#y’all will say Babs deserves better but still acknowledge that they dated so what now.

[starlooove]

Dickbea JayDana timtam I will always love u

[onhirel]

Flight Class

Part of the Decades Drabbles, set two years after the Battle of Arcturus Forest. Amanda has to deal with an impertinent student... 

Archive of Our Own here

It was a beautiful day at Luna Nova Magical Academy, with only a few clouds dotting the bright blue skies, the sun bringing some welcomed warmth, and a refreshing breeze blew from the northwest. All in all, a perfect day for flying, which wasn’t always a guarantee in Western England, and Professor O’Neill was a stickler for flying through any sort of weather, save for weather that could seriously injure a student, such as a thunderstorm or very thick fog. “Out there in the world, y’all might be flying in all sorts’ve conditions,” the fiery-haired professor had said in that Texas drawl on the first day of classes. “Better to learn how to fly safely now than to be grounded later, or even worse, fly in weather y’all aren’t ready for.”

That seemed to be the American professor’s style…despite her wild appearance with undercut, two-toned red hair and tattoos on her arms that she shamelessly bared to the annoyance of some of the more conservative teachers, she took the safety of her students incredibly seriously, and she watched her flying students like a hawk, her bright green and electric blue eyes missing very little, much to the consternation of-

“Miss Laveau, slow down!” Professor O’Neill’s voice cracked through the air, and Keyatta Laveau, witch descendent from a proud lineage of Cajun witches from Delacroix, Louisiana, immediately slowed down her broom before turning an annoyed grimace back up towards the walkway extending off of the Observatory Tower to see Professor O’Neill scowling down at her.

“What?!” she gave a complaining shout back up to the teacher and the other students. “Come on, I wasn’t even going that fast!”

“I know you know the rules, Laveau, keep it at the proper speed or I’ll ground you!”

Keyatta rolled her eyes before going so much slower than she was capable of going, and just to be a brat, she started doing exaggerated loop-de-loops. To her surprise, Professor O’Neill didn’t yell at her, instead sparing her one last annoyed glare before she returned her attention to the next student to fly off the end of the walkway. Later, during lunch, the African-American student and the Irish-American professor would both gripe to their peers about one another, much to the amusement of those around them. After all, anyone could see that the two of them were very similar in temperament…no wonder they didn’t get along…

For Amanda, it was Professor Finnelan to whom she complained while they ate their lunches in the staff cafeteria. “Like, I just don’t get it, she’s one of the smartest girls in her year and is a model student with the other professors, why can’t she just follow the rules in my class?”

Finnelan literally snorted into her tea at that, turning astounded blue eyes on the younger professor. “Really? You, of all people, are asking that?” she asked, voice incredulous. “As I recall, Katelyn…er, Nelson, that is, she used to say very much the same thing about a hotheaded student from Texas twelve years ago,” she said, her expression only saddening a little at the mention of her friend. But then she gave a slight, teasing grin. “Well, perhaps not the smartest girl in her year, mind…” she said leadingly, and Amanda rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said with a flippant wave of her hand before she sighed, crossing her arms and staring at the egg salad and olive sandwich on her plate. “I dunno, Finnelan, like…I’m tempted to let her do her thing, but what if she gets hurt? Then it’d be my fault, and after…after Arcturus Forest, I can’t stand the thought of losing anyone else I’m responsible for.”

The look Finnelan gave her was sympathetic. “Well, the Headmistress has given you some pretty decent leeway in your curriculum, O’Neill. Give it some thought, I’m sure you’ll think of something…”

Meanwhile, in the student cafeteria, Keyatta was having a much more spirited discussion about the matter, a scowl on her pretty face as she stabbed her spoon repeatedly into her mashed potatoes as the other two in the lavender team, Astrid Ingridsdottir from Iceland and Lihua Chang from China looked on with amusement. “I just don’t get what her damn problem is!” she snapped, the harsh tone at odds with her usually relaxed Louisianan drawl. “Like, I ain’t a damn kid, I know how to ride a broom!”

“Yes, but if a student is hurt during her class, it will be the professor’s fault,” Lihua reminded her primly before she took a drink from her water glass, and Keyatta fairly glared at her.

