Of shoes and ships and sealing wax (tag: Emery K-J) on Aladren Commons

Ava Fletcher and Emrys Lucan

June 14, 2014 2:26 PM

Of shoes and ships and sealing wax (tag: Emery K-J) by Ava Fletcher and Emrys Lucan

“Was the inventor of macaroni knighted?”

Emrys was making his way up to his dorm room for a much needed sleep when his housemate (and somewhat friend) Ava Fletcher came huffing after him. He quirked an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean were they knighted?”

“I was just thinking, at dinner tonight, actually, about how macaroni is probably one of the greatest inventions ever,” Ava decided not to mention that’s all she had eaten for dinner that particular night. “And I remember you having said a predecessor to it was created during the Camelot days and I was thinking, see, that since there were so many knights then that one of them might have been knighted for the invention of such a heavenly piece of food. Sir Knight of Macaroni and Cheese or something like that.”

Ava looked particularly proud of the name she had just created and Emrys had to try hard to keep from looking like he thought she was an idiot. “Um, I’m not sure about that one,” he said slowly, not wanting to offend her but honestly that’s not how the knighting process went.

“There was an Earl of Sandwich though, right?” Ava pressed him. “And he is thought to be the inventor of the sandwich, right?”

“Right,” he said, slowly.

“So it’s entirely possible that there could be a Sir Knight of Macaroni and Cheese, right?”

“I suppose,” Emrys replied. “But you see, he was already from Sandwich, Kent, so it was the sandwich that was named after him, not the other way around.”

“Oh,” said Ava, her eyes a little downcast as she pondered this new bit of information. “Oh, hi, Emery!” she exclaimed as she spotted Emrys’ dorm mate out of the corner of her eye. “We were just discussing knights of food!”

Emrys gave his shoulders a little shrug as if to say “I can’t help what she does or says. Sorry, mate.” “Hey, I read some of those books you recommended to me last semester before we went home for break. They were pretty good- no Sherlock Holmes or Camelot, but still good," his gave Emery a teasing wink so that his dorm mate would know he was joking. In all reality he had quite enjoyed the science fiction novels that Emery had recommended even though keeping them hidden from his paternal grandfather had proved to be a difficult task. His maternal grandparents, however, had been a lot more interested and the few days that he had spent that winter break with them had been filled with them trying to steal his books away so that they could read them (instead of confiscate them like he was sure Grandfather would have done had he come across, say, The Giver).

"Would you two wait down here for a minute or two? I have something I have to go fetch from my room but I'm not done socializing, I promise!" Ava gave them each a smile and went off to her room to change her clothes and fetch Dimitri's present and the three small boxes of fudge she had brought back for Emrys, Emery, and Chloe. She didn't feel as though she and Chloe were particularly close friends though she had eaten with her a few times the previous semester, but she did feel weird bringing Emery a Christmas present and not his sister one and so her solution had been to bring them both something. They from the same place that she had bought Dimitri's fudge their first Christmas as friends and she was really hoping that none of the three of them were lactose intolerant so that they could enjoy her gift in a way that Dimitri hadn't been able to.

"So, how was your break?" Emrys asked Emery once Ava was gone. "Things at home are well?" Although Emrys didn't outright say it in case someone Emery didn't want knowing his business was around, this was his way of asking if Angel was doing okay and to check on the overall health of everyone else at Emery's home-- his mother and Emrys' former Headmistress included. He knew that it was probably hard for Emery and Chloe to have gone a whole term without having heard anything from them, and he himself and only managed to get a few letters out that winter break (all of which had gone to Charlotte) due to his younger sister not wanting to let him out of her sight.

"Grandfather (Emrys didn't feel the need to clarify which grandfather as by now he was sure Emery had picked up that he used 'grandfather' for his father's cold, domineering father and 'Pop' for his mother's more good-natured father), did not want me coming back here at all, but mother wouldn't hear of him sending me to Durmstrang's and since she's the one who runs the household at home and they had a huge row over it all." Emrys smiled rather gleefully. He'd liked listening to his mom stand up for him to Grandfather. "Then, the clencher of it all," he announced, "was that father finally stood up to him (for once in his life) saying that I was his son and not Grandfather's and he could stick his large nose out of our business if he ever wanted to see me again! To see Grandfather's face after that!" Emrys exclaimed, chuckling to himself. "Oh, he was bright red! And to be sure he hasn't mentioned my schooling once since then."

