October 31st, 1894 - Creature Feature

Sage loved Halloween. She did not love being scared, but had somehow been talking into coming to this crazy event with one of her sisters. The one she had promptly lost to some friends as soon as they'd arrived. If she could just get through the exhibits she could get to the other side and enjoy the dance. It had been a long time since Sage had let loose in such a fashion and she was in the mood for a little fun. If she could survive this first.

The darkness was one thing, that she could handle. It was knowing that deadly things were lurking just on the other side of some glass or invisible enchantments that was hard to swallow. Sage had never been particularly squeamish, in fact she handled the gore of her job quite well, but it was perhaps the unknown that had her hurrying through the exhibits without so much as a sideways glance.

It was the appearance of a light off to her left that startled her. Despite the fright, she stopped, looking at the wispy smoke curiously. It was intriguing, moving, but not like fire or any other light she had ever seen. The urge to reach out to it overtook her and she drifted toward it, but had enough sense not to get too close. Once she got close enough, before she could realize was happening, it had winked out and reappeared right in front of her and she could see the snarling face of the hinkypunk very clearly.

Sage yelped loudly and tumbled backward— right into somebody, falling straight onto her butt, the pain radiating throughout her system uncomfortably, her healed ribs protesting loudly. She muttered an unladylike oath under her breath, but had a harder time containing the following, more pitiful, "Oww."

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, Protego rather liked spooky things. It rather went along with him primary interests, after all, and Protego fancied himself as not being easily scared. Wandering through the darkened exhibits of the Irvingly zoo was enough to be excitingly stimulating. And, anyway, even a workaholic deserved a night off sometimes.

He was reasonably distractable walking along, so it might have been inevitable that he bump into someone, but it was still a surprise when Protego went to take a step back the dark glass he was standing in front of and felt someone crash into him--with enough force that he realized, belatedly, that they must have hit him rather than the other way around, but Protego still stuck him arms out instinctively, as if that would do anything, and instead it through him further off balance and he ended up sprawling on the ground on his stomach, barely missing hitting his head on something in the dark, his breath leaving him in a painful whoosh.

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Sage had inadvertently done more damage than anticipated. It was hard to miss the sound of someone else falling behind her, causing her to turn immediately to see how much trouble she had inflicted. Her tailbone was throbbing, but she was more concerned she had hurt the gentleman she had crashed into. Sage righted herself painfully and hauled herself toward the man splayed on the ground.

"I am," she winced painfully. "So very sorry." The color had risen to her cheeks, embarrassed that her little jump-scare had caused such mayhem. "Are you alright?" Hopefully she hadn't done anything too hurtful, or at least anything outside of her realm of healing expertise. Fortunately, Sage was good with quick fixes. but beyond that, it might prove necessary to seek out someone with more experience.

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Yes, I'm fine, is what Protego really wanted to say, because he was more embarrassed than he was mad, but the sound that came out was... "Uhhhn." A dull wheeze.

He might have actually landed so the wind was knocked out of him. It didn't help that it was still dark, and he couldn't see where he was or who he was talking to or where she was, aside from a vague notion that had mostly been muddled by everything else. Great.

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Oh dear. Sage sort of fumbled her way over to the gentleman, the dark not quite so encompassing so that she couldn't see him, but she it was making her move a little more slowly and cautiously. Finally she found a body (a shoulder, hopefully?) and she propped herself up on her knees beside him. "Have you hit your head?" Merlin she hoped she hadn't inflicted anything she could not easily take care of herself. There was a lot Sage could handle out in the field, but if he had hit his head and gotten a concussion, she would rather he be seen by a healer. "I am a mediwitch, I can hopefully take care of the damage I've caused." The guilt she felt was overwhelming! Leave it to her to cause such chaos at such a fun event!

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Protego couldn't answer right away, only wheezing through the pain until he caught his breath enough at last to say, "I don't think so. Knocked the wind out of me, though." He rolled onto his side with a grunt. It might not have been so bad if he could see anything. He wasn't sure why it made a difference, but the darkness felt suffocating in a way it hadn't a minute ago.

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"Oh good, you should sit up, it will help." Sage said as she fumbled through her pockets to find her wand. She understood the dark served to add to the atmosphere of the exhibits, but she couldn't work in the dark.

Once she found it, she case the faintest lumos she could, just to give a little glow around them so she could assess the situation without blinding them or ruining the moment for anyone else. "Try and take a few deep breaths." She added, now that she could see him and thankfully, she couldn't see any discernable injuries, which was a relief.

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Protego managed to sit up, which was a relief--as was the light from the woman's wand. "It's not so bad, I think," he said, mostly for his own pride, and a little to absolve her. It was bloody dark in there, after all.

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Sage breathed out a sigh of relief as the gentleman managed to sit up without much fuss. She did a quick once over, didn't see any visible injuries, though he might have some bruising from the fall. She certainly would. Nothing she couldn't fix later though. "Well, I don't see any blood." She appraised quickly. "Do you think you can stand?" That would be a good test. If he could be up and wasn't dizzy, they had probably escaped unscathed. At least in the long run.

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"I think so." Protego took it slow, just in case, but he managed to get to his feet, with a little relief. "I think I'm all right," he said after a moment. "The surprise, I think, made it feel a bit worse."

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Sage stood as he did, hovering nearby in case he swayed. "It is quite dark in here." The ambiance of the enclosures didn't help either. "It was a surprise that started the whole thing. A hinkypunk came out of nowhere, which is why I fell." She blushed a deep shade of pink, and for a brief moment, Sage was glad for the lack of light. "I do apologize, profusely, for knocking you down." It was just her luck lately!

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"It's all right," Protego said, automatically, though his stomach was sore where he'd landed, and he was going to be very cranky about it when the instinct to be polite wore off. If they were lucky, he'd get out of here before that happened. "I think I'm going to find my way out of here," he said. "I think this has lost its charm for tonight."

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Sage frowned. Her clumsiness had sent the poor gentleman figuratively running for the hills. Of course. She sighed in resignation. "I hope I didn't ruin the night for you." Her tone was a resigned, her expression still appropriately apologetic. Digging into her pocket, she held out her card from the hospital. "If anything starts to bother you please send me an owl and I'll take care of it."

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"Of course," Protego said, though he probably wouldn't. Mostly for the sake of his own pride--or what was left of it, at any rate. He did a jerky little bow. "Have a good rest of your night, miss." Frankly, he was going to go lie down.

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