"Well you have to kind of go farther into the past, Sir. I think it was my fault she wasn't thinking to start with. Or, at least, the bad part. The big stupid idiot lump. Can you believe I didn't know?" True, Plymouth wasn't the smartest student in the school, but he THOUGHT he knew a whole lot about Celandine Toussaint. "I just figured I needed to man up about that whole thing. It was my fault."

Kazimeriz listened, watching the staircase sway and move. "Did not know?" he asked. "What is it you did not know, Mr. Morgan?"

"Umm... well, lots of stuff. I don't know lots of stuff, Professor. Did you know?" Plymouth snorted and continued, "But I meant that I was making her so sad. I sure didn't know that. I wouldn't have... not ever... and then she made that potion and so... you see?" Plymouth was so sure he was making sense.

Kazimeriz nodded, understanding. The stairs dipped a little and he instinctively put his arm up so that the lad would not spill forward should he be off balance, then lowered his hand back onto cane. "I remember long ago... a boy, in this very school. He was enamored of a girl-- pretty little thing, she was, and how he mooned over her! He followed her about and generally did everything he could do to get-- and keep-- her attention. Bothering her in every spare moment, keeping her from so much as talking to other lads; even convincing her to break curfew and landing them both in a very harsh detention. I suspect he felt that his feelings were strong enough to sustain them both, and that was all important. He did not see the consequences of his demands on her until it was too late. Alas. You know what they say about good intentions... a truth you've come to learn first hand, it appears."

Plymouth pulled a Cela and wibbled. He'd tried so hard, and encouraged, Cela to do whatever her heart desired. There was SO many people telling her what to do and how to be - and he just liked her as she was. It was that part of Krazi's little story that got Plymouth. But ...

... I suspect he felt that his feelings were strong enough to sustain them both...

Plymouth sighed. "You're smart, Professor. Anyone ever told you that? I didn't tell CellB.. Cela what to do, but my intentions did go wildly wrong."

Plymouth nudged his old Professor with his elbow. "There's not going to be any swaying you on this point thing, huh?"

Kazimeriz chuckled mildly. "Unfortunately, my decision stands. It is what is best for her. Besides, the points are for the glory of the House, not the student. So many tend to forget that. So what you could do is merely encourage her, and yourself, to work a little harder for Ravenclaw House to make up for the loss." He paused, thinking. "Do not be too harsh on yourself. To pursue a beautiful young lady is in a man's nature; time and experience will teach you how to handle such pursuits with more finesse and maturity, so it does not go poorly." Kazimeriz said gently.

"Points are just real important to her. Moreso than they are to me and I figured they'd make her happy. I haven't done much to make her happy, I reckon." Plymouth clapped his hands together and stared at them intently. "I figured it couldn't hurt to try, right? And I didn't lose points or start growing extra hair either."

Kazimeriz smiled at the boy and chuckled. The kid was shaping up to be a decent young gentleman, at that. "I am moving my quarters to Professor Lupa's office in light of the recent flooding. You will join me for tea at seven pm Tuesday." He looked at the boy. "You will, in the interim, seek out Miss Toussaint. A wit-sharpening potion is not a difficult potion; fourth year standard and it can be brewed in a few days. But I noticed her marks were not as high as they could have been when she tested on it two years ago, and it would have been a wiser choice than-- than the potion she chose to consume. Help her to learn to produce a strong wit-sharpening potion before Tuesday, and we will discuss her points --and yours-- at that time. Oh... and do not consume the potion, either of you. Is that clear?"

Plymouth had been having a pretty good conversation with Krazi. Pretty good, Plymouth thought. But... "She .. cries... But... She doesn't want to see me, Professor. I can make it for her, though?" No? Ugh?

Plymouth slumped again. "Okay. I'll try. I'll definitely meet you for tea though. Since you're not Defense Against the Dark Arts anymore, I figure we can be friends. So, tea is good. I like tea." Lupa was crazy, but she'd probably not put the moves on him when Krazi was around.

He'd do it for Cela points since it'd been his fault she lost them to start with. "I won't consume it. I'm pretty witty as is."


..."hehe."

Kazimeriz chuckled at this last comment- Oh, Ravenclaws!- and stood up, his joints popping and creaking. Perhaps not 'friends', but a gentleman's accord would be fine. he thought. "Tea it is, then. And see to it that Miss Toussaint is watched over, whether she wishes to see you or not you can do that much for her. Consider it penance for your... enthusiasm for her. Her strength is intelligence and wit, but true wisdom seems to elude her. Perhaps that is the curse of the female gender." he said with a small smirk. "In that way, she is not unlike that young lady the lad I spoke of fell for. And just look at what happened to her." Kazimeriz stretched and began his descent, one slow step down stairs.

