We run this town and you can't fight us all-- open

[sashaking]

It was Wednesday afternoon, and the sky was white with overcast clouds. There was a thin dusting of snow remaining from earlier that day, and the weather overall was rather cold and crisp. The grounds were populated with a variety of students either between classes, finished with classes, or skipping classes.

Far out onto the level grassy lawn, a solitary Slytherin girl was stretching the distance between herself and the castle. She carried a heavy wooden chest under one arm while her opposite shoulder cradled the weight of her broom, her fingers idly drumming to a made-up tune on the solid shaft. She slowed to a stop, lifted her head, and shuffled 360 degrees to examine the area before her. She couldn't repress a smile as she briefly bounced on her feet, excited for being outside and not cooped up in Charms class. Ew.

Sasha dropped her broom onto the saturated ground and crouched down in the grass to open the chest. Inside were three quidditch balls - two bludgers and a quaffle. She unlocked one of the bludgers and closed the chest. It was uncharacteristically tame in her grasp. With her other hand, she retrieved her broom, and without hesitating, threw the stagnant bludger high into the air. She whipped out her wand, muttered some words, and in one fluid motion, charmed the bludger into life. It immediately reversed direction, flying straight for Sasha as she mounted her broom in a running take-off. The bludger was relentless. Charmed to go after a single target, it was agile and absolutely persistent. It was about as fast as her broom, so Sasha was constantly changing direction and pulling off aerial evasion maneuvers to avoid getting hit.

After several minutes of this, Sasha descended and hopped off her broom, dropping several feet before hitting the ground at a stumble and breaking into a sprint. The bludger was faster. It caught up, and the girl dodge-rolled to the ground just in time to see the iron ball speed past above her. It reversed trajectory before she had time to get up, and Sasha lifted both forearms in defense, her thick leather gauntlets padding the blow from causing serious damage. Still, it hurt like hell. Sasha winced as she used her arms to scramble to her feet. She hauled ass back to her broom, leaping and landing on it with her feet. She grasped the end of the handle, lifting it just a bit, and the broom immediately took off. Sasha urged it higher, balancing on her feet and crouching low to lessen wind resistance. It looked cool, sure, but it was still slower than riding standard. She tried for a quick, brief descent to dodge the incoming bludger, but it glanced off of her shoulder blade anyway, sending her falling fifteen feet to the ground. She landed on her shoulder and managed to roll a bit to lessen the impact, but the air was still knocked out of her. She immediately reached for her wand and managed to choke out the necessary incantation that sent the bludger dropping to the ground with a lifeless shudder.

Her arm remained stiff, poised at nothing, before she relaxed and dropped it, her entire body now sprawled face up on the grass. She sighed and lifted the top half of her body to locate the place where her broom had landed. It was about fifteen yards away. Sasha moved to get up, but her entire body ached in protest, so she flopped back onto the ground to resume her previous position.

This sucked. Maybe if she'd slept more than two hours in the past three days, she wouldn't be messing up. Ha. Whatever. She just needed to get better, she thought. Besides, this was fun.

notes; sorry, I kind of suck at the technicalities of making action scenes interesting.
outfit; loose-fitting jeans, red pullover hoodie, leather quidditch armor on arms/legs.
tagged; open

[ezekiel patrick greer]

TAKE A BREATH TAKE IT DEEP CALM YOURSELF HE SAYS TO ME IF YOU
PLAY YOU PLAY FOR KEEPS TAKE THE GUN AND COUNT TO THREE • • •
& i'm sweating now moving slow no time to think my turn to go
AND YOU CAN SEE MY HEART BEATING
YOU CAN SEE IT THROUGH MY CHEST

Ezekiel was wandering again as he had been doing for quite some time now. Many of the students here at Hogwarts were falling ill and as of yet he was still immune to the sickness. There were some murmurs of alarm beginning to rise from the other students, rumors about the infected acting out in strange ways and the Hospital Wing filling with all the sick folk, the illness seemingly resistant to whatever magic they were trying to use. He didn't want to think about it right now as he stalked across the grounds, lungs aching for a poisonous cigarette to take his mind off whatever else was currently bothering him. Thoughts of Roxanne infiltrated and he wondered why he had not seen her since the dance and knew that perhaps she didn't want to see him for whatever reason.

