Прорвемся (Venera)

Zviad didn't like Sweden. He didn't like the sound of the language and the fact that he had been forced to learn it and he certainly didn't like that they were so far up north that most of the months spent at Durmstrang he didn't get a chance to practice flying in his bird shape because when he had no classes it was simply always dark outside. The only chance to enjoy a brief moment of daylight was at the weekend.

The Georgian then went outside no matter what the weather was like if only he could see some daylight and at least transform into his magpie shape for a little while. He was really good at flying now, quite able to steer even if the wind was a little stronger. However, the landing part was still very much in need of improvement.

Today he had flown just a little bit, the wind was rough and he was quickly getting tired trying to avoid crashing into a tree or the school building. He observed his surroundings carefully to check that nobody was watching before flying down until he was just a few inches above the ground, slowing down as much as he could and then quickly transforming into his human shape. He had given up trying to land properly for now. The way he was now doing it was at least preventing him from getting severely injured. A few bruises or scratches were hardly a problem, after all.

The ground was cold, the grass in which he had landed damp, and the boy got to his feet quickly and stretched his limps. He was mostly okay. His right knee didn't feel great, though, as he had crashed on a stone. His jeans now had a hole and he had grazed his knee, but the boy just shrugged it off as he walked over to a tree, limping barely recognisably.

As he leaned against the tree trunk, shielded from the cold wind by the thick branches above him, he pulled out a joint to smoke. It always felt good to have a smoke after the exertion of a flight. He lit his cigarette and took a pull. He could see a student approaching him now and soon identified her as Venera. He waved at the girl as she came closer. Despite the fact that she was the daughter of a professor, the fellow Klyk Vampira student was unlikely to tell anybody that he was having a joint.

@Venera Delcheva

Venera smiled as she saw Zviad in the distance, waving her over. She approached him, feeling warm. Zviad was a sweet guy, to her at least. He wasn’t exactly friendly to everyone, and to be honest that was something she liked about him. She felt special that he seemed to like her. She used to have quite the crush on him, especially when he first arrived at school, but that had passed and now he was more of a big brother figure to her.

“Hey, what’s up?” She smiled, watching him take a drag of his cigarette. It smelled strange, and she wondered for a moment if it was something other than tobacco in there. She had never smoked before, especially nothing illegal, but found herself a little curious about it. “You’re out here being a naughty boy, I see?” She teased. “Rebel, rebel.” She laughed.

“How’s today been? You okay? Your knee looks a little messed up. Want me to see what I can do about a healing charm?”

Zviad smiled back at the girl as she approached him. Now that the few friends he had had in his year had graduated and he was repeating a year, he appreciated Venera's company more than most other's and more than in the past years. While she was younger than him she was still sort of a friend, even if not a confidant like Mihaela had been in the past. The Georgian felt that he could not trust anyone so easily. Somehow it had been different with Mihaela who had been his partner in crime on more than one occasion. 

"Nothing much," he said in response to her question, shrugging and taking another drag of his cigarette. It was good that he was smoking now. To the outsider that had to look like he had come out for that. Nobody had to know that, in fact, he had been up to something else.

"I have a reputation to live up to," he joked as Venera called him a naughty boy. "Cannot disappoint Galina Viktorovna, you know. She seems to enjoy giving me detentions." He said, grinning at Venera.

"Everything's okay," he muttered, bending his knee a little as if to check how it felt. However, having taken a few drags of his joint, it did not really hurt. "If you want to practice a healing charm, though, go ahead," he teased. It would certainly do no harm if Venera healed his knee. He could probably try and heal it himself but he appreciated the attention the girl gave him. 

"You can have a drag from my cigarette as a reward?" he teased, blowing some smoke into the air.

Venera chuckled a little. “You do have a reputation, that’s true.”  She was cleaning off the area for him quickly with a little charm before going off to heal it. “I’m still surprised she didn’t expel you after last year. It must have been quite the story you spun.” She laughed. She remembered something about him being trapped aboard a ship, and she believed it mostly. Of course, for Venera there was very little beyond what she could imagine. After everything Erik had gotten up to in his life, everything that had happened with her father, everything that happened with Elva, Erik’s wife….

She cast the healing charm quickly and soon enough he looked good as new. She smiled up at him warmly. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you let a girl heal your wound.” She teased. “People will think you’ve gone soft. Isn’t that how boys are? Rub some dirt in it and you’re good?” She grinned playfully.

She was eyeing up his cigarette. “What’s… in it?” She asked. “Oh hell, give it to me anyway.” She decided.

“Yeah, can’t disappoint expectations,” he muttered. Truth be told, Zviad did not give a damn about his reputation. He did not do things for the sake of living up to it but sometimes it was still amusing to pretend to keep it up and it was fun to be the ‘bad boy’.

“Mhmm,” he said as he took another drag of his cigarette. “I guess I should become a writer after graduation.” He did not say that he lied back in the summer and he could probably repeat the same story, not leaving out any of the original details, if he had to. “My adventure would be worth being written down,” he added with a one sided grin.

“Gotta say, it’s nice to have you on your knee in front of me,” he teased as Venera took care of his injury. “Thanks though,” he added more seriously. “Can’t say I mind a girl healing my wound,” he grinned again, amused by her comment. “Eh… rubbing dirt in it is only something for wannabe heroes,” he offered, laughing softly.

So she wanted to know what was in his cigarette. Zviad gave a shrug, he wasn’t quite so sure himself, but it was good stuff. He grinned as Venera stated that she’d try it anyway and held the cigarette out to her. “Be careful though, take a small drag and wait for a bit,” he recommended, hoping that she would not get sick of it. “What would your father say if he caught us here, smoking?” he joked. If he hadn’t been expelled last year, he assumed that giving a joint to a professor’s daughter would not get him expelled either.

Venera listened to Zviad’s advice, taking a small puff off the end of the cigarette, and waiting a moment. She began coughing immediately. “Oh my,” She coughed “Gosh…” She was out of breath already, though she did feel a little dizzy a few moments later. Lightheaded, but happy for it. She had carefully ignored the comment about being on her knees in front of him. She had blushed a bit, because she could imagine it and it wasn’t a half bad thought. Zviad was very handsome, sweet to her, and rugged. She wouldn’t have minded getting closer to him.

Ever since Kal, she had been a bit of a horndog. She had awoken something in her, and it wouldn’t go to sleep. Of course, there was no chance of her itch being scratched anytime soon. She was far too closed off for a relationship, and Kal, while likely willing, was not getting anywhere near her again. She helped herself to another drag. She coughed less this time.

“Heh, I’m sure he would confiscate it and smoke the rest himself.” She teased, only half-joking.

When Venera took the cigarette, Zviad observed her closely. He had gotten used to smoking stuff like that ages ago but he felt that for Venera this really was a first and he just hoped she wouldn’t turn all green in the face and puke. It wouldn’t be fun to explain to her father who was coincidentally also their professor that he had given her a joint.

She coughed. Zviad tilted his head to the side a little, narrowing his eyes a little as he did so. “You’re okay?” he asked, hoping that she’d confirm that she was really okay.

“Really?” Zviad asked as Venera spoke about her father. “Didn’t think he’d be up for this.” The Georgian said, smiling slightly. Maybe he wouldn’t get in such bad trouble with Delchev after all. In fact, he felt that he had found his nemesis among the professors in his own head of house. Galina Viktorovna seemed to take great pleasure from putting him in detention. 

“Well, maybe we should smuggle one of these cigarettes into his office and see what he does,” he now teased. “Now let me have a drag again,” he demanded, holding his hand out. “If you have too much now you might get sick and that’s no fun.”