Well, it was nice while it lasted. on Cascade Hall

Headmaster Brockert

July 27, 2018 9:25 PM

Opening Feast by Headmaster Brockert

So far the year was off to a decent start. No student altercations, no complaining parents and they even had a solution to their Quidditch "problem". (As far as Mortimer was concerned, there was no problem, as he didn't consider Quidditch all that important but others disagreed including his own son Eustace, but Eustace's opinion didn't matter one whit as far as Sonora went. He didn't even have a child here. Unfortunately, people whose opinion mattered more also cared but as long as he didn't have to do anything with it and nobody was forced into playing, it was okay with him.)

In other news, he had not one but two granddaughters attending Sonora this year and thus as the first years were brought in, he surveyed them with a bit more curiosity. They had better treat his granddaughters with the respect and decency that befitted them. Actually, Mortimer wasn't all that worried about Topaz, she could take care of herself but Allegra was an awfully jumpy child.

Once everyone seemed to be in attendance, Mortimer placed a Sonorus charm on himself and began to speak. "Welcome to Sonora for the new first years and welcome back for all older students. First years, you should have recieved a blank badge at the end of Orientation." At least they hadn't gotten it when they first got there, some were liable to lose it. "You will dunk the badge in the Sorting Potion and it will turn the color representing your house which are blue for Aladren, yellow for Teppenpaw, red for Crotalus, and brown for Pecari. Afterwards, you may join your house table." He noted where Topaz and Allegra were sorted with pleasure.

After the first years had been settled, Mortimer continued."Would Joseph Umland and Nevaeh Reed please come up and get your Head Student badges?" He couldn't help but be displeased with the former's new badge. Hopefully Mr. Umland had worked on his anger issues within the last few years " In addition I'd like to call up Emerald Brockert, Kir McLeod, Victor Callhan and Isaac Song to recieve their prefect badges. Congratulations." His face beamed with pride as Emerald took her spot on the stage along with her classmates and recieved her badge.

"We have two new staff members to announce tonight. Professor Brooding will be taking over Potions and Coach Reilly will be taking over for Quidditch. I trust you will all treat them with the respect they deserve." Blatant lie, he didn't expect teenagers to be respectful one little bit, but let that be a warning to them. " I am pleased," Another blatant lie, he couldn't care less, "to announce that this year instead of each house having it's own Quidditch team, as we've had trouble with that within the last few years, that we will instead be having an All Star Team, made up of the best Quidditch players in the school that will be playing against teams from other schools. More details will be posted in your common rooms.

"In addition, this year's Midsummer Event will be the Fair. Details on that will also be posted in later in the year. Now we will sing the school song." Yet another blatant lie. They would be singing the song, not him. Lyric sheets were passed around and the song began.

Every day we strive
Learning to survive
Life’s hardships and to solve its mystery.
Learning to defend
Our honour and our friends,
Flying high to meet our destiny
We will stand and face those who want to harm us.
We won’t let the world transfigure, jinx or charm us
I won’t fight alone, as long as you are with me.
Sonora be my home, my tutor and my spirit
Vasita quoque floeat; Even the desert blooms. .

That done, he dug into his steak and bourbon.

Subthreads:

Well, it was nice while it lasted. by Evelyn Stones with Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Harper's Quest III: A Welcomed Escape by Gary Harper with Amelia Layne

What's the point? by Julius Astley, Crotalus with Cleo James

Let's try this socializing thing again. by Katerina Vorontsov with Dorian Montoir

Is it too late? by Tabitha Hawthorne with Mary Brooding

I think we should be friends [Tag Zevalyn] by Ness McLeod with Zevalyn

All back to not as before. by Grayson Wright with Tarquin Fox-Reynolds

It's an outrage (tag Ben) by Kyte Collindale with Ben Pierce

Of brides and bribery, mostly. by Tatiana Vorontsova

The wanderer returns by Jehan Callahan with Heinrich Hexenmeister

Get out clauses (tag Joe) by Kir McLeod with Joe Umland

11 Headmaster Brockert Opening Feast 6 Headmaster Brockert 1 5

Evelyn Stones

July 27, 2018 10:24 PM

Well, it was nice while it lasted. by Evelyn Stones

From the cauldron of potion to her seat at the Pecari table, Evelyn could hardly breathe. It had taken her a long time to start the walk and it wasn't until someone-- she didn't even see who-- reminded her in a quiet whisper that that damning brown badge meant she was a Pecari now did she start that journey. She wondered at the metaphor in that.

The world had seemed so small before Sonora and so impossible once she'd arrived. For a moment, she'd made a friend and found a flicker of potential in this place and, if she was honest, in this whole magic world. Now that she was placed in Pecari, a House about which she knew nothing and who's reputation and standing in her new friend's eyes was unknown, she felt like she had sunk back into darkness. She supposed she should call the student 'Ness' and not 'my friend,' because she didn't really know whether Ness would want to be friends with a brown-badged table-traitor.

Oh how she longed to sit beside the other Alandrens and know that everything was going to be fine. Instead, she sat at a table full of unfamiliar faces, except a first-year she had seen in the gardens, and did her best to hold back her tears as she listened to Headmaster Brockert finish his speech.

The hall erupted into song and Evelyn realized she actually was teary-eyed when she couldn't see the song lyrics on the sheet in front of her through the blur in her eyes. What a disaster.

Food appeared but she hardly found herself hungry anymore. How terrible that even the best things in life could have all their goodness sucked out by one lousy potion. She liked potions, usually, but this one had done her a great disservice. And what did a potion know about her personality or her potential anyway? Stupid potion.

She was thinking these things when she noticed the student beside her looking at her. Sighing and taking a small piece of roast from the dish in front of her, she hoped this might make the person look away. When it didn't, she snapped.

"What do you want?" she demanded, glaring at the student. She hoped that her orange lipstick frightened them, that her white hair was a mess, and that her green eyes were rimmed with red as tears threatened to appear there. She hoped she looked terrible and that they would leave her alone. She also knew that she was too old to be a first year, but small, and that she likely wouldn't look frightening even if she wanted to.

She sighed again. "I'm sorry," she muttered, looking back at her food. "I didn't mean to snap at you. Why are you looking at me like that, though?"

22 Evelyn Stones Well, it was nice while it lasted. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 28, 2018 7:29 AM

The way I see it, it's only just begun. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi had had no preference in terms of houses when he walked into the hall for the sorting and subsequent feast. His only hope that the house that he did end up in was with people who were friendly, nice and had a sense of humour or his trick-playing would be very dull indeed. Malikhi was not cruel and didn't want to upset anyone with his pranks. They were designed to make people laugh but nothing was worse if it backfired and he ended up causing misery instead. So, when his name was called, he strode confidently up to the Sorting Potion and dunked his badge in with no hesitation. Upon pulling it out, the badge had changed to brown and with a smile, he meandered over to the Pecari table.

He was pleased when the speech wasn't a long one. He wanted nothing more than to pile his plate high of delicious food and dig in and he was happy when it seemed that the Headmaster either wanted to do the same or the man was considerate enough of the students whose stomachs were rumbling. He took part in the song, though his voice was somewhat off-key and he didn't really know how fast he should sing despite having the words but he tried nonetheless. When that was over, he was happy to start helping himself to some delicious looking chicken breast, mashed potatoes and, to Malikhi's utter delight, Yorkshire pudding.

He was just about to start eating when he noticed something out the corner of his eye. Or rather, someone. With wide eyes, he realised that he recognised her - after all, who could forget the bright orange lipstick she wore? However, unlike at orientation when she had seemed cheerful, chatting to her friend, she now looked miserable. Malikhi was very confused. They'd only just sat down. What on earth could possibly be upsetting her?

He jumped when she suddenly snapped at him, obviously having caught him staring at her. If he had needed any further confirmation that the girl was upset, he had it in the watery bloodshot eyes and the snarl of her lips. He was rather alarmed. He didn't deal very well with people who were upset and he wasn't entirely sure what the problem was.

After a moment, she seemed to recede and had muttered an apology to him. Was this what all girls were like here in America? If that was so, Malikhi felt that he would either end up treading on eggshells around them or avoiding them altogether. They seemed rather scary.

"I, uh," his voice came out awkward and a little squeaky and he blushed. He was ashamed at having been caught staring. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I noticed that you seemed upset. I want to know why. So, why are you upset?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari The way I see it, it's only just begun. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Gary Harper

July 28, 2018 7:56 AM

Harper's Quest III: A Welcomed Escape by Gary Harper

Gary was glad to be back at Sonora. He took a seat at the Aladren table and watched/participated in the opening ceremony festivities as one would expect. He cheered for Kir as he accepted his prefect badge, filed the Quidditch news under 'not applicable', thought the fair sounded like it could be fun, and sang along with the school song. All in all, it was a welcomed relief to be back at school again. He was looking forward to getting together with the group again, see how their summers went and start gaming again. There had been a severe lack of it over the summer.

The summer hadn't been 'bad' per say, but it had been chaotic and crazy. Dad had gotten remarried. June was a nice enough lady, and she and Dad liked each other well enough. She had some strange ideas about getting Dad out of the basement and into more 'adult' social interactions. She wasn't much of a gamer. They had certainly played some games over the summer, she knew how and didn't hate them, but apparently she considered them an occasional past time, not something that should dominate an entire day every week or more. Crazy talk.

Since the wedding hadn't come until late in the summer, as far as he knew, she still didn't know that Gary was a wizard. He was still just going off to a special school somewhere. Dad was going to bring her up to speed sometime soon. He wasn't sure how well that would go, but it couldn't be helped. Her kids were another story. In that same moment that changed so much around home, he'd also went from being an only child to having an older brother and sister.

Jeremy and Sasha were, as far as he could tell, stereotypical teenagers of their appropriate genders. They were obsessed with sports, shopping, friends, movies, and the opposite gender. Gary had nothing in common with them, and so interactions with them were strained and awkward at best. Dad and June had encouraged them to spend time together to help overcome some of that, but it hadn't really worked. Dad tried to run a game for the whole new family, but Jeremy and Sasha sat staring at their phones with minimal involvement the whole time. June had drug them out on a mini vacation filled with minigolf, movies and swimming pools. There still wasn't much interaction. In the end, the three of them seemed to just agree on avoided each other for the time being. Going back to school was the best way to avoid them that he could think of, so he was enjoying the return.

Once the food appeared, he filled up his plate. Then, in a completely unprecedented move, without any planning or ulterior motives he turned to whoever was sitting near him, smiled and asked, "So, how'd your summer go? Glad to be back?"

2 Gary Harper Harper's Quest III: A Welcomed Escape 1404 Gary Harper 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 28, 2018 11:59 AM

Is everybody here...nice? by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn stared back at the boy with nerves drawn into his expression. His reply had surprised her and she could feel her brain processing this information, slowly, as if it weren't willing to accept that it had been wrong beforehand. She had come to Sonora quite convinced that she would be the laughing stock of the school and certainly not friend material for any respectable student. Her schema was changing, though, and she was embarrassed to have been so rude before.

"I'm so sorry," Evelyn replied, practically just a chirp. "I'm sorry, I really thought you were picking on me. I'm so nervous, and I think I'm being a brat about it."

She took a moment to wipe her face with the sleeve of her robe, grateful to find only tears and no snot or anything there. She was careful not to smear her lipstick.

"I didn't expect to get Pecari," Evelyn admitted to the boy. "And I was hoping to be sorted with my friend, because I don't have any other ones and that seemed like it would be nice."

The boy had a plate of food in front of him and seemed eager to get started on his first-year. She recognized him from orientation but hadn't caught his name. Again though, anyone who liked food that much had to be worth at least one conversation.

"My name is Evelyn," she said. "And I'm really really sorry I snapped at you."

22 Evelyn Stones Is everybody here...nice? 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 28, 2018 12:13 PM

Well, I don't know about everyone... but I think I am? by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi was absolutely convinced that girls were some kind of different species to his own gender. The girl next to him had done a complete u-turn in her emotions and had now managed to compose herself and perk herself up. It was bizarre and Malikhi wondered if girl's emotions were some kind of magical force all of their own. When she explained that she was sad because she didn't get sorted with her only friend, he sort of understood but, at the same time, he didn't. Couldn't she just make new friends?

"Okay," he began, before putting some delicious creamy mashed potato in his mouth and swallowing. God, it was delicious. "I'm sure that being sorted with your friend would have been nice but the way I see it? Getting sorted into a different house is kind of good as well because you can make more friends which is a good thing."

He turned his eyes back to her, searching her face nervously for any more tears. He was a bit wary of her and didn't want her to burst into tears again. When he didn't find any trace of any, he let out a relieved sigh and gave her a broad grin instead. "If you want, I'll be your friend!"

For other people, making friends might not have been that easy but, for Malikhi, it truly was. It was just as simple as saying 'I like you, let's be friends'. He didn't understand why people had to complicate things.

He finally had a name to a face when she introduced herself as Evelyn and received another apology. He waved a dismissive hand about her apology and then stuck it out for a handshake. "I'm Malikhi. Malikhi Hill and now, you have another friend!"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Well, I don't know about everyone... but I think I am? 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 28, 2018 12:28 PM

I really don't know if I am, but I'll try! by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn smiled and copied her new friend by shoveling mashed potatoes and roast onto her plate. She did cast one furtive glance around the room to see if she could spot Ness at the Alandren table, but only spent a moment. In that moment, she decided firmly that she would still be friends with Ness, and that she wasn't going to let fear rule her here. Of course, the prospect of living fearlessly sounded terrifying.