Whatever it was weighed heavy on his thoughts, his lips pulling downward as he did so. He figured he could go practice, might as well right? There was nothing else to do and for the moment he knew that zooming into the air and free-falling would momentarily pull his mind from other, more serious matters. The smooth, polished wood beneath his finger tips seemed to set him at ease if only for a few moments. Kicking off from the ground in one fluid motion he felt like a swimmer that had just left the block--the wind a substitute for the resistance water provided.

He ascended higher and higher, combating the subtle chill with a smile on his face even as his eyes began to water. Dropping low without warning he felt the ground approaching rather than saw it, at the last possible moment he pulled up with a smile.

This was his version of therapy, aside from cuddling up to rather uncuddly creatures. Climbing swiftly up into the air once more he rolled and pirouetted across the sky, dropping low when he saw fit. It was during one of these lower maneuvers that Ezekiel spotted a body on the ground. Curiosity piqued he descended quickly, feet touching ground once more and his feeling of weightlessness disappeared. Brow wrinkling in amusement as he recognized the figure on the ground.

"Well, damn. I thought I had myself a corpse." Looking at the ground around her and the haphazard positioning he looked down at her with a brow quirked, "Someone have an accident?"

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words ### tagged for sexy sasha notes blah blah
template PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION[/center]

[sashaking]

The sound of rushing air nearby assaulted the relative quiet that Sasha had discovered in the middle of the field. It was familiar - a sound she'd recognized countless times. She wasn't sure if she really wanted the company, but so it was. If nothing else, it was good to know that there was someone else in the school well enough to be spending the day flying around where they weren't supposed to. She reluctantly opened her eyes and tilted her gaze to identify her guest - rolling her eyes and failing to contain an agitated groan as she recognized the distinguished amusement in Ezekiel's voice and expression. Seriously? Of all the people who could have shown up. Still, she really wasn't surprised. Who else would be out spending their time flying while the rest of the school was falling apart? Not many others. And then again, it could always have been someone worse.

She rolled onto her side and pushed herself onto her feet in a kneeling position. Her body ached but its protests were shot down like victims in a gang war. Sasha grinned and steadied her focus on the boy's eyes in contemplation. She glanced over at her wayward broom before turning back to Zeke, exhaling a breathy chuckle and standing up to face him. Laugh at yourself. You weren't embarrassed then, and you aren't now.

"I'm practicing a special technique, actually - flying without a broom. I think you'd enjoy doing it, it does draw a lot of attention." Sasha didn't wait for a response before walking past him to retrieve her broom. Too defensive, Captain Conflict. When have you ever cared about what they think? The Ravenclaw captain was at least admirable in his skill and intensity - although Sasha would never tell him directly. No, light-hearted taunting kept their competitive edge sharp.

notes; boooo, sorry that this kind of sucks.
tagged; zekethefreak

[ezekiel patrick greer]

TAKE A BREATH TAKE IT DEEP CALM YOURSELF HE SAYS TO ME IF YOU
PLAY YOU PLAY FOR KEEPS TAKE THE GUN AND COUNT TO THREE • • •
& i'm sweating now moving slow no time to think my turn to go
AND YOU CAN SEE MY HEART BEATING
YOU CAN SEE IT THROUGH MY CHEST

She was probably cross with him for appearing at that exact moment. Really, he seemed to have the most impeccable timing when it came to finding people. The breeze tickled the nape of his neck, the intense cold the moment before had caused his nose to run and he wiped it on his sleeve. Blue eyes honed in on her appearance, hair a mess and cheeks colored from the cold--Sasha had never been one to display embarrassment or discomfit as long as he had known her. The only time he had actually seen something akin to discomfort was when he attempted to apologize for knocking her out of a game. Being competitive was often a curse rather than a boon for the young man, he never accepted defeat and sometimes the lengths he would go--intentional or not--could have some pretty bad consequences.

