shifting meanings [Pan]

[pandorah]

Pandorah could safely say that she was not expecting anything out of Noah. All he had done was flop around like a dead fish and come off as one of the most harmless people that she had ever interacted with. Being the sort that rarely ever trusted people she should have had her guard up the entire time, especially once she began to question his sanity. Crazy people were unpredictable and she should know, not that she was crazy or anything. Still the idea of him casting a spell on her never even entered her mind. So when he pulled out his wand, of which she saw just barely from the corner of her eye, she didn't even have the time to react.

The spell hit her from behind and all she was able to do was manage a half turn before she fell to the floor. Thankfully she had been able to do that much otherwise she would have slammed face first on to the concrete floor and definitely broken her nose if not a few other things. The bigger they were they harder they fell and she was six feet tall and curvy, she would fall pretty damn hard. Even so when she hit the floor on her side she slammed her hipbone into the hard floor and felt a stabbing jolt of pain that did not subside as her body settled. If she was lucky she was only going to get a bone deep bruise there, if she wasn't it would be broken. Either way there wasn't a damn thing she could do and since her body was off balance she slipped on to her back and stared at the ceiling above her.

What was going on? Why did he suddenly whip out his wand and petrify her? She had no idea and no way of answering these questions either. Her mouth would not move, it was just ever so slightly parted and words would not form because neither would her tongue comply. She could ask the Hufflepuff nothing. The fact that someone of that house had felt they needed to cast that spell on her of all things had her thinking far too much. What else was there to do, besides think, breathe and stare at the ceiling above her. This was quite the predicament she had gotten herself into and as of right now she could see no real way to get out of this, she was well and truly screwed.

Pandorah would wait then, since she could do nothing else, and see just what he planned on doing. Being a Hufflepuff she hardly expected much, she was marginally impressed as it was that he had done this. Pale eyes gazed upward, no fear within them. Perhaps she was not gifted with the common sense to be afraid. Someone had just petrified her as she was going to leave. He had attacked her from behind, like cowards do, and now she was completely helpless. Even if she was afraid there was no way for her to signal anyone, she could not scream, or reach for her wand.

Time was on her side because it was all that she had now.

[erich]

Anyone would say what Noah did was a bit cowardly, but he would interject that Pandorah's behavior toward him was just the same. She had used her physical force to rend Noah still, and Noah had used the bravado of a wizard to hold her. It was a fair trade, and normally he wasn't the one to use his wand against someone. The thought of putting her down like this had crossed him, and it all felt too familiar like he had done this before. Not in the same context, no, but as if the arm that was holding the wand would ignite into flames – it felt right, like he could win a duel if he must really participate in one. For the first time in the long time he felt smooth, sane. Although he didn't have answers to his past life, his brain was no longer fuzzy and he could see everything much more clearly. Noah glanced down at the arm that held the wand, smirking and shaking his head. After a quick display of mirth, he turned to look at the literally smitten girl upon the ground.

From this perspective she was harmless, just as she was before. Although the pride in his character was flimsy, he thought himself as a being who had dignity – as someone who could cultivate their own logical thoughts, to speak for themselves. Pandorah had looked down at Noah, and that was her mistake. Although he wasn't a Prefect, had no merits to show off, he was still a very capable person. Noah had looked for many reasons to continue to act nice and innocent toward her, but her last string of words of how the only threat was himself – what did she know of him? He was already weary from the other students being unable to understand him, but she had no idea of his circumstances and it boiled his blood. He walked toward the fallen girl, not at all concerned with their surrounding. Noah stepped over Pandorah, allowing himself to be in the girl's eye-sight. Once he was in her vision, he slowly crouched down to give her a look of pity.

“I, too, am a good person. Although I am not at all flashy with titles like yourself, you can only stretch a person so thin, you see.” He lifted his hand with the wand and pressed his cheeks into the palm so that the length of the wand would rest against his temple. The definition of 'good' was becoming so loose here, and so, what context was good being made out to be? Using his free-hand he moved it downward so that he could use his fingertips to brush some of Pandorah's hair from off her forehead. She wasn't as frightening in this position. “You've been here much longer than me, and I've just transferred here. But that doesn't make me weak or incapable of achieving a status close to yours, but it makes quite a bit of sense to give it to someone whose worked their youth for it, doesn't it?”

It was like having a conversation with himself, and it was nice not to be interrupted. “You're right, perhaps there is something that ails me, but it's not like I asked it to be this way. What would you know, anyways?” Noah's pale gaze appeared to shift in that odd way it had done earlier, as if the specs of his eyes were black pits, and his dark hair appeared to glow as if a halo. Perhaps Pandorah would be able to see it more clearly now that she couldn't blink, but then the change faded and Noah moved his finger to tap the tip of the woman's nose. “I was beginning to like you. You're not as average as anyone else, but you'd probably assume that I wouldn't notice. After all, I am just insane.”

Noah shook his head, moving out of his crouch so that he could go to his full height. “It appears as though you'll be the one sleeping here tonight,” his tone was dark and he turned now, walking away from the girl. When he got to the staircase, he turned back and stared at her. “But we all deserve second chances,” he sighed, lifting his wand at the disposed girl. “Finite,” he concluded, allowing Pandorah's minds to come undone – but before she could recover, Noah had already taken his exit.

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