Emrys' grandfather butting into his schooling had long been a source of frustration for the thirteen year old and he had expressed some of this to Emery himself. "But he can't disown me, you see," he had explained one night as the two lay whispering in their beds. "Because even though Wesley is older, his parents got divorced and he lives with his mother so he doesn't technically count as an heir in Grandfather's eyes." This particular tidbit was the thing that kept Emrys' head up the most as it was the one thing he believed he had over Wesley.

10 Ava Fletcher and Emrys Lucan Of shoes and ships and sealing wax (tag: Emery K-J) 0 Ava Fletcher and Emrys Lucan 1 5

Emery Kijewski-Jareau

June 16, 2014 10:06 PM

Of cabbages and kings by Emery Kijewski-Jareau

Emery was tired. He usually was after returning to school. There wasn’t really any reason for it other than the nerves finally getting the better of him. Of the wagon rides, Emery’s was probably one of the shortest since he only had to come from New Mexico, but being around so many people in a confined space no matter how short the trip was and one of those people was his non-stop chatter brained sister.

At the feast, Emery didn’t really pay much attention to anything; he was only going through the motions of eating and listening to the chatter around him. He didn’t really want to be back here. He was worried that everything would disappear again and he would be without communication with his parents. By the end of last term, Emery was so jittery and full of anxiety that he could barely function. Chloe was worse. She would just burst into tears at the very thought of their brother. When the school had finally gotten back to normal and parents were allowed to take their children home early, Jeff had come to collect them. Their mother had been too upset to be anywhere near the school as she felt that the administration had failed in her leave. Seeing his dad waiting to take them home had been enough for both him and Chloe. Jeff reassured them that Angel was still okay and they could see him as soon as they returned home.

His midterm had been pretty upbeat after that. His siblings and him would often spend the evening around Angel’s bed. Angel was in a type of bubble to help keep him from getting sick, but they tried to make sure he understood that he was still one of them. When they weren’t with Angel, they were baking Christmas cookies, or singing carols. The term had all felt like a bad dream. Reality came back to them when it was time to leave and his mother had difficulties letting them go. But here he was…

”Oh, hi, Emery!”

Emery looked up at the sound of his name to find one of his roommates and Ava not far away. After beginning a smile of greeting, his lips twitched into a confused look as Ava advised him of what they were conversing on. He had no understanding of what she was talking about and the shrug Emrys gave suggested he wasn’t very clear either and offered sympathy. Thankfully, Emrys changed the subject before Emery had to make any comment regarding knighting edibles. “I’ll give you Sherlock. He’s pretty badass for solving crime.” Emery replied with a grin. “Glad you had a chance to read some.”

He watched Ava’s retreating back for a moment, but returned his gaze to his roommate when asked about his break. “It was pretty good.” Emery answered with a pleased smile. “Everyone is good. My mom was a little hysterical when we got home, but everyone just seemed happy.” Honestly, that first night home had been the best sleep he had had in months. “How was yours?” Emery asked. He was aware that his roommate also lived a strange life that was often a tug of war between two sides. He listened dutifully as Emrys told him of his parents battle with his grandfather. These sorts of family dramas were foreign to Emery. He thought of them like a Soap Opera, one of the shows his mother listened to on the wireless. He will never really understand the dynamics of it all. For instance, he didn’t understand why a divorce meant someone couldn’t be the Heir. Divorce didn’t meant different blood. Why did it matter? If his mother had been from a family like that, Emery could never be Heir. Although he was his mother’s child, he was conceived under unconventional methods. No way a family like that would want him to run it. Although his own family stress was from something far different, he could at least sympathize with his roommate’s troubles.

“My mom didn’t want me to come back either, but I think that was more because she’s clingy than because of the school. My dad said that there were parents that were going into legal action against the school and causing all sorts of havoc while we were trapped here.” Emery commented. “I can see why your Grandfather might have thought it better to send you elsewhere. Unless it was just for control in which case, good for your parents for finally putting their foot down.”

