Headmaster Brockert
October 10, 2014 6:13 AM
Returning Feast by Headmaster Brockert
Last year, Mortimer had not really minded the break so much, but the first part of this year had been normal and uneventful, so he was back to finding the holidays to be annoying. Full of shrieking children-he had more fondness for his granddaughters than he did most people, which was admittedly not saying much, but that amount running and giggling was incredibly grating-and inane trivial conversation, false pleasantries from those who didn't care any more about how he was doing than he did about how they were.So, though he was probably not in the majority-which was not unusual, and Mortimer didn't really care because usually the majority was composed primarily of imbeciles-he was happy to be back at Sonora. Of course, that had been the case when he'd been a student as well. The Headmaster been a true Aladren, relishing his education and now, he was an adult relishing his power.
Of course, there were parts of his job that Mortimer didn't like much. Dealing with parents-especially his cousin Pearl, who'd been stupid enough to send him a Howler when her precious little spawn hadn't made the Head Girl ballot-and students personally. Really, Mortimer didn't like people in general at all and hoped to come off as intimidating as possible to keep the students in line so he didn't have to actually do the punishing. If they were afraid of what he'd do to them, they'd hopefully behave.
Another part of being Headmaster that he didn't care for was giving speeches. More bothersome social interaction and having to at least appear somewhat pleasant. It went against every natural instinct Mortimer had. Plus, he didn't want to be too pleasant-not that he was that worried about that, his most genuine way of smiling appeared as smirking at someone's idiocy-because people would walk all over him, like they did his nephew Cory. Cory, he thought, would have made a good house elf.
"Welcome back. I hope you all had a nice holiday." At least saying that to people all through the break had given him practice at attempting to make it sound sincere. Of course, there were certain beneficial things that could be used during parties that weren't appropriate to use when he was working. "I only have one announcement to make." Mortimer was certain that he was not the only one happy about that. "The Midsummer ball will be opened this year by the prefects and Head Students as usual." Really, he didn't even know why that had to be said if it was as usual, but just in case people forgot. He'd think people would remember something that simple, but that would probably be giving most people's intelligence too much credit and he was not about to start doing that now.
Glad to have this irritation done, Mortimer sat back down in his chair and turned his attention to his meal. That was enough interacting with others for awhile.
Subthreads: Leading the feast, apparently by Henry Carey
A problem shared... (tag Jay Carey) by Francesca Wolseithcrafte with Jay Carey
What's a girl to do? by Effie Arbon with Amity Brockert
Back again by Diana Carey
Tagging Nellie by Tristan Spaulding with Eleanor Vandenberg, Nellie
Sitting next to Annette. by Adam Spencer, Pecari with Annette Pierce, Adam
Midsummer ball in mind. by Joella Curtis with Lionel Layne, Anonymous
Avoiding the inevitable (Tag: Atlas) by Liliana Bannister with Atlas Primred
11
Headmaster Brockert
Returning Feast
6
Headmaster Brockert
1
5
Liliana Bannister
October 23, 2014 7:09 PM
Avoiding the inevitable (Tag: Atlas) by Liliana Bannister
As she entered Cascade Hall that night Liliana was still buzzing from the impromptu kiss that she had received over winter break from the mysterious Wesley. Thirteen was a good age for a first kiss, she had decided, it was considered to be a great deal of bad luck but getting her first kiss in her thirteenth year just served to prove that sort of thing was just ridiculous. Her lips still burned every time she thought of the tall, handsome blonde wizard who had charmed her and then so unexpectedly swooped in. Just thinking about his dimples made her flush and she kept looking around surreptitiously in case anyone there was an Legilimens and was laughing at her dirty thoughts of kissing Wesley again. Cheeks pink once more, she took a seat at the Pecari table and waited for Atlas to join her as he usually did. She hadn't yet decided if she wanted to tell him. He was her best friend at school, and if she had any girl friends here then she thought she might have told them already. As it was, Liliana hadn't breathed a word of it to anyone-- her cousins would have gone mad trying to pin down the guy and get him to marry her in order to preserve her honor, and she just wasn't as close with Tanya or Noey like she had been before she'd moved to Connecticut.Just then, Liliana caught a glimpse of blonde hair and dimples-- unmistakable dimples, over at the Aladren table and she quickly ducked down to hide her face in her place setting. She knew she had recognized Wesley's face, after all it was so similar to an Aladren fourth-year in her Intermediate class. Her eyes grew wide and she was certain her cheeks, which she had only just managed to get under control, were bright red once more. Somehow or other she had wound up kissing a relative of Emrys Lucan. Liliana began to rack her brain, trying to figure out who it might have been.