As she collected herself her witty remark garnered a snort from the European mutt's nose, rolling his eyes in response.

"Really? Does it involve swan-diving and breaking bones? It sounds rather appealing." Looking her over he cocked his head to one side, "Not sick yet I take it?"

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Tucking his broom under his arm he surveyed the scene, a feeling of restlessness settling over him. He had no idea why but he couldn't stand sitting still or standing still for long periods of time. He wanted to look for Rox but knew that if she wanted to be found she would be.

"Didn't bust anything did you?"[/color]
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words ### tagged for sexy sasha notes don't worry mine sucks too xD
template PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION[/center]

[sashaking]

Sasha retrieved her broom and slung it over her shoulder, turning back to face Ezekiel. Broken bones? Not this time, and she wrinkled her nose in distaste of recalling how much it sucked to have a broken pelvis. Magical healing was pretty much a godsend.

The two had known each other and played against one another for years, so Sasha liked to believe that she could read his body language decently enough. He seemed restless and distracted by something - probably the sickness that, by now, plagued over half of the school's population. Well, she was half right, at least. She dug into the recesses of her brain to remember Ezekiel's blood status. What was it again? Not pure, if she recalled correctly. Would he get sick? Was he already starting to? It didn't take a genius to recognize the kind of people who were seemingly immune to whatever awful affliction was sweeping Hogwarts. As a Slytherin, Sasha was bunked with what seemed to be the majority of the uninfected students. Pureblood students from other houses also remained well, but for some reason, not all halfbloods were showing signs of illness. She didn't bother to speculate on why this was - all Sasha knew was that this was one of those times where she really wished she knew her blood status.

She had been fine until a couple of days ago, when she began feeling the preliminary onset of what seemed to be a bad cold or the flu. She was experiencing that uncomfortable pressure deep in her head and sinuses. Her body was more achy than usual, and she found herself layering on the long sleeves and jackets. Still, it had taken this long - she was holding out hope that it was all benign. She ignored Zeke's equally sarcastic response, plastering her face with a triumphant grin.

"Negatory. Healthy as ever. What about you? Is your leaky nose because of the weather, or should I be keeping my distance?" It had already been determined that the illness probably wasn't contagious in any typical fashion - but Sasha narrowed her eyes and turned her head slightly away as if she were genuinely concerned about this. She observed him carefully as his eyes wandered elsewhere. Something else was definitely on his mind, and for a second, Sasha wondered what that was.

"Is that legitimate concern, or obligatory confirmation? Because I happen to be good at what I do, and I'm doin' pretty good at staying in one piece." Sasha lifted a brow and hesitated before sighing and pursing her lips. "Thanks for asking," she added, shrugging her shoulders and sounding surprisingly sincere.

notes; rah, rah, ah ah ah.
tagged; ZeeeEEEEeke

[ezekiel patrick greer]

TAKE A BREATH TAKE IT DEEP CALM YOURSELF HE SAYS TO ME IF YOU
PLAY YOU PLAY FOR KEEPS TAKE THE GUN AND COUNT TO THREE • • •
& i'm sweating now moving slow no time to think my turn to go
AND YOU CAN SEE MY HEART BEATING
YOU CAN SEE IT THROUGH MY CHEST

Indeed, the sickness that was sweeping Hogwarts was weighing heavily on the boy's mind. He was worried about other students in general and that was not something he would ever admit openly. The little first years had been confined to the dormitories by the older students, the professors were unsure of what to do and how to cure it and he had already heard that Hogwarts had been quarantined until they could figure out what was going on. To test what sounded like a conspiracy theory Ezekiel had approached the border of the school grounds only to be met by a powerful enchantment that had stopped him in his tracks. While the staff were concentrating their efforts on finding a cure the children were running amok and had thus given the Ravenclaw a clear opportunity to roam about the school in search of answers.