"I like your perspective, Malikhi," she replied, doing her best to copy his pronunciation. He'd been nice to her, the least she could do was say his name correctly.

Evelyn wasn't convinced that he was being friendly because he wanted to be friends, and couldn't push aside the worry that he was just trying to make her stop crying, but decided not to dwell on it. The food was delicious and she maybe had two friends now.

"Are you excited to be here?" she asked, glad to finally have an answer she was comfortable with if he returned the question. "You're excited for food at least!"

She took several large bites, surprised at how hungry she was after having eaten so much in the gardens just a little while before.

"This is amazing," she groaned. Salad, corn, roast mushrooms, and an assortment of other goods found their way to her plate. She hoped she wasn't too disgusting, consuming such quantities at once, but anyone who was as excited about a feast as Malikhi seemed unlikely to judge her.

Taking a breath, she sat back enough to see his face comfortably, and waited for his answer.

22 Evelyn Stones I really don't know if I am, but I'll try! 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Julius Astley, Crotalus

July 28, 2018 1:03 PM

What's the point? by Julius Astley, Crotalus

Julius was no more excited at being at Sonora than he had been at orientation. That is, he wasn't excited at all. He still resented the very fact that he'd been sent to the school in the first place and, in his eyes, he didn't feel that it was even a prestigious school worthy of his standing as a Pureblood descended from French royalty. Why was he being forced to mix with all these half-bloods and muggleborns? It was diabolical.

He reluctantly approached the Sorting Potion, a deep scowl on his face. He did not care, to a point, which house he was sorted into as long as no one tried to talk to him. At least, no one who wasn't worthy of his time like that wretched Katerina girl at orientation. He rolled his eyes, remembering that whole event. If those were the kinds of people that attended Sonora, Julius was not looking forward to the rest of the year. Or the next six that would follow.

With a resigned sigh, Julius dipped his blank badge into the potion and, upon pulling it out, revealed it to be red. Crotalus. Julius hoped, as he walked to the right table, that the Crotali already there were people he could at least bear to be seen associating with. He'd died of embarrassment if he was in a house of a load of nice people who were insistent on doing nothing but making friends and, well, being nice.

He sat himself down and did not make any move to greet anyone. He listened quietly to the Headmaster but did not care about the Head Students or the Prefects, nor did he care about Quidditch. He gave only a cursory glance over the lyric sheet that was handed out but refused to join in with the infernal singing. All Julius wanted to do was to help himself to some food, eat in peace and then find a quiet corner to read a book. Once the daft song had finished and the food was served, Julius helped himself to some roast potatoes, pork and various other things (that he reluctantly admitted looked and tasted delicious - he'd been hoping that the food would be as bad as everything else).

He'd been hoping to get through the entire meal without saying another word to anyone but then he felt someone looking at him and he let out an exasperated sigh and turned to look sharply at the person. "Can I help you?"

20 Julius Astley, Crotalus What's the point? 1425 Julius Astley, Crotalus 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 28, 2018 1:20 PM

Trying is all that anyone asks for. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi was amused by Evelyn. She seemed to be rather eccentric, not that he hadn't already guessed that when he'd seen her in the gardens with the bright orange lipstick. He felt that on anyone else, the colour would be an awful choice but, for some reason, the vivid colour seemed to suit her. Now that she'd calmed down, he felt a lot more relaxed and was more than happy to shovel food into his mouth at the same pace she was. He was pleased to have met a girl who seemed to love food as much as he did, seeing as most of the girls he'd met (though, he had to admit, that hadn't been many), seemed reluctant to eat an entire sandwich.

"I'm excited," he managed to get out, in between bites and he agreed with her assessment of the food. It was indeed incredibly delicious. "I can't wait for dessert! I hope they have profiteroles and ice cream!"

He helped himself to some more Yorkshire pudding with another ladel full of gravy and decided to slow down on the eating front, if only so he and Evelyn could actually hold a proper conversation. Otherwise, what was the point of having made a friend if you subsequently don't talk to them?

"I'm looking forward to Charms lessons, I think," he elaborated on his answer. "And Potions. I think they could be really helpful for, uh, some future plans of mine if you get my meaning."

A grin spread on his face, this one having a mischievous quality to it and he sent her a conspiratorial wink. Then, he chuckled and had another forkful of mashed potato. "What about you? What are you looking forward to?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Trying is all that anyone asks for. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Katerina Vorontsov

July 28, 2018 1:42 PM

Let's try this socializing thing again. by Katerina Vorontsov

Sonora, Tatiana had warned her, was a very western place. It was not as stark as the average American location, but it was still noticeably lacking in beauty. There were fewer colors, more earth tones among the colors that were there, fewer flourishes – the jewel tones and intricate mosaics and carvings and rich fabrics, these were lacking in America.

This was, Katya supposed, factually correct enough, but as she had followed Professor Wright and the other first years along on the tour, Katya found herself increasingly surprised by her sister’s assessment that it was a plain, dreary place. The tile work wasn’t the same as it would be in a Russian home, true, but it had its own beauty, and seemed well-proportioned. There were many paintings on the walls and potted plants added their own lavishness. And when they entered the Cascade Hall, she stopped walking for one moment to look around at the effect.

It was not Russian – but it was not plain, either. The floor was plain marble, but smooth and well-jointed, and not the central point. The chandeliers sparkled with a blaze of candles which spoke of wealth, and the light was reflected even further by the millions of delicate reflections of the flames from the rippling water running down over most of the walls. It was both beautiful and, because of the reflecting of the light, functional. She could not really examine the tables and chairs yet because of all the people in them, but as for the room itself, she adored it.

She was so taken with the room that she almost forgot the purpose of being in it, which was to get Sorted, until the first years were being lined up before everyone else and the Headmaster was reminding them of the protocol. It seemed simple enough. Take the badge, put it in the pot, remove. Easy. She had, with some difficulty, managed to change gloves and jewels before this, taking her white pearl strand and evening gloves out of her bag and putting her hat and her coral necklace (switching to pearl earrings had proven too complicated on the move, so dark pink and gold still gleamed at her ears) in the bag where her afternoon gloves had already been, so she would have to remove one glove to dunk the badge to avoid accidentally Sorting a glove as well, but she could do that. Step, start to unbutton the top of her glove before she got there, step again, hold badge in her left palm and use her fingertips to remove the right glove, transfer badge back to her right hand…And it was her turn.

Taking the badge in her right fingertips, she daintily dipped it down into the pot, where it promptly, without hesitation, turned yellow.

Teppen-paw. It was a strange word, but a good thing. Pecari, where Tatya was, was something everyone had agreed was unlikely for her, but Tatya had said Teppenpaw was not and that if Katya did go into Teppenpaw, Dorian Montoir had already said he would like to be friends with Katya. Tatya had shown her pictures, so she knew his face, and she quickly saw an empty spot next to him and headed toward it. She felt badly, in a way, for taking up an older student’s time when he presumably had friends he’d like to talk to, but he had invited her and he, too, did not speak perfect English, which reduced the chances of being humiliated again.

“Bonsoir,” said Katya. “Est-ce que tu t’appelles Dorian? Je m’appelle Katerine, la fille d’Andrei Vorontsov. Est-ce que tu es l’ami de ma soeur Tatiane?”

OOC: Katerina having an invitation to sit with Dorian if she went into Teppenpaw was established OOC with Dorian’s author.

16 Katerina Vorontsov Let's try this socializing thing again. 1418 Katerina Vorontsov 0 5

Evelyn Stones, Pecari

July 28, 2018 1:47 PM

That's not true, sometimes they ask for halfsies. by Evelyn Stones, Pecari

Dessert sounded wonderful. "I'm a sucker for brownies. Honestly, a good brownie is totally unbeatable. But I'd take profiteroles and ice cream, too!" Evelyn admitted.

She smiled, doing her best to match Malikhi's pace with the meal. At least he didn't seem grossed out or anything. Quite the opposite in fact. His gravy and Yorkshire puddings looked amazing though, so she took some for herself from the cornucopia in front of them.

Then the question turned, as it tended to, to magic. Evelyn stifled a groan. Although she was interested in why he was so eager to learn these things and what his future plans might be.

"Your future plans sound dastardly," she said, noting his grin and wink. It would've been hard to miss those clues.

She thought for a moment, images of climbing trees and picking out the brightest socks she could find, smearing on the most intense lipstick available running through her head. Perhaps being dastardly with a new friend would be fun.

"I'll tell you, but I want in on your plans," she said eagerly, leaning towards him. "I'm lousy with spells," the admission didn't hurt so much now somehow, "but I'm great with potions and herbology and I want to help."

She realized then, that he'd actually asked her a question. "I'm most looking forward to meals, to friends, and to practical magic," she said.

22 Evelyn Stones, Pecari That's not true, sometimes they ask for halfsies. 1422 Evelyn Stones, Pecari 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 28, 2018 2:07 PM

I'll share mine, if you share yours... by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi agreed enthusiastically with Evelyn. Anything that even remotely involved chocolate was delicious - profiteroles, brownies, chocolate cake, chocolate biscuits, chocolate mousse... Oh, he was now daydreaming about dessert and he hadn't even finished the main course. He was getting ahead of himself and, to bring him back into the present, had a mouthful of delicious, succulent chicken breast. How did they make this food so good? And addictive? Malikhi was willing to bet there was some kind of magic involved. It seemed like a reasonable thought. He'd seen his mother use magic when cooking a meal at home and wondered idly if magic indeed had a flavour... If he put his wand near his mouth and inhaled a spell, what would it taste of? He voiced these particular musings to Evelyn to get her thoughts on the matter.

He was surprised when she said she wanted to take part in his future, trouble-making endeavours. That had not been something he'd expected and he blinked, the surprise evident on his face. The thought was interesting though. He'd never had a sidekick or a partner to help in such instances. He grinned widely at the thought. With someone to help, he could make trouble on a grander, more explosive scale. That'd be awesome.

What did confuse him, though, was that she thought she was lousy at spells. They hadn't even started classes yet and she was already making assumptions about her magical ability when they hadn't even learned anything. He knew a few small spells, things that his mother had taught him when he'd first got his wand but apart from that, he knew very little else. For all they knew, he could be rubbish at both Charms and Potions and that'd be the end of his magical prank-pulling dreams forever!

In the end, he decided not to quiz her on it, in case it set her off into a fresh round of tears so, instead, he stuck out his hand and grinned widely. "I officially call us partners-in-crime!"

After that, she told him that she was looking forward to meals, friends and learning practical magic. He quite agreed with her and told her so. After all, she was already experiencing delicious food and had already made two friends so he'd call that a success so far. As for the practical magic, well, they'd just have to see how the lessons would go. Hopefully, they'd be able to sit together.

"Hey," he nudged her gently. "In classes, would you maybe want to sit together?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari I'll share mine, if you share yours... 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 28, 2018 3:14 PM

That sounds fair. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn wrinkled her nose at the thought of tasting a spell, but decided the idea wasn't the worst she'd heard. She still preferred to let Malikhi try it first, though.

He looked so excited that she'd be interested in his shenanigans and Evelyn couldn't pretend it wasn't exciting. He seemed like a good person to hang around for some entertainment, though, and was probably a genuinely nice person as well.

He didn't comment on her assertion that her spellcasting was weak, which she appreciated, and his question about sitting in classes together made her smile.

"How do classes work?" she asked, feeling celebratory and shoveling yet more food onto her plate. She thought then of liquids and poured herself a massive cup of juice, downed it, and poured another. "Do we take them by year or by House or both?"

She thought of Ness and was surprised to find a knot of guilt in her stomach. She'd like to sit with Ness, but wanted to be friends with this boy, too. She wondered how well that would work. She'd never had one friend to worry about, let alone two.

"I'd love to sit with you," she said after a moment. "It'd be nice to have a friend in class, and I suspect you'll keep classes interesting at least."

She winked back. She suspected it was awkward looking, but didn't worry too much about that. She was more worried about Ness, but she was sure that Ness could join them. That's why she had two sides! One for Malikhi, and one for Ness. She hoped.

22 Evelyn Stones That sounds fair. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

July 28, 2018 3:31 PM

Is it too late? by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha had almost been late to the feast. If she hadn't laid out her more formal dress robes earlier, she was sure that she would have arrived after all the students and that would have created a reputation for her that she wouldn't have been able to get rid of for the rest of the year. It would have been an embarrassment and Tabitha would have never been able to live it down.

For the evening, she had selected her best clothes. An ankle-length white robe that had a high collar, the inside of it lined with a dark blue silk which she wore draped over her shoulders, leaving the long sleeves to swing freely. Underneath, she wore a loose white blouse that had ruffles down the middle which was also paired with a pair of dark blue slacks. She completed the entire ensemble with a pair of comfortable black leather boots. As for her hair, it wasn't long enough to tie back so all she'd done was create some gentle waves. She felt like she looked like she'd made enough of an effort without trying too hard, which had been her intention and she hoped she managed to pull it off.