6 Emery Kijewski-Jareau Of cabbages and kings 259 Emery Kijewski-Jareau 0 5

Emrys Lucan

June 26, 2014 8:51 AM

And why the sea is boiling hot by Emrys Lucan

Emery looked a little bit distracted when Ava called out his name and Emrys felt a little bit bad for interrupting his thoughts. But after last semester he had realised that when Ava was in a good mood it was difficult to stop her. She tended to be loud and bouncy and though an Aladren he could never tell if she was actually smart or just loved reading. She could get distracted easily, for one, and she sometimes sounded a little bit ditzy. "Have you read Poe's Dupin stories?" Emrys asked his roommate. "He was the original Sherlock but they aren't written nearly as well as the Sherlock ones. In my opinion, at least."

As Ava left, taking her chaotic discussion on Sit Knight of Macaroin or whatever it was she was insistent upon, Emrys watched Emery watch Ava and shook his head. Ava was nunts, that was for sure but he was glad he had gotten to know her the previous semester. She was nice enough and as long as she didn't use him for Healing practise when they got older he thought he would be able to be friends with her for a long time. "I'm glad your family is good," Emrys said, smiling. "My mom wasn' too worried, she just thought I'd been having a lot of music practises and getting my head lost in books so when I didn't write often she didn't think anything of it." Emrys shrugged. His mother could be a bit aloof sometimes but he was used to it and rather liked her occasional bouts of scatter-brainedness. "Caelia, my little sister, was absolutely mad with grief though. She thought I'd forgotten about her or replaced her and she didn't let me out of her sight all break! My dad had to pry her off me just so I could take a shower." He wrinkled his nose distastfully but anyone could see that he loved his sister and wasn't actually angry with her.

Emrys carfully thought about what Emery said regarding the legal action and pursed his lips a bit. "I don't see how it's the school's fault though. If they are determinded to seek legal action then wouldn't it be much more prudent to go against that Charms company or whoever started the whole purple storm mess?" He shrugged. "To be honest I think the whole idea of legal action is ridiculous, it's magic. Things happen. Spells backfire all the time and it's not like anyone died."

Upon Emery's remark regarding his grandfather, Emrys simply rolled his eyes. "Who knows why he does the things he does. So many things he does are just absolutely ridiculous. I think it's part control, part wanting to get me away from Mom and part what happened over the semester." He shrugged. "Either way, I don't care, I'm just glad that I'm staying here. I just made friends-- after two and a half years, but still friends are good, and I don't fancy starting all over again at another school half-way around the world where they probably don't even teach in English."

10 Emrys Lucan And why the sea is boiling hot 260 Emrys Lucan 0 5

Emery

June 29, 2014 12:40 AM

And whether pigs have wings by Emery

Emery thought about Emrys’s question, but ended with only a shake of his head. “No, just the Sherlock series, but I’ll look into Poe’s.” Emery commented. Books were normal for him to discuss, especially at school. He was part of the book club (or was, he wasn’t sure if it would continue when Henny graduates) and it was something that he was quite fond of. With everything that was going on in his life, books were a safe place to escape to whenever he wanted. They were about fictional lives that had nothing to do with him and usually had a happy ending.

“She’s confusing, but pretty.” Emery stated when Ava was gone and then realized what he said really didn’t make much sense. “Distracting.” He hoped none of that got back to Ava. He enjoyed having a small group of people he could consider to be friends. He didn’t want to make it weird just because of a silly little comment.

Emery was surprised to hear that his family hadn’t really heard about the school situation during last term. How could that be? It was all over the papers and the board was in contact with the parents once they found out there was something wrong. Was Emrys’s mother that detached that she didn’t keep up with it all? In which case, he sort of understood his grandfather’s hesitation regarding his mother. “Your family didn’t read about it in the papers? Or talk with the school? There were even parents that had like support groups or something during all of it.” Emery asked his roommate. Where did they live that they were so cut off? “If Harper could read or understand what was going on, I think she probably would have behaved like your sister.

He smiled at his roommate when he responded to the legal actions. “But isn’t that the point?” He asked him. “Someone could have died. The school was responsible for not creating a better barrier around the school when the Charms facility was built. They were aware that something could have happened, but did nothing to prevent it. Supposedly.” Emery didn’t know if the school did anything prior to school beginning, but since things still happened, he assumed the parents taking legal action felt they hadn’t done enough. “And, I’m sure they are taking legal action against the charms place too. It is just magic, but if the elves had disappeared too, do you really think we would have held together for those four months?” Emery asked. It was the elves who had kept the food coming. It was elves that had kept the school clean. The Head students only did a small part of the work. If there had not been food and no one to keep the school orderly, chaos would have happened. “I think it would have been Lord of the Flies in here. A Piggy could have been sacrified.” Emery had no idea if Emrys understood the reference, but he thought the argument was there. His parents weren’t a part of the lawsuit, but they could understand the reasons behind it and so could Emery. The school should take some responsibility for what had happened.