"What happened to her?" Plymouth asked, standing up with Krazi. "Did she end up happy anyway? Did he get her back?"

"In a manner of speaking. By seventh year she finally could take no more of his nonsense. She burst into tears in DADA class, and hit him with a curse. The curse eventually wore off... but I still have the scar." Kazimeriz chuckled, continuing down the stairs.

"Mrs. Kazimeriz has one helluva wand arm." he said, winking at Morgan. "Tuesday at seven, Morgan. Do not be late. Good day." He continued walking down the steps and out of sight.

Downstairs, near the proverbial base of the staircase, crouching down, was a girl holding her hair so it would not get wet. With her other hand holding a bottle with dragonhide globes, she slowly allowed the water to fill in. She kind of liked the sight, the decay the place evoked with its stillness, its dark and passionate colours contrasting to the abyss before her, the moving staircase unmoving in an askew angle disappearing further into the dark waters. It was beautiful really.

Standing up, she screwed the bottle shut, cleaned the exterior of it and dispossed on the tissue. It was a larger bottle from a harmless drink she picked up and washed throughoutfully. Afterwards, she went up the stairs to get back to the ground floor.

Emiliano was going up to the Ravenclaw Tower from the Boys' Bathroom. That yucky water from the flood at the Great Hall was not fun, at all. It made him take about what? Two back-to-back showers...ehhh...

The staircase. Oops. He just hoped it didn't move to where he just didn't want to. Em was sort of...nervous to be in such heights. And who wouldn't? Seven floors?? Gulp...

Drying his hair with his towel, still, he made sure that it was dry enough for him to get on bed in seconds. Yeah...bed.

Stupid. Moving. Staircases.

It was bad enough that the Ravenclaw wasn't in a pleasant mood due to her confrontation earlier, but to be sent to the completely wrong floor when all she wanted to do was go to bed? Yep, that definitely made things worse. A long sigh emerged from her mouth as there was a mental debate on whether to jump from the staircase she was on to the one below to another that hadn't moved yet. Hmm. Tempting, but dangerous.

Karma made her way onto a new set of stairs to see a wet head of curls in front of her, and she smiled. She had soaked that hair before, so she knew the way it would do that.

She made her way up behind him, and snatched the towel from his hands. She began to act as if she needed it, trying to keep a straight face. "Thanks Saenz, I'm glad you were waving this about as a way to get my attention. But next time you want me to ride the stairs with you, you could ask." Walking up next to him, she leaned against the railing, holding his towel in one hand and balancing herself with the other.

Directing Plymouth towards the appropriate pocket was proving to be difficult so instead of focusing on how uncomfortable this situation was, Daphne tried to keep her shins from bumping into more steps. Her legs were going to be sporting several black and blues later. "I'm fine!" declared the blond even though she really wasn't. "I'll be even better once I get this off me!" The pants legs were now busy wrapping themselves around her neck and waist, as if threatening to just. try. it.

They weren't afraid of no wand.

"Hand me the wand, Morgan! Once we're free. I'm shoving these pants down the toilet!"

Emiliano was having those thought moments, when he just imagined himself already in bed, dry, clean and warm among the many blankets he had put all these cold days. Brr...the weather just became worse by the months, by the way.

Coming back to reality...that little wondering moment was interrupted by a very known and welcomed voice. As Karma took the towel from his hands, he didn't fight for it, it was going to be worthless fight with Atkins for a piece of cloth. Or maybe not, just to reach that moment of madness before bed. Hehe.

"Atkins..." he muttered, taking back the piece of cloth and continuing drying his hair with care on not to sprinkle Karma's angelical face. "I just think...these rides get to be fun after a while." He commented, making a slight chuckle.

"So, how have you been?" He asked her, Em already finished with that problem that hair was.

Karma smirked slightly as he took the towel back from her and began to dry the rest of his hair. He was joking around with her again, especially about how riding the stairs could be fun. Well, it could be if you got lost enough after a while, and annoyed others. Hmm.

As she watched him dry his hair, she placed her other hand on the rail to steady herself as the stairs began to move. Her head drifted to the place where she thought it may go next, and it wasn't the place they needed to go. It was still going, buuut in the wrong direction. She frowned slightly, then turned back to Emiliano.