As she was thinking, a light breeze blew some loose strands of her hair in her eyes and she blinked, wiping them away before turning to see the person who had just sat down beside her. It was Atlas. She was still debating if she wanted to tell him about Wesley or not but knew it was never something she would want to bring up on her own as if she were flaunting the kiss (and thereby the ball) in front of him. She had wanted to invite him to the ball as her special guest, him being her best friend from school and all, but though her family had not had a problem with their friendship, they also had not wanted a Muggleborn attending their prestigious winter ball. About half-way through the night, when her cousins snuck their dates upstairs with contraband bottles of firewhiskey, Liliana had dashed off to her grandfather's study to hide from her two best girl friends and pen an angry letter to Atlas. She had expressed her disappointment in being left out by her cousins in it and talked about how it was weird coming back and being stuck in the middle of Tanya and Noey who were fighting as was the usual nowadays. However, her mother had found her as she was writing the letter and so Liliana had hastily sent it off, promising to write about what the second half of the ball was like.
That second letter, however, was never written because as it happened, Liliana had found a spot out of doors where she had hoped to be left alone to her thoughts, and a wizard named Wesley-- apparently a relative of Emrys Lucan as they looked so similar, found her, charmed her, and then kissed her. She blushed furiously at the thought and blushed even deeper as she realized she hadn't really been able to stop thinking about that kiss, as innocent as it had been, since it had happened. Liliana tossed her hair, which was for once not in a braid but instead pinned out of her eyes with the hairpins Atlas had given her awhile ago, back and smiled at him, trying to pretend like nothing had changed since the last time she saw him. Indeed, as it seemed, every thing had.
"Hi," she said, her smile wavering a bit as she was avoiding eye contact with him, hoping that this would prevent his asking about the second half of her grandmother's ball. "It's good to see you again."
OOC: Permission to mention Atlas granted from his author.
10
Liliana Bannister
Avoiding the inevitable (Tag: Atlas)
274
Liliana Bannister
0
5
Atlas Primred
October 27, 2014 9:36 PM
Dude same. by Atlas Primred
The return home for Atlas was full of mixed feelings and pain from a bruised hand, both stemming from the last Quidditch game. After his talk with Liliana at the beginning of the year, Atlas had thought that things between the two of them were back to normal, better even, now that they had gotten to know each other more, but Atlas didn’t feel normal. He felt confused and flustered as to why he had cared so much about her opinion. At first, he thought it was just in a friend or a teammate way, as he respected her Quidditch skills. However he didn’t feel like he was being her friend, he just felt…uncomfortable. Luckily his family just assumed he was brooding over the loss of the game, or so they said. Katie had tried to cheer him up, and although it worked when they were together, every time she had to go to ballet practice, or to a friends house, Atlas was left alone to deal with his troublesome thoughts.Unfortunately, things only got worse with the arrival of her letter. She seemed so upset, and Atlas felt a mixture of worry, jealousy, and annoyance that he was unable to help her, or at least hang out with her for a night. He had written her back quickly, however he had never gotten another reply. Had he said something wrong? Was her mother mad she had been writing him? Did she just want someone to vent to? Millions of situations flashed through his mind, and all he could do was put on a smile and pretend to be joyful during the holidays.
