Scared of Heights [Matthew]

Arwen wasn't sure if this was the right way to the Ravenclaw tower. She got confused when she had to climb all those stairs, and they constantly changed. And even if they didn't, she really had no idea where she was on the map. She might be in the complete different side of the tower she was trying to get to. And this wasn't a really good thing, as she was walking with her arms full of books and ink and stuff she'd need for her homework; her backpack had raptured, and she didn't know how to fix it, so she was still carrying it on her back, but she couldn't have anything in it.

As she got to the top of yet another set of stairs, she continued down a hallway and took a turn here and there, knowing she was -once again- completely lost. But this time she was paying attention to where she was going, so she knew she could double back if she ended up in a dead end. But her curiosity had spiked, despite her arms growing more and more tired by the second.

There was something in the end of the hallway, a door without a door. And a set of stairs. Arwen almost doubled back, but then she saw it wasn't that far. So she climbed them. And then regretted it; it was further than she had anticipated. But having gotten that far already, she went on. And on. And on. She was panting when she finally reached the top. She walked down a very short corridor and up three more steps and she froze. It was huge. And not at all the tower she had been looking for. She continued walking a bit and then froze again, this time in a completely different manner. She lost her books and the ink, but she didn't react to the splatter of black. The wind blew in her thick hair, and her eyes were wide. So... high...! She could barely breathe; she'd always been scared of heights, and not she couldn't move.

Matthew was in a really unfortunate situation. Because ever since he'd learned the word shit over the summer from some movie that he wasn't supposed to watch, he'd been absolutely dying to share it with Derek, his awesome friend who used all kinds of words that Matthew had never heard before. Only, right now, he couldn't find Derek! He hadn't seen his friend too much since the start of term, and every time he had seen him, they'd been in class or Matthew had forgotten. But now, Derek wasn't in the great hall or out in the middle courtyard! Matthew had just finished checking the library and was about to give up when he spotted an a first year girl with Ravenclaw robes heading up the stairs! Of course! Derek would be in the common room! And Matthew wasn't allowed in the Ravenclaw common room - not that it mattered because he didn't even know where it was. Just that it was at the top of the school. But maybe, if he followed this girl, she'd lead him there and he could sneak in behind her! It was a brilliant master plan!

So, waiting until the girl was a good bit ahead of him, Matthew took off after her. It was easy, because her hair was all bushy and blonde, so she stuck out some. It struck him after following her for a few minutes that she might not even be going to her common room - but when they started climbing a whole bunch of stairs that Matthew had never seen before, he grinned, because he was sure he was right. This must be Ravenclaw Tower! It was really hard not to run up the stairs, but he couldn't, because the girl would hear him, and then he'd ruin his chances of sneaking in! Of course, he could always threaten to light her hair on fire if she didn't get him in. But then, the girl made it to the top and disappeared from sight.

Unable to wait any longer, Matthew took off, bounding up the stairs two at a time. Because if she was really fast and he didn't get there in time, he wouldn't be able to get in! But when he reached the top, he slid to a halt and glanced around in confusion. They were in an open kind of room way up high. "Hey, this isn't Ravenclaw Tower!" he exclaimed loudly - because what did it matter if his presence was known now. The girl he'd been following was just standing there weirdly. His eyes flicked down to the floor, and was surprised to find her things laying there - her inkwell had spilled all over. "Hey! What are you doing?" Matthew asked, flitting over to the girl. "You dropped all your stuff you know!" But she was acting weird and just staring out of the tower, her eyes big. And the ink on the floor was spreading close to your books. Without thinking, Matthew bent down and swept the ones in the most danger into his arms. "Hey, what's wrong with you?" he asked, reaching out to wave a hand obnoxiously in front of her face.

As Arwen was in complete shock, she didn't register the voice that spoke to her at all. She only felt that horrible feeling of losing her balance and the wind trying to blow her away. She felt as if the ground beneath her feet would just vanish and she'd be standing in the middle of the air, looking straight down, watching the distance of her fall, before she would -screamingly- tumble to her death. She didn't the boy who touched her stuff -which she absolutely hated people doing- and saving her books -which she would have been grateful of.

And then a hand was waving in front of her, disturbing her view of the long way down. Arwen suddenly came to her senses, and she scrambled back, falling on her bum, crawling further away until her back hit some stairs. It was possible to go further up?! She looked up at the boy who was standing where she'd been and then blushed furiously. She had just displayed herself as a complete and utter fool. But despite that, she also felt a bit of panic on behalf of the boy. "Y-you sh-should get a-away f-from there," she said, her stutter worse than ever.