She had taken a seat to the left of the table and, as planned, next to the lovely Mary Brooding. She murmured a quick 'hello' to the witch and sent her a smile, though Tabitha felt rather tense. There was absolutely no turning back now, just in case she was having doubts. There was something about sitting there, though, that made Tabitha extraordinarily nervous. She felt rather like she was on show, being paraded in front of all the students for assessment and evaluation. She clasped her hands together, feeling a slight tremble in them. She'd be more comfortable facing off against a Manticore in Greece than sitting in front of all the students.

Even through the speech that Headmaster Brockert gave, her nerves didn't ease but she applauded politely as the first years were sorted and her applause was a little louder when Mary Brooding was introduced as a new teacher. She might have been nervous but she was still pleased for her new friend.

Once everyone had settled and the food was up for grabs, she turned to her dinner partner and asked, "Tell me, is it too late to run for the hills?"

20 Tabitha Hawthorne Is it too late? 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 28, 2018 3:45 PM

Fair exchange is no robbery. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi copied Evelyn in her drink-pouring and helped himself to something that was purple and also fizzy and, when he tasted it, was delicious and sweet. He'd made a good choice, it seemed, as it was the perfect accompaniment to his meal. He clinked his goblet against hers to toast to their new friendship and new adventure that was beginning at Sonora and with a grin, drank some more.

"From what I read in the folders we received at orientation, classes are separated into three groups, depending on year. So, there's the Beginners, that's us and the second year and then years three, four and five are the Intermediates and then the Advanced classes are for years six and seven," he explained, pleased with himself that he did actually remember something from the green folders they received. "I think it's because Sonora's not exactly a big school, so it's easier to just group us all together. I think it's good though. You have more opportunities to make friends and, uh, pull a few tricks as well."

He let out a bark of laughter which was quite loud and perhaps attracted more attention than Malikhi had intended but he wasn't perturbed by it. He just grinned at a few of the people who'd turned to look before helping himself to some parsnips and carrots. His mother would scold him if he didn't eat his vegetables as well as everything else he packed away in the bottomless pit he had for a stomach.

He was pleased to hear that she'd like to sit with him as it guaranteed that he was with someone that he definitely got along with and Evelyn was very nice, despite the awkward teary meeting they had earlier. Malikhi just hoped that he could keep her smiling for a long time to come.

"What do you think of the teachers?" he asked, turning his eyes to the front of the hall where they were all seated. "The Headmaster seems kind of grumpy but the rest all look okay. I think Professor Wright was alright but I hope some of them are a bit more interesting than him, no offence to the guy. What about you?"

OOC note - Speaking of teachers, I've set up an OF thread for Mary and Tabitha as discussed :)

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Fair exchange is no robbery. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones, Pecari

July 28, 2018 6:31 PM

Robbery is definitely robbery though by Evelyn Stones, Pecari

Evelyn had forgotten entirely about their green folders, and sort of wondered if she'd even opened hers yet. At any rate, she wasn't sure where she'd put it. She grinned sheepishly, and gratefully, at Malikhi. "I'm glad you know that," she said.

Evelyn liked the way he laughed; he was comfortable in his own skin and comfortable around her, which naturally put her at ease. Really, the whole thing was an incredible experience. As she relaxed, she got to enjoy more of the beauty of the hall around them and the sheer amazement that filled her from eating what she was eating, talking to whom she was talking, and experiencing Sonora as a whole.

Malikhi was easy to talk to and she felt doubly awful for snapping at someone so nice. At the same time, she supposed he should see her angry, feisty side if they were going to have any real sort of friendship. She eyed him for eating his vegetables and decided she would get back into caring about health and whatnot tomorrow. Today was for feeling less like she was dying and carrots always made her feel like dying. Nasty orange turds.

"To be perfectly honest, I like grumpy," she admitted to Malikhi, eyeing the professors with him. "At least you know what he's thinking. It's the nice ones you have to watch out for." She eyed the new professor, Mary, who was happily chatting away to a witch in white.

"Professor Wright seemed nervous or dull or something, but at least he'll make charms a bit less intimidating. I wouldn't want to take that class from anybody real scary, you know?"

Evelyn smirked at the thought of growing up and becoming a professor herself. "I bet Professor Wright has a secret sense of humor. Not saying we should pull anything in his class," she said, winking, "but I suspect he'd only dole out a punishment through laughter."

Malikhi was a good guy, and hadn't yet lectured her about anything. Between him and Ness, everyone at Sonora seemed wonderful. She was sure that wouldn't last, but wanted to bask in it for now.

"Is the purple stuff any good?" she asked, eyeing his drink. "I wonder what they taste like together...." Grabbing a glass and pouring it half full of the purple fizzy stuff, she raised her eyebrows at Malikhi and smirked as she reached for a jug of orange fizzy stuff and poured it on top. The mixture bubbled ferociously and then turned a rotten shade of green. Evelyn grimaced.

"Give me your glass," she said. "I'm not trying this alone."

22 Evelyn Stones, Pecari Robbery is definitely robbery though 1422 Evelyn Stones, Pecari 0 5

Mary Brooding

July 28, 2018 6:41 PM

Only if you leave without me. by Mary Brooding

If Mary hadn't felt like she stood out before, she certainly did now. It wasn't in the positive, 'Wow, you look great in olive!' sort of stand out, but the, 'Wow, you have beautiful friends!' way. As her new friend took the empty seat beside her, Mary couldn't help thinking she was sitting beside a snow queen, while she herself looked like an actual olive, rather than just wearing the appropriate shade of green.

Despite Tabitha's beauty, she seemed obviously uncomfortable. Mary, however, quite enjoyed the spotlight, and smiled happily at the students. If she was honest, they weren't paying too much attention to the staff table anyway.

Mary hummed a bit, the school song stuck in her head, as she leaned towards the food in front of her and took a large scoop of jello pudding. She wasn't sure how the school-- whomever prepared the food at school at least-- had known it was her favorite thing to eat, but she was glad they had. She was quite sure jello pudding was not an actual meal item, but it would suffice whens he was feeling far too bubbly to eat anything else. Although, eyeing a nearby green bean casserole made her second guess this assertion. She took a scoop of that as well.

When Tabitha leaned over and asked about escaping, Mary chuckled. She wanted to laugh, but thought it might embarrass the Defense mistress, who was clearly not enjoying the spotlight as much as Mary was.

"Quite so," she replied. She thought for a moment before reaching out to place an arm gently around Tabitha's shoulders. She hoped desperately the touch would be okay.

Providing one light squeeze before moving to pull her arm away, Mary lowered her tone into one more conspiratorial. "I've worn heels I simply can't run in and there's no way you're going without me!"

22 Mary Brooding Only if you leave without me. 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 28, 2018 6:51 PM

Well, is a crime a crime if we don't get caught? by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi was still focused on the teachers, listening with half an ear to Evelyn. He rather agreed with her assessment of Professor Wright. Maybe the man did have a secret sense of humour that would take something spectacular to draw out? Malikhi thought that they would have to start coming up with something to pull in class to test the theory. Maybe not against the teacher himself as that truly was a risky move but something...

He turned the idea over in his head some more but, deciding to leave it for now, he turned his full attention back to Evelyn, who now appeared to be curiously staring at the drinks. Before he had a chance to answer her question in regards to his own purple drink, she was busy mixing purple with orange and creating something that looked awfully like snot and then demanding his own goblet.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, he offered it and she filled it up and his own drink had now turned the same shade of snot green. He pulled a face at it and swirled it around his goblet. It seemed to have turned kind of thick and sludgy. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Evelyn.

"We're so going to regret this," he told her but the grin on his face expressed that he was still willing to risk it. "On three? One... two... three!"

He downed his drink and the reaction to it was instantaneous. He started spluttering and coughing. The mixture was vile and tasted something rather like bananas that had gone bad along with sour, rotting grapes. Not helping his own situation, he started laughing which only made his coughing fit worse. Well, if they didn't attract attention before, they sure did now. He offered his goblet to Evelyn.

"Fancy any more?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Well, is a crime a crime if we don't get caught? 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 28, 2018 7:04 PM

I don't think that's how criminal justice works by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn was too grateful to find that Malikhi had also drank his nastiness-- rather than pretending and laughing at her when she drank it herself-- to notice right away how terrible it was. It was the sort of texture you'd expect brownie batter to be, and nobody wants to drink brownie batter by itself. She hated to compare it to something so delicious, either, as she might have believed it had come out of the business end of a Devil's Snare.

"Merlin's saggy bottom," she choked. "That's the foulest thing I've ever tasted."

She laughed, pushing his proffered seconds away. "No way," she said. "But I'll bet you a chocolate frog you won't drink the rest without throwing up."

Evelyn wasn't sure whether she wanted Malikhi to take her up on this challenge because she wanted to see him throw up, or not because she didn't have any chocolate frogs and would have to go about buying one off someone else in order to get him one.

She was surprised at how easy it was to ignore the the other students looking at them, and surprised at how many of their faces showed interest rather than disappointment. Perhaps Pecari wasn't such a bad place to be sorted.

Suddenly, an idea came to mind, and her eyes grew wide with anticipation. "What do you mean it's terrible?" she asked, false innocence dripping from her voice. "It's only soda from lunch, Professor. I was only trying to be nice leaving some on your desk for you."

She grinned at Malikhi, proud to have come up with something dastardly, particularly one that pointed towards their rudimentary, albeit accidental potions skills. She wondered if the concoction reacted the way it had because of magic, or simply because the school cooks enjoyed messing with students who got weird about mixing their drinks. It seemed rather odd to do on purpose, considering the popular Muggle drink, 'graveyard,' where all the sodas get mixed up.

"If we each brought a glass of the different ones, then it's just an accidental mix up, right?" she laughed.

22 Evelyn Stones I don't think that's how criminal justice works 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

July 28, 2018 7:09 PM

Why would I do a thing like that? by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha let out a slow sigh, trying to calm her nerves. She wouldn't be able to eat until she did calm down otherwise, all she'd end up with would be indigestion and a bad stomach. The side-hug from Mary was very welcome and warming and she eased, slightly. She was relieved that Mary was sitting next to her, looking lovely in green. The colour suited the woman very well and Tabitha told her so, hoping that it was okay to pay such a compliment. It felt only right after Mary having complimented Tabitha on her eyes the first time they'd met. Tabitha's cheeks flushed a light pink as she recalled that and she cleared her throat and picked up her goblet of wine to take a sip before she said anything else that could potentially embarrass herself for the rest of eternity.

Mentally, she growled to herself to pull herself together. She was Tabitha Hawthorne, who'd travelled the world and faced off against Occamies and Runespoors and here she was being intimidated by a load of teenagers and blushing like a school girl. For goodness sake, she needed to sort herself out.

After internally berating herself, Tabitha cleared her throat again and started to help herself to the delicious looking food that was spread on the table in front of her. She was definitely having some of those lovely looking sausages...

"So," she started, now attempting to have a real conversation with Mary. "If we're to go travelling later in the year, where would you like to go?"

20 Tabitha Hawthorne Why would I do a thing like that? 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding

July 28, 2018 7:22 PM

It wouldn't be the strangest thing by Mary Brooding

A calm, confident, and happy woman, both in reality and in self-perception, Mary was unaccustomed to the nerves that rumbled through her belly. She took a moment to cut a piece of jello in half with her knife, a poor excuse to look away, but an excuse nonetheless. She hoped it looked like she was thinking.

Traveling the world with this woman seemed...dangerous. In a good way, but dangerous nonetheless. She supposed it was the loss of so many others that made her suddenly question the wisdom behind committing to someone who could so easily leave her behind, either through tragedy or through choice. She thought of Parker, dead so young, and her parents. She thought of Michelle, the beautiful blonde who had captured her heart. Then she thought of Tabitha.

That pretty face didn't seem to be full of threats, but it was easy enough to be deceived by a smile, and Mary didn't prefer to make that mistake again. But if she was wrong...if Tabitha was exactly as kind and clever and beautiful as she thought...then what would she be throwing away by taking the cautious route?

Anger rose in her chest, and she stabbed at a piece of jello. It slid off her fork-- of course-- and so she shoveled some pudding into her mouth, hoping to subdue the frustrations building. She stifled a scowl. She was Mary blood Brooding and she was not going to let a not so lovely past ruin a possibly lovely future.

She also wasn't going to let a not so lovely choice of words do that either.

Mary knew she'd been looking down for a long time, on top of savagely fighting the gelatinous dessert on her plate, and she looked up at Tabitha with as open expression as she could manage under pressure.

"I'd like to go to the Arctic," she answered softly. "I'd like to see the Aurora Borealis, and I'd like to research the growth patterns of certain rare plants there."

She watched as Tabitha reached for a sausage, and wondered whether this was a cultural thing related to the supposed popularity of bangers and mash, or if it was simply a personal preference. Mary realized that she'd rather find that out, and all sorts of other things about this witch, than most anything that she could learn in the Arctic. It seemed stupid to be so fond of someone so quickly, but it how wonderful anyway.

"And if you'd like to have me, I think I'd love to see England with you." She smiled what she hoped was an innocent expression and brushed off the comment before it could be too weighty. "Where do two people who have seen everything go to see something new? I suspect it's only possible if you see the familiar through the eyes of the unfamiliar. I'd like to know what you see when you go home."