Luckily his best friend Steven came to Atlas’ rescue. He had been helping out with Katie’s Nutcracker ballet performance, and once the show was over the two friends spent every day together. It wasn’t until the end of the vacation when the two boys went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium that Atlas finally revealed what had been getting him so down. As usual, he had to cover the magical details, but other than that, he explained the entire situation from start to finish. Steven was always a good listener when he tried, and was even better at giving advice. After hearing the situation he bluntly stated that Atlas was an idiot, which although obvious to Steven, was surprising enough a statement to cause Atlas to walk face first into an exhibit window.
Atlas tried to protest but Steven shut him down each time. Steven knew his best friend, and knew when he was being oblivious verses when he was just being plain stupid. Steven made it clear in the nicest way possible that Atlas couldn’t lie to himself forever about his feelings. On the wagon back to Sonora, Atlas had pondered the wise words of his friend, thinking over just what how he felt about his best Sonora friend. He still hadn’t come to a conclusion when he sat down next to the witch in question, as he usually did every feast. Her face was unexpectedly pink as she faced him with a wavering smile. Atlas blushed a little, feeling a little overly self-conscious of both her and his own actions.
"Hi," she said, "It's good to see you again."
Atlas nodded, looking away a little. There were a lot of things he wanted to ask, but he had to play it one step at a time. He was about to respond, when he was interrupted by the Headmaster’s speech. He tried to pay attention to the speech but his attention was caught by the pins in her hair. She looked good with her hair like that, really good.
When the speech was over Atlas plopped a plushy into Liliana’s lap, looking away a little as he spoke. “It’s a blobfish, I thought you might like it,” he said wondering if he should’ve gotten her something else from the aquarium gift shop.
He dished some veggies onto his plate as she replied, thankful he had something to preoccupy himself with. “I hope you had a good vacation, I never heard back from you and you seemed pretty pissed,” he then stated.
0
Atlas Primred
Dude same.
276
Atlas Primred
0
5
Liliana Bannister
October 27, 2014 10:46 PM
Rien ne pèse tant qu'un secret.* by Liliana Bannister
Atlas’ face matched hers as he sat down and Liliana immediately wondered if he had learned to read minds over the break. If he had then she had best just get it over with and avoid his getting mad at her for keeping the truth from him, but when Atlas opened his mouth to tell her that he knew all about her scandalous little affair, the Headmaster started his welcome back speech. Liliana was never gladder to hear their annoyingly indifferent Headmaster say a word before.However, when Headmaster Brockert dismissed them to eat again, reminding them of the ball, Liliana fell back into her frantic worrying-- worrying about the last ball she had attended, worrying about who she was to go to this ball with, and worrying about what Atlas was going to say to her before the Headmaster started his speech.
Yet the words Atlas spoke next had nothing to do with her previous fears and she smiled widely at them, full of relief that he did not seem to know what had happened over the break. “It’s a blobfish. I thought you might like it,” he said while she scanned the table for an appropriate ‘entrée’ which, in France, was an appetizer. Over the break, her grandmother had stressed the fact that Liliana would be fourteen at the end of the semester and as such needed to start paying more attention to her manners. While Liliana prided herself on her ladylike behavior before she entered Sonora, she was loathe to discover that during her three and a half years in America and two and a half years at Sonora with mostly Atlas for company she had lost some of her previous ways. Grandmère had informed her over dinner her last night in England that Liliana was to spend the entire summer in France with her instead of just a month like she and her cousins normally did. You’d best refresh yourself on French courses, Grandmère had said. I plan on showing you off to all my friends at dinner parties.
“Like it?” She asked incredulously, pausing from her search to turn the ugly thing over in her hands. “I absolutely love it!” It was the ugliest thing that she had ever seen in her life and it bared a great resemblance to her transfiguration mishaps. She stroked its’ soft, fleshy fluff and sighed happily as she ran her fingers over the top of its head.
Liliana looked up to Atlas, still smiling though she wrinkled her nose at the sight of the vegetables he was putting on his plate. Liliana was as a fan of a balanced meal as the next person but the vegetables reminded her of the beginning of their friendship when Atlas had been such a wholly prick about thinking she was a stuck-up princess. She tore a piece of bread from a nearby baguette and served herself some cut carrots and light dressing.
