Don't Worry! Nothing's on Fire that Shouldn't Be!

[Kellen McCrea]

Kellen stumbled, coughing, out of the two-bedroom flat he shared with Sora. He and his flatmate rarely, if ever, saw each other and that relationship had worked fine for them. Each was busy and as long as they kept away from the other's things, everything was fine.

Of course, things might not be fine now. A foul smell was pouring from their shared flat out into the hallway, and the purple-grey smoke that followed wasn't helping.

He'd been trying to brew a complicated medicinal potion at home for over a week now; it was supposed to take ten days and, after the initial mixing, be fairly self-mixing until day eight, when new ingredients needed adding.

He would have been doing fine, were it not for the domino effect. That is, the result of his putting a large potions book up to rest against the wall, but instead of resting it fell into his beaker-holder, which in turn fell into the self-stirring cauldron on low flame he'd had going for days. The potion was designed to cure plant-related swelling, but apparently it was not designed to mix with carpet because the next thing Kellen knew, it was bubbling ferociously and turning colours he would not have expected. The came the sickly-sweet smell and the purple-grey smoke. Really, the responsible thing would have been to clean it up and take care of it on the spot, but Kellen wasn't thinking quite responsibly at the moment.

Besides, who knew what he was breathing in with that smoke?

He hurried to open a window to diffuse it, but that didn't seem to do anything. So there he was, stumbling out into the cooridor, apologizing loudly to his neighbours.


[Open!]

[Allegra Thornton]

{I'll bite}

Allegra had come back to her London apartment just for the weekend to trade out some of her winter clothes for spring clothes, pick up some more books, and find a suitable graduation present for her brother. She hadn't actually done much of what she had planned, instead choosing to just sit in her own kitchen and enjoy a Diet Coke. Perhaps she'd take a case of those back to Hogwarts as well. One could only take so much tea and butterbeer after all.

She was considering the idea of making a well needed batch of chocolate chip cookies when an acrid smell drifted through the air and a commotion was heard coming from outside. Placing her soda on the counter, she ran to the front door and threw it open. The hallway was filled with purple smoke and Allegra sneezed three times before leaning over the bannister to where the yelling and banging were coming from.

"Hey! What's going on?" she called out, wondering if it was real danger or someone had just burned dinner.

[Kellen McCrea]

The smoke was starting to diffuse a bit now that he'd opened the door and window, but the smell didn't seem to be getting any better. This was getting to burned microwave popcorn in a small room levels.

"Potion malfunction!" Kellen called back to the familiar voice. "Don't Worry! Nothing's on fire that shouldn't be!" He needed a towel, he thought, to wave the smoke and smell away. Or, the idea suddenly dawned on him, a good spell. It amazed him sometimes that magic still wasn't his first thought in familar situations.

"I'm sorry about the smell," he called sheepishly. "Um...do you know a good fanning or smell-reducing spell?"

[Allegra Thornton]

Allegra wrinkled her nose at the smell, but couldn't help but smile at the sound of Kellen's voice. "Are you sure?" she asked disbelievingly. If the malfunction was causing the smoke and the smell, didn't than mean something was burning that shouldn't be? But in the end, she figured Kellen knew the situation, being down there in the middle of it and all.

"I've got a couple of both," she offered, though she thought a fanning spell would be a good start. Waving her wand in the air, a decent sized breeze started and she rushed to open the hallway window so that the smoke could escape. Hopefully no one would notice the abandoned building smoking too much.

[Kellen McCrea]

The fanning spell was a great relief, and allowed Kellen to clear his mind a bit and cast a good febreeze-effect spell on the hallway. Pulling his door shut, he decided he'd get to his own flat in a moment. He headed toward the stairs so he could see Allegra rather than just call to her his thanks.

"Brilliant spell, as usual," Kellen said with a smile. "Serves me right for trying to test-brew medicines at home, I suppose. Anyway, thank you for that."

[Allegra Thornton]

She heard his door shut and thought for a moment that that was that, but was glad to see him on the stairs. Old habits died hard and she couldn't help but blush when he complimented her. The small breeze she had created wasn't really much compared to the freshening spell he had cast.

"Spring rain?" she asked, smiling at the fresh smell that quickly replaced the smoke. "It really wasn't a problem. That's what neighbors are for after all, right?"

As she said it, she hoped it didn't sound like she was trying to end the conversation. It had been ages since she had talked to Kellen. "So what potion is this that you're trying out?" she asked, thinking it would be pretty fun to have such experimentations as part of your job.

[Kellen McCrea]

Kellen sighed ruefully. The potion he'd just ruined hadn't been a cheap or easy one; he was frustrated to see it gone like that. However, at least he knew better for next time. "Once upon a time, it was a medicine," he explained. "Supposed to be to help cure swelling from plants, especially allergic reactions and that kind of thing. I think the potion was allergic to my carpet, though."

Frustrated, yes, but surprisingly calm and collected about the whole thing. Part of him had expected to screw up the potion anyway, so it didn't come as a complete shock when that actually happened. For the most part, he managed to shrug it off.

[Allegra Thornton]

"Really?" Allegra answered, instantly thinking about her brother's allergies. "Drew's windpipe swells when he gets too close to asphodel. Would it work for something like that?" It was a shame that the potion hadn't worked, though she was sure that Kellen would get the it right with out any further problems.

"Did you want to come up for a cup of tea? While your apartment airs out?" she asked. She still had her diet coke waiting for her in her kitchen, but she could just as easily boil some water.