22 Mary Brooding It wouldn't be the strangest thing 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 28, 2018 7:27 PM

How do you know? Are you the police? by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi laughed as she refused and put his goblet back on the table, out of reach of anyone else. No one else should be subjected to such foulness. He also turned down her bet. It wasn't that he didn't believe that he could drink it without throwing up because he could, he absolutely could. He just... didn't want to show off in front of everybody. Yeah, that was it. Satisfied that he'd perfectly justified himself to, well, himself, he grinned at Evelyn.

At her implied suggestion that they basically poison one of their teachers, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he was dealing with someone just as tricky and mischievously minded as he was. It was just too perfect. A prank having emerged because she'd decided to mess around with some magical drinks. It was just so good.

"You're completely right," he agreed, nodding. "If anyone had to be my pranking partner, I'm glad it was you."

He smiled at her, revealing his teeth (well, except for the couple he'd left at the front). He really quite liked her and was pleased that she'd been sorted into Pecari and that he had as well. He idly wondered what it'd be like if they hadn't met each other. He doubted that he'd have a partner-in-crime so soon. He shook his head, dismissing the thoughts. There was no point thinking like that.

"I'm happy to have met you, Evelyn," he decided to tell her. There was no trace of a smile on his face as he was being completely sincere.

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari How do you know? Are you the police? 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 28, 2018 7:38 PM

Yes. Stick 'em up! by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn grinned, satisfied that she had won a hypothetical chocolate frog from Malikhi. He didn't know it, but his friendship was tacit agreement to these sorts of bets. She wouldn't hold it to him just yet though.

"No one HAD to be your pranking partner," she replied, preferring not to be the favorite by default. "But I'm glad to be prime choice."

Held back one full year due to her parents' insistence that it would be good for her, Evelyn was all of twelve years old, practically a woman. Her small build and freckled face meant she could have passed for nine or ten, but in that moment, Evelyn felt all of her twelve years. She thought it odd that she enjoyed Malikhi's smile and his serious face just as much. It seemed that the happy face should be the preferable one.

She thought her name sounded safe in his mouth, which was good. Names should be safe in people's mouths. Mouths are such funny places. All warm. Probably. She wasn't sure. Malikhi's mouth was probably warm.

Blinking hard and trying to pretend she wasn't blushing, Evelyn smiled at her new friend. Friend. Such a safe word in her mouth.

"I'm happy, too," she said. She didn't want to say his name again. She'd said it already, but it seemed different now. She was afraid her teeth would get in the way or her tongue would be in the wrong place.

The whole thing seemed terribly uncomfortable and Evelyn swallowed hard, reaching for the nearest thing to drink. A lump had formed in her throat and she only managed to squeeze out a quick, "So do you play broomsticks? I mean Quidditch?" before swallowing a mouthful of green soda sludge and bursting into another fit of coughing.

It was entirely impossible to turn any more red.

22 Evelyn Stones Yes. Stick 'em up! 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

July 28, 2018 7:48 PM

I won't leave you behind by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha grew worried when Mary didn't reply to her for a time and, for a second, a shot of fear went straight through her. Maybe Mary had changed her mind and didn't want to travel with her anymore? She knew that travelling with her was dangerous. It was part of the reason why her parents hadn't wanted her to go in the first place. The unknown dangers, the need to be on one's guard for most, if not all, of the time. And what if one of them got hurt? Perhaps fatally.

She jumped when Mary suddenly stabbed at her jello pudding, the sound of the prongs of the fork hitting the plate startling her. Okay, now she seemed angry. Oh, Tabitha had managed to screw up something quite spectacularly now. She'd thought a seemingly harmless question about travelling would be a good point of conversation but clearly, she'd been wrong and Mary had changed her mind and Tabitha had completely misread the situation. What a great start to the year.

Then, she heard Mary say that she wanted to go to the Arctic. She blinked and looked at the witch, surprised. Mary had managed to pick the one place that the Defence professor had never been. She smiled at her. "The Arctic? I've... actually never been. I'd love to go though - there's a species of Salamander that resides there and I'm sure the Northern Lights are beautiful."

It was the perfect place, really, for a new adventure. A new adventure as new friends. The Arctic. Tabitha made a note to eventually buy some warm robes. Then, Mary said she wanted to see England which made Tabitha pause.

The Defence teacher hadn't returned to England in years and had had no inclination to do so. She'd parted with her parents on such bad terms that she'd written off the country. She wasn't even sure if she called it home anymore, she hadn't returned in so long. Deciding that the best course of action was to mull the idea over for a while, she settled on smiling at Mary and... well, changing the subject.

"I'd like to take you to Fiji. It's a favourite place of mine - Fire Crabs are native to Fiji and, unless I'm mistaken, their saliva is useful in potions... And there's always India. Though, that'd be a dangerous trip. There's Runespoors there and if they bite you, they can be deadly."

20 Tabitha Hawthorne I won't leave you behind 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding

July 28, 2018 8:01 PM

But what if I fall? by Mary Brooding

The reminder that Tabitha was also brilliant was welcome. Mary suddenly was drawn into the intrigues of international travel, and spoke eagerly about the differences in dangers between Muggle travelers and magical ones.

"I always wonder if there's something about magical creatures that is drawn to magical humans? In which case, the element of magic in each must be harvestable. Or at least tangible. Or are attacks on Muggles simply written off as something else? What are the varying ethical practices for magical governments as far as memory alterations for magically impacted Muggles in remote places?"

This conversation was significantly easier and took some pressure off Mary's chest. She hadn't noticed how hard her heart was beating or how tight her chest was until it suddenly wasn't, and she smiled gratefully at Tabitha.

"Fiji would be lovely," she replied. The last time she'd been in Fiji, she had discovered the lovely gauze robes of the warm weather wizards there. Her current outfit was no match in terms of comfort, despite the neat look of buttoned sleeves and a buttoned front. She suspected she looked like a khaki-colored Cruella De Vil, minus the furs, of course. In Fiji, she was certain she had been made of the ocean itself. Of course, several feet of black hair is a bit difficult to manage in the water, but that's not a serious enough problem to ruin a trip.

Her usual bubbly self was returning and she sat back in her chair, smiling at her friend. "We've done it, Tabitha," she smiled, barely managing to get out the full name. The woman reminded her of the stripey cats that sit atop brick walls and watch passerby with quiet eyes, but she didn't want to go giving out nicknames just yet. "We're professors at Sonora and we're sitting here, together, in this wonderful place. Isn't it just sublime? Absolutely magnificent."

She felt like a giddy schoolgirl again and hid a giggle behind one thin hand. "Bloody wonderful!"

22 Mary Brooding But what if I fall? 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 28, 2018 8:11 PM

Alright, I surrender. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi eyed Evelyn. At eleven years old, he was only just learning about relationships and love. The love like his parents had for each other. Not, he hesitated to add to himself, that he loved Evelyn. No, he merely liked her. She was a new friend and she was nice and she had good ideas for pranks. He liked her and that was it. He just liked her.

He quite liked her eyes though. They were an intense shade of green and incredibly expressive. They completed her face. He paused in his thoughts, wondering where that sentence had come from. 'Completed her face'. Of course they did. You couldn't have an incomplete face, a person with no eyes. That'd be weird and creepy. However, there was something about Evelyn's eyes where they just suited her so perfectly. You could tell how she was feeling just by her eyes. Malikhi found that rather helpful as he was a bit dense and unless the obvious was on display, he was likely to miss it.

She'd just asked him about Quidditch when he realised that she'd pick up his previously discarded goblet of green sludge poison and before he could stop her, she'd taken a drink and was coughing. He thumped her on the back, hoping that would help.

When he thought she'd calmed down again, he moved the goblet away from her and answered her. "I do play Quidditch. I'm a Chaser. I normally followed the England team but they're a bit rubbish. They didn't even qualify in 2014," he muttered sullenly. They were truly awful. "I still support them, though. I mean, it's England. We don't know when we're beaten you see. What about you? Know anything about Quidditch?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Alright, I surrender. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 28, 2018 8:28 PM

What does one do when one has a surrendered boy? by Evelyn Stones

Well if she hadn't said stupid things before, turning the conversation to a subject she was clueless about meant she certainly had now. Her back was sore and her face felt like it was leaking and she wondered if it would be immature to hide under the table.

"Ness wants to be a Chaser, too, I think!" she blurted. "And early iterations of the Quaffle featured straps, as Gripping Charms weren't employed until the late 1800s."

What a stupid thing to say.

"I know a bit about the history," she murmured. "But not so much about what's going on now."

She hadn't thought too much about his accent until he reminded her of his English background, and Evelyn wondered if that was part of his charm. He was precisely the type of person that stood out because of who he decided to be, not because of who he was. That was an important distinction to a girl who was a disappointment but who decided to be a...never-giver-upper.

Stupid.

At least he hadn't made fun of her yet, and that was a good thing.

"Am I allowed to be obnoxious when you play?" she asked. "One of my favorite things to do back home was to go to baseball games and things with my mom, and we'd always dress up in bright colors and tutus and high socks and cheer as loud as possible. Quidditch is much more exciting than baseball, and I'd rather watch you play than like...Derek Jeter or something."

She was rambling again. Why was she rambling again?

Her own voice berated her in her thoughts, insisting she get it together. Malikhi was nice and fun and utterly not worth being stupid about. She sat back in her chair and took a breath through her nose, forcing herself to look calm. She'd managed to almost stuff herself with dinner items and the soda had turned her stomach a bit, so she felt she had a fair excuse to lean away from the magic buffet in front of them.

Lacking confidence didn't mean she needed to lack poise. She'd shown a vulnerable side to Ness, but something about Malikhi brought out the more determined side of her, reminding her how important good friends are. With this in mind, she listened eagerly to Malikhi's response, and remained calm. More than anything, she was just so grateful to have a friend.

Even if that friend was a pretty blonde with a pretty smile. And probably warm.

22 Evelyn Stones What does one do when one has a surrendered boy? 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

July 28, 2018 8:38 PM

Then I'll pick you up. by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha couldn't help but laugh as Mary embarked on an 'ethics' dissection again but it was nice to discuss something normal and not awkward and, actually, very interesting. There was no doubt that Mary was an intelligent individual and clearly educated and thoughtful.

"You're asking if one magical being is drawn to another? I'm not sure, exactly. I mean, magic itself is a force that we don't really understand. I mean, look at us now. There's something about us that separates us from muggles. We pick up a wand and we can levitate objects or fire a hex whereas if a muggle picked up a wand, it'd just be a useless stick. An oddly sculpted stick, perhaps, but a stick nonetheless. That seems to me to suggest that we have some kind of magical core that muggles don't. Whether it can be harvested, I don't know."

She mulled what she'd just said over and felt quite sure of her musings. There had to be something different inside every witch and wizard that separated them from muggles otherwise it just didn't make any sense.

"As for the ethical methods when it comes to messing with someone's memory? It depends how you look at it. If you look at it from the government's perspective, they're just trying to protect us by keeping our existence as wizards and witches secret. I mean, it makes sense. Would you like it if someone who could do absurdly powerful things suddenly showed up? You'd panic and I guess that's what the government thinks would happen - there'd be a worldwide panic. In a remote place? I suppose it would depend how remote."

She smiled at Mary as the Potions professor relished in being at Sonora and being a teacher and having the opportunity to change the lives of future generations. She quite agreed with the witch. "It is bloody wonderful, Mary. It's a whole new life and I'm really rather excited."

There was silence between them for a few moments when Tabitha decided to help herself to some more wine. She offered the bottle in Mary's direction. "Want some?"

20 Tabitha Hawthorne Then I'll pick you up. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding

July 28, 2018 8:52 PM

Lift from the knees, not from the back. by Mary Brooding

This wasn't the first time Mary had considered such questions, but certainly one of the first times she'd had someone else to consider them with. Sitting among crystal chandeliers in the hall of a desert palace, waterfalls cascading across the walls, Mary quite believed that any magic at all might be possible, but agreed with Tabitha: something separated magical beings and people from non-magical ones.

The idea of imposed protection struck a chord with Mary, who wondered at the idea. Her eyes fixed on Tabitha's, intensity bristling in them. She could feel it.

"If you were given the choice between knowing the amazing, knowing that it could hurt you, or not ever knowing at all, what would you choose? Particularly if that choice was one you wouldn't remember making?" she was quiet for a moment, trying to read Tabitha's expression. "Speaking of Muggles of course," she said, changing the subject-- although not really-- with a laugh. What do you think they'd choose if we gave them the choice?"

Tabitha was excited, so she was excited, and that was good enough for now. These conversations weren't the type to be held in front of the school on their first days as professors. It was too risky. There was too much at stake, and Mary rolled her shoulders, trying to unlock the stiffness that had formed from leaning so intently towards Tabitha.

"Just a little bit," Mary replied, holding aloft her glass to accept some wine. She didn't think that even a buzz would be a good idea in this case, although she suspected Tabitha would be rather a lot of fun buzzed. "That's a delightful fragrance," she exclaimed as the scent washed over her. "Completely ravishing."

For having tried so many potions on herself, Mary really was quite a lightweight. She considered for a moment whether it would be appropriate to sneak a bottle away to share later, but decided that voicing that suggestion might make it all too tempting. Or earn her a solid slap of rejection. Neither of which were acceptable options, so she simply nodded, and smiled, and shared a drink with her friend.

"Alright, lovely," she giggled, leaning her elbows on the table and eyeing the student body. "Hogwarts alum as you are, what do you think are the primary differences between Sonora Houses and Hogwarts Houses? What House were you in by the way? I was a Teppenpaw."

