Motion Sickness [Joe]

[nessa abigael byrne]

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October 23rd, 2024

Climbing the moving staircases from the second floor and up had always been a struggle for Nessa. Her irrational fear of heights kept her glued to the side of the stairs closet to the wall, even if she was walking against traffic, and her hand was almost always firmly gripping the railing. She had managed to reason with herself over the years that getting to Charms class on the third floor was easier than climbing all the way to the fourth floor for the library, but each extra set of stairs made it that much more difficult. Looking over the edge meant full on wobbly legs and the inability to continue walking if others were around. And that was why she was tardy to Charms every week. The professor didn’t need to know her deepest, darkest secret, and neither did her classmates. As far as they were concerned, she was smoking cigarettes in the bathroom. Nessa almost preferred that reputation to the alternative.

Today was slightly harder on her though. She wanted to go to the library, a rare occurrence due to her affliction, and getting to the platform on the third floor had certainly been a task. Making the trek in between classes with the rest of the students, she kept to her normal method and walked up the wrong side, pretending she wasn’t paying attention every time someone called her out on it. The younger students got a taste of her snarl, scaring them away without a peep. She may have only been a fifth year, but that was still an upperclassman to the majority of the students now.

Reaching the third floor by the time the bell went for classes to start, she came across one of her most dreaded situations: she timed the staircase incorrectly and headed up towards the fifth floor instead of the fourth. Being determined not to look over the edge of the railing and lose her collective marbles, she didn’t even notice until the almost unrecognizable fifth floor corridor was in front of her. She purposefully didn’t take classes that were taught up here, just so she minimize her issue.

“Ah…shit,” she muttered to herself as she turned around to take the stairs back down, only to have them depart in the other direction, leaving a five-story drop below free right in front of her. She knew the whole area was charmed to keep students from falling, but that didn’t mean much to such a primal fear of heights. Feeling her legs start to wobble under her, Nessa instinctively shot her hand out for the railing and backed away as quickly as she could. She only stopped when her hand hit the wall of the corridor, signaling to her legs that they were safe to give way and let her down onto the ground. Letting out a deep breath as her back slid down the wall, Nessa quietly waited for the stairs to return to where they were supposed to be, humiliated but happy that nobody else had been there to see her freak out.

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[Deleted]

October 23, 2024

Time moved so slow at Hogwarts. The school year already felt like two full years to him; he hated almost every moment. The hallways of the ancient castle were overcrowded and he considered his peers weird, snot nosed children. There weren’t many people he wanted to get to know so he went from being one of the coolest kids at Ilvermorny, to being known by almost no one, and a more selective friend group at Hogwarts. Sometimes it truly made him feel alone but it wasn’t a feeling that ever lasted long. 

Since Joe had a free period before Arithmancy, he decided that he would make his way to the library where he could work free of distractions before class because he still had homework he needed to finish. School never was easy for him, he always had to work extra hard to get a good mark. Studying was another battle due to lack of focus and interest. The only reason why he signed up for the “smart” classes was because he wanted to look smart. Now he was struggling to pass and feeling like an idiot. 

Joes nose was buried in his phone, scrolling through the WizNet like it was about to go out of style. The snake was still in his own world as he reached the end of the forth corridor, where he would normally wait for the stairs to change. Today there was a girl on the floor. He hadn’t seen her yet because he was too distracted by his phone. As he reached his normal spot at the edge of the stairs, his foot hit something. His green eyes pulled away from the screen and darted to the floor. ”Oh shit.” he gasped with actual surprise, taking a step back, but not apologizing - it wasn’t his fault she was in the way. Clearing his throat, he cocked his head to the side, observing her since her back was against the wall and legs out. ”Uh-Are you okay?” the Slytherin asked with a scoff, quirking an eyebrow upwards at the scene. Joe recognized her from the Slytherin common room but he didn’t know the girl personally. 

nessa abigael byrne

[nessa abigael byrne]

▲

With minutes passing by without the stairs returning, Nessa was starting to think there may have been something wrong with them. They never took this long! Normally she may have walked closer to see what the holdup was, but getting near that overhang was not going to happen again unless the stairs were there. That was the only way her legs would let her stand up again. She had half a mind to find a different way down if it took any longer. Everything about this floor was a complete mystery, unfortunately, but there had to be another way down. There always was. It was either that or she had to wait for the stairs to return, whether that was with more students coming up in her direction, or on their own. It sucked, but that was the reality of her situation. Having a crippling fear of heights didn’t bode well in a school famous for moving staircases and opulent towers.

Somewhat comfortable with her safe place on the floor, Nessa had her bag next to her and her legs stretched out as far as they could go. She was still close to the wall, surely far enough out of the way if anyone came along. It wasn’t weird to camp out in the corridor, was it? She had the chance to find out when a sharp pain radiated from the side of her knee as a passerby’s foot came into contact with it. The toe of a shoe had never hurt this bad before. Now she knew what Nate felt whenever she tossed her shoes at him for being an idiot.