“I know that, but…it’s like she wants me to keep training wheels on when I don’t need them, and it’s so annoying. It’s like she doesn’t care what I’m capable of, and I just don’t know why!”

Lihua and Astrid glanced at one another. “You have heard the rumors about Professor O’Neill, right?” Astrid asked, and Keyatta huffed.

“Which ones? To date, there’s the one where when Atsuko Kagari was a professor here before she went into showbiz, O’Neill would frequently show up and have a tryst with Kagari in her office. Then there’s the one saying that O’Neill has a whole harem of witches out in Wedinburgh that she’s banging on the weekends. Or how about-”

“Not her love life, Key, but her history as a broom rider,” Lihuang said with a roll of her eyes.

“You mean like the Battle of Arcturus Forest? Lih, we learn about that in History of Magic. That’s not a rumor, that’s documented history. She was in command of the air group.”

“And how many riders did she lose?” Astrid asked. “They suffered really badly against the Silent Spring cult, surely that would make her want to be cautious…”

“Plus there’s the whole matter of her winning a bunch of broom races and she was a professional daredevil for a while…”

“Wait, what?” Keyatta asked, frowning. “She was a daredevil?”

“Yeah, it was probably like, six or seven years ago that she retired from all that, she was pretty popular on Witchtube for a long time.”

Keyatta blinked at that. Her family had been pretty traditional, and so frowned on things like Witchtube and other fancy modern spells…by the Nine, she shuddered to think about what Grand-maman would say about the magitronics courses being taught now. “I didn’t know,” she murmured to herself thoughtfully. That night, she would stay up until the wee hours of the morning, watching old footage of a woman she could scarcely believe was the stuffy flight instructor of Luna Nova. And through all of that, the resentment grew. Professor O’Neill used to fly like that and she was complaining about Keyatta going a little too fast? Merde, but that was so annoying! Her next flight class was on Friday, and she’d show Professor O’Neill then, by God! Decision made and tentative plan forming in her mind, she fell into an uneasy sleep.

xxxXXXxxx

Hannah quirked an eyebrow as Amanda came storming into the house on Friday evening, her expression thunderous. “Rough day at class?” she asked as Barbara came into the living room, drying her hands, the two of them watching as Amanda angrily toed her shoes off and making a beeline to the kitchen where they heard the fridge open and then close, followed by the sound of a beer bottle opening. Then Amanda reappeared, still scowling as she threw herself onto the couch, dropping her feet on top of the coffee table before taking a deep drink from the bottle, and Hannah and Barbara glanced at one another, slightly concerned. This was the worst mood Amanda had been in coming home from school in a long while.

Finally Amanda pulled the bottle away from her lips with a gasp for air. “I’m gonna kill her,” she muttered darkly.

Hannah rolled her eyes. “If it’s a student you’re talking about, it’s probably not allowed, love.”

“She deserves it!”

“Who was it, that Laveau girl from the US?” Barbara asked, and Amanda huffed out a wordless acknowledgment. “What’d she do this time?”

“Damn near gave me a heart attack today!” Amanda snapped before taking another drink. “For a moment, I thought she had lost control of her broom, and I went after her like a shot, but she gained control just before she hit the trees and then just smirked up at me. Little brat!”

Hannah and Barbara just looked at one another before turning almost sappily sympathetic faces on their lover. “Oh, no, Amanda, whatever will you do?” Hannah started, and Amanda shot her a sharp glance.

“Oi,” she started warningly, but Barbara was already talking.

“How awful, you’d think these kids would know to behave themselves doing something so dangerous. Honestly, the lack of self-preservation in some people. It doesn’t remind you of anyone that we know, does it, Han?”

Hannah tapped her chin thoughtfully. “It does sound familiar, Babs, but I just can’t put my finger on it…”

By now Amanda was pouting at them. “Alright, alright, I get it, no need to be so mean about it.”

“Awww, poor Amanda thinks that we’re being mean,” Hannah grinned, some heat creeping into her tone, and Barbara caught on immediately, wrapping loose arms around her, resting her cheek on Hannah’s shoulder as she fixed glittering eyes on Amanda, who was now watching them very intently.