22 Mary Brooding Lift from the knees, not from the back. 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 28, 2018 8:58 PM

Anything you want. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi blinked and was now rather confused again. She seemed to be kind of upset again and now she was going on about somebody called 'Ness' and the history of Quidditch which, in fairness, he hadn't bothered to learn about. It wasn't like he was ever tested on Quidditch in the 1800s. It was quite funny though that she knew something like that despite not knowing much about the actual game itself. He smiled at her. "We make quite a team then. I can play the game and you can share facts about it. We'll take the Quidditch world by storm."

Then, she was suddenly on about baseball and what she would do when she went to matches with her mother. He had no idea who Derek Jeter was as he wasn't interested in baseball and knew nothing about it. Still, he could help it when his chest swelled with pride when she said that she'd prefer to see him play over whoever this Mr. Jeter was. He grinned widely at the thought of her cheering for him during a match.

"I'd like it if you were cheering for me," he told her. "And it'd be cool if you dressed so bright. I'd be able to see you when on my broom and I could wave to you and everything!"

He was pleased that she wanted to watch him play despite not knowing how good or bad he was. He was still wondering about this 'Ness' person she mentioned earlier and decided the best thing to do was just ask her.

"So, who's Ness?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Anything you want. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 28, 2018 9:15 PM

That's a dangerous promise by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn watched as confusion and...fear? played across Malikhi's face. Of course, she'd probably be scared too if he suddenly started talking about 19th century magic in sports. She wondered whether he had grown up around Muggles, but decided not to push it. He hadn't pushed about her background, she wouldn't push about his.

"Yes," she agreed sarcastically. "Quidditch fans are known for attending games to watch and discuss historical trivia. I can see how I play into this plan."

A smirk danced around her lips and she hoped Malikhi knew she was teasing him.

"You are only allowed to wave if you don't fall off your broom," she said.

The idea of him falling made her nervous, although the idea of dressing in browns and golds or whatever colors and wearing 'Hill' on the back of her shirt like a jersey did make it a little better. She wished Pecari had a more exciting color than brown or gold. She'd either look like a bludger or a snitch.

Evelyn was surprised when Malikhi asked about Ness, and another wave of guilt washed over her. She supposed that Ness was probably doing this same thing at another table, making new friends with new people, and getting to have a good time as well. It wasn't wrong of her to make new friends, was it? They'd only known each other for a bit, and it wasn't like she could only have one friend in the world. Of course, her track record didn't exactly bode well for more than that, but still.

"Ness is the one I was talking to in the gardens at orientation--" Not that I noticed you in the gardens "-- we were eating sandwiches and chatting. Ness got sorted into Alandren." She frowned at the thought. "I thought I'd get sorted with Ness, but didn't. I'm happy about being in Pecari with you, though." She smiled and realized she genuinely meant it.

She thought of how mischievous Ness was, and wondered if her two friends would get along. The thought made her jealous, but she was also glad to know that she could probably talk to Ness about such things as pranks and jokes and not be lectured for it either. She'd managed to find two open-minded friends.

Evelyn thought of the conversation she'd had with Ness before, and fixed Makihli with a careful gaze. "I want all in on your pranks. Our pranks." She chose her words with particular caution. "But I don't want to hurt anybody or be mean. Those aren't the fun sorts of pranks. I don't think you're mean, but I just want you to know where I'm at." She wanted to shrug and look cool and firm. She wanted to look as steadfast as Ness.

Instead, she looked like Evelyn, and Evelyn searched Malikhi's face, worried she'd upset him. Would he think she thought he was mean? Would he turn out to be mean and not want to be friends? Perhaps, if she was lucky, he'd be exactly the sort of playful sod she thought he was, and they could have a great time.

22 Evelyn Stones That's a dangerous promise 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

July 28, 2018 9:21 PM

I'll be careful, don't worry. by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha felt that if the intensity within Mary's eyes could manifest into something physical, it would become a raging fire that would burn her. The Defence professor found that she couldn't tear her eyes away from her friend's face even if she'd wanted to, the passion that she saw there keeping her fixed in place. It felt like Mary was looking straight through her, deep into the core of her very being and it made Tabitha feel rather light-headed and giddy. She felt like there was something more behind the question that Mary was asking but it wasn't being said.

The answer, of course, was an easy one to Tabitha. There was no doubt in her mind that she'd rather know something and be hurt rather than never having the knowledge of it. That was a part of life. The key part to experiences and memories was the feelings and emotions that tinged them. How could something be sad if you couldn't remember it being sad? How would you know happiness if you'd never experienced it? How would you know love?

She never replied to Mary because the answer was clear and she felt like the Potions teacher had known that already or she wouldn't have asked the question so intensely. Instead, she poured her friend a glass of wine, forcing the connection between them to break. In doing that, Tabitha felt like there was something strangely absent.

"It's delicious too," she added to Mary's approval of the wine, sipping at her own. It was truly delightful. Then, the questions turned to her school life.

She gave the witch a smile that was tinged with a little cheekiness. "Can't you guess? I was a Gryffindor. With all the danger-attracting qualities I have, where else would I have gone?"

She sipped again at her wine and mulled over the differences between the two schools and, therefore, the two houses and came to the conclusion that Sonora went deeper into people's personalities that Hogwarts did. Tabitha approved. You couldn't just box people into categories based on one character trait. Somebody could be brave and clever. She relayed these thoughts to Mary.

"So, what was life here at Sonora like for you? Are there any similarities between then and now?"

20 Tabitha Hawthorne I'll be careful, don't worry. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding

July 28, 2018 9:33 PM

Then I will, too. by Mary Brooding

Mary laughed heartily at the idea of her sweet, calm, quiet friend, sporting a lion's badge and crimson sports robes. The image was a joyous one because a little Gryffindor version of Tabitha couldn't possibly be imagined without a flushed, excited expression, and daring eyes. That was a child who would leave her family behind to travel the world, and suddenly, the woman in front of Mary seemed to make more sense.

"You're smart, you're kind, and you're cunning, too," Mary said. "I wouldn't know where to put you. Although, I think that's the point of Hogwarts, right? To learn to be all of the Houses?"

There was a chance... a good chance... that she was sorely misunderstanding the point of Houses. That seemed like a good ideal to her, though, so she went with it.

"Sonora was perfect," she murmured, taking in their surroundings again and sipping from her wine. "My life fell apart when I was at school, but somehow, this old place couldn't be knocked down. This was truly the happiest place I could think of."

Mary smiled at Tabitha, hoping to convey an unspoken thought that she felt it might just be again, and then turned away again.

"It was less scary back then, but I didn't have the responsibility of professor!" She laughed at the thought of her own adolescent self becoming a professor.

"Did you think you'd get into this job? You said you took it to settle down, but did you really think you'd ever settle down?"

22 Mary Brooding Then I will, too. 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 28, 2018 9:45 PM

Promises are only dangerous if they're broken. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

To Malikhi, it seemed that Evelyn was coming out of her shell and he couldn't help but feel that maybe it was because of him. She was teasing him now about what he thought was a great plan and, knowing that, he grinned at her. She was a lovely person and she was funny too and Malikhi wanted to keep her smiling. After all, that's what friends did, right?

"I promise I won't fall off," he replied and with one finger, drew an 'x' over his heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die... Well, maybe not die."

Dying was definitely a bad thing. Dying would mean that he wouldn't be able to see Evelyn any more and that would just be awful. So, definitely no dying.

When she told him about Ness, he recalled orientation and remembered that she had been sitting with another girl. She had seemed quite nice and cool too. He looked over to the Aladren table and spied her, with her very short hair. Yes, she did indeed look cool. That must've been the friend she'd been upset about not getting sorted with at the start of the feast. For a moment, Malikhi was worried in case she still didn't want to be in Pecari but she calmed his fears saying that she was happy about it. He was happy about it too.

Then, she suddenly got serious and Malikhi panicked when she talked about their pranks hurting people. He didn't want to do that, either! He just wanted to make people laugh and not truly hurt anybody. With wide eyes, his words came out in a panicked rush, "I'd like to work on pranks with you, that'd be great but I don't want to hurt anybody. Not ever!"

His eyes bore into hers, wild and panicked. He had to make her understand that he wasn't a mean person and that it would be lovely and nice if they could work on pranks together and he definitely, absolutely did not want to lose her as a friend.

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Promises are only dangerous if they're broken. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

July 28, 2018 10:08 PM

Good. I don't want to see you hurt. by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha liked that the idea of her in her teenage years amused the witch and she thanked her kindly for the compliments, mercifully without a blush colouring her cheeks this time. She was getting used to Mary saying such nice things and she felt a rush of warmth every time she did. Tabitha had, for a long time, wondered if she was a reckless, bad person and that idea seemed to have sollidified when her ex-boyfriend had left her stranded in America, the travelling and the dangers having become too much, sick of the woman throwing them carelessly into life-threatening situations. Sitting with Mary, chatting with her, Tabitha didn't feel like quite such a bad person, if only for a while.

"Maybe not all the houses," she replied, thinking about the rivalry that Gryffindor had had and more than likely, still had, with Slytherin. "But yes, in the end, you learn to be more than one kind of person. Though, once a Gryffindor, always a Gryffindor."

There was something about the way Mary spoke about Sonora. Tabitha felt like there was an almost kind of reverence in her voice, like the school was sacred and to the witch, it probably was. Mary had been at school when she lost her entire family so it wasn't all that surprising to Tabitha that she felt a strong connection to the building and, if her tone of voice was anything to go buy, Mary was hopeful that that strong connection would remain.

Then, the conversation turned to their new positions as professors within the school.

"Not at all," Tabitha laughed, remembering her interview with the Deputy Headmistress. "I have never taught before and I have no degree. I find it to be quite the miracle that I'm here at all!"

She took a sip of wine and mulled over the final part of Mary's question. "When I was younger, I thought I'd travel forever and ever. There's so much to see in this world and sometimes I feel that there's never enough time to see all of it. I was travelling with my boyfriend at the time and I thought... I thought we were unstoppable."

She swallowed thickly, remembering the nasty fight they had before he'd left, stranding her in an unknown country. She'd thrown a hex at his back as he'd left, feeling that he deserved to feel some kind of pain.

"My parents didn't approve of my travelling so they didn't fund it. Our travels depended on his money," she explained, gritting her teeth every now and then, refusing completely to shed any tears over the events that had happened and especially not over him. "We came to America, I wanted to see a Wampus Cat, which is native to the North in the Appalachian Mountains but they're dangerous - classified as known wizard killers but I was insistent. We fell out about it and he left me. He took his money and left me in a country that I didn't know."

She breathed in, shakily. That was the first time that she'd told that story in full. She'd pushed it back into the recesses of her mind. For a moment, she thought she might stop and refuse to say any more but something urged her onwards.

"I had next to no money and I knew that before long, I would've starved. I refused to send my parents a letter asking for help so I applied here, to Sonora, and got extraordinarily lucky," she let out a long breath and, to her surprise, felt a weight had been lifted. She laughed a little. "So, in answer to your question, yes. I do want to settle down but not completely. I want somewhere to call home, somewhere I know that I can always return to when I've had enough of travelling."

Silence fell between them for a few moments and Tabitha collected her thoughts. She felt, after admitting all of that to Mary, that she could breathe a little easier, her head was a little clearer and that she could finally put her best foot forward. Suddenly, she let out a proper laugh.

"You know what angered me the most though? It wasn't that he left and took all the money, it wasn't even that he stranded me in an unknown country... It was that I never got to see a Wampus Cat."

20 Tabitha Hawthorne Good. I don't want to see you hurt. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 29, 2018 12:23 AM

I promise to keep my promises by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn searched his face for a moment before nodding to herself. He seemed sincere, but there was only one way to tell.

"Pinkie promise?" she asked.

She thought to demand this, but couldn't bring herself to speak sharply to him. She thought to tell him to do so, but she couldn't bring herself to accept that he might just do it for her. Instead, she asked, wanting to just know what he wanted.

She wanted him to want the same thing, though. Did that make her manipulative or bad? She supposed there was a reason she wasn't a Teppenpaw.

Her insecurities were easy to forget among laughter and sludge soda and a myriad of other oddities and memories, but they came rushing to the forefront of her mind when she remembered how little she had mattered to the wizarding world so far. She hated to imagine that she didn't matter to this one particular wizard.

However, the rational part of her brain knew that wasn't the case. She could see in the worried lines of Malikhi's face that he cared, and she could hear in the nervous rise in his voice that she mattered to him. So why was this all so bloody difficult? And so easy?

He looked so scared and Evelyn worried that she'd done something wrong. That she'd hurt him.

"I don't think you're bad," she said, offering a shy smile. "I just...I know some people don't have a good idea of what's a funny prank and what's not a funny prank. I don't want you to think I want to hurt people either!"

What if he thought she was assuming that because she had some terrible history of hurting people? Ugh.

She nudged him with her elbow, and offered her pinkie out to him again. "Come on," she said. "Partners in crime have to know each other real well, right?"

22 Evelyn Stones I promise to keep my promises 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Mary Brooding

July 29, 2018 12:48 AM

Nor I you, dear friend by Mary Brooding

At some point in Tabitha's story, Mary thought to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Or leg. Or hand. Where should she put her hand? She settled on the woman's forearm, where she hoped it wouldn't be too oppressive or too.... 'I pity you.' She didn't pity Tabitha. Everyone has a story and she couldn't pity a woman who had survived one.

