive, if not exactly well, and he kept glancing over at the other boy between pages of one of his anatomy books. But he didn't go over, just stayed at his table, shoulders hunched in, refusing to talk to anyone. Not that this went particularly noticed - it wasn't uncommon for the Ravenclaw to seem sour and uncommunicative to almost everyone in his House.

[taleweaving]

[For two days Aranea had been a blissful little girl again, none of her usual worries about grades, friends, or her boyfriend bothering her. All there had been was playing with Vriska, getting to know the little sister she had at the young age like she wished. Even everyone's constant demands that she was supposed to be older din't truly phase her. She was the perfect age.

And then on the third morning she woke up, in the uniform she had put on 3 days ago, curled uncomfortably around Vriska in a bed too small for two teenagers. Carefully she had crept out, memories of the past two days rattling in her head and moved to check her journal. She remembered Eriq being devastated, and the ink stain under his name in his conversation to Herbert makes her start to worry. And then she flips a few pages forward, and sees Arthur's writing. Sees Eriq's name.

Sees the word dead.

Dropping her journal she had bolted to the hospital wing. It was Ms Maryam who let her in, even though it was still a few hours before visiting hours. Perhaps she knew of their relationship, but either way Aranea couldn't find it in her to care. Still rushing she made her way to Eriq's bed and it's only then she stops, choking back a sob. Her hand shakes as she reaches out to touch his, feels the cold flesh under hers.

She's not sure why she stays, curled up in a chair by his bed, clinging to his hand like her warmth will bring him back to life, but she does. She stays for as long as she can, blocking out everyone around her. It takes Ms Maryam prying her fingers out of Eriq's and leading her off to the Ravenclaw dorms to get her to leave. And even then she spends the night curled up in her bed, sleep never coming, and taking the privacy to cry behind closed, silenced-charmed curtains.

The next morning Aranea only goes down to the Great Hall out of routine. So when she sees Eriq, standing, breathing, her hearts stops. And then again she's bolting, pushing through groups to get to him in an uncharismatic display or rudeness. And then she near flings hers at him, arms tight around his waist, her heart pounding when she hears the beat of his. She can feel the tears in her eyes and yet she doesn't care about her composure, her arms merely tightening around Eriq as she buries her face against his chest.]

[marshall_lee]

[Marshall spies Eriq sitting at the table and looking like how Marshall himself felt. Without a word he goes over and sits beside him and silently just puts an arm around the other boys shoulders before finally saying.]

"....I'm really glad I was right and that it wasn't permanant. I'm not going to ask if you're okay because I can see that you're not..and that's okay."