“I hope you had a good vacation,” Atlas said as she began to eat. “I never heard back from you and you seemed pretty pissed.”
Liliana ate the majority of her carrots in silence. She didn’t mean to ignore his question but she kept trying to answer it yet every time the words died in her through. By the time she had finished and was looking for the next course, she was certain Atlas thought she was mad at him. In all honesty she wasn’t and so, she focused on finding a new dish so she could direct her attention on putting the food on her plate and avoid all eye contact with him.
“Yes,” she replied, forgetting that he had not asked her a yes or no question because she had located steaks and mashed potatoes and she planned on securing a small one so as to leave room for the salad, cheese, dessert, and coffee that was all a part of the traditional French dinner. “Doesn’t this look good?” She asked him, finding an acceptable sized piece of meat with a blue cheese sauce. “And could you pass me those potatoes?”
“Anyway, how was your break?” She asked, taking the first bite of her dinner and reaching for the pitcher of water. She wasn’t allowed to drink wine at Sonora, this was almost certain, and it saddened her because over the past few years her grandmother had taught her to enjoy the bitter taste of fermented grape juice*. “Where did you find this amazing creature anyway?” she added, referring to the present he had brought her. “That reminds me, I have a gift for you too but it’s in my trunk. I didn’t think to bring it to dinner but I’ll bring it down later tonight or you once we go back to the dorms.” Liliana was aware that she was steering the conversation away from her break as she had learned this particular talent from her grandmother. Unfortunately, Liliana was not as skilled at avoiding conversation like Grandmère Brouard was just yet and so her transition had not been as smooth as she’d have liked it to be.
OOC:
*"Rien ne pèse tant qu'un secret," is a quote from a French poet, Jean de la Fontaine. In English it translates to "nothing weighs more than a secret."
*Obviously at age 13 Liliana is not encourage to drink heavily but she was raised being allowed one glass of watered down wine at dinner in order to train her taste buds to enjoy it later on in life.
10
Liliana Bannister
Rien ne pèse tant qu'un secret.*
274
Liliana Bannister
0
5
Atlas Primred
October 31, 2014 9:25 PM
But secrets bear burdens... by Atlas Primred
“Like it?” she said pausing to look over the plushy.“I absolutely love it!”Atlas blushed down at his plate, a cocky smile forming on his face. He was proud that he knew her tastes so well, and watching her stroke the plushy only served to prove that she was the weirdest girl in the world. He had shown the gift to Katie to get her opinion, but she had only given him a funny look, wondering why Liliana would ever want something that ugly. Lucky for him Liliana wasn’t just any girl. Although he had originally labeled her as a ‘princess’ he was happy to have found out over the past few years that she was so much more than that.
More moments of silence followed his question than he had expected. They had both gotten through their first plate without any talking, all the while he had been making a few sideways glances at her to see if she had heard him. He was about to ask her again, when she finally spoke up.
“Yes,” she replied, not even looking at him.
Atlas’ eyebrows cocked at her answer. Was she trying to make a joke? He scanned her face as she picked out her next course, a little more than confused as to if he should be laughing or concerned.
“Doesn’t this look good?” She asked him regarding her choice of steak. “And could you pass me those potatoes?”
Atlas only stared at her for a moment before nodding slightly in response, realizing she was talking about her food. He then passed her the plate, confused as to where the conversation had gone.
“Anyway, how was your break?” She asked, taking the first bite of her dinner. “Where did you find this amazing creature anyway?” she added, referring to the present he had brought her. “That reminds me, I have a gift for you too but it’s in my trunk. I didn’t think to bring it to dinner but I’ll bring it down later tonight or you once we go back to the dorms.”
Atlas blushed, when she mentioned she had gotten him a gift as well. He had to remind himself that it was only natural that friends would get each other gifts, just as he had done for her. After taking a swig of his water to calm himself he finally answered her many questions.
