Roman Blackwell

Helping Hand || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

“I’ll take that deal.” she agreed with a nod, glad he seemed to be lightening up about it. Faye knew why he would be worried about it, but she had total confidence in his abilities and genuinely wanted to make him see that he knew what he was doing. “Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad.” she said, rolling her shoulders out a bit in preparation. She knew nonverbal spells were hard, but with a binding spell there wasn’t much she could see going wrong. “Alright, you’ve got this.” she assured, standing in the clearing with her hands at her sides. “Whenever you’re ready.” she prompted.

Roman took the stance he’d been in for what seemed like hours and sighed. Here he was about to go again after repeating this over and over. “Alright, are you ready?” He asked, not quite sure if he was ready himself. He focused on the spell at hand and shot it at her with the hopes that it wouldn’t somehow mess up horribly. Though he only ways he could think were that it wrapped around her neck or started to squeeze her too tight, but he doubted that was going to happen.

Little Mermaid || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

Faye nodded a little, “Okay, so this works whenever? I’ll float in the deep water too?” she asked nervously. She felt him loosen his grip and sucked in a quick breath, but found that she was still floating and relaxed some. At his question she immediately wanted to say no, that she didn’t want to be trying anything without him holding her, but she knew she’d have to at some point or another. “Umm, I can try…” she said, slowly loosening her grip on and putting her arms out. The movement made her shift in the water and she briefly grabbed him again for support but then tried it slower and spread her arms to the side. “Okay…like this?” she asked, laying as flat as she could and looking up at him.

Roman smiled wit a nod, realizing how hard this was for her."yeah, just like that Faye." He assured and moved his arms from her arms to her easier loosely so she still felt that he was there in case she needed him. "It's the same in the deeper water too, you're like a log this way. " he assured her confidently. "I just wanted you to know this one before we started in case you start freaking out just become a plank and float." His hand pulled her closer to him and smiled, trying to pull the same from her. "Ready to move on? The rest should be simple." He waited for her to stand back upright. He started to explain how to swim itself, using his arms over the water to show her how it translated, making her lay close attention to his body.

Helping Hand || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

As he got to his feet and finally agreed, a smile grew on Faye’s lips. “About time.” she teased, and then nodded. “Deal, if anything gets weird or hurts or something I’ll tell you to stop, promise.” she agreed, crossing her finger over her heart with an ‘X’. She laughed at his reaction and gave him a little nudge, “Make sure you mention me in your auror award acceptance speech.” she said, taking a small bow for emphasis. She walked over to where the dummy was and picked it up, tossing it to the side before turning around and standing where it had been. “Alright, what spell do you wanna start with? Explain it to me.” she prompted.

Roman shook his head at her confidence that he would give in to her poking and prodding. They both usually listened to the other when they pushed enough. “I’ll mention you but I’m not going to dedicate it all to you, how’s that?” he asked to meet her half way. He watched her start to walk away and sighed since he was still worried about it. “Alright, the first one is meant to bind you. It’s pretty simple but I’m supposed to nail it nonverbally. It should go around your chest and arms, maybe legs.” He explained and took his place across from her. He told her all the technical parts, but there was still that his wand was horrendous with pinpointing where he wanted to aim.

Little Mermaid || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

Faye nodded when they reached their hips, thinking that this was as far as she wanted to go for a while. When he let go of her hand she immediately felt a little more nervous, the loss of contact making her feel less secure in the water. “Okay.” she said quietly, watching what he was doing with a furrowed brow. “So I just…lay down? Like on a bed? And it’ll hold me up?” she asked, slowly hanging on to his arm and lowering into the water, trying to get on her back as she looked up at him and held on tight. Eventually she lifted her feet and tried to get them to the surface, tightening her grip on his but feeling the water help hold her up. Her muscles were tense and she kept moving thinking she was about to sink, but at least she was close to what he looked like. “Like…this?” she asked.

Roman looked at Faye floating on her back in the water and nodded, keeping his arms around her so she had something to hold onto in case she needed him there. “Yeah, just like that. If you freak out and think you’re gonna sink or anything, get on your back like this and you’ll come back to the surface, got it?” He asked her and let his grip loosen on her hands to see if she could get a little more comfortable in the water. “Do you want me to keep holding on or can I let go so you can try it for yourself?” He asked her, hoping that she would be able to handle it without his help. “I can hold onto you still, just put your arms out so you can feel it a little better.”