“However shall we make it up to her?” Barbara asked, and Hannah almost laughed at the way Amanda swallowed thickly at that.

“I think I might have an idea,” she murmured as she turned her head and captured Barbara’s lips in a slow, heated kiss. The rest of the evening was spent rather successfully distracting Amanda from the issues that plagued her mind. Unfortunately it would be only a short reprieve…

xxxXXXxxx

“Miss Laveau,” came the stern voice, and Keyatta froze, wind whistling around the crowd gathered on the walkway of the Observatory, her broom propped on her shoulder.

She sighed heavily before turning slowly, facing the irate face of the other American. “Yes, Professor?” she asked, voice kept carefully free of derision.

“Look, I know you’re a skilled rider, but you have to follow the rules, alright?” Professor O’Neill asked, voice almost weary, and for a brief moment, Keyatta almost felt sorry for her teacher. Then steel crept into Professor O’Neill’s expression. “That said, you ever pull a stunt like Friday again, I’m taking your broom and giving you a D- for the semester, am I understood?”

“Yes, Professor,” Keyatta muttered, and as Professor O’Neill nodded and began to turn away, the resentment of all the scolding she had received caused the words to spill from her lips. “Pfft, like you could do any better.”

Everyone froze at that, Keyatta included. She hadn’t meant to say it, she really hadn’t! Respect for elders and those in authority had been drilled into her from a very young age, and if Papa had been there, he’d probably already be switching her backside for daring to sass her teacher. She glanced, wide-eyed and fearful, at Lihuang and Astrid who were both looking at her with horrified expressions. Then again, so were all of the other students immediately surrounding her, and she licked her lips nervously as she looked at the frozen back of Professor O’Neill. Nine preserve me, she’s going to be so furious!

But when the professor turned around, it wasn’t with an angry scowl, it was with a look of almost incredulous delight, and she gave a short, astonished laugh the molded into words. “I-I’m sorry, but what did you just say?”

“I…I…I didn’t mean…I’m so sor-!” Keyatta stammered, but Professor O’Neill cut her off.

“No, seriously. I want you to say that again, right now.”

Keyatta winced, her heart sinking into her stomach. Well, Professor O’Neill was telling her to say the words again, and she was already in enough trouble. Might as well. “I said, ‘like you could do any better,’ ma’am,” she answered meekly, head bowed.

“Okay, okay, that’s what I thought. Stay right where you are, nobody else start flying.” The rustle of clothes, and Keyatta looked up to see the red-headed flight instructor pull out her wand, all while grinning at Keyatta with an expression that would have been home on a shark’s face. “Vera Gurasare,” Professor O’Neill chanted, and she disappeared with a pop.

For a moment silence reigned, but then Astrid turned to Lihuang. “Dibs! I call dibs on her crystal ball!”

Lihuang scowled. “Damn, I wanted that, it’s got better reception than mine does. Fine, I get her potions set.”

“That’s fair. Do you want her antique shrunken head?”

“Ugh, no, that thing creeps me out. It always feels like it’s watching me…”

Keyatta frowned. “What are you doing?” she snapped, and her two teammates turned exasperated looks on her.

“Isn’t it obvious? We’re divvying up your belongings now, so we don’t fight after Professor O’Neill kills you.”

Keyatta scoffed. “She’s not gonna kill me!” she protested, but she couldn’t help some of the doubt that crept into her words. Given some of the rumors about Professor O’Neill’s kill count during the fight against Silent Spring, could she be blamed for doubting, though?

And so her two so-called friends continued to lay claim to her belongings, other students occasionally throwing in a request, and an almost festive mood seemed to grip everyone except for Keyatta. After all, no one had ever seen Professor O’Neill really angry before, and there was a lot of curiosity about how exactly the punishment would be meted out.

Then, finally, one of the girls keeping lookout cried out. “Hey! There she is!” And then, softer, with frank admiration in her voice: “Oh, damn.”

There was almost a stampede as the students crowded at the railing, getting a look at the professor now walking towards the Observatory, and Keyatta couldn’t help but silently repeat that sentiment in her head. Oh, damn.