She then saw the books in his arms, and her spilled ink. She gestured to them with her hand, feeling less safe the less contact she had with the floor beneath her. "T-thanks," she mumbled, and her eyes fell to the floor again. She was glad that he wasn't much older than her. But her stutter had always been worse around boys. Like with Derek. And when she met many people at once, like with Ariadne and Serafina. She hoped this guy was nice though.

She was still shaking, and she really just wanted to get down away from the tower, but she couldn't get her feet to work. They wouldn't budge, completely glued to the spot they were at in her seating position. She looked at her stuff, all the way over by the edge. She couldn't get them there, even if she crawled. She hated heights. And she wasn't really brave enough to as the guy to get them for her. And then something he'd said earlier made her blink. "Y-you're trying t-to f-f-find the Ravenc-claw tower?" she asked, still shaking like a hurt dog.

"Woah, hey, calm down!" Matthew said quickly, jumping a little bit in surprise when the girl freaked out and fell backward. He just stared at her for a moment, not really sure what could cause someone to be so weird. "What's the matter with you? I'm not gonna hurt you." Maybe she thought he was scary looking? Nah, that couldn't be it, Matthew was friendly and completely approachable. He'd even saved her books from certain doom! So he hadn't even said anything that could be interpreted as mean! Maybe she'd heard about his fire spell prowess, and was afraid that he'd use it against her? If that was the case, it would be pretty cool. It would mean that everyone talked about how good at something Matthew was. "Hey, do you talk? Can you talk?" She was very silent.

But then she seemed to find her voice - or, at least she found some of it. He had to strain his ears to hear her, and had to listen extra carefully because she stuttered when she talked. She was a lot different than Matthew was used to. Between her big, bushy hair - which made her seem even smaller in comparison - and her wide eyes and her stutter, he was pretty sure he'd never met someone so frightened-looking in his life. But at least, once he'd interpreted her words, he understood what was making her act so weird. "Oh! I get it now! You don't like heights! Well, you probably shouldn't have come up here, then. Actually, you should've just been sorted into Slytherin, like me. Our common room is underground. The complete opposite of heights - heights don't bother me, though. I climb trees all the time! I'm really good at it, too, you should see!"

Oh. He was rambling. And she was still on the ground. And she was thanking him and looking at the rest of her things. They were pretty close to the edge, and she was obviously scared to go close to it. But she wasn't asking him to get them. Without waiting for her to, Matthew bounded over and grabbed the books that were still laying on the ground, not bothering to rescue the inkwell that was still covered with wet ink. "You know," he said, dropping her belongings next to her, where presumably she would feel safe enough to pick them up. He wasn't sure. She wasn't exactly a talker. "It would be easier if you just ask me if you want something. Because otherwise, I have to try to figure it out myself. And that one was pretty easy, but it could be a lot of work. And I'm not always that good at figuring stuff out."

Maybe he was just talking more than usual because she was so quiet. Or did he always talk this much? He wasn't sure. And she was still on the floor. "Why are you still down there, you don't look very comfortable," he said. "Actually, maybe we should start with yes or no questions. Since you don't like talking. So let me try again. Do you want help up?" he asked, grinning at her and holding his hand out for her to take. "I'm Matthew!" he added brightly, and grinned even wider when she talked again. "My friend Derek is a ravenclaw! I was just trying to find him!" he explained happily.

Arwen didn't say anything to him; she was too scared. And though he probably did mean well, he was behaving in a scary fashion, and she didn't like it. He sounded a bit like the guys who picked on her back home. And that wasn't nice. But she didn't like his question. 'What's the matter with you?' It was a hurtful question, but she didn't think his tone sounded hurtful. He sounded almost concerned, and she wasn't sure if that was an improvement or not. Maybe she was mad? Crazy? A complete lunatic? But she just couldn't stand heights!

Realization seemed to wash over his face at her words, and she was glad he'd understood her. She didn't want him to think she didn't like him. Not that she did like him. But she didn't not like him either! It was just the distance from here to the ground. The thought of it almost made her hurl. A common room underground! That sounded delicious. Of course, Arwen wasn't really scared in the Ravenclaw tower, because she was inside. But here, anything could happen. Too strong a wind. A small misstep, a spell. Anything. And she didn't like that. But she tried to give him a weak smile, even though it probably came out all wrong. "I t-think I could l-like that," she muttered, her voice a bit stronger now. But she did not like the idea of climbing trees. She wouldn't mind watching people climb trees though. Just as long as she didn't have to be looking far down somewhere. She could look up, that was fine.