Helping Hand || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

“You’ve been studying and practicing these spells for how long now? You know how to make things safe, you know how to reverse them, come on it’s not like you’re practicing anything deadly.” she insisted, wishing for once he wasn’t so stubborn. Not that Faye wasn’t stubborn herself, but this time she wanted him to just give it up and let her help him. “What if you walk me through everything?” she offered, reaching her hand down to help him stand up. “You can tell me the spell, what it’ll feel like, what will happen, that sort of thing, then once you know it worked you drop it. Easy.” she said with a small shrug. “Then I can say I was a part of your expert auror training. Who knows, I could be the reason they let you even become one.” she teased lightly.

Roman didn’t want to admit to how long he’d been staring at these spells in the text books. He knew what he was supposed to do and how he was supposed to do it but he couldn’t make his body execute it the way he wanted it to. He started off with a sigh and reached up to her. “Fine, fine alright.” He took her hand and pulled himself up to his feet and looked at her sternly. “Tell me to stop whenever though, alright?” He pointed at her and shook his head at how she sounded like she was going to be the only think that would let him pass. “Alright, lets not go overboard with it.” He crossed his arms and wondered if he was really alright with this but she had a point, these weren’t supposed to hurt anybody.

Little Mermaid || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

Faye sighed and looked down, realizing he was right and she’d end up cold again if she got her clothes all wet. “Fine.” she said , reluctantly slipping her shorts off and pulling her tshirt over her head. She tossed them both farther up the beach and turned back to him, walking closer and grabbing his arm so she felt better about going any deeper. “Okay…you better not.” she warned, taking a few hesitant steps out. “How deep we we have to be to do this lesson? Not very, right?” she asked, a shiver running up her back at the cold water and from her nerves.

Roman nodded waited for her to join him in the water, watching her take off the thin layers of clothing for a moment but looked back up to her face quickly. His hand was still out for her to hold onto, wrapping his hand around hers while they walked into the water. He took steps backward, leading her back out to the water that was just above their waists. “We can stay around here if you want. We’re gonna start off easy, how’s that?” He asked and let go of her hand. “First thing’s first, you always float on your back so just lean back like this any time and you’ll be fine.” He said and leaned into the water to show her that the water was going to hold him up. He got his footing back and offered his arms to her to hold onto and looked at her expectantly. “Alright, how about you try?”

Helping Hand || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

“If they’re not designed to hurt people then what’s the worst that could happen?” she pointed out, putting her hands on her hips. “Come on how are you ever going to know if your spell worked if you’re using that?” she asked. “I can take it, I promise. Out here I’d just fall on the grass or something, and then no one is around to see you practicing or see whatever the spell does.” she explained, trying to get him to consider it. “You’ve helped me a ton, and so many times, I wanna help you out. You’re going to be using these on people anyway in the field.”

“Because it can still happen if I mess up. I’m not gonna be one of the reasons you get hurt.” He looked away for a moment with a shake of his head. While he was still learning these spells he didn’t want to practice on anyone close to him, especially not Faye. “Yeah but by then I’ll know them better.” Of course he knew she was stubborn, it was one of the reasons they got along so well, or rather became friends. Getting along wasn’t really the best way to describe their friendship. He had helped her a lot in the past, but it was because she had needed it. He didn’t think he really needed this.

Little Mermaid || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

“It’s easy to say it’s not hard when you already know how to do it.” she pointed out, still eyeing the water skeptically. Faye took a few more steps towards him and towards the water, “If it’s cold then I’ll leave my clothes on.” she decided, rubbing at one of her arms. She made a face at him, walking close enough that she could give him a little shove. “I’m coming! Jeez.” she said, shaking her head. “If we’re going to do this you’re not allowed to make fun of me, okay? Don’t harass me about it or I’m not doing it.” she informed him, pointing in his direction.

“Then come on and you’ll be one of those people.” Roman tried to turn it back around into something that she could benefit from. “Dude, then you’re not gonna have anything to change into to get warm again, you’re not gonna want to do that.” He explained for her own good. He put a hand over his heart and lifted a hand up into the air. “I promise not to make fun of you or anything. Everyone looks stupid swimming.” He grinned and tried to keep the mood lighthearted so she would feel more comfortable getting into the water.

