boys don't cry | lea

[Richard Myron Woods-Knox]

blowin' in the wind.

THE WHEELS OF RICHIE'S SKATEBOARD SPUN groves into the Hogwarts corridors. His robes fluttering out around his ankles dangerously as he pushed off. He'd slept in, a book open upon his chest and the drapes drawn tight around his bed. Nobody had awoken him because he hadn't any friends in his dormitory. Not at least since his last bust up over a pair of offensive smelly trainers he'd taken issue with. He'd jumped from his bed well after breakfast, some hooting bell announcing the ten minute warning before classes commenced, lest any hungry students chance their luck any longer.

Richie wasn't so typically disorganised. He liked to think himself doing much better as of late, but he worried for his NEWT's. It kept him up late, pouring over his Ancient Rune texts, and practicing complex Charms work. Plus, he had no great friends among him in the LIFE dormitories. He was rather alone among his peers, head down and bitterly silent upon his return to Hogwarts. It had been a long year indeed. No Addy to pull him out of sullen moods, or Brigh to kick him when Addy failed.

Skating wide around a blind corner, Richie had no time to prepare himself for the group of students all heading to Charms together in a huddle. He clipped the shoulder closest to him and came tumbling off his skateboard. A great roll of robes and parchment paper, scraping his elbow on a portrait frame and sending his board careening down the corridor in front of them. He grunted, the portrait above his head wailing at him angrily to 'mind his peepers!' as he lay in a heap.

Gripping the stone wall, Richie kept his head low as he heard various snickers from on-lookers. His face an angry red, he grumbled to the set of legs nearest to him. "M-may- there's no- no need to bl-block the whole hall-alls." He stuttered, face scrunched as he stumbled over his own tongue as usual. His hands shook as he tried to scramble for his fluttering papers. The blood rushing in his ears stopped him from hearing any reply, but he didn't think it was terribly polite. A foot kicked his board out of the way as they passed and he flinched as if he'd been personally hit. Richie was very protective of his board.

lea cruz malkin

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[lea cruz malkin]

a melody softly soaring

through my atmosphere

February 2028
Richard Myron Woods-Knox

The air was chilly this early in the day. Lea adjusted her blue scarf around her neck. At first glance, the item appeared almost new. At that, she took pride. It meant all those summers and weekends working at Madam Malkin’s had done something. Plus, her propensity for Charms. This year she’d leaned heavily into the subject and focused on wandless magic. She’d left Lyka at breakfast. Apparently, there was a Quidditch practice or something that morning. Lea couldn’t imagine flying on a broom in this weather. Walking to Charms, she eventually caught up with a group of classmates. She stood near the outside of the pack. There wasn’t room to pass them in this narrow hallway, so she just walked behind them.

Somewhere she heard something scraping against the stone path, and nobody seemed prepared for the boy that almost collided with all of them. Since Lea had been in the back, he’d bumped into her, which knocked her into the boy behind her. He helped her regain her balance, but the assailant seemed to launch himself into the wall. Was that—? Of course, it was. Lea readjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder and walked over. ”Richie, are you alright?” Fortunately, he hadn’t entirely collided with the group. Lea looked over her shoulder as she heard their poorly stifled giggles.

Lea squatted down, tucking her hair behind her ear before grabbing a few papers before they disappeared. ”Here.” She offered to him. There was time to get to class, but if anything, she could tell the Professor she was helping someone. Lea wasn’t known for missing class or showing up terribly late. They weren’t best friends, but at least long-time housemates. Lea often offered to fix his cloak when she saw a small tear. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed on the spot. And she was used to people asking. He sort of reminded Lea of Lyka in the sense that their social circles were small, but they seemed to prefer that. He looked flustered, and Lea wondered if she should summon the Nurse or at least walk him to her if he needed.

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[Richard Myron Woods-Knox]

blowin' in the wind.

SOMEWHERE OVER HIS HEAD RICHIE HEARD THE sound of his own name. He ignored it, chin to chest as the stupid question followed. "'Are- are you alright?'," He echoed under his breath sarcastically, shaking his head with a huff and a scoff. The comment was for his own personal ridicule, but Richie had never been very good at controlling his own pitch. He stuck to gathering up his papers, red faced and most definitely late for class now.

When Richie eventually did look up, it was to find Lea Malkin hanging over him. A shadow of perfectly tailored robes and shiny brown hair. He scowled, sitting back on his haunches with an armful of papers. "You'd help me way more if you stopped- bot-bottle-bottlenecking the... bloody hallways." He grumbled, shifting onto his knees on stiff joints. He'd hit the ground pretty hard, looking down to find a tear in the knee of his trousers. He'd have to fix that later, he thought miserably, the edges stained dark with blood.

