Orange You Glad [Sam]

[Wysteria Edwin]

Wysteria held an orange in her hand, feeling the bumpy surface of the rhine with her fingertips. D'rorah had left the fruit in the Room of Requirement after their sparring match on purpose--Wyst asked her to bring a piece of "human food" to the sixth floor. She had to assure Dee that she did not want to eat the orange but merely wanted to see "real" food again, some attempt to conjure nostalgia. The vampire was curious if produce might hold any appeal now, or if the citrus smell would taste putrid to her nose. She smelled the sweet fruit the minute D'rorah walked into the room, and it stung the inside of her nostrils like decaying flesh used to as a mortal. After a few seconds she got used to the smell, and when Dee left Wyst wanted to know how much orange she could tolerate.

She lifted it to her nose, cautious, and sniffed. Her eyes bugged out, the stinging sensation going down into her lungs and she fought the urge to cough, instead swallowing hard and shaking her head. "Whoa." She brow crinkled, staring at the round ball like a cute puppy that bit her when she tried to hug it. When she lived at the castle she ate these things, she knew, because her mind gave her fuzzy snapshots of peeling away the skin and sticky fingers. Her sense of taste remained the hardest to recall from memory--although from the smell she could assume a sweet and biting flavor. She set the orange down on the large round table, rolling it from one outstretched hand to the other. A small alarm chime let her know ten minutes remained before Sam's visit. She felt a strange pinching at her cheeks with the sound, but it disappeared just as quickly.

She stepped back into her bedroom to gather her things for the escape act. Hogsmeade carried some degree of risk, particularly at night, so Wyst decided to pack her brown satchel with a few cautionary items: two flasks filled with blood, pen and paper, polyjuice potion, two silver stakes, money, and the orange in case Sam got hungry. Did he eat oranges? She shrugged and packed it anyway, closing the door to her room and sitting on the edge of the round table.

The door chime, and a few moments later the door opened.

"Hi Sam," Wyst said. "Thanks for not letting me turn into an old cat woman. Or cat lady...does the distinction matter?"

[Sam Kelley]

Perhaps it was that telltale Gryffindor courage or his own ignorance, but no part of Sam Kelley was nervous or saw any potential problem in the plans for the evening. This was nothing new for the fearless lad, who traditionally traded high in willingness and low in inhibition. It was that same quality that allowed him to be a great seeker, the baseline inability to be cautious or careful. This wasn’t to say that the boy thought himself indestructible or immune to shortcoming or failure, he simply opted for confidence in his dealings.

With the best stealth that Sam’s agility offered he made his way through the corridors and stairways of Hogwarts. He had not gone as far as to dress in all black for the task of escape before him, but he had certainly made what he felt were adequate travel preparations. As always his wand lay within a single motion of his hand and he carried a few galleons in his pocket.

While still figuring out exactly how to control these new abilities that his gift afforded, the boy tried his best to keep his thoughts to himself of his plans with Wysteria. It wasn’t that he thought Caitlin would look down upon his liaison with the vampire, but given the recent events near the Hogwarts lake, it stood to reckon that she may report such a think to D’rorah who would no doubt see fit to mother him about a trip outside of the castle at such an hour.

Following the now familiar retracing of steps Sam found himself within the room of requirement. He took a small moment to survey the space and quickly realized that he was alone within the main chamber. It was force of habit that drew his eyes over to the door of the room of elemental water. Much of his time had been spent there of late, enjoying the peacefulness that such proximity to his element brought as well as the opportunities if afforded to practice and discover his powers. It was something that was sometimes awe-inspiring, the feeling of having ultimate control of something so primal, granted the scope of said control was still something that he was learning and improving on day by day.

Shaking the contemplations from his mind Sam made his way over to Wysteria’s quarters and rang the chime there to alert her to his presence. Surely the senses of the immortal had already done so he thought, but he would offer the same courtesy as he would to any other. Soon enough the door opened and Sam nodded to acknowledge the girl. ”Heya Wyst,” he replied, the sides of his mouth pulling into a small grin at her words. Again she referenced his earlier statement and again the awkwardness of it entertained the lad. He shook his head. ”Not at all.” She had much to learn he thought quietly.