Helping Hand || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

Faye smiled at the fact that he didn’t return with some kind of retort; especially because he really was a drama queen and anyone who knew him knew it was true. When he said no she let out a huff, “Come on I’m serious.” she insisted, back up just a little and holding her hands out at her sides. “Why not? I’m here, I’ve been hit by plenty of spells, and I don’t mind.” she explained, starting to think that this could actually help him out when she didn’t get the chance that often. “I’m sure you know them too, which is why I’m sure this will be fine. Then you’ll know for sure your spell is accurate and is doing what you want.” she offered. “Get up, I’m totally helping with your training.” she informed him decidedly.

Faye meant the best, he knew she did but she had been through so much already, he didn’t want to accidentally be one of the reasons she got hurt. “Because there’s a reason I’m practicing on a dummy. They’re not designed to hurt people but it can still happen if you don’t know what you’re doing. I don’t want to risk it because I got tired of the dummy,” He sat up from the ground but didn’t want to get up and encourage her wanting him to use her as a guinea pig for the spells he was still learning. He put his arms up on his knees and folded them. The break was needed but it was also a good excuse for him to turn her down for a bit.

Little Mermaid || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

Faye bit her lip a little and nodded, not really feeling ready to jump into the giant area filled with water that she’d almost drowned in earlier that day. She watched him take off his shirt and glanced down at him, having forgotten how he was almost ridiculously fuzzy since she hardly saw him without a shirt on. She was hesitant to be in her swimsuit and figured it wouldn’t hurt so she just kicked her shoes off and moved towards the water a little with her shorts and tshirt on. “As ready as I’ll ever be I guess.” she admitted. “I hope you have some sort of plan for this, because I really have no idea what to do.”

Roman started wading into the shallow water, walking slowly into waist deep water that was still pretty cold. He faced her and waved her over. “Yeah, I’ve got a plan, it’s not that hard you’ll learn in no time.” He assured her. His eyebrow rose a little at her shuffling towards the shore. “The water is a little cold. The faster you get in here, the faster you’ll get used to it.” He warned and offered his hand to her once again, hoping that she would take it and he could help her and that she would let him. “Are you coming or not? We want to get started before night, right?” He joked softly and took a few more steps closer to her.

Helping Hand || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

Faye bit back a grin at the sight of him on the ground moaning about his training. She knew that becoming an auror was hard work, but still thought his reaction was a little much. “Oh come on, you’re such a drama queen.” she teased, pushing him lightly with her foot. She turned and looked at the inanimate dummy that was lying on the ground a few feet away and laughed. “Well hey, he’s definitely immobilized.” she offered. Faye paused and looked at the dummy again, wondering how he was supposed to know whether any of his spells actually worked if he was aiming at plastic and rubber. “Hey,” she said, furrowing her brow a little before continuing as she looked down at him. “Why don’t you practice on me?” she offered with a little shrug. “Then you’d know if they worked or not.”

Roman saw the joke coming, it was easy pickings but he didn’t have the mental capacity to try and com up with something clever to say back to it and only returned it with a dry, sarcastic laugh. He reached over to the foot that she used to nudge him and grabbed her ankle to keep her from doing it again. Her next comment caught him by surprise. He moved the hand that was blocking his view by rubbing his temples and looked up at her with a confused look on his face. “What?” He thought about it for a moment and started to shake his head. “No, it’s fine, I’m sure it’s working.” He assured himself and her. His hand went back to touching his aching head.

Little Mermaid || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

Faye rolled her eyes as she took his hand and stood up, unable to argue with his reasoning. The two of them had been through so much together, and he’d helped her in so many ways and so many times that she’d probably never repay him. Not that she’d tell him that of course. “The wet dog look works for you though.” she teased, brushing the sand off herself as they headed back into the castle.

Once class was over Faye had reluctantly dug out her swimsuit, one she’d gotten more for appearances than actual function, and climbed into it. Pulling a pair of workout shorts and a tshirt over it, throwing a towel over her shoulder and heading out to meet Roman. Once she saw him she took a deep breath and shrugged, “Alright, I guess it’s lesson time.” she said with a little nervous laugh.

Roman wouldn’t say that he was a world class swimmer but he knew enough to teach Faye not to drown. He had a few pairs of trunks that he could cycle through on the rare occurrences that he actually planned on swimming enough to plan ahead and wasn’t just pushed into the water. He pulled on a pair that he’d found in blue with green accents that he thought that suited him. Even better that she would hate that he somehow still found a way to show his house pride in swimwear. He met her when dinner was supposed to be starting and the air outside was a comfortable temperature than it had been in the morning. “You ready, Kiddo?” He asked once she showed up to the lake and clapped his hands together. He turned towards the lake and threw off the tee shirt that he’d put on so he had something covering him when he walked through the halls.

