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+------- Thread: Unconscious Actions :: Mae (/showthread.php?tid=840)
Unconscious Actions :: Mae - Everleigh Ravenstone - 01-07-2026
October 1st
7:00 pm
7:00 pm
Ever was prone to wondering. Without a place to go, walking around the castle, hiding in plain sight, was better than being where the bust castle bustled with noise. Opening a door to her right, not realizing someone was near, was her first mistake.
This room was nice.
Filled with display cases and shiny awards, Ever walked around looking at the shiny metal cups. Her stare blank, her eyes not focusing on anything in particular.
The lights were not as bright. The bright lights burned her eyes. Sleep was so rare these days, it was nice when the lights were softer.
Ever’s subconscious, baser instincts took over in times of exhaustion. Her body demanded sleep, but her troubled mind wouldn’t let it happen. Getting a few hours, mixed in with nightmares and screaming night terrors, was a recipe for disaster.
Every little sound made her flinch. The softest touch made her skin crawl. All she wanted was a quiet place, no one around, no sounds, and sleep. Wandering around the trophy room, she almost got what she was looking for. Her eyes shut as a large yawn made her whole body shake. Her eyes grew sleepy, standing in the empty room.
At least, she thought it was empty.
The bag flung haphazardly over her shoulder held a random assortment of things. Her sketchbook, some pencils, a few snacks, a scarf, a butterbeer bottle cap, some marbles, one lone army man statue and some hair ties. If there was more in her bag, Ever didn’t remember, not that her failing memory was a shock. Ever pulled out the army man statue and bounced it around the shelves. There was no reason for the action. The movement was an unconscious decision.
Thankfully, for the person who entered the trophy room, Ever didn’t carry her wand anymore. There was no use, she couldn’t speak the incantations. It was more of a danger to herself and others, therefore her sister had snuck the wand away. Not that Ever noticed. She didn’t notice anything these days.
RE: Unconscious Actions :: Mae - Maevie Golding - 01-12-2026
She had gotten lost.
Again.
It had always been one of her bigger struggles in life, keeping her orientation, knowing where she was and how she'd gotten there. How to get back. It took her extra time to memorize where to go in order to get where she wanted to, remember which turns to take when. Once she knew her way, she knew it, but no more than that.
This did not mean that Maevie kept to her known routes though. Instead, she liked to wander, inspecting the never ceasing amount of portraits and suits of armour, tapestries or doors standing ajar. The castle simply provided too many nooks and crannies she hadn't yet seen before, and her brain lost track of its primary task within the blink of an eye.
The distractions came aplenty and Maevie had no trouble falling for them.
Today, after dinner, she had done it on purpose though, her mother's cautions and warning all but forgotten. Things felt safer, there was no strange magic going wild anymore, the evil professors had been... Well, they were gone now.
Maevie didn't mean to disobey her mother, she was a good child. It was hard though to not succumb to the persistent promise of adventure and discovery, the joy of witnessing more of the magic that she had come to love so much.
The door to her right stood open already, dim light reflecting off of shiny, polished metals, immediately catching her attention. Her eyes grew wide, mouth opening in awe as she stepped into the room, filled to the brim with trophies and medals and awards. They gleamed in the waning evening light, silent pieces of history.
A dull, low thumping to her left broke the silence.
"Ever!", Mavie called excitedly, not expecting to see her friend here. She bounded over, smile bright and sunny, forgetting all about the Ravenclaw's fragility and sensitivity, reaching out to take the other by the hand.
Maybe it was the way she shut down all that had happened on that day in March that led her to fail to remember Ever wasn't quite Ever anymore. Supressing the awful memories that sometimes still woke her at night, subconsciously pretending it wasn't a part of her. Pretending that her friend was still there somewhere. Every day Maevie told herself that this time -- this time she'd be better.
But she never was. And Maevie always forgot.
"Ever, do you want to check these out together?"
RE: Unconscious Actions :: Mae - Everleigh Ravenstone - 01-20-2026
"Ever!"
The small army man fell from her hand, bouncing under a cabinet. Someday, many years from now, someone would find it.
Maevie looked happy to see her. That was different. Most people ignored her these days, the girl who lost her mind. She heard the whispers. They ranged from pity for how she became this way, to outright avoidance. Not that Ever minded. She liked her solitude.