“Break was good. Spent it with my family and Steven’s like I do every year. Simbang Gabi was fun too, Steven’s Mom made some great Filipino food. As for the gift,” Atlas said as he dished up some chicken he hoped would fill his craving chicken adobo, “I got him when I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I bet you would like it, they have a lot of cool animals there- even if they aren’t magical."
After taking a few bites, he returned his attention to his company. “Now that I have answered your question however, aren’t you going to answer mine? How was your holiday? Don't you always go to England? What about Hanukkah?” he asked, hoping for more than a one word answer.
“As for the letter,” he said taking another bite of his food, “you don’t really have to elaborate if you don’t want to, but at next time if you are going to rant at least send a follow up letter so I know you haven’t gone berserk or anything.” He smiled and gave her a light nudge to show he was joking, but somewhat not.
0
Atlas Primred
But secrets bear burdens...
276
Atlas Primred
0
5
Liliana Bannister
November 02, 2014 6:56 PM
True, so I'll let go of mine. by Liliana Bannister
Liliana desperately wanted to reach over and wipe the cocky smirk that had appeared on Atlas’ face but she refrained from doing so, wanting to have at least one special feast at Sonora where the two of them did not get into some sort of spat. Besides, the gift he had given her was quite nice and did appeal to her tastes so she didn’t think that he deserved to have that happen to him-- tonight at least. Perhaps in the future if he ever displayed a look akin to that again she would interfere but for now she was going to let it go.Thankfully, Atlas allowed her to ramble on a bit without calling her out on it and she nodded along as he told her about his break. She wondered what celebrating Simbang Gabi would be like, if it would be anything like celebrating Hanukkah but then she decided that Hanukkah was probably loads more fun since it didn’t involve going to mass. “That sounds like fun,” she said, not expanding any further to give him anything to work with.
“Now that I have answered your questions, aren’t you going to answer mine?” He asked her. “How was your holiday? Don’t you always go to England? What about Hanukkah?” Atlas took another bite of food before continuing his barrage of questions. “As for the letter, you don’t really have to elaborate if you don’t want to, but at least next time if you are going to rant at least send a follow-up letter so I know you haven’t gone berserk or anything.” He gave her a nudge and a smile and Liliana returned the smile rather shakily.
“Right,” she said nervously. She frowned and pushed around the spinach salad she had put on her plate while Atlas was talking. “Well, it was good. England was good. Hannukah was good.” She nodded. “Yes, it was good.” Liliana dragged her fork through the salad dressing, making loops of liquid across the white of the clean part of her plate. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for not writing back. You must have been really worried.” Suddenly, she wasn’t hungry anymore. She pushed her plate away even though she had been looking forward to eating cheese and dessert and having her coffee after it all. She’d seen some grapes further down the table and pine nuts in the other direction, both of which she had really wanted to eat. And she’d missed the chocolate mousse she ate at Sonora-- her favorite of the school’s desserts.
“Look, something happened to me over break. Something really great and I’ve been terrified to tell you about it. I don’t know why, but I’ve been thinking about it ever since it happened and I can’t stop thinking about it so I’m just going to tell you, okay?” Liliana blushed as she turned away from Atlas and looked down into her lap where her fingers picked at a thread that was poking out of one of the buttons on her dress. She shook her head, her freshly curled hair tumbling around her shoulders as she did so. “I met a guy. At my grandparents’ ball. And he was nice, really nice.” She bit her lip and continued. “He’s fifteen and he’s a student at Hogwarts (that’s the Sonora of England,” she added in case Atlas didn’t know. “That’s where I was supposed to go if my father hadn’t been sent out to Connecticut to manage the American branch of my grandfather’s company.) Anyway, he, um, he kissed me.” She laughed uneasily. "Silly, right? You’re my best friend, I don’t know why I was afraid to tell you.” Finally she looked up from picking at the thread and straight into Atlas’ eyes. “Anyway, I'm full, do you want to go back to the common room? I can get your present for you?"
10
Liliana Bannister
True, so I'll let go of mine.