As he dumbed her stuff beside her, she looked up at him. He said that she should tell when she needed help. That's what her mother always said too. They were probably both right. And the concept of asking for help wasn't even scary. But she just couldn't get the words out. "Thanks," she managed. Again. That was all she managed to say to anyone, obviously. Thanks. Well, jeez, what a genius you are! She needed to stop being so freakishly nervous. It was stupid! She then started stacking her books, agreeing silently with him that the ink bottle was lost forever. "I-I'll do my best," she said. Yay, a new sentence! She inwardly rolled her eyes at herself. Stupid girl.

She looked at his hand. It wasn't that she didn't think she could stand. It was more the fact that she'd have to take his hand. He introduced himself, and she figured it was only natural to take his hand then. But she kept looking at it for a moment. And then she drew a deep breath. Her eyes crossed to the edge from all sides, and decided she was safe enough there. She then reached her hand out, with her books and bag in her other one. As she was pulled to her feet, she was once again about to say thanks, but decided against it. She needed to show she had more than three words in her vocabulary. "I'm Arwen," she said, stumbling a slight over her name, but it was very audible, and much better than her stutter. She was a bit humored to see that she was slightly taller than him.

Derek. "I know him." It slipped from her mouth before she knew it. She almost blushed, but then she thought; why would she blush. She then tried a new smile, which was a bit better than last time. Maybe she'd actually manage to keep a steady voice from now on. But she doubted it. "Y-you should've picked a b-better target t-to follow," she said, her voice more normal now, but the stutter president. "We c-can try to f-find the way tog-gether," she suggested, hopefully something he'd agree to.

"Not much of a talker, then, are you?" Matthew asked brightly, when the girl responded to all of his rambling with a miniature sentence. Hardly even a sentence really, in Matthew's vocabulary where a sentence had to consist of at least fifteen words, likely with a few repeated for effect. "Well, don't worry about it, that's okay!" Matthew assured her. "People always tell me that I talk too much, so we'll make great friends! Because I can make up for what you don't say. My one friend Ariadne - well, we aren't really friends, but she thinks we are - all she does is talk. But I've been learning a water spell to blast her with when she gets annoying! Do you want to see? You aren't afraid of water, too, are you?" By the look of her, the girl before him was probably afraid of everything. "Oh, and don't worry, I won't blast you with it. You don't seem like you could ever be annoying."

Why wasn't she letting him help her up right away? "What's the matter, is there something wrong with my hand?" he asked curiously, peering at the hand he'd extended to her. Maybe he'd gotten ink on it retrieving her books. "Or are you one of those people who's afraid of germs? I don't have any weird diseases, I promise!" he said, his voice solemn. Eventually, the girl took his hand like a normal person, and Matthew helped heave her to her feet. Oops. He'd forgotten that he wasn't strong at all, and he tried really hard not to let her see how much effort it took him to pull her up. When she was finally standing, Matthew took a moment to catch his breath before lying to her. "That was easy, you're so light!" Lies. All lies.

Dang it, was she taller than him? "It isn't fair!" he complained, frowning. "I'm sooo short. And I'm doomed to be short forever, probably, because my brother Ollie is short too, and he's old. You'll have to meet him sometime, he's the coolest person ever!" It really wasn't fair. Shortness was stupid. Matthew was a boy! He was supposed to be taller than girls. And this girl was a whole year younger than him! He absentmindedly stood up on his tiptoes to give himself some height, and beamed happily again when his eyes finally raised to a centimeter or so above hers. "There, that's better!"

Finally, after quite some time, the girl finally decided to introduce herself. And the moment she said her name, Matthew froze. "Wait," he said, his voice dead serious. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" With each wait that he uttered, he could hear his excitement - and jealousy - rising. "Your name is Arwen?!" Matthew took a moment to try and collect himself, so that he didn't completely freak the girl out, but it was no use, and he quickly exploded into more rambling. "You are soooo lucky, that is the coolest name ever! Well, for a girl at least! Were your parents crazy Lord of the Rings fans? My name is so boring, do you know how awesome it would be to tell people that my name was Gimli?! Maybe I'll just start changing my name to that while I'm here - nobody would know. Actually, if I was going to be anyone, it would be the balrog, because it's all fire, but I don't think it has an actual name." Matthew had to stop, because he hadn't taken a breath. So he drew in a huge breath and tried to relax. Okay, he had to calm himself down. Okay. Back to the real world.

