Hey there! [Tag: Amelle Nicchi] on Library

Rory Taransay

August 06, 2016 9:24 AM

Hey there! [Tag: Amelle Nicchi] by Rory Taransay

Walking the corridors of Sonora put Rory in mind of his time at Hogwarts, an era that seemed longer ago than it actually was. It felt strange to be back in a school again, and even stranger to think that this time he was one of the professors. He’d been a little concerned that he would find himself the youngest in a group largely consisting of old stuffy relics, but there seemed to be quite a contingent of young teachers here, and the older ones hadn’t proven themselves to be particularly stuffy yet.

Leaving his family home in Scotland at the age of 18 to travel the world as assistant to the renowned albeit eccentric professor Matthias Gould had been the ideal opportunity for a young Rory, who wanted to experience adventures as well as learn more about any animal he could find. His mother had been sad to see her youngest son go but, as his father had pointed out, they had four other children and six grandchildren (Rory’s siblings were all a lot older than him) to distract them. The next eight years had been a whirlwind of foreign countries, new cultures and languages, and a whole lot of dangerous animals. It had been an encounter with one such dangerous animal – a Romanian dragon, in fact – that had ended Matthias Gould’s adventures, and left Rory more than a little shaken. His brother Quinn, now ensconced in America with a wife and children, had suggested that Rory’s experience would make teaching the ideal job, so Rory had decided to attempt settling down. He’d always been close to Quinn, and had made some good friends from America, so he’d decided to apply for the teaching post that had recently become available at Sonora Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

And now here he was, officially the professor for Care of Magical Creatures, and not quite sure what to do with himself. He didn’t have a class to teach as it was the weekend, he was up to date on his planning (and quite excited for some of the lessons coming up), and he wasn’t sure what people did around here for fun. He had therefore decided that an exploration of the school was the plan for the day, and would hopefully lead to him bumping into some of his colleagues.

He was dressed fairly casually, in jeans and a shirt, aiming for vaguely smart (he presumed professors had to at least slightly keep up appearances) but not wanting to be too formal at the weekends. His brown hair was as messy as ever, longer on the top than at the sides. He had a habit of running his hand through it, leading to the permanently wild look. He had a slightly narrow face that could, at times, look very severe. However, this was rare as Rory was an optimistic and jolly person, often sporting a happy and slightly cheeky grin.

The library was the next step on Rory’s tour, having already been to Cascade Hall that morning (breakfast was not something to be missed!). One thing he’d missed whilst travelling had been easy access to a well-stocked library, and hopefully being at Sonora would make up for that. Entering the room, hands in pockets, he noticed Amelle in residence and headed over to her. She was one of the younger teachers (and an attractive one at that), and he wanted to make some friends straight away. “Hey,” he greeted her, leaning against her desk and smiling cheerfully at her. “So what do you guys do around here for fun?”

9 Rory Taransay Hey there! [Tag: Amelle Nicchi] 33 Rory Taransay 1 5

Amelle Nicchi

August 09, 2016 5:09 PM

Why, hello to you! by Amelle Nicchi

Amelle’s year was a bunch of ups and downs. An up had been beginning an official relationship with Fidel over the summer and making it last into the school year. For a while, it had been divine. He would meet her in Phoenix on the weekends so that they could spend time together while she was at Sonora. She had felt like such an adult and she had been rather happy. The down was that when she had gone down to Louisiana to surprise him for the holidays only to discover him in bed with another woman. Amelle still wasn’t sure if she had been cheated on or if she had been the one he cheated with. Either way, she had ended it immediately and she had spent the remainder of her holiday of her holiday drowning her sorrows in chocolate and liquor while she recovered from her heartache.

Another up was the fact that she was finding her groove at Sonora and since she no longer had to take classes to earn a degree, life at the school was far less stressful than it had been in the past. The down, Richard Tallec left. Amelle was friends with him, but he was also a bit of a fantasy for her. Who could blame her for that anyway? He was handsome, kind, a lover of animals, and quiet. The ideal man in many ways. She felt quite let down when he decided that it was time for him to leave. Of course, his replacement was rather dashing to look at too and the Charms professor was easy on the eyes as well. At least the eye candy was lifting her spirits.

Saturdays and Sundays were Amelle’s days off from the library, but she sometimes still sat at her desk to relax and be around people instead of just sitting in her room alone. She probably needed to get a cat or something to keep her company at night. Today happened to be her luck though because the new Care of Magical Creatures professor decided to drop in for a chat. He really was attractive; Amelle self-consciously tugged at one of the messy curls around her head. She rarely wore makeup, except for eye-liner and mascara, so she was acutely aware of how prominent her freckles currently looked on her face with him looking at her from across her desk and how the jeans she had put on that day weren’t the ones that made her butt look real good.

Amelle returned the smile and greeted him with the same cheerful tone that he had given to her. “Well, I suppose that depends on what sort of fun you’re looking for.” Amelle answered, not taking into account that her response might have come off as something less innocent than she had meant it to be. “But a couple of us go out for drinks on the weekend to unwind. You are more than welcome to join us and it might be a good opportunity to get to know one another.” Amelle offered, really hoping that he would go so that she could actually get to know him as she had suggested but also that she wasn’t a third wheel to Isis and Alfie.

6 Amelle Nicchi Why, hello to you! 32 Amelle Nicchi 0 5

Rory

August 16, 2016 2:08 PM

And what a pleasure it is to see you! by Rory

Rory was putting a lot of hope in the idea that he would get on well with his colleagues. He was naturally friendly and sociable person, and didn’t think he could cope with having no friends if he was to stay at Sonora for months on end. Evenings spend doing solitary marking didn’t sound like a barrel of laughs, and he was sure it would drive him mad pretty quickly. He was just glad that being COMC professor would mean he had more hands on work and preparation than many of the other professors. Over the years Rory had become used to almost never being alone, and always having things to do. Hopefully he’d make some close friends here, although he wasn’t expecting anything more.