274
Liliana Bannister
0
5
Atlas Primred
November 05, 2014 10:03 PM
Let the storm rage on, the cold never bothered me anyways. by Atlas Primred
For a moment, Atlas was worried that they would spend the rest of the conversation in an awkward limbo. "Good," didn’t tell him anything about what had been happening in her life, and as her friend, it bothered him that she was stiff-arming him. He somewhat regretted bringing up her vacation again, as she seemed all too hesitant to talk about it. Although he originally thought she was a pampered princess, from all the time they spent together over the past few years in addition to their multiple getting to know each other talks last semester, it appeared that she had the same stresses, and pains as any other teenager he knew back in Santa Cruz. He prided himself that he knew what life is really like for her at home- or at least as much as she felt comfortable telling him, for it showed just how close they were. However, at the present moment he felt as though he didn’t know who he was talking to at all.Atlas grimaced as she made designs on her plate, wondering what secrets she was keeping that made her this uncomfortable. He decided to think back to the letter, maybe it was her being left out by her cousins. She hadn’t explicably said it, but he could probably assume that Levi was in the group of her cousins that had ditched her that night, perhaps this is what was bringing her down? Or maybe it had to do with her two girl friends, she often complained about losing touch with them, perhaps it had reached the final straw? All of these were reasonable, but he wouldn’t know unless she said anything herself, as it was all just speculation. He heard his company take a deep breath, as he held his, trying his best to listen attentively and pick up on any subtle cues.
“I’m sorry for not writing back. You must have been really worried. Look, something happened to me over break. Something really great and I’ve been terrified to tell you about it. I don’t know why, but I’ve been thinking about it ever since it happened and I can’t stop thinking about it so I’m just going to tell you, okay?” Liliana said as she blushed, turning away from Atlas' face.
He could feel his heart beating in his ears, and the weight of her words was hanging heavy in the air. He was oddly excited, but at the same time very worried. He hadn’t really been that concerned about her lack of contact, at least not to the extent that she was probably thinking, but now that she was talking like this he couldn’t help but feel concerned.
“I met a guy. At my grandparents’ ball. And he was nice, really nice.” She bit her lip and continued, but it fell on deaf ears as Atlas couldn’t get past the words 'met a guy'. He could hear her talking, but he wasn’t paying attention anymore as he shuffled through his own feelings on the situation. All Atlas could do was stare at the side of her head, for the feeling in his stomach implied if he moved he might throw up. However, one sentenced caught his attention as if someone had just screamed his name using a megaphone.
"...he kissed me.”
There it was- the final blow, the K.O., the finishing move. If she had been trying to grab his attention she had definitely succeeded. Liliana Bannister now had his full attention. Her uneasy laughter that followed only helped to make him more uncomfortable, just where had he kissed her?! How?! Why?!!? Was this the beginning of an arranged marriage? She had told him herself that she wouldn’t be opposed to the idea, but he always thought it as like when Steven said it would be opposed the idea of skydiving. A nice thought, but never really going to happen. Steven just wasn’t the type, and Liliana… well…
"Silly, right? You’re my best friend,” she continued, “I don’t know why I was afraid to tell you.”
Atlas wasn’t sure why, but this statement hurt the most. In theory nothing should have hurt, he should have felt happy for his 'best friend' but he wasn’t. The knot in his throat was proof of that. He wasn’t happy for her at all, but he wasn’t mad or worried either. Instead, Atlas felt overcome with disappointment. Her eyes caught his own glazed over pools of brown, as he looked away, hiding his face beneath his auburn hair.
“Anyway, I'm full, do you want to go back to the common room? I can get your present for you?" A moment passed before he cleared his throat, getting ready to try out his acting skills.
"That’s cool Lil," he said as nonchalantly as possible, awkwardly patting her on the back. He didn’t want to give anything away, these feelings were his problem- not hers. She was just sharing ‘good news’, and Atlas didn’t want to start a fight he knew he would never win. “And sure, let’s go. I’m done eating anyways,” he said standing up to leave, his appetite having completely vanished in a matter of moments.
0
Atlas Primred
Let the storm rage on, the cold never bothered me anyways.
276
Atlas Primred
0
5