Professor O’Neill had changed out of her teacher’s robes and into something much more informal…dark green khaki cargo pants with knee pads built into them and a tight, black sleeveless shirt that showed off her trim torso, leanly muscled and tattooed arms, and broad shoulders. A beat up pair of combat boots and flight goggles strapped across her forehead completed the ensemble. She also had one of the biggest and monstrous looking brooms resting across her shoulders, and for the first time, Keyatta realized that she may have made a mistake. She gulped nervously as Professor O’Neill jabbed a finger up at the tower and then pointed at the ground in front of her.

“Oh my God, she’s going to kill me,” she whimpered, but there was nothing else she could do. A feeling of dread sitting like concrete in her stomach, she mounted her broom and flew down to the waiting professor, feeling very much like she was going to her executioner.

When she landed, she stood meekly in front of Professor O’Neill who stared at her with unreadable eyes. Then the older witch huffed, and brought her broom around with a flourish, the broom whistling through the air before it came to a rest. “Alright, so, you’re gonna back up your words, kid, we’re going to race. And this? This…is Silver,” Professor O’Neill said as she gestured to the massive broom, and Keyatta couldn’t help the small frown that took to her face, one that the professor noticed. “What?” she asked, tone short.

“Sorry, it’s just…Silver? That’s an odd name for a broom.”

Professor O’Neill frowned. “Silver…as in the Lone Ranger’s horse. It’s a classic name!”

By some small mercy, Keyatta kept her face composed, even as that little bit of knowledge made Professor O’Neill just that little bit more relatable. Her teacher liked old-timey cowboy shows. Huh. “Of course,” she said, tone neutral, and Professor O’Neill stared at her with narrowed eyes before she continued.

“Anyway, Silver here was made by Caplett and Prague, and probably cost more than your family’s property.”

Her first reaction was to scoff. Her family was one of the more prominent families of Louisiana, but then she really processed what Professor O’Neill had said. Caplett and Prague was the Bugatti of the broom world, and she gave the monstrous broom a once over, noting the sleek design and the unique knee and foot pegs, and she remembered some of the footage she had seen where Professor O’Neill had been able to keep full control over the broom without her hands. There were also gouges cut into the wood of the broom handle, as well as scorch marks. This was the broom the older witch had taken to battle against Silent Spring. And Keyatta was so totally dead. A school broom couldn’t compare to that broom.

Thus, it came as a complete surprise when Professor O’Neill tilted the broom handle towards her. “You will be the one riding it.”

Keyatta’s eyes flared open in shock. “What?”

“If I rode this, it wouldn’t be fair. So, you get Silver, I’ll ride your broom.”

“But Professor…I-I don’t want to damage it!”

Professor O’Neill threw her head back and laughed out loud at that. “Ha! Trust me kid, you should be way more worried about this broom hurting you than you hurting it. Now come on, put your hand on the broomstick, I have to tell it that you’re allowed to fly it.” Kenyatta hesitantly put her hand on the well-worn handle, and her breath was instantly taken away. It was like grabbing onto a live wire! And Professor O’Neill was going to let her ride this thing? “Silver, this is Keyatta Laveau, she’s going to be riding you. Don’t hold anything back, do exactly what she tells you to.”

The broom seemed to pulse in her hand, and some of that intensity to it seemed to reduce, and Keyatta let out a slow breath, suddenly very nervous. She was really going to ride this monster? Yes, apparently. Professor O’Neill was already mounting Keyatta’s broom, lifting off and hovering about ten feet off the ground, looking down at her. “We’ll do one lap, and I’ll mark the course with a trail, then we can race, and whoever wins gets bragging rights. Now come on, we don’t have all day.”

Numbly, Keyatta cast Tia Freyre, and Silver hovered obediently three feet off the ground, and she mounted it, rear resting on the well-worn saddle, wrapping her legs around the pegs so that they rested behind her knees and on top of her feet, like she had seen Professor O’Neill do in the videos on Witchtube. Heart hammering nervously, she gently brought the broom up to where her professor was waiting, and it was so strange…she could almost feel the broom’s impatient potential, it was like she was driving a formula one race car at the speed limit. The broom did it, but it seriously felt like it wanted to open up and just go.