"I'm glad you're here," Mary said earnestly. "And your ex sounds like his head was full of nargles. Lots of nargles."

It shouldn't have bothered her that Tabitha's dating history apparently included men. She shouldn't have been concerned to discover her friend might be straight. She shouldn't have cared. But she cared.

However, in that moment, Tabitha was sad and reminiscing, and Mary's own feelings were second or third or fourth to that.

When silence fell between them, Mary removed her hand and waited for her friend to speak first. It was enough to sit quietly amongst the ruckus of students and professors, clanging dishes, and the gentle rush of water down the walls. It wasn't really silent, but silent enough, and after a moment, Tabitha spoke again.

Mary laughed softly and then much harder as eh considered this. Her grin was wide and genuine and her eyes sparkled as she glanced at her friend. She then closed her eyes, simply enjoying the feeling of laughter.

"Well," she finally decided, having managed to regain her composure. "Let us see the Wampus Cat then!"

She knew it was a risk to suggest, and she knew she might get hurt, and she knew it might upset the Defense mistress, but she also knew it was a suggestion from the bottom of her heart.

If she was going to face a wizard-killing cat, she supposed it should be done with someone like Tabitha for...lots of reasons. All the reasons.

"And let us enjoy every single moment," she added, clanking her glass into Tabitha's and drinking the rest of her wine in a quick gulp. She hissed as it rushed through her throat.

"Doesn't hot chocolate just sound lovely?"

22 Mary Brooding Nor I you, dear friend 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Dorian Montoir

July 29, 2018 2:03 AM

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent by Dorian Montoir

Dorian took his seat at the Teppenpaw table feeling blissfully happy. His summer had been wonderful. The weeks spent in China had been perfect - great food, beautifully scenery, and plenty of time discussing the subjects he enjoyed, such as poetry, with people who actually valued his interests and his opinions. Matthieu had been encouraged to be more like him. Matthieu - the heir, the big strong Quidditch player - had been told he should aim to be more like Dorian. He was not a conceited boy, and he had not let this praise go to his head and make him one, but it had been a soothing balm to all the wounds Matthieu had inflicted upon his soul over the years to hear other people say that he, as he was, was good enough. Not just good enough, but the better of them. His grandparents and his mother had been so proud of him, his cousins had enjoyed his company. And now he was returning to school, where there was more of the same - where there was Vlad and Ruby and Tatya and Jehan. He had so many wonderful friends. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the world who wanted to put him down or make him miserable except Matthieu. And now he was thousands of kilometres away. Dorian had stuck firm to his new found belief over the summer - that Matthieu was the problem, not him. It hadn’t stopped his brother from beating him up, but it hurt less now he didn’t ascribe so much meaning to each punch - he was not weak, he was not a failure, he was not a freak. That was the most important part of all of this - yes, other people liked him, and that was a gift he would never stop treasuring, but right now, for possibly the first time he could remember, he liked himself too, much, much more than he had for the all the years he’d had to spend in Matthieu’s shadow. There was nothing wrong with who he was, or what he liked.

As he had been away, it had been his turn to play Snegorochka, and he had brought back presents for all of his friends. Each member of the Club of Tongues had received a dictionary - Chinese-English for Vlad and Jehan (he had been tempted to continue what he saw as Tatya’s little joke from last year, and slow Jehan down a little by getting him Chinese-French, so he had to constantly work in his non-native languages. But Chinese was everyone’s worst language, and he wished to encourage better performance in it rather than slow it down). It had taken longer to find Chinese-Russian, as learning English was the much more fashionable accomplishment, but Russian was obviously very useful in certain provinces, and so a few enquiries to merchants in Western China had secured a dictionary for Tatya, and they had had it sized and bound so that it matched the editions Vlad and Jehan were receiving. He had contemplated having each dictionary bound in its recipient’s house colour, but that would have meant that Tatya’s was a rather dull brown, whilst Vlad and Jehan’s were in her favourite colours, so he had opted for them to have red covers instead, in order that their learning might be auspicious. He had also bought each of them, and a couple of other important people, more personal presents. It had been hardest to choose for Jehan, for whom he practically wanted to buy one of everything he was getting, seeing as their tastes were so similar. He had opted to get Jehan a Chinese-style silk shirt, with a Mandarin collar and braided button loop fastenings, in a nice royal blue (the same one as the sweater her had… borrowed last year). He also had a store of smaller presents, such as a bookmark with Jehan’s zodiac animal (seeing as they were born the same year and shared one), which he thought he would include in Jehan’s birthday present, or maybe just give it at random - just because it was Sunday, or just because he needed cheering up, or just because… Just because. Whilst Jehan had been too easy to buy for, Tatya had been considerably harder, in that every time he almost made a decision, he had doubted himself. Obviously, there was jewellery. One could not exactly fail to notice that Tatya liked it. However, he was not sure how well his taste and his budget would match Tatya’s standards - he wasn’t exactly hard up, and the presents he was buying his friends were all of very nice quality, but then… jewellery was on a whole other level. It was also a very personal thing, in terms of taste. He didn’t think Tatya would be unkind if he chose badly, but he wanted to get her something she actually liked. He had considered getting her a teapot and some tea, and had reverted to this idea several times after attempting to have adequate opinions on jewellery and finding that he could not, but whilst he and Tatya both enjoyed tea, they both asserted their own variety to be superior. They had a friendly sort of tea rivalry, which made buying her tea-related presents seem somewhat passive aggressive. He had purchased some nice tea for the librarian, having discovered it to be a common interest during all the hours in his office last year. For Tatya, he had eventually settled on some ornamental hair combs. He could not say why, exactly, he felt these were safer territory. He could not, if pushed, really classify them under anything other than jewellery. But… But hair accessories were different. They were on the periphery of Tatya’s passion. And so, whilst she might not feel as strongly about them as she might about the perfect necklace, well…. She would not feel as strongly about them as she would a seriously terrible necklace. It felt safer. Unless he started trying to apply logic, so for once he was desperately trying not to do that. He knew from several of the pieces she wore regularly at school, that Tatya was fond of enamel, which was luckily in ready supply in China, and he had bought her a pair of hair combs each topped with a panel of enamel work flowers in blues and yellows. For Vlad, he had bought a kite - something he hoped didn’t seem too childish, but kite flying was serious business for all ages in China, and Dorian had brought his own back to Sonora with him. He found he had enjoyed flying it - it was calming and meditative. And whilst Vlad, who was about the most relaxed person he knew, probably didn’t need these particular benefits, it could perhaps be something for them to do together. His roommate was a really nice person, and he came to language study but Dorian was pretty sure it was more for the social side than because of a deep interest. It would be nice for them to have something to do together. For Ruby, he had purchased a pretty silk fan with a mountain scene on it. He knew American girls didn’t really use fans so much, but hoped it was pretty enough that she would enjoy having it regardless.

It was, all in all, a very happy start to his third year. Third year also sounded and felt rather grown up. He was in intermediate classes and looking forward to the academic challenge. But, more importantly, there were matters of the heart. A lot of people started dating during these years. Before Dorian had left for boarding school at all, his father had thought it prudent to appraise him of a few of the facts of life. He had apparently decided that this information needed a refresher over the summer and Dorian had endured an awkward but mercifully brief interview in his father’s study in which he was reminded about how he was going to start noticing girls and that that was perfectly natural, but that he should avoid acting on any of those feelings until he was married because anything else was morally reprehensible conduct. Dorian was not convinced there was too much danger to his or anyone else’s reputation at this stage, as any fluttering of hormonal feeling was currently accompanied by the voice over of his father reminding him that these were pulsions parfaitement naturelles, which was pretty effective in making them run screaming back into the recesses of his brain. In an abstract sense, he supposed the idea of kissing someone, of being physically close, was appealing - he had always been a tactile person. But the few times he had been able to get his father’s voice out of his head for long enough to try to imagine kissing a specific person such as Ruby or Tatya it had left him feeling, at best, stone cold, and at worst full of writhing, squirmy icky feelings like he was doing something terribly wrong. He supposed that was the combined power of his father’s lecture and the fact that Tatya reminded him more of a sister than anything else. In addition, he supposed he couldn’t imagine kissing Tatya or Ruby because he wasn’t in love with either of them - and in Dorian’s mind, it was very important to actually be in love with someone before you engaged in that sort of behaviour. His father had tried to separate out love from lust during That Chat, advising him that he might think he was in love with someone but it might just be lust, and that was part of why he shouldn’t act on it. But Dorian didn’t feel he was in danger of making that mistake - given that it felt wrong to even imagine kissing a girl he wasn’t in love with, he doubted he was going to be lured into doing it in real life. He knew right from wrong. And he was sure he would know love - proper true love - when it decided to grace him with its presence. He rather hoped it was sooner rather than later because he expected that falling in love was the most wonderful thing that could happen to a person. He liked the way it was described in poems. Well, in some poems. He wasn’t sure he wanted the can’t eat, can’t sleep, torment of the soul. But… the other person being your rock, your safe place. The person who made you feel complete. He wanted that. And… And, he supposed, that was it. And anyway, it was time for the feast to start.

He watched the first years with a little more interest than usual, because Tatya’s sister was starting, and he was keen to see where she was sorted, especially as he had promised to look after her if she became a Teppenpaw. Katerina was quite easy to pick out - not only did he have an idea of her appearance from photographs Tatya had shown him but there weren’t any other first years wearing gloves. Katerina’s badge turned yellow, and he smiled and clapped for her along with the other Teppenpaws. She seemed to be taking him up on the offer he had made, via her sister, that she was welcome to sit with him, as the space beside him was quickly filled.

“Oui, correct,” he assured her when she asked, in impressively accurate French, whether he was indeed Dorian, and Tatya’s friend - she had called her sister something else, a nickname that he wasn’t familiar with, but by this point he was so used to the many variations on Tatya’s name that he was ready to assume that pretty much anything beginning T meant her, so long as there was a reasonably relevant context. He had meant to greet her in Russian, but had been thrown by her speaking French so unexpectedly well, and now he hastily switched, “Priyatno poznakomit'sya, Katerina Vorontsova,” he greeted her. ‘Pleased to meet you’ was not a phrase that came up every day, and was not one he would have felt confident constructing from its constituent parts, but luckily the dictionary Tatya had bought him had a section listing common phrases. He had been prepared to make his own introduction in Russian too, but Katerina had rendered this unnecessary, so he skipped ahead to “Dobro pozhalovat v Teppenpaw,” to wish her welcome. The Western word jangled oddly on the end of the sentence, and he wondered whether Teppenpaw should become something like… Teppenpawya. But, whilst he was very aware of the Russian tendency to play with names and to make them diminutive or affectionate, or just better fitting to the sounds of the language, he was not yet confident enough to play with words that way himself. Perhaps he’d ask Tatya about it. “Tu parles très bien le Français,” he complimented her, being sure to keep his pace slow and his words clear. “Kak dela?” he asked, and then because that did not feel specific enough, he switched to English to ask “How was orientation?” being sure to enunciate the syllables clearly and in the English way ‘or-ee-un-tay-shun.’ Et pas ‘or-ee-un-tah-see-un,’ as his brain was always tempted to do with words with -tion endings.

OOC - I have kept it vague as to what Dorian was doing before the feast. If people want to assume they met up and received presents, they are free to do so.

13 Dorian Montoir No one can make you feel inferior without your consent 1401 Dorian Montoir 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 29, 2018 7:57 AM

Where does one keep a promise? by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi blinked at her when Evelyn stuck out her pinkie for his to link around. It was quite funny, to see her with such a serious expression on her face with her little finger held out expectantly. He hadn't done pinkie swears in years, the last one he ever made being to his mother several years ago when he swore that he did not take cookies from the jar in the kitchen without permission. He hadn't been lying then - it had been his father, sneaking the delicious cookie treats into his office - and he wasn't lying now. He was not a mean person and his pranks were never intended to injure or maim someone. All Malikhi ever wanted to do was laugh and make people laugh. He wanted to do it now. He wanted to make Evelyn smile again, like she had been when they were experimenting with the fizzy juices or when she'd been teasing him about what he still believed was a great Quidditch-world taking over plan... but she wasn't laughing like that. Not at the moment and Malikhi didn't know if it was because she thought that underneath all his smiles and good humour, she thought she saw someone who wasn't very nice. He was starting to doubt his own niceness, something he'd never done before.

Then, he heard her say that she didn't think he was a bad person and he was pleased. Well, no, if he told the truth, he was far more than just pleased. 'Pleased' did not accurately describe the way that the weight of his own doubt, of his own concern that he wasn't a nice person was lifted from his chest or that he felt like he could breathe normally again because Evelyn wasn't about to run screaming out of the hall because he was truly a horrible person and she wasn't. She was still sitting there next to him, still her little pinkie out, waiting for him to make his second promise of the day to her.

He smiled again, but this one was softer, kinder. There was no mischief in it and no hidden plans. He was just Malikhi and she was just Evelyn and they were partners-in-crime, solemnly swearing that their pranks were not created in a bid to hurt anybody. He stuck out his pinkie and wrapped it around hers, sealing the promise together. A stray thought entered his mind that she had very soft skin and that, in comparison with his own hands, her fingers seemed quite small.