“What the hell, asshole,” Nessa immediately blurted out, hopping on the offensive without missing a beat. He was one of the Ilvermorny students that much she knew. He had been placed in Slytherin and she had seen him before in the common room. And that was about it. One of the ones encroaching on her territory and then trying to make friends with everyone. All of the American students were the same way. “They forget to teach you how to walk in the hallways in America?” she shot up at the boy as she tried to massage the pain in her knee away.

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[Deleted]

October 23, 2024

For some reason Joe wasn't expecting the girl to lash out, which was stupid of him, considering most of his experiences with Slytherin students were a hit or miss. Most of them he didn't like. Joe wasn't trying to befriend her, she simply looked sickly on the floor. If his little sister were on the floor looking like crap he'd hope someone would check on her too. Truthfully, if he hadn't kicked her, he wouldn't have noticed her down there.

Being called an asshole particularly stung today because he wasn't trying to be one. His head snapped to the side at her snarkiness, a chuckle passing his lips, "Ohh, yeah. Fuck me. Okay." he stated passively with a sarcastic tone, waving a hand in the air. Joe felt a bit of anger welling up inside from a slightly bruised ego at her insult. His eyes rolled to the back of his skull, a scoff passing his lips. "Huh. Those are some fighting words from someone sitting on the filthy ground like some peasant." he stated, looking down on her with a look of daggers. Where the hell was this damn staircase?  

nessa abigael byrne

[nessa abigael byrne]

▲

Nice. She pissed him off just by calling him an asshole. It was official: this dude literally had the shortest fuse in the world. Even Nate would take a second to think about a comeback, but this guy took it to heart immediately. Maybe, just maybe, if he had sorry first, she wouldn’t have barked up at him. But omitting that and just checking if she was okay when it was clear that she wasn’t made her feel in the right for what she had said. Plus the whole thing about Americans and hallways was sort of funny. There was no reason for him to get angry about that. She could have said anything at that point though, and she was sure she would’ve gotten a similar response from him.

“Rather be a peasant than an asshole,” she repeated the primary school retort again, just to see if he would twitch the same way he did the first time. “And I’m basically homeless outside of school so thanks for reminding me,” Nessa added, going for her signature guilt trip. It always worked on the unsuspecting ones. She had no problem dragging herself through anything if it meant coming out the other side victorious. A lot of the Hogwarts and Ilvermorny students needed to be knocked down a peg or two anyways. This guy was no different.

She continued to rub the side of her knee as the pain refused to subside. For once, she actually felt vindicated in the manner she had reacted. The guy’s foot had definitely hit her hard. “If I thought I could stand right now, I’d make you eat those words,” she huffed out at him as her hands went over the point of contact again. It had started to lump up already, a bruise forming under her fingers. Perfect. She already had trouble walking because of the stair issue, and now there was this. Today was going swell for just wanting to head to the library so she could get some school work done.

@joseph ● 339 ● What Once Was by Her's

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[Deleted]

October 23, 2024

Joe wasn't expecting to have an altercation in the corridor with a housemate on his way to the library. A couple of years go, Joe would have loved the thrill of making a new enemy.. Now it took too much energy. Joe would rather ignore people knowing he's better than them. This girl seemed like she was looking for a fight, which was annoying, but he wasn't going to let her win today. Her calling him an 'asshole' a second time stung as much as the first time, but this time he didn't allow himself to flinch. His jaw was clenched though.

As the snarky girl made a comment about being newly homeless, Joe scoffed, shaking his head from side to the side in disbelief. He knew what she was doing. This was one of those girl jedi mind tricks. Joe wasn't going to feel bad for her, or about her situation. Hell, he didn't know her, nor did he care to know her. His head cocked to the side, "Homeless and displaced child are two different things." he stated lacking sensitivity or knowledge on her situation. He shrugged, cocking his head to the side,  "Makes sense now. You're down there wallowing in self pity." Joe stated harshly, not caring that he was being an asshole now because she was asking for it. 

"I'll consider myself lucky you're incapable of retaliating then." he countered back with an annoyingly smug smile. The stairs were sluggishly making their way back to the landing, thank Merlin.

nessa abigael byrne

nessa abigael byrne

[nessa abigael byrne]

▲

This guy was annoying and definitely had a superiority complex. That was all she could think of as he scoffed at her again, and then tried to make fun of her living situation. In his defense, she had brought that to the table and needed to expect that it would be used as ammunition at some point in time. At least he was intelligent enough to know that she was trying to pull the pity card. The sorting hat had placed him in the right house after all. Some of the other Ilvermorny students she had had the pleasure of interacting with (and it most certainly wasn’t a pleasure for her), were all happy-go-lucky and fine with where they were newly situated, barely understanding the significance of their newly appointed houses. Nessa neither cared about nor was interested in learning about the Ilvermorny houses and what they meant, but she would place all of her money down on a bet that it wasn’t anything close to how Hogwarts did it. And she only had five galleons to her name right now, so that was a steep bet to wager on.