Professor O’Neill gave her a smirk before turning forward and heading off, a sparkling golden trail emitting from Keyatta’s broom’s bristles, and the course that they were to run started with a long straightaway before banking sharply to the right before it meandered all over the school, at times mere feet from the ground, other times soaring up into the sky. It circled tightly up and around the New Moon Tower before diving sharply towards the ground. It did two laps around the perimeter of the athletic field. It weaved through the spires on the roof of the main school building, and it ran a few feet over the ground, heading towards the Observatory before it shot straight up, and Professor O’Neill marked a horizontal circle just in front of the end of the walkway that would be the finish.

They stopped there for a moment, and Keyatta glanced at all of her classmates who were looking at her with wide, disbelieving eyes, and she licked her lips as she wiped sweaty hands off on her robes, and Professor O’Neill was still smirking at her. “You can back out now if you want,” she said, amusement clear in her voice, and the competitive fire in Keyatta’s heart was lit.

“No, I want to do this!” she protested, and Professor O’Neill nodded before going into a slow dive back towards the base of the tower and the start point, and Keyatta took a deep, steeling breath. Okay, she had the better broom, and she was also smaller and lighter than the older witch. She should be more able to maneuver through tight areas…right? Professor O’Neill had well over a decade of riding experience, including some very high stakes races, but she was on Keyatta’s broom, and while it was a nice enough broom, it wasn’t built for a race more intense than the Luna Nova Cup. Surely she had a chance!

With that little bit of self-reassurance, she gave one last glance at her classmates before she, too, dived down to where Professor O’Neill was now waiting, and seeing the red-headed teacher roll her multi-colored eyes, she looked behind her to see most of her class taking off on their own brooms as they headed for the best vantage points to see the race. They were going to have an audience.

Then she reached the start point, and Professor O’Neill fished a pair of goggles out of one of her pants cargo pockets and handed them to her. “Here, you’re going to want these,” she said, dropping the goggles that had been resting across her forehead down over her mismatched eyes as Keyatta put on the offered goggles, making sure that the strap was tight. Once her hands returned to the broomstick, Professor O’Neill shot her a look. “Alright, y’all ready?” she drawled, and Keyatta nodded, nerves skyrocketing, and she wouldn’t trust herself to speak. “Alright, on your mark…get set…go!”

They were both off like a shot, the air instantly roaring against Keyatta’s ears as Silver rocketed forward, easily outstripping Professor O’Neill, and Keyatta couldn’t help the exhilarated whoop that erupted from her as she tore down the golden trail…only for that excitement to disappear as she shot past the turn, and she grunted, straining with all her strength to try and turn the broom to return to the race course, lifting her head to see Professor O’Neill effortlessly make the sharp turn, legs crossed at the ankles over the broomstick as she yanked up on the broom, taking the lead. Snarling every last Cajun curse she knew under her breath, Keyatta wrestled with Silver, finally getting it to turn, and she shot after Professor O’Neill as she cursed herself for her stupidity. All the speed in the world wouldn’t help if she lost fine control of the broom. She only had to go just a little faster than she knew her broom was capable of, and she’d win!

The next leg of the race didn’t have much in the way of sharp turns, and she was able to close the large gap that had developed between her and Professor O’Neill, but she couldn’t quite take the lead before they reached the New Moon Tower, and she grit her teeth as she followed Professor O’Neill in the spiraling path up and up, and she started to get a feel of just how badly she was actually outclassed. She was able to keep the path, but her movements were slightly jerky, and she kept well away from the tower…Professor O’Neill was as smooth as silk in her flight, and had she reached a hand up, she’d be able to touch the tower whose windows flashed by in rapid blurs. By the Nine, she’s good, she breathed to herself…and then they were clear of the tower and heading into the dive, the negative G’s pulling at Keyatta’s robes, and her stomach seemed to rise up into her throat as she was able to use gravity to take the lead again…only to lose it as she slowed down well in advance of the ground so that she could make the sharp turn. Overshooting a hard bank wasn’t a problem when you had nothing but air in front of you, but not pulling out of a dive heading right for the ground…