They released their pinkies from each other and were quiet for a few moments... It was nice and peaceful, their small bubble of contemplative silence in amongst the rowdiness of the rest of the hall. However, Malikhi being Malikhi couldn't let silence reign for long as he had an idea and turned to her, eyes sparkling bright. He slung an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in closer to whisper in her ear...

"What would happen if we put a spell on the mixed juice?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Where does one keep a promise? 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

July 29, 2018 8:26 AM

I'll look out for you. by Tabitha Hawthorne

The warmth that Tabitha felt on her arm, simply from Mary's hand was quite extraordinary. If she didn't know any better, she would've said that the Potions mistress had put some kind of heating spell on her own hand. There was something about the woman in general that Tabitha couldn't quite put her finger on. She exuded warmth and was so terribly lovely that Tabitha found her whole personality rather incredible. The woman had lost her entire family when she was still in school, still essentially just a child, and Tabitha knew that tragedies like that could twist someone into a bitter and vile person who hated everyone and everything but Mary wasn't like that. Somehow, the witch was still a positive force and wonderful company. So much so that Tabitha felt rather lucky to have met her.

The Defence teacher was quite convinced that if Mary hadn't have come to Sonora, hadn't applied for the Potions position, she would be sitting alone at the table. Sure, she perhaps would have chatted idly to some of the other teachers as that was only polite but there was something about Mary... She felt much more at ease with the witch than she had with anyone else for a long time. It was interesting, lovely and absolutely terrifying, all at the same time. Tabitha wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

In the end, she settled for simply placing her own hand above Mary's and squeezing it in thanks for her unspoken support through her tale of woe. It confirmed her thoughts that Mary's hands were indeed really rather warm and, Tabitha thought with surprise, really rather nice to hold as well. What should have been a momentary hold on, a silent thank you, turned into something longer, Tabitha no longer really thinking about it.

She laughed when Mary suggested to go and see the Wampus Cat themselves. That was quite a quest to offer to go on when they hadn't known each other for very long - the Appalachian Trail was some one and half thousand miles and, in order to maximise the chances of finding the elusive Wampus Cat, they would have to walk the entire length of it. It was quite incredible that Mary saw it as something worth undertaking, simply because Tabitha had mentioned that she hadn't seen one.

Still, she said nothing about it, not wanting to shatter what a nice thought it was to take on such a journey with Mary. Tabitha had been planning to go, eventually, perhaps at the end of the year in the height of summer. That was a long way away though. There was the Christmas holidays first. Tabitha would have to consult her books to see where they could go and spend Christmas. The Defence mistress knew, really, that she was thinking under the assumption that Mary would indeed want to go anywhere over Christmas. If she didn't, then Tabitha could always go alone but, for some reason, she didn't enjoy that idea as much.

Tabitha finally dropped Mary's hand when she mentioned hot chocolate and she admitted that a hot drink sounded delightful, especially accompanied with some dessert. Tabitha looked the length of the table and spotted a steaming jug of hot chocolate just nearby, surrounded also by whipped cream and marshmallows. Yes, that would be perfect.

"Would you like any more dessert?" she asked Mary as she also spotted and subsequently helped herself to some very delicious looking chocolate fudge cake and paired it with some pouring cream.

20 Tabitha Hawthorne I'll look out for you. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Ness McLeod

July 29, 2018 9:34 AM

I think we should be friends [Tag Zevalyn] by Ness McLeod

Ness was feeling pretty pumped. Elementary school had been sucky, and full of really immature people. Whilst the few months separating it from a school like Sonora might not have seemed like a huge amount of time for people to do some growing up, the first year had sincerely hoped to find better things here. If they were grown up enough to go to school away from their parents, then surely they ought to be grown up enough too to talk about issues properly, and not giggle at words like ‘gay’ or use it as an insult. So far, it had been exceeding every expectation. Not only had Evelyn been mature about every subject that Ness had raised, it seemed like they were kindred spirits. Ness couldn’t wait for them to be Aladrens together. They could have all kinds of stimulating conversations. They could stay up all night talking.

Ness confidently dipped the blank badge, smiling happily as it came out bright blue, just as expected. Kir was grinning, clearly happy with the result too (because he had known it was what Ness wanted, right? Not because it meant he didn’t have to have his sibling around… It was probably the first one). Pushing those negative thoughts away, Ness headed over to Aladren table, things continued to look good, because there was space to sit next to Zevalyn, which Ness did, giving a small smile to say ‘hello’ before focussing again on the sorting. Evelyn was up, and her badge went into the Potion and-

“Huh?” It was not a loud interruption but was probably perfectly audible to her neighbour. The previously cheery expression was replaced by a crestfallen look. Pecari? Pecari?! How could Evelyn who was so smart and intellectual have ended up in Pecari? Ness was glad not to have said anything against the house because that would now be awkward - Evelyn’s sorting wasn’t something Ness planned to hold against her, or let change their friendship but it just didn’t seem right. Searching for a silver lining, Ness remembered that two of Kir’s D&D buddies were in that house. So, it wasn’t like… a complete dearth of any worthwhile people. Lily-Ronin who was possibly genderqueer was in it. So it could be okay. But it meant they were separated. This sucked.

The announcements were quite interesting. First off, prefects. Ness clapped, genuinely happy for Kir. The announcement about Quidditch was interesting too. Kir’s tales of lack lustre teams, not having enough players to play had been tragic. Part of the point of coming to Sonora was to get to play Quidditch properly. At least the school seemed to be taking that issue seriously. Good. And new staff, and the fair and stuff. That was all useful to know but less exciting than the first two bits of information.

Then it was food time. Food and talking to Zevalyn time. Ness gave one more sad glance at the Pecari table - this conversation would have been way better with a wingwoman, although it looked like poor Evelyn had it worse, she was looking positively miserable to be over in the wrong house. Still, there was nothing Ness could do to help right now...

“Hi. Your Kir’s girlfriend, aren’t you? I’m Ness, his sibling. Nice to meet you.” Ness was pretty sure Kir alternated between sibling and less gender neutral terms when discussing family. That was ok. Ness had not really decided what kind of pronouns to use yet. It was, of course, acceptable to try different things, and to change your mind later. Everyone said it was. But part of why the first year had ended up in Aladren was probably liking to feel certain about things. Ness didn’t want to adopt something, and then shed it off a few months later like a snake skin. If any kind of choice was to be made, it had to be a firm one. Not choosing also was increasingly becoming an option. Just letting the world roll with things. Aunt Catriona often said the fight for her generation had been the right to claim their labels - to be who they were, to tell people and to have it respected. The current generation, she said, seemed to favour ripping up all the labels and doing without. So, it didn’t really matter what label Zevalyn used - especially, Ness supposed, in the privacy of her own head. The thing that actually mattered more was them liking each other. Zevalyn was already pretty cool in Ness’ eyes by virtue of being a sixth year, and from all the things Kir had told her about how Zevalyn had been the one to ask him out, and about her D&D character. The trouble was, Zevalyn presumably already also knew all these things about herself, and didn’t need Ness to tell them to her. Hopefully they could talk about something Aladrenish and decently intellectual, and then Zevalyn would be impressed. That might take some building up to though. To start, and break the ice, it seemed safer to go with something they definitely had in common… “It’s good that Kir got prefect, isn’t it? He deserved it.”

OOC - as implied in the post, I also don’t mind how people refer to Ness. I understand that people will have differing reactions and default assumptions about what pronouns to use, especially amongst a group of teenagers with diverse backgrounds, and in some cases limited knowledge on LGBTQIA+ things. Roll with whatever your character assumes to be correct. No offence will be taken. Reminder that, visually, this is what you’re getting.

13 Ness McLeod I think we should be friends [Tag Zevalyn] 1419 Ness McLeod 0 5

Katerina

July 29, 2018 4:04 PM

A pretty thought. by Katerina

Dark blue-grey eyes widened in surprise when Dorian began speaking Russian, even saying her name correctly. Tatya had said she had tried to teach her friends some Russian, but after all the English Katya’s poor ears had been subjected to today, it was still almost a shock to hear words which simply moved from ear to comprehension without the slightest pause. She suddenly understood why Tatya got so cross when they were encouraged to speak English with each other over the summers, or when Katya tried to speak English with her when she was home.

“Blagodaryu vas,” said Katya in thanks for the welcome, and she beamed at the compliment on her French. “Merci beaucoup,” she said. “J’ai étudié pour quatre ans. J’aime les langues.”

Her smile faded, though, when she was asked about Orientation. “Professor Writ – Tatya skazala ‘tak mnogo slov’!’, i ona byl prava. No on byl khorosh,” she said. Tatya said ‘so many words!’, and she was right. But he was nice. Of course, then the rest of Orientation had happened. Katya didn’t want to talk about that, though. Mama frowned severely on complaining, especially from a young lady. A young lady was expected to maintain her poise no matter what. “La salle de cascade c’est trés belle. C’est tojours belle, ou…unique à la fête?” she asked, hesitating slightly as she tried to figure out how to ask if the Hall was always this beautiful or if it was a special effect put on just for the occasion of the Feast.

16 Katerina A pretty thought. 1418 Katerina 0 5

Mary Brooding

July 29, 2018 4:56 PM

blushes fiercely and dies by Mary Brooding

Mary could see a sadness in her new friend, and she wondered what Tabitha saw in her. Mary knew she was a cheery person, and she went to great lengths to maintain that reputation. She smiled her warmest smile at the Defense mistress.

When Mary smiled, her nose wrinkled and she looked exactly as if she wanted to laugh but knew she wasn't supposed to. Others had often told her that she reminded them of the witches on Muggle TV, who wiggled their noses to make magic happen. She enjoyed the thought and played on it as much as possible.

"Isn't it amazing how the tables always have precisely what we want?" Mary asked, watching as Tabitha collected the necessities for a proper hot chocolate.

"[i]More[/i] dessert? I'll have you know, jello pudding is a staple, not a dessert. It's a priority food group," Mary laughed.

She watched as Tabitha poured thick, creamy milk over her chocolate fudge cake, enjoying how very British her new friend was. She had a hard time understanding exactly what that would taste like, despite her travels, and wondered what Tabitha would do if she reached over and stole a bite. Deciding that might be...unwise, Mary returned her attention to the parts of the perfect hot chocolate, and began mixing them together.

Excited to have marshmallows, she retrieved her wand and glanced around to make sure no one else was paying too much attention. Pre-made s'mores simply wouldn't do: Mary wanted the real deal, although she didn't want the attention it would garner.

"Incendio," she whispered, creating just a small flame from the tip of her wand, and roasting the marshmallow on her plate. "Everyone always says I do these wrong because I like them all the way black on the outside. Cook it until there's nothing left to burn, and then eat it like that! None of this 'golden brown' that others are so invested in."

She was concentrated on her task and only remembered to be embarrassed when she finished and waved her wand to put out the flame. Satisfied that her marshmallow was perfect, she reached for it and popped the whole thing in her mouth, blushing when she looked over at Tabitha, who was watching.

"It's delicious," Mary mumbled around the mouthful of toasted sugary goodness. "I probably should eat more vegetables but green things rarely taste good."

22 Mary Brooding *blushes fiercely and dies* 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

July 29, 2018 5:14 PM

I'm pleased that I can make you blush by Tabitha Hawthorne

If Tabitha had had a different personality, she might have been self-conscious about how obviously British she was. After all, it wasn't just her accent and the way she said certain things that made it obvious but it was also her foods. She had caught Mary watching her as she poured her cream and found it endearing that the woman was so interested in such things. Tabitha hesitated to think that Mary was interested in her. She was perhaps just the object of mild fascination given her Britishisms and it would, more than likely, wear off soon enough.

"It is quite amazing," she agreed with the Potions teacher before having a mouthful of cake and closed her eyes in delight. It was so delicious and smooth and was absolutely delectable. It was the perfect dessert and she silently thanked whoever was in the kitchens for their efforts.

In the middle the enjoyment of her dessert, she caught Mary doing something rather furtively out of the corner of her eye. Frowning and also extremely curious, she turned her full attention to the witch, wondering what on earth she was doing. For some reason that Tabitha didn't understand, Mary appeared to be cooking the marshmallows. The Defence teacher had never seen such a thing and couldn't resist asking Mary what she was doing.

"I have never seen such things," she leaned in, her voice no louder than a whisper. It was clear that Mary was trying not to catch attention to her activities. "May I try some?"

20 Tabitha Hawthorne I'm pleased that I can make you blush 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 29, 2018 5:18 PM

In the front right pocket. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn had been right, although she tried not to think about that. As she had guessed, Malikhi was warm.

She'd been thinking of Ness when they were quiet. She'd managed to see through the students and noticed Ness talking to an older student that she could only assume was Ness' brother's girlfriend. That was supposed to have been them both, and she was reminded again that she was fraternizing with a friend she wasn't supposed to have made. But Malikhi was so nice.... She thought they'd get along but wasn't sure, and what if they didn't?

So when Malikhi pinkie promised to be a nice prankster, and his warm hand lingered near hers for just a moment, Evelyn was thinking only of him. And when he let go and they lingered near each other for just a moment, Evelyn was thinking only of herself. She thought that was rather horrible of her.

Before she could sink into the increasingly familiar feeling of guilt, she found more warmth. Or perhaps more warmth found her. There was an arm and a whisper and a question, and Evelyn definitely wasn't paying attention to the last of these. After a moment's thought, though, she got it.

