( far above the world )

Steve maintains eye-contact with the other boy, his eyes hopefully depicting his sincerity in earnest. This moment felt incredibly important, and he almost feared that he wasn’t coming off as honest. He didn’t often feel unsure, but Andrew seemed to bring out the insecurity in him. He had an unnatural urge to be overly compassionate towards him, but it was something he had learned to contain - sure that it would seem slightly pathetic. 

[ andrew begins listening to steve’s answer with his eyes on the screen, but when he says andrew himself makes him happy by association, he turns his head to look up at him, cheeks dusted with pink warmth. ]

You really mean that?

He taps his hands against the wheel for emphasis. Slowly but surely they putter along, and Clint is relieved to find that they’ll be getting back at a reasonable hour. Clint may be perfectly content to not have any powers, but seriously, telekinesis is the only one that makes him jealous. Hard to not envy people who don’t have to stand up and walk to grab a snack.

Knowing he won’t crash into anything in the middle of this empty field, he looks back at Andrew, asking a question he’s been meaning to ask.

[ a slight grin crosses andrew’s face as he looks out across the farm over his camera and jokes, ]

I’ve got as many hands as I need.

[ the next question is standard, and he rattles off a standard, mumbling reply that trails off aimlessly by the end. ]

Uh, yeah, I guess -- I just film everything I see and do, you know...

[ he feels the need to contradict him, however, and adds on: ]

And it’s not -- uh, I mean, I like it here. It’s... it’s nice.

[ andrew relives the experience as well in his own mind, remembering how his heart had stopped the moment he saw steve falling, how his name had torn from his lungs in the wake of engine’s roar. he hadn’t thought, hadn’t blinked, he’d just lunged for steve like nothing else mattered, not himself nor the camera he dropped. it wasn’t until steve was twirling him around and lavishing him in exuberant praise that he’d realized what he’d done was at all heroic; he’d just thought it was necessary. he wasn’t about to lose the first best friend he’d ever had -- not when he knew he had the ability to save him. a warm smile crosses andrew’s face as he watches steve shout and pick him up in the video. ]

Me neither.

[ as matt joins them on screen, andrew is reminded of the words they shared later that night as they lay in bed together. after a moment, he turns to steve and asks, ]

No, that day was pretty cool.

[ a small but growing grin tugs at the corners of andrew’s closed lips at the memory of hurtling through the sky to catch steve in mid-air, at the memory of how the other boy had twirled him around in dizzy celebratory glee afterwards like he was some kind of hero. he supposes he kind of was, at least on that day, and he looks back on it with as much pride as bewilderment. ]

Hold on, I’ll pull it up.

[ a couple of clicks brings him to the right folder, and, after sorting through a couple of cloud-filled thumbnails, he finds the one containing steve’s rescue. another click, and it’s playing full-screen. ]

Here.

[ andrew’s spine stiffens as steve moves in, nervous despite the fact that he gave him permission. but once steve has settled beside his shoulder, his presence warm and comforting instead of cold and tense like his father when he leans over him to criticize whatever he’s doing, he relaxes with a soft exhale. for a minute he just scrolls thoughtfully through the folders and thumbnails on his computer, each a tiny colorful square that contains a piece of his story -- or rather their story, now that steve’s a part of it. some of the squares, (which he quickly scrolls past with a flickering frown), represent bad things; some represent good things. the ones with steve in them tend to be the good ones. eventually he shrugs and turns his blue eyes upward toward his friend. ]

[ andrew watches steve cross the room, not really acknowledging that it may be hard for him to do so due to the clutter. it isn’t until he’s standing awkwardly beside him that andrew registers that he should move, and he lurches for the chair nearby and sits himself down, scooting in toward the screen. shaking the mouse to rouse the machine, he logs in with his password and then types in another password to access the hard drive. as he hits enter, he glances back at steve and tilts his head toward the computer, inviting him closer. ]

Well, growing up with Matt made me know a lot about conspiracies...

[ it’s half sarcasm, half truth -- as steve should know by now, matt, especially when high, has a knack for talking ridiculous theories. after setting the hard drive on the desk, andrew looks from it to the computer screen and then down to the camera in his hand. he gives a little shrug. ]

Uh, I watch it sometimes. Usually just when I’m copying it over, I guess.

