Defeat is not the worst of failures.

[helmetdoesnothing]

WHO: Mituna Captor and anyone
TONE: Stressy
RATING: PG-13 for Mituna's likely swearing
WHEN: May 2nd
WHERE: Library
WHAT: The OWLs are coming up, and Mituna is slowly realising he might never be prepared for them
STATUS: Ongoing

---

If he made too much noise again they'd ban him for the rest of the week, but it was difficult to keep himself quiet when trying to study felt like he was reading ancient Greek.

What made it all the more frustrating was being able to remember a time when this was easy. Two years ago this would have been nothing, he could have coasted through his OWLs with next to no studying and be sure that he'd done well. Now? Now he was struggling to keep his place in a textbook and having to read most sentences twice to make sure he grasped the meaning.

Mituna groaned softly, dropping his head to his book on top of a page about manticores and pushing one hand into his hair. He was going to fail everything, he just knew it.

Comments

[hearnoevil]

Mituna had the right idea about studying, which was why Meulin was making her way over right now. When she spotted him, she smiled and began to make her way over to him, but the closer she got the more she realized that something was up. She placed a hand on his back when she saw his defeated pose and raised the other hand in greeting hoping to get his attention. She tried not to talk in the library, given how difficult it was for her to moderate her volume.

[helmetdoesnothing]

He didn't expect company. When Meulin's hand touched his back he jumped, twitching away from it with enough force to almost topple him off the chair. He hissed out a curse, but quickly simmered down when he saw who it was.

"... Oh. Hi, Meulin." Mituna rubbed his face with both hands and straightened up in his chair. "'Th up."

[hearnoevil]

Meulin winced and flailed a little as she reached out to try and steady Mituna's chair. An unnecessary action since he had managed just fine himself, but she had acted on impulsive.

"Sorry," she whispered, which was the closest she could get to talking in a moderate voice, "you look like something is eating at you, Tuna. What's up?"

[helmetdoesnothing]

That was probably for the best. His ability to keep himself upright even on something with four legs could be shaky at the best of times. At first it seemed he wouldn't answer her, as if it wasn't obvious what was bothering him and why was she even bothering him about it--

He stalled that train of thought and for a moment just rested his face against his hands. Then, he picked up a quill and wrote in his usual messy script on a piece of parchment.

im going to FAIL

The final word was underlined fiercely enough to tear the parchment under it, the tip of his quill snapping against the table.

[hearnoevil]

Her heart went out to him. Meulin couldn't imagine how hard it must be for Mituna to retain information, but she remained as ever optimistic. She pulled out one of her own quills and wrote.

No you aren't, Mituna. But maybe sitting in a stuffy library isn't the best way to learn for you. Let me help you and we can both learn. :)

[helmetdoesnothing]

Maybe she had a point. He looked at her with a small frown pulling between his eyebrows, then his shoulders slumped and he pushed one hand through his hair.

"Ok," he muttered, pulling a few books towards himself. If he was going out of the library there were still a few books he needed to take along. "Where thould we go?"

[hearnoevil]

"Lets go outside. It's a beautiful day and there is much more room." Maybe something more practical would make Mituna remember things better? She knew that tended to stick more for her if the subject was something she wasn't especially interested in.

[helmetdoesnothing]

"Heh, ok." He found it difficult to make things stick at the best of times, even when it was something he was wholly interested, but she was probably right. Practical application was bound to help.

"You been thtudying too?"

[hearnoevil]

Meulin nodded. "Best to get started, the end of the year will be here befur you know it!" And it'll be back to home, which will be nice. As much as Meulin adored it here and always came to miss it, it'd be nice to be with her sister again and enjoy all those little Muggle things that you couldn't in Hogwarts.

"Do you have any big plans fur the summer?"

[helmetdoesnothing]

"Jutht spending some time with my dad and my brother." Outside of the inherently stressful (if quiet, and therefore more conducive to study) atmosphere of the library he already seemed to be cheering up a little. Getting his attention off studying on the whole went a ways to improving his mindset, too, though the thought hadn't left the back of his mind that studying was exactly what Meulin was trying to help him with.

"Maybe go thomewhere if dad can afford it." He didn't need to go abroad, but it was always nice to get the opportunity.

[hearnoevil]

Meulin was glad to see that. It didn't escape her that Mituna hadn't mentioned a mother there and she couldn't help but be a bit curious. Asking about it didn't seem especially polite though, so she focused on what he did.

"I don't think we've ever talked much about our families. What are your dad and brother like?"

She lead the way out into the courtyard where they were greeted by a fine, bright and warm day. Still she continued to walk, heading towards the green houses where they had their Herbology lessons.

[helmetdoesnothing]

"My dad'th great," he began, glancing up at the sky and squinting against the sunlight as they walked out into the courtyard. "He'th kind of nervouth all the time but really awethome on a broomthtick." Mituna falters a bit, kicking a stone out in front of them.

"He'th looked after uth both thinthe mum died."