“You’re the displaced one, sent away from the comfort of mummy and daddy’s home. I don’t have any of that. So that’s why I’d prefer being a peasant than whatever it is you’re coming from. Entitlement is an ugly look on you.” The truth of the matter though, was that most of Slytherin tended to look just like this guy: pomp and pristine, ties to lineage and old blood, packed Gringotts safes that hadn’t seen the light of day in centuries because they were only there for show. “At least I have a reason to be an asshole. But you don’t see me going around kicking people sitting on the floor.” Nessa ignored his counter to her threat, because once she figured out this guy’s name, she was going to sic Nate on him. Then she would be the one looking down on him. Maybe even give him a swift kick to the knee for measure.

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[Deleted]

October 23, 2024

Joe didn't care about this girl or the guilt trip she was trying to lay on him. When she brought up entitlement and his family, it was all words he was used to. Joe looked down at the girl, piercing green eyes boring into her unflinchingly. "Well, it's a good thing I don't give a fuck what a scrub like you thinks of me." he stated harshly, corners of his lips turning upwards into a smile before washing away just as fast. Joe knew that he was entitled. It came with the Fontaine name; most things in life were handed to him on a silver platter.

"I won't deny being an asshole, sweetie, I hate everyone here equally." he stated as matter of factly with a shrug, hoping the 'sweetie' would cause some sort of reaction. His mouth opened and then shut, he had to choose his words wisely with this girl. She had that cunning Slytherin attitude he constantly heard about. He continued after a quick beat, "-I didn't mean to kick you though. You were laying in the walkway." he told her simply, never actually apologizing, but he would acknowledge it. 


nessa abigael byrne

[nessa abigael byrne]

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What in Merlin’s marvelous name was a ‘scrub’? Nessa stared blankly up at the boy, her visible confusion making its way onto her face. It had to be an insult of some kind, but it was so terribly executed that she had no idea what it was she was being called or accused of. The only scrub she knew of aside from washing something down, was the kind that hospital workers wore. Sure, she was pretty secluded and naïve of the world because she was locked up in the orphanage all summer and in Hogwarts the rest of the year, but common phrases didn’t escape her like this one did. “I think your insults might be a little too obscure for someone like me,” Nessa said honestly as she maintained her own stare back at him. He was trying to be intimidating, right? Because this was a piss-poor attempt at it. This guy was totally all bark and no bite. Took that title right out from underneath Nate’s feet.

“The best way to escape them is by jumping off the top of the Astronomy Tower, you know.” Not really, since it was charmed to prevent people falling off or whatever. Something about an accident a few decades earlier, and that letting students wander around up there in the dark during class was a huge potential liability issue.

She let out a scoff as he tried to claim he didn’t mean to kick, as if this whole encounter was her fault to begin with. “I wasn’t anywhere unreasonable. Just minding my own business waiting for the stairs to come back. You could have avoided me better with your eyes closed.” There really wasn’t any point in continuing this squabble, but there was nothing better to do until the stairs got there. And then there was the problem of hobbling over them before they left again. The last thing Nessa wanted was to be wobbling on the edge of the staircase, waiting for its return again.

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[Deleted]

October 23, 2024

Joe couldn't help but smirk when the girl told him to jump off of the Astronomy tower to escape his horrible insults. She wasn't wrong about them being bad, honestly. Joe didn't have much else to say to her so he sort of just allowed her to talk as she berated him for stepping over her with his eyes closed.

Well, the stairs were coming anyways... If he could execute it correctly, he'd strategically make her miss the flight of stairs again, while he got on. As the stairs locked in place for the brief moment, he shoved into her, with purpose this time to hopefully ruin her timing for the stairs. Two quick strides and he blocked the path to the stairs, freezing on the first step with a smug smile, back facing the stairs.

Joe knew he was being an absolute dick but this girl bruised his delicate ego so she asked for it.

nessa abigael byrne

[nessa abigael byrne]

▲

The sound of the stairs grinding closer to their landing had Nessa looking over the boy’s shoulder anxiously. He was between her and them, but that shouldn’t have mattered since they were both going that way. Once he got on them, he would be long gone before she got to the next landing. This was one of the only times she was totally fine with being left in the dust by someone she had just been arguing with. Continuing their little fight wasn’t worth it now that his apparently best insult had been thrown at her with little effect. She had seen house elves fight better than this guy did.

Seeing the first railing starting to slide towards the landing, Nessa turned around and leaned over to grab her bag, which was still sprawled out on the ground from earlier. She turned around just in time to fee the boy put what felt like his entire weight into her, shoving her. Stumbling but managing to catch herself from falling, Nessa stared at him in disbelief as he blocked the stairs from the top. Even if she managed to hobble over there in time, he definitely wasn’t going to let her on in this go. She had her wand out and pointing towards him before realizing that launching any sort of offensive spell at him would send him reeling over the edge of the railing or down the stairs. “Fuck you. Watch your back. Next time I see you, I’m going to make that stupid smug face of yours regret it,” she growled at him as she stuffed her wand aggressively back in her pocket. Once she figured out his name, she was going to sic Nate on him. He wouldn’t ask too many questions about why, and she had seen him mess up faces before. This guy wouldn’t be any exception, that was for sure.

[END?]

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