So it was a surprise when Professor O’Neill shot past her at the same break neck speed, and she couldn’t help the cry of alarm as the Texan rocketed towards the hard and unforgiving ground, only to stare in shock as Professor O’Neill managed to pull out of the dive, the bristles of Keyatta’s broom slapping the grass before O’Neill was pulling further ahead, and Keyatta grit her teeth as she followed after, once again closing the distance as they closed in on the athletic field, but even here she was outmatched, Professor O’Neill heading into the turns perilously close to the ground, close enough that when she turned, her knees brushed against the ground, the pads built into the pants protecting them as well as providing that much more friction to have the turns be that much sharper, and frustration bit at Keyatta as the gap between her and the Professor grew that much wider. She didn’t even know that her broom was capable of flying like that, how the hell did Professor O’Neill make it look that effortless?!

Then they were on the straightaway heading towards the main building, and Keyatta tried, she really did, but the lead between her and the Professor was just too big for her to clear in the short distance they had, and all she could manage was to get within ten feet of Professor O’Neill when they entered the spires, and honestly, it was at that point that Keyatta gave up all hope of actually winning this thing. She had to slow down to a manageable speed as she wove between the towering spires, but through it all, she couldn’t help but gape at Professor O’Neill. Keyatta was confident enough in her flying ability to keep the distance between her and the spires to within a few feet as she passed them…Professor O’Neill? She kept the distance down to mere inches, and how she did it blew Keyatta’s mind.

Professor O’Neill moved her body, not the broom, and it boggled the mind to think of how much strength and coordination it must have taken, but for each spire that she passed, Professor O’Neill would literally throw her body in the opposite direction, keeping contact with the broom with only a hooked ankle and gripping hand, and the amount of control she must have had over the broom to keep from spinning out of control as she did the crazy maneuver…Keyatta wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t powerful enough to exert that much control over a broom, and probably wouldn’t for years!

Then they were clear of the main building, and Keyatta ground her teeth together as she leaned low over the broom, urging it to go faster, to close that unbridgeable gap between her and the professor, and Silver complied, leaping forward eagerly. This time, she drew even with Professor O’Neill as they shot toward the near right angle turn that lead straight up the side of the Observatory, and she glanced over to see the former daredevil flier smirk at her before Keyatta had to slow down so she could make the turn safely, and she watched as Professor O’Neill leapt up away from the broom, planting a foot on top of where the bristles met the broomstick, pulling up with all her strength, the muscles of her back flexing and swelling with the strain of it as the bristles rasped against the grass before she was shooting straight up, body perfectly in line with the broom, and her sleek form cut through the air with very little drag, giving her just enough of an edge that Keyatta, despite trying her hardest, still finished the race just behind Professor O’Neill, much to the delight of her classmates who cheered and clapped at Professor O’Neill’s victory, and as the redhead slowed down and sat properly on the broom and Keyatta caught up to her, she shot a smug look at her. “So, you still think I can’t do any better?” she laughed.

Keyatta didn’t reply as she turned and headed back to the walkway, depositing the broom silently against the railing after she landed. She wasn’t even mad, she was actually terribly impressed with how well Professor O’Neill had flown, but the knowledge that she hadn’t had a chance even while on Silver was a bitter pill to swallow. She wouldn’t participate in the rest of the lesson after Professor O’Neill corralled all the other students back and continued her teaching. Instead, Keyatta merely sat on the walkway in the bright sun and brisk wind, arms wrapped around the legs drawn up to her chest as she went through the race moment by moment, analyzing every last move that Professor O’Neill had made. The older witch was so skilled, so it still begged the question:

Why would someone who could fly like that be so opposed to any of the students really pushing their skills and abilities to the max? Was she truly so afraid of losing someone that she would continue to keep them well below what they were all capable of?

These thoughts continued to ear at her as Professor O’Neill wrapped up the lesson and the rest of the students left, Lihuang and Astrid hesitating slightly over her as she continued to sit, but with a pair of sighs, they, too, mounted their brooms and left, leaving only her and Professor O’Neill on the walkway.