"I've been alright." She leaned against the railing more, and looked below them. "I, uh, talked to someone today." Gahh. It was Piper, obviously, but she folded her arms, debating on how to say this. "I went to find Piper because I finally had time to talk to her, actually. And I went to accept her apology and apologize on my own."

And that was the reason Emiliano just hated the staircase. He prefered going normally to this normal, not-moving staircase located at the sides of the castle, but NOOO...he had to take the moving one. Gahhh...He let out a long sigh and listened as Karma spoke, about Piper.

His eyes almost blinked when she mentioned apologizing for herself as well, and accepting Piper's. "And, what did she say to you?" He asked, a bit worried about that little convo they had not so long ago. Em tried not to think about his cold way, the inmature way he had spoken to Piper, but it was useless. He had been not himself, at all that day.

Karma sighed as she looked down below them again. Hmm, it seemed as if they were pretty high up in the air. She unfolded her arms as the staircase continued to move, rather jaggedly, and placed her hands on the rails as she didn't feel like falling. Well, falling down to her death, that is.

"She had tried to explained what she thought," Karma said, recalling what happened. "And told me that the thing with Wes was supposed to be fake, so that you would choose her. But then, she says you chose me, and then things weren't fake with Wes." Which was totally and completely dumb of Piper to do, but Karma couldn't tell her that. She wouldn't listen anyway. "Nothing really interesting, though I told her I hoped she was happy. But, that probably came out mean towards her, and she probably cried. Like she always does."

Karma rolled her eyes as she mentioned the last part about Piper crying, then looked back up at Emiliano, and his slightly damp hair. He was so adorable like that.

Emiliano just felt more, guilty now? Yes, he was feeling as if a hammer hit his head and just...killed him, or took him all the way to being a little kid again, stubborn and annoying. "I admit, it was a good set up...for me to just, react." He commented, taking a view of Karma's eyes. Ah...really high. Not great....and the guilt just made it worser, like if he wanted to vomit.

Not a surprise to Emiliano to hear about Piper crying. But...oh well. The relation was over now, right? And he was the one who chose Karma at last. One slight smile showed as he looked back at her. "It's so hard, to just...know that some things are not meant to be...sad, in a way." He was talking his heart out, finally, after a month or two of not wanting to touch the subject of Wes and Piper.

Finally. The eighteen year old could have done a happy dance on the stairs. She FINALLY got him to open up about this whole thing. Karma knew he would feel better about it if he just talked. A smirk crossed her face, then disappeared as soon as it appeared. Not because he was hurt - no way - but the fact she finally got him to break the stone about the subject.

"You know," she said. "I've heard that great things fall apart so even greater things can come together." Well, not that she was the most fantastic and perfect person in the world, because she knew she wasn't. "Besides, everything like this, or anything similiar to this, is just a learning experience. And you know that, and it just sucks." Yes, it did very much suck to walk into that compartment to see Emiliano with... her. But at least she didn't throw a fit about it.

"Listen, Emiliano... the point is, no matter how hard it hurts, you'll always have me to help you out. No matter what the problem is. I've never left, and I never will."

Em smirked back at her, his smile widened and his impulse to take her hand became just normal, so he did it. "Thank you...It just means a lot to me to hear that. You're always there to hear my problems...and it's so unfair, I shall say...so, I tell you the same, I'll be there, always..." He smiled and leaned to kiss her cheek slightly, then turn back to face the hall the staircase was taking them.

"You're right...greater feelings came out...off this weird set up..." He smirked.

As he grabbed her hand, her smirk grew into a smile that slowly crept across her face. The staircase stopped moving, so she began to walk towards the top of the one they were on and onto the next to see where that would take them, leading Emiliano along the way.

When he kissed her cheek, her face turned red. Now why was it doing that? Karma was rarely ever embarassed, nor did she blush. Except, she was now. She decided to not answer what he was saying, because he knew the answers to what he was asking already.

"Do you feel like sleeping yet?" she asked, debating on which staircase to take. "Or would you like to go on an adventure?"

More like a smirk came from Emiliano's face. He was enjoying at last that week. It had been full of chaos, full of mess around. And when he turned to face her again, she blushed? Wow!! His smile grew wider, making those bugs totally make his heart beat faster. Eek...why now? OH, yeah, he had started it...

"I feel like sleeping...being tucked into my comfortable bed and sleep...but I can use...an adventure." He answered, giving Karma a playful smile as they arrived to the little corridor before chosing what staicase to take next.

And where would they go?