"You know Derek?!" he repeated excitedly, beaming. "He's my friend!" Matthew announced proudly. He laughed some at her next words, though he wasn't sure if she meant them as a joke or not. "Nah, you were a perfect target! Because who knows how long you would've been stuck there on the floor if I hadn't rescued you! I'm like a superhero or something." Woah, did she just suggest something on her own? She seemed more like the type to just respond, never instigate. "Yeah, absolutely!" Matthew exclaimed excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "It will be like an adventure!"

Arwen blushed at his statement of her not being a talker. No, she wasn't. But despite many people who made fun of her because of it, this guy was actually just stating it, which was way better. And he soon threw himself into a one-sided conversation, and it was all very bisarre. He was right, though; he could definitely talk enough for the both of them. And it didn't annoy Arwen at all. Usually, people talking holes in her head was annoying, but he wasn't completely dumb either; he had some interesting things to talk about.

At the mention of Ariadne, Arwen blinked and looked at him. She knew her too, but she didn't want to interrupt him. She could come back to that if he suddenly didn't have much to say. Or she felt like saying something. He didn't seem all that scary. She did feel a bit dumb when he asked her if she was scared of water too. She wasn't scared, scared. She could bathe and swim and all that, but she didn't like the ocean. Or lakes. Or anything with living things in them. "A- A bit," she admitted, "But it's not the w-water. It's what's in it." She tried to give him a reluctant smile, but it might've come out as more of a grimace than anything else.

She shook her head. "Germs aren't a pro-problem," she said softly. She was completely thrown off when he complained about something not being fair. She didn't get what, but then he delved into the subject. She was taller than him. Oh. She looked on as he stood on his toes to make himself taller, and she had to giggle, and a real smile did break out. Then she blushed ferociously, and looked back down on the floor.

And then he was throwing her off again, and she had to look at him. She nodded softly at his question, wondering if there was anything wrong with being named Arwen. And then he talked about something called the Lord of the Rings. And someone called Gimli. It was a cool name, but Arwen had never heard it before. "I..." she stopped. Should she tell him the truth? Or lie? Lies always came back to haunt you, didn't they? "I d-don't know a-anything about the L-lord of the Rings," she halfway said, halfway whispered. But she was fascinated about what this balrog thing was. "Is the b-balrog a cr-creature?" she asked softly, wanting to know more about it for some weird reason.

Matthew seemed strangely happy that Arwen knew Derek. She didn't know him, know him, of course, but it was fine. She was happy that Matthew wasn't annoyed with her, and instead took the time to call himself a superhero. Somewhat conceited, but Arwen wasn't about to complain. She had to smile again, when he called it an adventure. "It will be. E-especially if we c-can't find the w-way," she said lightly, trying to be funny, not sure if she at all managed to.

Keeping her eyes off the edges of the tower, she slowly made her way to the stairs, with her books and backpack in hand. She looked back at Matthew. "I a-also know Ariadne, i-if that was w-who you were t-talking about before," she stated, waiting for him to follow.

"Oh, well don't worry!" Matthew said brightly, grinning.. "There's nothing in this water, it just shoots from your wand! Though if I could make water and sea monsters shoot from my wand, that would probably be a bit cooler. But I don't think there's a spell for that or anything, so I'll have to stick with just water I guess." Deciding that she had sort of given him the okay to show her, he pulled his wand out, beaming. "Okay, watch!" he said excitedly, turning to aim his wand at a wall sort of near them. "Ready? Aguamenti!" he exclaimed, swishing his wand the way he'd learned to. And, on cue, a stream of water shot from his wand, splashing against the wall - and back onto them a bit. With a quick swipe of his wand, the water stopped flowing, and he turned to see Arwen's reaction. "Pretty cool, isn't it?!"

The girl actually laughed when Matthew tried to be taller than her, and gave her a look. "Yeah, you're laughing now. But when I'm older like my big brother Ollie, and I'm way taller than you, we'll see who's laughing then," he told her, but his grin fell a bit after he said it because that wasn't really the best comparison. Because Ollie was pretty short, and if Matthew was only destined to be as tall as Ollie, that could be a problem. Man, was this girl shy. The moment she laughed, she was blushing and looking away. Matthew rolled his eyes at her. "I don't mind that you laughed, I'm only kidding!" he told her. "You ought to lighten up! How do you have any fun if you can't even laugh?!"

Wait. What did she say? "You don't know anything about Lord of the Rings?!" he squeaked in surprise, staring at her in outrage. "Not anything?" he repeated. "But - but your name's Arwen!" he exclaimed. "How can someone named Arwen not know anything about Lord of the Rings?! Obviously, your parents were fans if they named you Arwen, right?! Why else would that be your name, and I just don't understand and I am so confused I don't even know what to do!" Okay, deep breath Matthew. Right. He had to collect himself, because all of a sudden he had a duty to this poor girl. She had to be educated. "A balrog is the coolest creature. It's huge and made completely of fire and darkness! I can't even believe - look, I have all of the books, I'll lend them to you sometime! You'll see!" Now that he felt like he had to re-evaluate his life completely - because how could someone know nothing about Lord of the Rings - it took him a minute to continue the conversation.