Helping Hand || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

Faye sat cross legged under a tree, staring at her potions problem for what felt like the tenth time, hoping to make more sense of it this time around. Every now and then as she’d been studying she looked up in curiosity to see what Roman was up to. So far she’d seen him send different spells flying towards the dummy he’d dragged dragged outside, but to her it didn’t look like any of them were having any sort of effect on it. Not that she knew what to look for. At his reaction to his latest attempt she snickered, setting her stuff down and getting up to walk over and stand over him. “Practicing is going well I see.” she said with a smirk. “What exactly is supposed to be happening to that dummy?”

Roman was having an infinitely better time laying there in the grass and looking directly into the sun hoping that he could go blind instead of looking up at the dummy one more time. “I’m just taking a break.” He defended quickly, showing that he obviously wasn’t done even though he probably would be if his pride wouldn’t get in the way. “It’s supposed to be immobilized right now. I think it worked.” He explained and rubbed his temples. He had no idea if it was really having the effect that he wanted, and he had barely touched the other ones that he wanted to do. He’d tried so far freezing it, knocking it unconscious and binding it’s limbs together so it couldn’t get away which seemed to be the easy ones of this semester. The rest he was expected to learn nonverbally, which he wasn’t looking forward to.

Little Mermaid || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

“You don’t have the brains to pull up great prank like that.” she teased, nudging into him with a smile. Even though she’d just been terrified for her life a few minutes ago, sitting and talking with Roman had made her bounce back from it pretty quickly. “You better not, you should at least be a good enough teacher so I don’t die.” she pointed out. Faye nodded, “Yeah that sounds like a good time, no one is really out here then right?” she asked. “I always hear that swimming makes you hungry, so that’s probably a good idea.” she agreed. “Maybe for now we should change though.” she said with a little laugh.

“I won’t let you die, I’ve gotten you out of too much shit to let you die because of some silly water.” He rolled his eyes and said it as if it was a joke, even accompanying it with a light laugh.They had been through a lot together, that was probably why he could call her his best friend like he could now even if it had been such a short amount of time since they really started hanging out. At least it seemed short to him. “Yeah we should probably change into some dry and clean clothes.” He agreed and started to stand up, offering her his hand to pull her up to her feet so they didn’t catch another cold together. “After class it is then.”

Helping Hand || Faye & Roman

While the summer season had come Roman and Faye had gotten into the habit of heading outside when they could, this usually included while they were studying so they could enjoy the heat one way or another. Faye had been off to the side of a small clearing that they had found comfort in settling in for a few hours while they pretended to study. Roman at the moment had dragged a dummy out there with them with a new set of spells that he was to memorize and master by the end of the extra short semester. He’d been at a select few for a while now, repeating the incantations over and over with results that were varying and didn’t seem to give him just quite what he was aiming for. At the last attempt he had gotten frustrated, only groaning loudly and deciding to lay down in the grass.

Little Mermaid || Faye & Roman

faye-sterling:

Faye smiled to herself and laughed a little, “It was a pretty good prank.” she pointed out, hoping that now that things were settled he would admit to her genius in plotting the trick. A shiver ran down her back as a breeze blew across the beach and she was grateful that he’d pulled her closer, settling further into his side to stay warm. She absently ran fingers over her knees as he talked, slowly nodding along. “Yeah, I can see where it would be fun if you actually knew what you were doing.” she offered. Instead of feeling helpless and like you were going to die, she wanted to add but didn’t. “You will?” she asked, just to double check. “Could we uh, do it when it’s warmer out? But when people won’t be around?” she asked hesitantly, not wanting other students to watch her learn something so basic.

“Are you sure? Maybe I should do it right back to you and see if you like it.” Roman offered, more than welcoming the idea of returning the favor. His hand moved over her arm slowly with the intent to add some friction to keep them both a tad warmer, not wanting to get up and ruin the conversation that they were having at the moment. “I know what I’m doing, don’t worry. I won’t let you drown or anything.” He nodded at the request and shrugged. “How about during dinner? Everyone’ll be busy eating. Then we can go grab something to eat after and warm up in the room.” He added in as a little extra since he was assuming that they were going to be as cold as they were now.

Little Mermaid || Faye & Roman