“Hey, kiddo, are you alright?” Professor O’Neill asked after a long pause, and normally the nickname would have annoyed Keyatta, but Professor O’Neill never called anyone by a nickname. “I, uh, I’d like to apologize for what I said…at the end of the race. It wasn’t very mature of me, but I was so pumped up after the race…it’s not very often than I get the chance to really fly like that…”

“Professor…” Keyatta started, voice hesitant. “Why…why won’t you let use really fly?” She turned confused, sad eyes on Professor O’Neill, who shifted uneasily, a look of discomfort on her face. “I’d get so mad because you treated me like a little kid when all the other professors would treat me my age, but…”

“Little kid?” Professor O’Neill scoffed as she dropped down to sit beside Keyatta. “I wouldn’t let a little kid ride that course, and I sure as shit wouldn’t let a little kid ride Silver!” Then she paused, fingers tapping absently on the floor of the walkway. “I just…I lost a lot of close friends and a cherished mentor during the Battle of Arcturus Forest, and the thought of losing anyone else, especially for something stupid like an accident while broom riding…I wouldn’t be able to live with myself,” she said, voice almost broken, and Keyatta shot a startled glance at her teacher, who had a completely open look on her face, a deep vulnerability to her as she opened up to her student, and Keyatta wasn’t sure how to handle being the one that Professor O’Neill was so open towards.

Then she glanced at Silver and blinked as the idea struck her. “Hey, Professor, can I ask a favor?” she asked, and at the redhead’s questioning glance, she continued. “Can I…can I see you run that course, on Silver, not holding anything back?”

Professor O’Neill stared at her for a long moment before a mischievous grin split her face. “You know what, kid, I’ll do you one better. You want to ride with me while I run the course?”

Keyatta’s eyes flared open at the, and she was so very glad that her dark skin helped hide blushes as the thought of riding on Silver with Professor O’Neill struck her full force. “I-I don’t know if that would b-be a good idea, Professor,” she protested, and Professor O’Neill just grinned wider.

“Nah, it’ll be fine. I’ve had to ride double with other students before, generally witches who are really uncertain of their ability and need someone to show them the ropes.” She stood up, dusted off her pants, and offered a hand to Keyatta. “Come on, I insist.”

Keyatta hesitated for a moment before she placed her hand in the warm, well-calloused hand of her professor, and she was pulled effortlessly to her feet as her blush deepened, though thankfully it seemed as though Professor O’Neill didn’t noticed as she prepared for the flight, first telling Silver that it would bear two riders, and it flashed briefly as the saddle elongated and the pegs moved so that both riders could rest their feet on them. Then Professor O’Neill changed Keyatta’s robes that they had a harness that she would connect to her belt, for safety, she explained cheerily as she motioned to the leather strap that Keyatta had noticed wrapped around the broomstick and that was attached to the saddle. Professor O’Neill would be attached to the broom, and Keyatta would be attached to her professor, so there was no chance of falling.

They mounted, and Keyatta wrapped arms around Professor O’Neill’s waist after she attached the clip of her harness to Professor O’Neill’s belt, feeling the firm, toned muscles dancing under the black fabric of her teacher’s shirt as Professor O’Neill buckled herself onto the broom. “Alright, just remember, keep with my body as we fly. We won’t be going as fast as I can get Silver to go, but it’ll be fast. And if you do well, then maybe we can talk about starting an advanced flyer’s course. How’s that sound?”

“That sounds good, Professor,” Keyatta managed to say with a level voice, despite the heavy blush on her face.

Professor O’Neill laughed as the broom lifted off the walkway. “Of course it does, it’s my idea! Now, hold on, here we go!” They shot off into the welcoming spring sky like an arrow fired from a bow, and Keyatta couldn’t help the laugh of delight that sprang from her lips as they dove towards the ground and the waiting starting point. After the flight, which would be the fastest Keyatta had ever been on, she would resolve to become the president of the sizable Professor O’Neill Fan Club as well as to put together the framework for an Advanced Flyer’s Club to be presented to the Headmistress, but right here and now, she resolved to truly enjoy the feeling of the wind in her hair, the warm sun against her skin, and the strength of the professor she held onto and moved with as they streaked through the course.

One thing was for damn certain, though…she was never going to be a problem student for Professor O’Neill ever again!