Obviously he had not had any luck in finding them because he was here standing before her. The only thing that he had noticed so far was that most of the Slytherin brethren had not yet shown any signs of the infection which was enough to give him pause. He wondered if anyone else might have noticed this trend but decided he would keep it to himself until he could investigate fully.

At the mention of her being in satisfactory condition he smiled wryly and gave her a once-over, his brow raised as if to suggest he might think otherwise. "Well at least Ah know 'twould be a fair fight if'n it came down ter a battle o' wills." At the mention of his nose he laughed and waved it off, "No, Ah'm actually quite contagious. Give us a kiss, serpent." Shaking his head he rolled his eyes, "Ah'm fine so far..."

Her rather snarky comment actually offended him just a bit, eyes narrowing ever so slightly as he replied in a voice that was sharper than usual, "Legitimate concern. Ah'm an asshole but not that big o' one...at leas' where a fair and skilled fellow player is concerned." Shrugging rather crankily at her gratitude he nodded, "Think nothin' of it."

Turning to glance back at Hogwarts he squinted slightly, "What d'ye make o' what's happenin' in there?"

words ### tagged for sexy sasha notes don't worry mine sucks too xD
template PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION

[sashaking]

Sasha grinned and shook her head in amusement. "Gosh, aren't you a sweetie. You've seen what happens to people when the infection gets a hold of them, yeah? They go batshit ballistic." She paused and looked down in contemplation, then smirked at a sudden thought. Her eyes flicked back to Zeke. "What would happen if all the quidditch players started getting infected? That would be like... flying sharks... fuck, we'd be done for, hahahaha."

Was she feeling lightheaded, or was that her imagination? Sasha did a bit more swearing when she was on edge, and it was starting to show. A wave of nausea swept through her and she inhaled deeply. It passed. She thought about sitting down, but decided against it. Maybe Zeke wanted to play quidditch? He probably didn't want to sit. Hell, she didn't want to sit, either. Lost in deep thought about this, Sasha stared ahead at nothing in particular over his shoulder. She snapped back to focus at his defensive tone - her eyes darting around his face for a second as if they couldn't decide where they were supposed to land. She successfully made eye contact, frowning as his words sank in.

"You're right... I'm sorry." Ezekiel could be an ass, but he was never actually mean-spirited. Sasha pondered this, not recognizing that 'you're right' and 'I'm sorry' were never words that she ever remembered putting together before. She watched as a lock of hair fell into his eyes, and wondered if his hair was dyed or if the different shades were natural. She remembered the third grade fad where boys would cut the sides of their hair short, and then bleach and spike the -- no, that was when her brother was younger, she recalled flipping through his grade school yearbook, laughing at how retarded he and all of his friends had lo... ...her face paled, and her nostrils flared at the realization that something was completely wrong. She had accepted the possibility a couple of days ago, but it was in denial. This wasn't what she was expecting. Seriously, what the hell had she been going on about in her head? And what did this blonde assface just say? He asked her what was going on. How was she supposed to know?

"I don't know," she declared, her face hardening, jaws working at nothing. She glared at him for a few seconds, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. She whirled around suddenly, narrowly missing the boy with the broom still in her grasp, and ran a couple of steps before hurling the it like a javelin towards the castle as a ferocious yell ripped from her throat. The broom landed 50 yards away from them, propelled by strength and adrenaline combined with a strong burst of magic permanently leaving Sasha's body. She didn't wait to watch it land. She leaned over and tore off her right shoe, yelling as she chucked it in the same direction. Her left shoe met a similar fate. With nothing satisfying left to throw, Sasha's hands flew to her face and she dug her fingernails into the edge of her scalp, drawing blood as her lips curled back and teeth bared in a feral roar. She yelled at the top of her lungs until all of her breath was gone, and then she sank to her knees, dropping her forehead to the ground as her bloodstained fingers tangled in her own hair.

notes; wait, wtf just happened? Yeah I dunno either. I'm just pretending that something in Sasha's chemical makeup delayed the effects of the virus for a while. But now it's busted through and it's all like "WHAT UP SUCKAAA."
tagged; Ezekiel!