Reluctantly, Richie took the papers Lea had gathered. She had this big eyed look on her face, like she maybe felt sorry for him or something, but he couldn't be sure. It made him uncomfortable, making an effort to straighten his papers as he strained his neck to find his board. He did not say thank you.  When he found it his arms went slack and his papers scattered on the ground once again.

"No!" He exclaimed, pushing past a few lingering students roughly and hobbling across the stone archway to find his board upturned against one wall. It was splintered along one side and a wheel was missing. He snatched it from the ground with a grunt of pain. "No..." He moaned, lower this time as he turned it in his scraped palms. "This'll take ages to fix." It looked straightforward, just a mending charm for the wood, but for Richie it was not. He'd spent days layering experimental charms on his board, to increase speed and balance. If the wood was broken, so were the charms. And he'd need to conjure a new wheel. It would take at least the whole afternoon. 

lea cruz malkin

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[lea cruz malkin]

a melody softly soaring

through my atmosphere

February 2028
Richard Myron Woods-Knox

Lea sighed lightly. Richie was…Richie. But Lea had never been the type to bite back in any regard, and she took it all in stride. Either way, she didn’t want to be one of the other students giggling—though the group began to walk toward class. And it was very understandable that Richie was upset. This was a totally avoidable situation. ”I’m sorry, Richie.” The apology was automatic, although she felt awful. And when the boy stood, she immediately saw the tear in his pants. ”Oh—your knee.” The scrape was an easy mend, but Richie was still frazzled.

”Richie—“ Lea began to pick up the papers once more with a huff. She often felt the same frustration with Lyka in the shop when she was unnecessarily difficult. ”Richie, you should really sit.” Lea insisted, but she only watched the boy sadly pick up the board in his hands. Papers in hand, she calmly walked to him. ”You dropped your papers again…” Lea spoke softly. She could see why he was upset; the board was not destroyed but hardly intact.

"Will you allow me to fix your knee, at least?” She offered softly, hoping it was a sort of apology for being in his way with the other students. At least she had stopped to help him, unlike the others. ”I’m sorry about your board…”

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[Richard Myron Woods-Knox]

blowin' in the wind.

THE APOLOGY MAY HAVE FALLEN ON DEAF EARS if Richie wasn't so attuned with the horrible exchange. Briefly pausing with the papers in his hand as she struggled with what to say back. He didn't accept her apology exactly, but that didn't mean he hadn't acknowledged it. His mouth pinching at the corners, his eyes narrowed as he stared at Lea. Looking for some shred of insincerity. Or worse, pity. His attention was shifted, however, by the discovery of his board.

Disregarding Lea's exclamation at his skinned knee, Richie hobbled to his board as quickly as possible. Crouching down on his good knee to cradle it in his hands, running fingers over the damaged split with anger and devastation. "Would you just-!" Richie turned his face, flushed beet red and eyes gleaming with a myriad of miserable emotions. "Please, shut up." He added, reining in his raised voice at the sight of Lea hanging over him helplessly. His papers all neatly stacked in her hands once again. "Please." He begged, teeth gritted to avoid an outburst.

Turning back, Richie dropped down to his backside and held the board in his lap. He examined it carefully, noting the broken threads of magic and splintered maple wood. He reached for his wand next, tucked into a deep pocket of his robes. Holding it aloft, he began weaving stasis charms around the damage, hoping to preserve what little was left of his precious skateboard.

After he was done, he looked up at Lea again. As if remembering he'd hurt himself, Lea's mentioning of it came with an angry throb of pain. He looked down at the tear in his trousers, sticky and wet with blood from the graze underneath. Richie set the board aside and considered the wound with new eyes, pulling at the torn fabric to examine the damage underneath. With much less care than he had provided his precious board. "It's not so bad." He mumbled, though his nose wrinkled at the fresh pain that came with acknowledging it.

"I can fix my board." Richie replied to Lea's apology, admitting that he heard it but not quite ready to accept it. It hadn't been her fault exactly, he supposed, but she had been the only one who had stuck around long enough for him to blame. The rest of the students had cleared out to classes. Now they were both late, and Richie was down a board. "It's just-" He shifted back on his hands, grunting as his back hit the stone wall. "It's annoying." Richie very carefully straightened his leg and lifted his gaze to eye Lea shrewdly. "Do you even know any healing charms?" He asked her doubtfully. Truthfully, Richie didn't know many himself, but he didn't say that. He'd rather operate under the guise of testing her. 

lea cruz malkin

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!