Rory hadn’t had a proper relationship for years, if ever. Travelling round all the time made it hard for him to become especially close to anyone, and a long-distance relationship wasn’t something that Rory had thought he could handle when younger. He was quite impulsive, and liked to live in the moment, so had felt it would be unfair to enter into such a complex and lonely relationship with anyone, which would also be a commitment that he would find hard to sustain. But at least for now his wanderlust had been satisfied, and spending time with his brother Quinn, Quinn’s wife Robyn, and their children had made Rory almost jealous of the close and loving family unit they made. He definitely had no thoughts of kids yet – although wouldn’t rule the idea out for the future – but a proper relationship was something he wouldn’t turn down now, provided he met the right person. It was just his luck that he’d agreed to teach at a boarding school of all places. The chances of meeting said right person were definitely more limited here, and that was just his luck.

Rory raised an eyebrow at Amelle’s first comment, unable to resist a reaction yet managing to restrain himself from replying with an intentionally dubious comment. That would not give a good impression, and he found that he wanted Amelle to think well of him. Drinks at the weekend sounded like a fun idea, and he was relieved to hear that it was the norm to leave the school grounds rather than being stuck here all the time. There had to be some perks of being a teacher, after all!

“Definitely count me in!” he replied. “But who counts as ‘us’?” He was intrigued to know who Amelle was friends with. Her use of the term ‘a couple of us’ suggested that it was only a select few who went out on the razz at weekends, and he was guessing the younger teachers were more likely to be up for that sort of thing.

9 Rory And what a pleasure it is to see you! 33 Rory 0 5

Amelle

August 19, 2016 6:38 PM

Aren't you charming. by Amelle

Amelle smiled widely, pleased to hear that he seemed excited about the idea of going out to drinks with her (and some other professors, of course). She had to think about what to say to him at his question though since things had weirdly changed for their group of friends this year. “Well, Isis Carter, the Substitute Professor, Alfie Pye, the Defense Professor, and Richard Tallec, the former Care of Magical Creatures Professor used to go out regularly, but well, obviously Richard’s gone and Alfie’s been busy, so it hasn’t happened as much lately.” Amelle admitted. “But we have had a lot of staff turnover this past term, so I really should send out an offer to everyone and just have a staff gathering or something.”

That was the truth. They had a new coach, a new Potions professor (she started last term, but Amelle hadn’t had much opportunity to chat), a new Divinations professor, a new Astronomy professor, a new Charms professor, and now a new Care of Magical Creatures professor. It was quite a young staff, although she was fairly certain that she remained the youngest (it was hard to tell with the Coach and Potions professor though). “I don’t get to spend much time outside of the library during the week, so it’s a bit difficult getting to know the rest of staff, so going out on the weekend is a nice change of pace for me.” Amelle admitted to the man.

She leaned forward towards him and rested her elbows on her desk, she indicated for him to take a seat at the nearby chair to get more comfortable. “So, Rory, correct?” She asked, making sure she had his name right. “What has you here teaching at Sonora? Always fancied being a teacher?” She asked. It was probably a dumb question to ask, but as it was just the two of them, she thought it would be nice to get the small talk out of the way now that way later they can simply enjoy an evening out. Besides, it was always interesting to know how people found their way to this little boarding school. Their stories were typically far more interesting than hers was. She was just looking for a place to get away from her parents.

Plus, if she kept him here talking to her, he would distract her from her boredom and she found herself craving some adult conversation after spending the week helping the students find the right books to study and calm them down if they looked to be having a breakdown due to the upcoming exams.

6 Amelle Aren't you charming. 32 Amelle 0 5

Rory

August 31, 2016 12:50 PM

Well, I try by Rory

Rory was glad to hear he was being asked to join in with a pre-existing group of friends. It definitely seemed like the staff at Sonora were open and friendly, which was good for him! However, Amelle then suggested a larger staff gathering, which would mean a chance to properly meet more of his colleagues, but also meant that he wouldn’t have as much opportunity to talk to Amelle and her closer friends. That was a shame, as she seemed fun and also quite pretty - not that he was planning to just jump into a casual relationship with a fellow staff-member the minute he arrived, even assuming she'd be up for it. He gathered from her words that he wasn’t the only new face at Sonora, which was actually a little reassuring. He wasn’t normally a self-conscious person, and tended to be full of confidence in most situations, but having other people potentially unused to teaching was no bad thing. They could make mistakes together.

Rory confirmed that he was, in fact, called Rory, and pondered Amelle’s question briefly before answering. “Well, I’ve been travelling around since I finished school, but then my colleague got wiped out by a dragon. At which point I decided that a tamer life could be nice,” he explained. “I’m Scottish – if you hadn’t realised from the accent – and I only ended up in America because one of my brothers migrated out here a while back. This job was available, and I thought it’d be a nice change to try inspiring students. I definitely owe a lot to my old teachers and I like the idea of giving something back, if that isn’t too cliché.” Teaching hadn’t previously been something that he thought he would find himself doing, but so far he was enjoying himself. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to teach for the rest of his working life, as boarding school life was quite closed off from the wider world, even for the staff, but he could see himself spending a good few years at Sonora. Besides, he could always use the holidays to satisfy his need for adventure.

“But my vague ideas of being an amazing and inspirational teacher are boring,” he continued, never one to spend lots of time talking about himself unless telling stories about encounters with beautiful and often fierce magical creatures. “What’s your story? Where are you from?”

9 Rory Well, I try 33 Rory 0 5