Maevie was the exception to the rule. They had bonded over their shared trauma. Kidnapping and torture would do that.
Ever just stood there, blank expression on her face as Mae came over to her. The younger Hufflepuff looked happy and bright, something Ever would never experience again. Emotions didn’t register anymore. Other than fear. That one was ever present. And confusion, but she didn’t think that was an emotion…
In the blink of an eye Maevie was across the room, holding her hand. There was a few seconds where Ever must have blacked out. That happened a lot. She didn’t like it.
"Ever, do you want to check these out together?"
That sounded like a question. Typically you would answer, but she didn’t. Ever had the presence to know that she should talk to Mae, but not the actually ability to form a coherent sentence, but she tried.
“Night room. Can, like toy now. Shines. Like Shines.”
And she failed. Even in her own mind Ever wasn’t sure what her voice was trying to tell the young Maevie. She would leave, begin to ignore her. They all did.
RE: Unconscious Actions :: Mae - Maevie Golding - 01-24-2026
But then she remembered, as Ever's face stayed blank and her own happiness rolled right off of her, dripping to the ground and puddling there uselessly. It hit her like a wave again -- as it did every time reality caught up with her -- crashing over her head and washing away the naïve perception of the world she clung to day by day.
Making room for the real world to unfurl with cold discomfort.
At least there seemed to be recognition there, a small sign her friend did still exist. Just hidden.
It was but a weak mitigation for the harsh jolt that rattled Maevie to the core, the pain for her friend igniting anew. She hated seeing her like this and she hated how it seemed to only worsen as the weeks went by. She hated that she didn't know how to help.
But Maevie clung to that hope too, that maybe she could make Ever feel better somehow so that she could be her old self again one day. She just needed to believe it.
Maevie's excitement didn't dim, her hand didn't drop Ever's and her smile flickered for only a split second. Patiently she waited as the other girl seemed to sort through her mind.
The reply that came made no coherent sense.
Another rush of sorrow flushed her system, her eyes searching Ever's face for a hint, anything to make her understand. But there was none and Maevie had no idea what her words were supposed to express. "Uhm...I'm not sure what you mean," she admitted, angling her head in contemplation, momentarily thoughtful.
She shrugged lightly, infusing a little more energy into her smile. "But I found you so now you're stuck with me and that means you have to look at all this stuff with me." A decisive nod and then she pulled Ever along, to the first glass cabinet her eyes settled on. Leaning closer, Maevie inspected the inscription on a golden trophy.
"Look! That one's from 1864! That's like ages ago!" Positively ancient. "We should try to find the oldest one in here! Maybe we can find something with your family name on it!" Maevie knew Ever had a lot of wizards and witches in her family, unlike herself.
RE: Unconscious Actions :: Mae - Everleigh Ravenstone - 01-24-2026
"But I found you so now you're stuck with me and that means you have to look at all this stuff with me."
Mae was smiling. She smiled a lot. Ever didn’t smile anymore. The chipper girl was talking, the words sounded familiar, but as soon as they were heard the letters shifted and melded into a mess of unintelligible words. Deep down, in the depths of her mind, she knew everything was wrong, but it didn’t matter. Nothing would change.
"Look! That one's from 1864! That's like ages ago! We should try to find the oldest one in here! Maybe we can find something with your family name on it!"
Ever squeezed Mae’s hand, stopping her for a moment. Positioning herself in front of Mae, Ever stared into her eyes. The silent Ravenclaw looked, without seeing... It was like a switch, you could see the minute the fog lifted just a smidge. The moment Ever’s eyes actually saw Maevie.
Hands came up, bracketing Maevie’s face. They were soft, timid, almost reverent. Ever ran her hands down Mae’s face, squeezing her cheeks a bit in a playful way, causing Mae to have fish lips for a second. The briefest of smiles tipped up Ever’s lips. Fingers ran down Mae’s glorious hair, tugging on a curl, watching it bounce. Ever’s eyes seeing it all, taking it all in. She released a sigh, relaxing just a bit.
The spot between her brows scrunched, a question in her movements. The tilt of her head, studying her friend. She looked different. Older. Wiser. She had seen things. The same things Ever had seen.
With a soft whisper, said in a choked gasp Ever said “Maevie?” As if all the sights and words, sounds, feelings and pictures floating in her head finally matched up like a 3000 piece puzzle, and the picture was clear.