[ his gaze shifts slowly back to the computer screen that he’s sat in front of countless times, whether to play video games, to watch tv online or to watch himself go through his day. ]

It is kind of amazing. Uh, when we’re using our powers, I mean.

[ sometimes he can hardly believe his own eyes when they see the crazy stuff they’re doing played back on-screen, even when he performed it mere hours before. glancing back toward steve, andrew asks tentatively, ]

“Either way, we’ll only need a sprinkle of it.”

[ personally, lu’s never liked the smell of ginger– so he’s just a little relieved that he’s not the one who has to crush it. instead, he focuses on stirring the mixture until it begins to change colour; making sure to hastily withdraw the stirring rod when it does. in the moments of leisure that follow, he takes the opportunity to look around the classroom– one of their classmates (a gryffindor, he thinks) has forgotten to take the mixture off the fire before adding porcupine quills, causing the cauldron to melt. as snape stalks over to the disaster of the potion, lucien finds that he’s not sure which is more overwhelming– his urge to laugh, or the urge to watch on and simply judge the debacle. ]

[ after breaking off a chunk of the ginger root and smashing it down just as violently as he had the fangs, he looks up from the mortar with raised brows at the debacle across the room. ]

Uh, don’t do that.

[ he reaches over, then, and sprinkles a bit of the root he’d pulverized into their cauldron. as it begins to change color, he gives lucien a nervous nudge, hoping they’re not about to meet the same fate as their classmate. ]

“I’ll stir, but only because of  that excellent show you just put on for me.”

[ andrew rolls his eyes at lucien’s comment, but is too proud of the skill he just demonstrated to feel any kind of embarrassment. taking a root out of the corked bottle, he eyes the lumpy thing skeptically, then glances back at the mortar and pestle he crushed the snake fangs with. ]

[ it’s lucien’s turn to express his amusement, now; he adds the nettles to the mixture with an easy flourish before stepping back and watching andrew attempt to transfer the mucus into the cauldron. when his friend begins to poke at the ingredient with his finger, he finally dissolves into laughter, and wrinkles his nose in slight disgust as andrew then starts  to use his wand to try and extract the slime. mucus. whatever. ]

“Don’t waste all your energy, you’ve still got to– what was it the book said?” 

[ he glances down at the book of potions (and blindly reaches out for the ginger root as he does so) before looking up and smirking across at his classmate once more. ]

[ shooting a glare over at lucien, andrew tries once more to yank his wand out of the goop to no avail. tired of tugging and not about to make a fool of himself in front of what might be his only friend, he decides to do what he’s best at and cast a spell. gripping his wand tighter, he hisses, ]

Relashio!

[ with a flash of purple sparks, the strand of goop breaks and plops into the warming cauldron, freeing andrew’s wand at the same time. a sigh born of both triumph and relief leaves him as he wipes his fingers on his robes, eyes flitting over to lucien to make sure he saw how cool that was before he scoffs, ]

[ he’s still haphazardly wiping away a few stray tears as the tease reaches his ears, and he aims a rather put-off glare towards his classmate as andrew moves to add the fangs to the mixture. ]

“Do shut up.”

[ he rolls his eyes heavily, resisting the urge to smack andrew over the head with the book that he’s taken into his hands. instead, he aims a great deal of effort towards re-reading their next set of tasks as one final sniffle sounds from his nose. ]

[ with a final amused snort, andrew draws his wand and waves it beneath the cauldron. ]

Incendio.

“If you laugh at me, I will not hesitate to hex you.”

[ of course, lucien doesn’t even know how to perform any hexes that are powerful enough to cause real damage quite yet– but that’s definitely not a piece of information that his desk partner needs to find out. he cuts the onions rather choppily, but swiftly, not wanting to suffer from the side-effects for longer than necessary. ]

“Just– hurry up and finish  grinding the bloody fangs, already.”

[ after another minute or two of silence, his eyes dart to the instructions, and a quick glance tells him that they’ll need to heat the mixture after adding the fangs and the onions (thus, he won’t be able to do much else until andrew has finished with his task). he puts the knife down and exchanges it for his wand in order to cast another ‘wingardium leviosa’ and levitate the pieces of onion into the cauldron. ]

[ andrew continues to stare at lucien a minute longer, even when he threatens to hex him, still sort of stunned by the sight -- and, of course, thoroughly amused. a grin is still threatening to break on his face, twitching the corners of his lips as he tells him: ]

I’ve just never seen you cry before...