Sam took a moment to look her over. She was an attractive girl, that much was beyond dispute. That feeling that her countenance brought to the boys stomach was still there, although is was much less pronounced from the first time that he had encountered her, it didn’t pain him as it had at first, but it still served to remind him that it was a vampire that he glanced upon should he find himself forgetting. His eyes reached the sight of the small bag and that told him all he needed to know. ”Well, if you’re all ready then, what do you say we get you to your ball, Cinderella?” Even as he grinned in the wake of the question, the fact that the reference may very well fly right over her head didn’t occur to the Gryffindor.

[Wysteria Edwin]

"Well, if you’re all ready then, what do you say we get you to your ball, Cinderella?"

"What?" she asked, deadpan.

Wysteria's eyes bugged for a moment, her mind sent whirring to understand what he meant. Had she been mistaken about their plans? Sam talked about going to a ball--her ball. But as Sam grinned, Wyst realized his statement was meant to be in jest, or sarcastic. And Cinderella...the name sounded familiar but Wysteria had no idea why or whether the "ball" was part of the joke as well. With that and her opening statement, Wyst surmised that Sam was making another pop culture reference, knowing she would not understand.

She held up a finger to keep him from answering her. "I think you can explain that one to me once we've left the castle...I'm assuming Cinderella and the ball is a joke, since you clearly know my name." Wyst raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if he'd be impressed that she caught on a few seconds quicker than before.

"I am ready, though, I've got my bag of essentials here," she said, pulling up her bag onto the round table and doing a quick check inside. "I've got some flasks of blood, money, silver stakes...just in case," she said, looking up at Sam, "I don't intend to engage or go after any vampires. I've also got pen and paper, an orange...I guess that's for you in case you get hungry, and polyjuice." She pulled out a large flask, green and round and placed it on the table.

"I waited to take this until you arrived, so you knew I was the real Wyst and not an impostor," she said, "we can never be too careful nowadays." Her face remained smooth and stoic, although her eyes and tone were a bit darker, more serious than before. "I risk my life, your life, and my cousin Korin's life by venturing out as I look now. With polyjuice I greatly reduce the risk, but looking completely different is very uncomfortable, so I'm currently using the hairs of a muggle girl who looks a lot like how I used to appear as a human, but not similar enough to be mistaken for myself."

Wysteria dropped a few dark brown hairs she had stored in her robes in the flask, swished in around a bit, then drank. Almost immediately, her hair straightened and became lighter; it shot up into her head until it was just past shoulder-length, and her skin darkened to a healthy tan. Her green eyes changed to a dark blue, her nose got a bit larger and her jawline sharpened, and the only other obvious change was she gained about an inch in height.

Wyst looked down at her arm to see that her skin color had changed, so she knew the potion had worked. She enjoyed having a light tan on her skin again, which now resembled her old skin when she was human. She still had a slight glow, but it was only noticeable if a person stared at her for a long time, and even then it was only seen in the right light. Satisfied with the transformation, Wyst picked up her bag, a bit annoyed at the changes in her musculature that made her slightly weaker than normal. She made a small grunt; the bag was heavier than her body remembered.

"Well we should go then," Wyst said, slipping the round flask into her robes. She had her hand on the door to the outside when she remembered the conversation she had with Dee the other night. Taking her hand off the doorknob, she turned to face Sam.

"Look, Dee had a few concerns that you're...not as discrete as you should be sometimes. I went through a lot to come back here. No one can know who I really am, and we'll need to come up with another name for me, since Wysteria isn't common. Preferably name you're familiar with or would be easy for you to remember. We have be inconspicuous. Can you do this?" Wysteria asked, her tone straightforward and honest, since she was almost certain he was capable of being stealth and blending in, but she had to remind him of the severe consequences possible. Her eyes did not look away from Sam. She wanted to see every flinch or shrug that accompanied the question and his answer.