Stop and smell the grass

[innocent_insanity]

WHO: Kurloz Makara
TONE: somewhat macabre
RATING: PG-13
WHEN: 13 October, early evening
WHERE: Library
WHAT: Kurloz is taking advantage of Hogwarts' massive library and delving into the medical biology section. (btw he's not wearing his makeup, just his eyeliner)
STATUS: ONGOING

Kurloz had decided to spend the majority of his Saturday sketching. Not completely unusual, and some of the sketches had even been lighthearted ones of the outdoor scenery. He'd even bothered to collect one of the autumn leaves and draw it out in exquisite detail, but then he'd gotten lost in the veins of the plant. Veins had led to thoughts of blood, and blood had led to here, the library, in the shadowy section on biology. He hadn't bothered with the general Healing tomes - he'd gone straight for the titles regarding the transformation and distortion of anatomy through spellwork, staring fascinated at the images depicting various gruesome twisted creatures and failed experiments.

He sat at one of the desks, several of the books piled at his arm as he scanned through one in front of him, eyes fixated on the detailed water-coloured painting of two wizards that had been merged to share one spine, both of their faces in agony as the writer noted that the subjects had not lasted long under the pain.

Comments

[preanimator]

"Well, that was done entirely wrong," the smaller boy in the glasses commented disdainfully, completely uninvited. "You can't attach them there and expect that to work, it's basic anatomy."

[innocent_insanity]

Kurloz glanced over his shoulder and blinked slowly, his face clearly expressing 'so?'. He took his notebook and jotted down:

not the point bro - you've got to up and open your mind to the possibilities of fucking around with anatomy like this. how much can the motherfucking human body take?

[preanimator]

"And what's the use in that? Yes, all right, this is very dramatic and all, but it's also incredibly primitive. You can test the limits of the human body much more efficiently that trying to join the spinal cords of two people - all that's going to do is kill them in a relatively short order, and you won't find out anything about actual pain tolerance," Herbert argued. "Or whether co-joined bodies can survive, since where they've attached them is far too high up. You can't expect two sets of lungs to work properly off one fused spinal cord, that's just bad medicine!"

[innocent_insanity]

Kurloz smiled and shook his head, turning the pages to the beginning of the book with the publisher's date on it, recording the piece to have been written well and truly back in the dark ages, tapping at the faded ink numbers in emphasis. It was an experiment - the stepping stones of the advanced Healing and spells of today, surely Herbert would understand?

[preanimator]

Herbert peered at the date, adjusting his glasses, then huffed, annoyed that he hadn't picked up on that right away. "Of course, it would be a primitive text. Why don't you have anything more up-to-date? Or is this a History project?"

[innocent_insanity]

Kurloz paused for a second before writing out the 'conventional' response:

nah bro - this shit's all sorts of wicked awesome to look into to get the gist of how these here spells got developed.

[preanimator]

"Oh, Transfiguration. I suppose so. Though honestly, the medical implications are far more interesting," Herbert commented thoughtfully.

[innocent_insanity]

Tilting his head, Kurloz watched Herbert's face closely before writing his question.

How do you mean?

[preanimator]

The Ravenclaw, unlike Kurloz, wasn't particularly good at hiding his less-then-conventional interests - a lot of other students (and probably some of the teachers) found him more than a little creepy. It was clear why, as he explained with a growing interest in his voice, "Well, obviously this wouldn't work, but it's an early first step. It would be interesting to find out what would be effective, wouldn't it? How to fuse two nervous systems? To discover what would happen, what traits would be shared, how much control each brain has, that sort of thing - that would be an interesting experiment!"

[innocent_insanity]

Kurloz smiled at the boy's enthusiasm for the subject, nodding in response to the explanation.

think you'll be getting your experimentation on this kind of stuff underway after you graduate or some shit?

[preanimator]

"Hmm? Ah, no, that's not my particular area of interest, although I suppose I might as a side project. If I could get the subjects." Herbert wrinkled his nose briefly, as though this were an annoying formality he had to overcome. "No, I intend to continue my research into the reanimation of non-living tissue. Returning the dead to life."

[innocent_insanity]

Kurloz looked intrigued at the mention of reanimating the dead and scribbles out quickly:

you can do that shit? have you gone and brought some dead pets to life yet or something???

[preanimator]

"Just insects," West said, with a dissatisfied expression. "I haven't got any pets, and no one will let me use theirs. Can you believe it's considered Dark magic? Which is utterly ridiculous, since it's basically the ultimate healing act, and how could that be Dark? People are so short sighted, just because Inferi exist, that doesn't mean what I'm doing would be anything like that!"

[innocent_insanity]

Kurloz smiled at the clear annoyance and shrugged.

guess you just got to be all sorts of careful on what happens with bigger things. maybe you could try catching a toad or some shit from the forest?

[preanimator]

"I've considered that. I've also been watching the owlery for illness, and Holmes have me his dead goat. Unfortunately it wasn't fresh enough and I couldn't do anything with it." The small boy sighed and adjusted his glasses.

Glancing down at the book again, he asked, "So your interest is merely idle? You're not thinking of becoming a healer or anything like that?"

[innocent_insanity]

just idle interest yeah. don't think a brother's got the brains and shit to be a healer.

[preanimator]

"No, probably not," Herbert agreed, sounding disappointed. Most people found his ideas and attitudes creepy, if not downright repellent - it would have been nice to be able to invite this boy to the club, to have someone who might actually appreciate his genius. "Pity."

[innocent_insanity]

Kurloz smiled apologetically at Herbert's disappointment.

sorry bro. you can come around whenever and bounce your ideas and shit off my motherfucking thinkpan though?

[preanimator]

"I doubt you'd understand any of them." It wasn't said nastily - Herbert assumed almost everyone he ran into was stupider than him, and unable to comprehend the complicated medical concepts and thoughts that occupied most of his waking hours. "Thank you, though."

[innocent_insanity]

[Shoulders shaking with silent laughter, he shakes his head but keeps smiling.]

you can try dumbing it down for this fucker? :o)

[preanimator]

[Herbert stiffens a little - he hates people laughing at him, and it happens far more than he'd like.]

I doubt you'd be interested. [mutters, lips pursing and brow furrowing as his shoulders hunch in. Herbert's not very good at hiding his feelings.]

[innocent_insanity]

[Kurloz tilts his head while staring up at him, not understanding why Herbert's getting huffy.]

a brother wouldn't ask if he weren't proper interested.

[preanimator]

Or maybe you just think it's funny, like the rest of them. [mutters]

[innocent_insanity]

is it meant to be funny?

[preanimator]

Of course not! [bursts out] It's incredibly important, and serious! But no one understands that ...