RE: Unconscious Actions :: Mae - Maevie Golding - 01-31-2026
Before Maevie could bound off to the next glass cabinet, Ever in tow in search for something older and more ancient, a squeeze to her hand stopped her. Turning, she found Ever right in front of her face.
"Are you okay?", Maevie asked tentatively, brow creasing slightly as she searched the other's face for any hint of unease or beginning panic. Had she triggered something again? Something to upset her friend? Maybe she shouldn't have been so insistent...
But Ever didn't panic, didn't cry or scream or run. Instead, she just looked at her, eyes like transfixed, staring through her but something seemed to clear, lighten, just a little.
Maevie didn't dare breathe, her own eyes wide as Ever raised her hands, gently cupping her cheeks. She stood like frozen, not quite understanding what was happening but not wanting to disrupt it either. A tiny flutter of hope twirled itself inside her chest, careful, but it quickened her pulse nonetheless.
Her lips pushed into a fish mouth as Ever's hands squeezed her cheeks and then her friend smiled. Barely, only briefly, but Maevie caught it.
Still, she remained silent, watchful. Immobilized by what transpired suddenly. It was as though Ever was pushing through the fog, like she was blinking herself awake from a deep slumber. Like she had been sleepwalking all this time but finally managed to break free.
When she whispered her name like a question, Maevie couldn't believe it, hope shining bright in her eyes. Gingerly her lips lifted into a smile as she nodded once, gently, scared to break the porcelain atmosphere of a fragile reawakening. "Yes! I'm Maevie! And you're Ever! Remember?"
RE: Unconscious Actions :: Mae - Everleigh Ravenstone - 01-31-2026
"Yes! I'm Maevie! And you're Ever! Remember?"
Maevie. Ever. It all sounded so familiar. But there was a disconnect that made it hard for Ever to comprehend the information.
Maevie. Mae… friend, Hufflepuff, carnival, screams. As Ever processed her face showed the moment she remembered the Dark Tower. Her face took on a dark look, pain radiating behind her eyes. She didn’t say anything, just took Maevie’s hand and brought it up to her face, turning the palm up to inspect the skin.
It had a scar. The skin melted from the torture. The screams, the smell, it haunted Ever. Her own torture wasn’t as difficult to deal with, but watching Maevie and Rae scream in pain was the real torture.
Ever held her hand, squeezed it. Then kissed the palm. When they were kids, kisses took away the pain. That didn’t work anymore.
Her brain was actually working. The memories of that night replayed in horribly crisp clarity. Ever looked at Maevie as reality settled in. Yes they were tortured, but she was here, standing in front of her. Alive. Smiling.
It was a mystery how she was able to smile. Ever didn’t smile.
“Okay?”
RE: Unconscious Actions :: Mae - Maevie Golding - 02-04-2026
The moment Ever did remember was evident in the dark shadow clouding her eyes.
Maevie knew what it was that replayed there, she saw it too, more often than she liked to admit. The feeling of being trapped in her own mind, the terror of having no control. The pain, the endless, searing pain. Rae screaming, Ever screaming, Thayer's eyes.
Always his eyes that haunted her the most.
Most days she shut it down, subconsciously keeping herself in the safe space that was the naivety and ardour she had always carried like her most prized possession. A gaze that only ever saw the bright morning sunshine as it crested over the hills, ignoring the darkness flickering at the outskirts of her vision.
The slash through those euphoric sights had been too harsh, too jarring and fundamentally rattling to be bearable. Maevie couldn't look it in the eyes and see the world for what it was capable of. It hurt too much. She didn't like it. Life was supposed to be fun, and light, and exciting.
It wasn't supposed to be cruel.
It all resurfaced though as Ever gently lifted her hand, turned it over and inspected the scar on her palm that would never go away. Her constant reminder.
Maevie let her, her own pain subtly shining behind her eyes as the smile subdued to something more muted, but she didn't let it die. Because even despite everything, she still clung to the good, the bright lights and the warm embraces of this life. The hope that Ever would find back to them, the unbreakable thread that connected them since that day in March the lifeline Maevie hoped to reel her back in with.
"Okay?", Ever asked.
Maevie nodded once. "Okay," she said back, her voice quiet but unwavering. "You?"