[ezekiel patrick greer]

TAKE A BREATH TAKE IT DEEP CALM YOURSELF HE SAYS TO ME IF YOU
PLAY YOU PLAY FOR KEEPS TAKE THE GUN AND COUNT TO THREE • • •
& i'm sweating now moving slow no time to think my turn to go
AND YOU CAN SEE MY HEART BEATING
YOU CAN SEE IT THROUGH MY CHEST

"Ah 'ave walked by the Hospital Wing a few times...does sound a bit like a lion cage at feedin' time." He could not help but watch the girl rather suspiciously, wondering if perhaps she had indeed been infected. Pale and drawn she looked upset even for her but perhaps the stress of knowing they were unable to leave when they desired was weighing on her. He knew it sure as hell was pressing down on him like slabs of concrete--it was an almost claustrophobic feeling that stuck like static cling. "Ah s'ppose 'twould only make the game more interestin', provided that they held onto basic motor functions."

Eyes registered surprise as he heard an apology peal from her mouth, he wondered briefly if it tasted bitter on her tongue. As long as he had known her he had never heard her apologize either, lucky for her he was not in the mood to make a big deal out of such things. Mismatched blue eyes watched her uncertainly as her face twisted, the broom barely missed him as he turned to avoid the projectile. "WHAT THE FUCK SASHA?!"

He watched as she threw her temper tantrum, hand clenched around his broomstick. Ezekiel took a step closer when she dug her fingers into her head, as if some kind of fire burned there where the eye could not see. Is this what I think it is? "Sasha! Sasha! What the fuck is wrong with you?" He was backing up slowly, the eye beneath the dark, slashing scar was beginning to lose its vision and for once Ezekiel hoped that perhaps what usually happened would not. He could not afford to have another seizure when confronted by this.

Maybe the virus did take her over. "Sasha..."

words ### tagged for sexy sasha notes don't worry mine sucks too xD
template PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION

[sashaking]

It felt like fire. Like somebody had taken a red hot lance and jammed it through her brain. Her body was trembling in pain, and blood trailed down the side of her face as evidence of her efforts to control it. Pressing the side of her head into the snow-dusted grass in a desperate attempt to relieve the burning, Sasha gasped as the cold penetrated through her skull, reducing the stabbing agony to a dull, heavy throbbing. It was an incredibly odd sensation. She removed her hands from her head and slowly stood up. Her entire body was tense - even her fingers were still curled into claws - and she shuddered again as a wave of unexplainable anger washed over her. She turned to face Ezekiel, ignorant of his own battle that was slowly fighting its way to the surface. She didn't know about his seizures, and wasn't in any state to recognize his tension in regards to this. She noticed him backing away, and struggled to fight the satisfaction that this observation provoked. She took a step towards him.

Her jaw tensed as the pain ebbed back into her brain. Her nostrils flared and her teeth ground together as it overwhelmed her senses. It would have been so easy to scream. Her socks were soaked through from the snow and Sasha focused on the bitter cold that was piercing her toes like needles. "I confess. I'm a liar." This was spoken with more conviction as an open grin tugged at her features. "I'm a sick liar." Her face fell and she exhaled a weak laugh. "But it hasn't been bad... I don't know what's happening." Her voice cracked and for a few seconds, she looked absolutely lost. She was rarely one to hide behind emotional barriers, and really, Sasha was rather known for her lack of control when it came to expressing herself. Her thoughts themselves were rather complex and hard to guess at - but her feelings and raw emotions were an open book. Seeing as how her emotional state was fluctuating so dramatically, she was beginning to realize that this could become something of a problem. She really, really wanted to beat the crap out of Ezekiel for no absolutely no reason. That couldn't be normal. "You really should leave."

notes; Ezekiel should totally start seizuring. imho.
music; tell them that she's not scared by envy on the coast
tagged; Zeke!

[ezekiel patrick greer]

(I cha know right? Reply coming bebe sorry. <3)