"Not to scare you, but that's a bit likely," he told her. "Directions aren't really my strong point. If they were, I wouldn't be following first years to try and find my way around the school, would I?" In hindsight, it probably wasn't his brightest idea ever. "But I mean, how many towers can this place have? We just have to keep going up until we find it, right?" Oh, so she knew Ari. Matthew followed Arwen to the stairs, nodding in confirmation. "Yep! She's so annoying, and she signs all the time, and she follows me everywhere," he said. "But I managed to lose her today!" he added happily. "Do you want me to carry something for you?" he asked, noting how full her arms were, while he had nothing at all in his.

Arwen was a bit reassured by the fact that whatever this water was, it was only water. But Matthew was only a second year. Sure, he was one year more adapt at doing magic than herself, but still, it was a bit unsettling when he took out his wand and was ready to show her the spell. She looked at his face when he seemed to focus, and she found it pretty amusing. Then, as he spoke the incantation, her eyes went to the tip of the wand and followed the water as it hit the wall. With an impact that sent a few drops back at them. Arwen shielded her face instinctually, but quickly dropped them and tried on another smile, being more successful this time. "V-very cool," she admitted. She'd like to learn that spell. She had a feeling it could be very useful! What if something was set on fire, for example? It would be a most effective spell!

The look he gave him, made Arwen really wish she hadn't laughed at all. She shouldn't have laughed. Her mother had always told her that the height of boys was a pretty sensitive subject, and here she was, talking to one of the very first people she had managed to talk to, and insulted him! What was her problem anyways? So trying to contain the blush was really hard. And he was dumb to think that she didn't see the roll of his eyes. And that didn't make it better either! All right, so he thought it was okay that she laughed, she could deal with that, but now she was doing it all wrong by being ashamed of laughing. Was there no right in this world? Arwen almost felt like crying, but she knew that that would be ridiculous, so she didn't show it at all! Seren would've been proud of her hiding her want to cry. But he was right. How could she have fun if she couldn't even laugh? "I... I don't l-laugh m-much," she mumbled. It was true. She laughed loads when she was with her family, but outside of her house, she was the most closed off person in the world.

Her eye twitched as he started squeaking. Okay, that was weird. Why would he squeak? So the Lord of the Rings were obviously a big thing to Matthew, but woah, steady on! And it was pretty clear that he had no idea what to do. What, was he really so upset? Should Arwen somehow comfort him in any way? She couldn't even being to imagine how. But she didn't have time to do anything before he set off explaining. Okay, she admitted, a balrog seemed like a really cool creature. Dangerous though. And Arwen didn't really like dangerous. "B-but," she said, and then realized what she was about to say. No. She couldn't say that! He wouldn't laugh! But she'd already started. And she couldn't back down. "I-is the balrog r-really the coolest though?" she asked, emphasizing the word. Because it was a fire creature! It couldn't be cool! Arwen would've laughed, but not with Matthew. She didn't know him well enough. She did have a very small smile on her lips though. She was excited about the idea of something new to read. "I'd really l-like to read th-them," she said softly. She loved to read.

The idea of getting completely lost in this castle was terrifying. It was so huge, chances were they might be lost forever! Okay, that was not true. Considering the many people living in the school, divided on the squaremile, it would only be possible to get lost for an estimated time of 10 hours, give or take. "Right," she confirmed, because ten hours weren't that bad. Though she wondered if she could get sick of listening to Matthew talk. She didn't think so. But she might. "L-let's get back to the G-great h-hall and I t-think I can find the r-right way." As they walked down the stairs and Arwen could now see walls all around her, she instantly felt a bit better. She didn't think Ariadne was annoying, but she could imagine that Matthew did. Because both of them liked to talk, so maybe they didn't add up. But Arwen liked Ariadne. Of course, she wasn't brave enough to say anything like that to Matthew. Arwen blinked as he offered to carry something for her. "Uhm." Well, it'd be nice if he could take her bag, because it was just hanging from one of her shoulders, and it was a bit annoying when she was holding the books in the manner she was. But how to say it? Oh for crying out loud, Arwen, just say it! "C-could you t-take m-my bag?" she asked, her voice low, and looking down at the floor in front of them as they walked further down another set of stairs.