[ he manages to wrench his gaze away and finish with the snake fangs after that, and as he overturns the mortar to dump the resulting powder into the cauldron, he asks, grin now slowly breaching his features, ]

“Fine.”

[ lucien rolls his eyes halfheartedly and raises his wand, clearing his throat in a way that’s loud enough to draw attention, yet still not quite loud enough to make it clear that he’s actively trying to gain the attention of his peers. ]

“Wingardium Leviosa.” 

[ with an effortless flick of his wand, the onions lift themselves from the pile of ingredients and float towards him, before slowly situating themselves on the desk in front of him. as he lowers his wand, the roots become inanimate once more, and he (very reluctantly) takes it as his cue to take hold of the knife near the cauldron.  he inhales a deep breath, fully intending to hold it for as long as possible, before  beginning to cut the onions. it isn’t long, however, before he begins to tear up, and every single quiet sniffle that sounds from his own nose is like a betrayal against  himself– in lucien’s perspective, at least– and he furrows his eyebrows in disgust as his vision starts to blur. ]

“This is the worst side-effect ever.”

[ andrew goes right back to smashing the pestle against the fang shards with vigorous intent, entirely ignoring lucien’s vie for attention as he absorbs himself in his job. it takes the sound of sniffling to finally tear his attention away, and he looks up with wide, confused eyes as he scans the room, searching for the source. when his gaze finally lands on lucien, whose red-rimmed eyes are brimming with tears as he prepares the next ingredient, his heart drops. for a moment he’s frozen in time, unsure what to do, completely flabbergasted at the sight of the usually over- confident lucien sniffling over his classwork -- but then his gaze drops to said classwork and he puts together what's happening. apparently, pungous onions are just as eye-watering as regular onions -- possibly even more so, judging by the tears trickling down his friend’s cheeks. recoiling slightly so as to not suffer the same fate, andrew sets his bowl down as an amused smile begins to curl the corners of his mouth. ]

He glances down at the ground, the smile on his face threatening to falter as the reality of the memory sets in. ‘’I don’t think she’ll notice, though, so I’m safe for now,’’ he tries, a watery kind of humor laces his words. 

As if to dissolve the hint of emotion that flashes on his face, he switches the attention back to Andrew. ‘’Do you ever worry that someone will find the footage you record? Do you think the government would do creepy experiments on us?’’ 

Oh, shit.

[ andrew can’t help but crack a tiny smile at the thought of the incident, though it turns to more of a grimace as he considers the repercussions. but the subject change has him displaying a different emotion altogether, shock and sudden worry flashing across his features. he shakes his head quickly. ]

They couldn’t, I mean -- it’s all password protected.

[ moving instead toward the desk where his computer sits, (stepping over the various computer parts scattered on the ground around it) he picks up the external hard drive plugged into it that he stores all his old footage on and shows it to steve. ]

“I think I can handle that. Tell me when you’ve finished.”

[ at andrew’s next inquiry, he reaches for the book again and pulls it closer to the edge of the desk. instead of immediately looking at the next step in the list of instructions, however; lucien’s eyes slide to the introduction at the top of the page. ]

“’Care should be taken when brewing. Prepared incorrectly, this potion has been known to cause boils, rather than cure them.’ Dear God. I refuse to deal with the embarrassment of getting this wrong.”

[ he gives the bridge of his nose a nervous rub with the back of one of his fingers before scanning the rest of the page. ]

“–Alright, it says here that the next ingredient is chopped Pungous Onion. ‘Chop carefully before adding. Be sure to pick up the pieces with your wand, not your hands, as the ingredient is very pungent.’ After that, we have to put the cauldron over a fire. …You wouldn’t happen to want to chop these, would you?”

[ andrew isn’t surprised when lucien finds another thing in the instructions to complain about, but doesn’t comment, still busy crushing snake fangs. they seem to be breaking into little shards instead of powder, which frustrates him and makes him smash them even harder, maybe even violently. he pauses, concentration broken, when lucien asks him a question, and with a quirk of his furrowed eyebrow and a pointed raise of the bowl in his hand, he says: ]