Julius Astley
October 18, 2018 4:49 PM
Papers can be recycled. Sorry if that was old news. by Julius Astley
Julius had a thoroughly normal and boring Christmas, though this suited him just fine. There had been the standard Christmas party to attend on Christmas Day but, aside from that, he had spent most of his time seated in his favourite armchair of the Astley Manor library, steadily making his way through book after book while his sister Aurelia played him all the new piano pieces she'd learned and Aelia coloured in pictures of magical beasts as she lay on her front. When his sisters had gone to bed, he spent the time alone with his mother as they talked about school and his latest history facts and other interesting things. It had been a wonderful, calm time.Of course, this meant that having to return to Sonora made his mood sour. The returning feast had been the same as any other feast and Julius had been just as glad to retire to his dormitory in Crotalus and start reading his newest book.
Upon waking the next morning, he'd felt marginally better if only because he'd had some more ideas for the revival of The Aronos. On the last day of the previous term, he had stopped by the library to pick up his sign up sheet, pleased to see that a few people had taken interest. He'd penned a letter to each of them, arranging a meeting for the afternoon of their second day back and he had to admit, he was looking forward to starting the revival. He'd also, of course, let the Librarian know as it was probably the right thing to do.
Julius, of course, was early to the meeting and the first one there. He'd chosen a table in a quiet corner and spread out his things on the tabletop. He had sketches for The Aronos' logo in one pile, ideas for articles and columns in another and fresh parchment and quills and inkwells for everyone else to borrow if they needed or wanted to. He only knew two of the people on the sign up sheet. One of them had been Evelyn, which he had mixed feelings about. Was she doing it out of some sort of feeling of obligation as they were supposed to be friends? Or did she genuinely want to be part of the newspaper? The other had been Nathaniel Mordue, who he had only really spoken to once and knew next to nothing about. Still, it was nice that he'd know two people on the new team. It was better than knowing nobody.
When he'd set up and felt ready, Julius took a seat and folded his hands together on the tabletop. Now, all he had to do was wait.
Subthreads: So can jokes if you're really clever. by Evelyn Stones with Isaac Song, Julius Astley
Old news, but a decent bit of wordplay, well done. by Nathaniel Mordue
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Julius Astley
Papers can be recycled. Sorry if that was old news.
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Julius Astley
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Evelyn Stones
October 19, 2018 12:08 AM
So can jokes if you're really clever. by Evelyn Stones
Evelyn felt a bit like overused clay, that gets sort of mushy and floppy when it's been pushed into too many different shapes but still feels kind of cool in the sculptor's hands and is just as fun to play with. She wasn't sure whether this was a side effect of an overall relaxing winter break, or simply due to the tension she'd been carrying in her stomach since the end of Fall term. While break certainly had been relaxing, it wasn't just that. More than ever was she reminded of how truly kind Ness was and what a good friend the Aladren was. She thought similar things about Malikhi most of the time, but couldn't help being concerned about the prickly feeling that he was somehow like her father. Perhaps she just assumed that about moody men though. She wasn't sure anymore. Although 'moody' did seem unfair, all things considered.She pushed thoughts of Malikhi aside as she made her way into the library, too sad about everything going on in that friendship to think about it now, and took a seat at the table where she found Julius. She wasn't normally so early for things like this but didn't particularly want to answer questions about what she was doing, where, why, or with whom, and had made her excuses as quickly as possible. Now, she found herself alone with the Crotalus and found herself smirking playfully before she'd actually said anything.
"Hi," she said, plopping into the chair across from Julius. She thought the way he held himself looked like nerves and at least this way he'd have a friendly face to look at across the way when the meeting began. "Please tell me I'm not the only one who'd rather have spent a month here with all the books for company than actually having a proper Christmas break," she laughed, only half joking. There were more aisles here than she could count and she would wholeheartedly have accepted an opportunity to stay and read them through Christmas.
OOC - Everything with Malikhi meant to be left ambiguous regarding whether or not Evelyn knows about his father yet.
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Evelyn Stones
So can jokes if you're really clever.
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Isaac Song
October 21, 2018 1:44 AM
Trying to make a good impression by Isaac Song
The Christmas break had had its ups and downs this year. One of his best friends had broken his leg during their annual snowboarding trip, which meant their time at Big Bear got cut short. But he was finally fifteen and able to join the grownup Christmas party Mom, Uncle Derek, and Lauren went to every year. He got to wear the snazzy suit he’d bought last year for the Sonora ball and met some cool people, most of them older than him. Dad and Maia hadn't’ made it back home for Christmas, which sucked, but they surprised them at New Year’s by showing up for a few days. It was strange to see his little sister’s style and accent even changing, but his had started changing too.Since the ball, Isaac had started being more conscious of his clothes and style. He liked being fashionable, and his older sister Lauren was more than happy to help him out. Shopping with her, which he'd dreaded before, was now actually kind of fun. It was a great way for them to bond, and he liked hearing how good he looked.
But, he was happy to be back at school and get back into the swing of things. Winter break was always fun at home, and he would miss his family and friends a lot, but he liked Sonora and having his own life here.
Isaac was also looking forward to the Aronos resurgence meeting, not necessarily because of the project, but because he’d be seeing Zevalyn there. It was weird, since he didn’t know her super well, but she was really pretty and, if he had the guts, maybe he’d ask her out. But he was pretty sure she was dating someone, so that was kind of a moot point. Still, getting to know her would be cool. Getting to know these younger kids would be nice too; he didn’t really interact with younger students except when he was carrying out his Prefect duties.
When he got to the library, two of the younger years were already there. He approached the table confidently and smiled when he got there. “Hey, I’m Isaac,” he said, holding his hand out to shake theirs. “You must be Julius. Thanks for putting this all together.” He turned to the girl and held out his hand to her. “Hi, what’s your name?” Afterwards, he added, “I'm excited to start working on this paper."
He sat down and looked at all of the papers set out on the table. “Wow, did you guys draw these sketches?” he asked, impressed.
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Isaac Song
Trying to make a good impression
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Isaac Song
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Julius Astley
October 22, 2018 7:02 PM
Well, I think I'm really clever. by Julius Astley
Julius felt a little more at ease when Evelyn actually showed up, especially since she was the first one. This meant that he didn't have to suffer any awkward small talk with a stranger while they waited for the others. Well, he thought that but Evelyn had an uncanny knack at making him feel awkward and out of place. He still hadn't figured out why. Being friends with her felt so strange as they were so completely different. Well, if he was honest, he still really wasn't sure if they were friends. They just seemed to be balancing on the fence between being acquantainces and being friends.He didn't really smile at her as she took her seat, instead opting for a polite incline of the head in greeting. He also didn't understand her own way of greeting. Why would she have rather spent an entire month in Sonora's library instead of returning home? While he could appreciate the academy's impressive collection, he much preferred the library back at home. There was just something about curling up in his own armchair with a good, big history book that he couldn't quite get in the same way at Sonora.
"My family has a library in the manor," he began. "I spent most of my Christmas holiday in there. It's filled with all kinds of books of different genres."
He paused momentarily, considering something before he ventured, "You are welcome to come and see it sometime."
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Julius Astley
Well, I think I'm really clever.
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