He laughed at Emrys’s comment. “Learning in Russian would probably be pretty difficult.” He agreed. “Try not to be too negative against your grandfather. It’s good that he cares in some way, right?” Emery asked. “He clearly has an old way of thinking, but it might be with the best of intentions.” Emery would love to have more family and was a little envious that Emrys had so many. “How was Wesley? Did you see him at all?”

6 Emery And whether pigs have wings 0 Emery 0 5

Emry & Ava

June 29, 2014 2:05 PM

But wait a bit! by Emry & Ava

Emrys tilted his head as he thought about what Emery said regarding Ava. “I agree,” he said. “Completely nuts. Nuts, but nice.” He smiled a little bit. “I’m glad she doesn’t partner with me during lessons. I don’t think I’d be able to concentrate with all her tangents. You know, last term I had the weirdest conversation with her about selkies. We had started by talking about whether the clouds looked better white and grey like usual or purple like they were, a topic she brought up, mind you, and somehow we ended up on selkies.” His voice was cheerful, making sure Emery understood he wasn’t bashing Ava. He found her wonderings amusing and he liked her friendship.

Emrys had heard of the support groups Emery had mentioned but he just shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean at first when no one knew what was going on my mom thought it was just me being forgetful. After that, once things started coming out.” Emrys shrugged again. “I don’t know. I’m sure she was worried. She does love us, but she can get preoccupied with things and she figured that since no one could get in and no one could get out there really wasn’t much she could do about the situation so why waste her time making herself sick over me?” His mother’s logic made sense to Emrys. Besides, once he had gotten home she had made it evident that she’d missed him. “My dad is the worrier in the family. He does more than enough for both him and mom so she’s kind of needed to balance it all out and keep it together.”

As for the people dying part, Emrys wasn’t entirely sure how to explain to Emery how he felt about it. He understood that it was a huge deal and that parents were angry, but at the same time he didn’t see why it was being made into such a huge deal. Yes someone could have died, could have being the operative word there, but they didn’t. Perhaps the school could have taken more precautions but no one expected anything like this to happen. Besides, everyone was okay now and nothing too bad had happened. He didn’t get why people didn’t want to just move on with their lives. “I suppose,” he replied instead. “I mean, I know the elves did most of it, and a Piggy could have happened, I guess, but it didn’t, right?” He shrugged his shoulders. “No one expected anything like this to happen though and now that it has I’m sure the school is taking all precautions now. I just don’t see what good the legal action would have done. I understand the anger towards the school for not protecting us as well as they should have but then what? Close the school down? Sue for money? None of that would have made us come home any sooner.” Besides, he thought the money thing was ridiculous. As if money could make up for the lives of children.

Emrys was surprised Emery found his thoughts towards his grandfather as negative. Many things his grandfather did could only be explained as ridiculous, one of which was never even trying to accept Emrys's mother yet still demanding respect from her. "It's just diffucult to make him happy," he said. "That's all. He cares, deep down I'm sure but he has a weird way of showing it. To him telling me to straighten my robes is telling me he loves me. But he does, I'm sure of it." The last part more to reassure himself than Emery. He paused. Wesley. How to answer. "Yeah, I saw him. He's good." Emrys shrugged. "You know, he's fourteen, the world is his oyster, that sort of thing." Emrys shrugged again. "He's good," he repeated, unsure how to explain the argument they'd gotten into. Their first one ever that didn't have to do with who got the bigger half of the cookie. Luckily though, he was saved by Ava.

"Hello again!" She bounced towards them, glad they hadn't moved. "Told ya I'd be right back. Here, these are for you!" She thrust two small, neatly wrapped packages into Emery's hand and one to Emrys. "One of those is for Chloe," she explained. "But I figured you'd probably see her before I would. Open! I hope you like them." Each chocolate box was topped with a small watercolor of the recipient's name that had been cut to match the size of the box's lid and was held on with a ribbon. "The name card's nothing, really. Dimitri and I usually make each other cards but I didn't like the way they turned out so I had to start all over again but I didn't have enough time to make four full cards so I just did this. You can put them on your Potions kits or something, I suppose," she finished lamely.

0 Emry & Ava But wait a bit! 0 Emry & Ava 0 5

Emery

July 06, 2014 8:44 PM

Before we have our chat! by Emery

“I’ve never really partnered with her. We’ve talked before, she has a thing for mermaids, but then her friend jumped in and they are both a lot to handle.” Emery commented. He didn’t mind either of them separately, but together it was like having five Chloe’s surrounding him. There was only so much of that he could take. “I like her. She reminds me of Chloe a lot of the time.” Emery commented. “Although… the idea of those two becoming friends gives me a headache.” He joked.

Emery didn’t know what to think of Emrys’s mother. If he had found out that after months of no communication and that no one could get in or out of the school but his mother didn’t care one way or another or thought ‘worrying’ was a waste of her time, as it sounded with Emrys’s mother, Emery would feel like he wasn’t worth that feeling. He understood that his roommate had a strange relationship with his family, but he just couldn’t understand it. Moments like this made Emery glad for the family that he did have. They had so many issues and some people would think that because of Angel and Ayita that Emery wouldn’t get as much attention from his parents, but they were wrong. His parents spent time equally with all of them. Emery was also understanding to acknowledge that Angel and Harper would need more. He was grateful that Ayita was brought into their lives because she was there to help them and to be there for Chloe and Harper when the parents couldn’t be. He was sure it was probably the same for Emrys, that he would never doubt his mother’s love, but Emery just found it strange that she was so disconnected from it all. He chose the best option and that was to not say anything more about it.

Emery smiled and shrugged. His parents were not a part of the legal action, they had only told him about it just in case something came from it. “I don’t know. My mom says that sometimes it’s not about the money, but about those at fault taking responsibility and there being consequence to what they’ve done.” Emery had no idea if this was the case for what was going on, part of him felt like it was just a bunch of Purebloods wanting to get things their way, but he could understand on some level the desire for someone to take blame. “Besides, think of the Muggleborn parents, especially the ones who are only first years. These parents trusted to school to take care of their children. Allowing them to go to a place that they can’t even see or enter themselves. That takes a lot of trust. So they spent the next four months never hearing from their child, not understanding the risk that magic can have… it’s certainly not in the brochure.” Emery stated.

“It must have been devastating for them and really confusing. Unless the school administration contacting them after they figured things out, they wouldn’t have had any way of knowing and might even thought the worst. Plus, I doubt even getting a school rep to tell them something was all that helpful. I mean, can you imagine? ‘Hey, sorry you haven’t heard from your child, but there is currently a giant purple cloud surrounding the school and no one can get in or out. We really have no idea if your child is safe or alive, but we thought you should know we’re looking into the matter.’” Emery donned a lower voice to sound like an old person while he made the statement. He didn’t think any sort of communication with Muggleborn parents went over too well. “Maybe the lawsuit won’t go anywhere, but I think I can understand the parents wanting to do something.”

Emery listened to his roommate talk about his family. Again, it was a family dynamic that he did not quite understand. Maybe this was how Jeff’s family worked? It could be why he never cared to ever go back to them after they threw him out. Chloe’s sometimes talked about maybe one day being able to meet that side of her family, but Emery didn’t really think it was a good idea. From the Purebloods that he knew, none of them seemed all that nice. Emrys being different only because his mother seemed different.

He didn’t have time to delve further into Emrys’s family relationships because Ava was back with them. Emery grabbed the packages, nearly dropping one of them as she forced them onto him, but easily gained control after a moment of falter. “You paint?” Emery asked her, looking at his name. “It’s very nice.” He didn’t have any artistic abilities in him, so he was always impressed when someone else did. He unwrapped the gift carefully and found fudge in his box. “You seriously want to give Chloe chocolate?” He asked, thinking of how wired his sister will be. Realizing that sounded rude and ungrateful, Emery quickly smiled at his housemate, “Thank you. We do love fudge. We didn’t get anything for you, I’m sorry. If I had known we were exchanging, I would have brought you something.” Emery admitted apologetically. “Chloe will love it too. She’s obsessed with sweets.”

6 Emery Before we have our chat! 0 Emery 0 5