"What kind of spell?" she whispered back, worrying at the thought of doing any magic. She kept her voice light, though, and imagined Malikhi holding a cup of bubbling green soda. The thought made her laugh. "I'd love to see a growing charm or something. Just imagine if it kept getting bigger like some giant, fizzy slug."

She turned her head to look at him, pulling away some to avoid being so close to his face. "Do you know any spells already?"

22 Evelyn Stones In the front right pocket. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 29, 2018 5:44 PM

Not the left? Over the heart? by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi quite liked, for a reason that he could neither understand nor explain, having his arm around Evelyn's shoulders. She seemed to fit rather comfortably into his side and she smelled rather nice, kind of like a garden... Well, more specifically, she smelled rather like the flowers that Malikhi knew his mother grew at home. Then, suddenly, Malikhi felt kind of weird that he was basically deliberately smelling Evelyn. Malikhi decided the best thing to do was take his arm away - which he found, he rather didn't want to - so that he didn't do anything else weird.

She'd asked him about spells and Malikhi clocked that she'd need an answer so he cleared his throat, ready to reply.

"My Mum taught me the wand-lighting charm... uh, Lumos and also, how to send up red sparks if I ever got lost or in trouble... I think that's Vermillious. I'm not sure if either would affect our concoction but the wand-lighting charm might be helpful to see if magic tastes of anything though. It's harmless as it's just light."

Malikhi was silent as he pondered both which spell would affect their green sludge and also, his return to the thought of what magic would taste like, if indeed it would taste of anything. Eventually, he decided that the best thing to do was to simply test both theories then and there and he produced his wand from inside the sleeve of his robes and pulled their previously discarded goblet of sludge closer.

He gave Evelyn a slightly nervous glance, partly because he had no idea what would happen and also because he'd never performed magic in front of anyone else but his own mother. He swallowed thickly and pointed his wand at the goblet.

"Well, here goes nothing..." he murmured. He screwed his eyes shut, deciding that it was better not to watch his attempt in case it was truly disastrous. "Vermillious!"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Not the left? Over the heart? 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Mary Brooding

July 29, 2018 5:54 PM

I'll work to return the favor by Mary Brooding

Mary blushed and then smirked as she relaxed again. She'd been caught out and realized she didn't mind. Excitement came over her next, and she leaned into that feeling, appreciating its simplicity.

"Usually people eat it with a full s'more. So you'd grab a chocolate bar and some graham crackers and sort of make a sandwich," Mary explained, grabbing a second marshmallow and lighting her wand again.

She was glad Sonora's table offered the big marshmallows. Big enough to make for a full mouthful, these were the best kind to toast.

"Do you want to try it my way all black like the one I ate, or do you want it less...burnt?" she asked. "Don't answer that, we'll do one of each."

She smiled at her friend, enjoying their secret marshmallow adventure.

"I'm so excited you haven't had one before! It's not often you get to be someone's first toasted marshmallow experience, and this is sort of an important milestone."

The thought made Mary practically giddy. Tabitha's soft face looked so interested and Mary wanted to laugh.

"Look at us," she giggled. "Two grown women, oogling over marshmallows and tittering like schoolchildren."

When the first marshmallow was properly charred, Mary scooped it up, carefully bouncing it to avoid burning herself, and offered it in an open palm to Tabitha.

"For you, m'lady," Mary teased. "A treat fit for kings."

22 Mary Brooding I'll work to return the favor 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Amelia Layne

July 29, 2018 6:12 PM

Layne's Reprise: A Tolerable Return. by Amelia Layne

Summer had begun, as expected, in an uneventful fashion. Amelia had spent her time reading, dutifully looking at the CATS prep books it had seemed everyone in the family had seen fit to buy her, visiting relatives, listening to her grandparents complain about how Lionel had quit his job. Alicia had had her up for tea at Mount Pierce once, which had been a brief flurry of excitement that had involved being crushed into a new dress and Grandmother trying desperately to make Amelia’s golden-brown hair look familiar with the concept of a hairbrush, but the actual occasion had been so dull as to make the prelude ridiculous – Alexander and Nicholas were just learning to walk, and so Alicia tended to have her eyes on them even when speaking to other people, and the least whimper of ‘Mama!’ or extension of a pair of tiny hands would have her out of her seat in a flash.

It was strange – once, Alicia had been held up to Amelia as everything she ought to aspire to be, the picture of ambition and determination, but now it seemed Alicia’s favorite topic of conversation was how many words her toddlers could say and wondering who would become a steady independent walker first. All that sparkle and ambition, all those RATS – and as far as Amelia could tell they were going for nothing now.

Amelia had thought about that for two days, and then she had caught a bus to her uncle’s and told him that if Lionel didn’t want to work with him, she would. Uncle Geoff had laughed at her. She had told him she wasn’t joking. She had spent most of the rest of the summer in her uncle’s workshop, either measuring or pounding things to powder, or else studying under his supervision.

To her, it all seemed very simple. She had to do something, and the easier a time she had finding her way into that something, and the easier it was when she started, the less headachy adult life would be. Using the connections she had and learning as much as she could right now would translate into being able to make more money and making more money would translate into more comforts and less stress. Amelia had assumed for a while that she was missing something – why had Lionel thrown aside good opportunities to go write pamphlets or whatever – but she was now pretty sure that Lionel was just…being Lionel, and that being Lionel meant being too much like their mama – just kind of ‘going with it,’ living life as they pleased, not worrying too much about trouble until it was right on top of them. At least Lionel couldn’t get pregnant.

Amelia, theoretically, could, but that was another reason to stay busy with other things. She didn’t think that would hold much water as an excuse for feeling a twinge of envy when Emerald got the prefect badge, though, so she guessed she and Flo could commiserate over that like normal people.

“Yeah, I think so,” said Amelia when Gary asked if she was glad to be back. “I kept busy this summer in my uncle’s lab, but it’ll be good to, you know, be able to do hands-on stuff besides just using a mortar and pestle again. I missed being able to cast spells. How about you?”

16 Amelia Layne Layne's Reprise: A Tolerable Return. 360 Amelia Layne 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

July 29, 2018 6:27 PM

I hope you will return... many things. by Tabitha Hawthorne

It had been some time since Tabitha had been truly curious about something and it surprised her even more that it was about food, instead of a creature or beast that she hadn't yet encountered or heard of. She also found her interest captured by Mary herself, whose cheeks were flushed, whether from the heat of her wand or being caught, Tabitha didn't know. It was clear that she was brimming with excitement, even more since Tabitha had mentioned that she'd never had a 'smore'. In truth, she was rather excited herself to try something new but she managed to contain herself better than the witch sitting next to her.

Tabitha watched Mary's face closely with interest. Her eyes seemed to glitter, the reflection of the fire on her wand making them shine. A few strands of her black hair had fallen in front of her face and Tabitha had the strange and new urge to brush them back behind her ears. They were leaning in rather close to one another that Tabitha could make out the freckles on her face, across her cheeks and nose, sparse though they were. Tabitha found herself thinking that it wasn't a great distance from where she was sitting in order to be able to just...

She caught herself in mid-thought and her eyes widened as she found herself thinking such things. She was abruptly pulled back into the noisiness of the hall and she leaned back slightly, internally fighting a blush that threatened to crawl across her cheeks. What on earth had she just been thinking? She was rather alarmed. She'd never thought like that about another woman... Yet, Tabitha found that she wasn't repulsed or horrified. She was just surprised.

Suddenly, she was being offered a 'smore' by Mary and she took it, pinching the toasted marshmallow between her index finger and thumb, looking at it curiously. She quirked an eyebrow at Mary and, with an amused smile, took a big bite out of it.

It seemed that Mary was an expert in toasting marshmallows because it was warm, but not hot so it didn't burn Tabitha's mouth or tongue. It was very sweet, the sugars in the treat having been caramelised and, as she pulled the treat away from her mouth, it stretched, revealing its sticky and gooey inside. It was absolutely delicious and Tabitha found herself wanting another before she'd even finished with the first. What she didn't realise is that some of the marshmallow had stuck to the corner of her mouth and she caught Mary watching her, the Potions mistress looking amused.

"What? Am I that funny?"

20 Tabitha Hawthorne I hope you will return... many things. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 29, 2018 6:27 PM

Pockets are more practical by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn didn't know she was holding her breath until she wasn't anymore, as Malikhi moved away. She chastised herself, finding this whole thing utterly ridiculous. Day one and she was losing her mind. How was she going to make a friendship work if she turned into a bloody weirdo when Malikhi was around?

The next year, with all its possibilities, suddenly came to mind. Staying up late in the library, nestled between Malikhi and Ness, falling asleep eating brownies in the Common Room with Malikhi... there were too many good memories to make to fall apart now.

Evelyn took a deep breath and watched as various emotions ran across Malikhi's face. She wanted to ask him if she was the only one feeling like she'd lost her mind somewhere between crying over a brown badge and making a new friend, but what if he hadn't? What if she was the only one feeling like a crazy person.

If she was honest with herself, she didn't know what all these feelings meant. She still thought of Ness and their conversation about growing up and marrying people and going to hell in a handbasket. She wondered what she'd like to be, or have. A girlfriend? A boyfriend? Something else?

She didn't want to worry about any of it, and focused on the way Malikhi shot her a nervous glance before scrunching his eyes shut. It was in precisely that moment that Evelyn realized she probably should have stopped him from attempting whatever he was about to--

Boom.

It wasn't particularly loud, nor particularly messy, and Evelyn was sure that it went largely unnoticed in the din of the hall.

The fizzy green sludge had erupted from the glass, evidently forced out by the pressure of red sparks that burst from Malikhi's wand. Evidently he was a fair spellcaster so far, and the explosion sent the contents of the glass onto his face. Apparently, though, exposure to air resulted in the instant gelatinizing of the sludge, as it landed in strings in his hair, on his face, and on his robes.

At first, Evelyn was quiet, watching to see what his reaction would be. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth had fallen open when a surprised gasp escaped. However, before Malikhi had collected himself enough to reply, Evelyn lost it.

It started with giggles, tickling their way out her throat as she leaned away from the mess. Then, as she thought to help Malikhi extricate himself from what was essentially strings of snot, she found that she couldn't even restrain herself to just giggles. Her hands covered her mouth as she laughed, and tears streamed down her face.

Her belly hurt to laugh so hard and she tried to wipe her face on her sleeves, pushing back her hair with a rough swipe of her hand.

"Oh, Malikhi!" she cried, laughing and laughing and laughing.

22 Evelyn Stones Pockets are more practical 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Mary Brooding

July 29, 2018 6:51 PM

Like library books? by Mary Brooding

A smirk seemed to have settled itself permanently onto Mary's face. She had never seen someone take such a clinical view of a marshmallow, and the way Tabitha pinched the little squish between two fingers made Mary want to laugh. She was careful to restrain herself, though, as she didn't want to interrupt this very important experience.

"Yes," Mary replied simply to Tabitha's question. "And you've got to tell me whether you like it first, don't just leave me hanging!"

She was teasing the woman, who was clearly enjoying this new treat. A dab of marshmallow had stuck itself to Tabitha's mouth and Mary found herself in quite the predicament. She had a number of options now, and none of them seemed ideal.

She could mention the sticky sugar, possibly embarrassing Tabitha but saving her from running into anyone else that way. She could do something about it herself, an option that seemed to have the most consequences and would certainly be a bit weird considering they'd only known each other for a few hours (had it really only been a few hours?). She could not say anything and leave Tabitha to discover the glop later tonight on her own, leave someone else to comment, or leave it to be brushed away naturally. None of these sounded good, but one of them at least seemed to be easily covered with humor.

"But yes," she said again, keeping her voice light and full of humor. She doubted Tabitha was the sort to be terribly embarrassed by something as adorable...ah. Normal...as bit of stuck on marshmallow. "I find you quite funny. And I find it quite funny that a bit of marshmallow seems as interested in you as you seem in it! You've got a bit on the corner of your mouth."

Mary smiled at her friend and then looked away as she took care of the matter. There was far too high a chance she would lick the marshmallow away and Mary preferred not to watch that just now.

"Do you think anybody else in here has done anything quite so exciting as a toasted marshmallow?" she asked, leaning towards Tabitha and nodding at the students in front of them. One boy seemed to have erupted a glass of something nasty onto his face, but otherwise the room was full only of voices and laughter. "I think we win for the most lovely meal tonight."

22 Mary Brooding Like library books? 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 29, 2018 6:53 PM

But aren't hearts safer? by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

What Malikhi felt, when he heard the small explosion, was instantaneous regret, followed by the warmth of the contents of his goblet hitting him, mostly his face, hair and down his front. He was lucky his mouth hadn't been open or he was sure he would've swallowed some and the prospect of swallowing any more sludge was a prospect that Malikhi wasn't a fan of. He coughed, waving a hand in front of his face to try and dispel the funny smell that was lingering around his nose. He could feel a blush colouring his cheeks. That had clearly not gone well.

Then, he heard laughing. Loud laughter, coming from his right and that was the point at which he opened his eyes. His face was impassive as he watched Evelyn howl with laughter, clearly tickled pink - the brightest pink, he thought, if the colour of her cheeks was anything to go off - and he could see tears rolling over her cheeks again though this time, to Malikhi's delight, they were happy tears.

Pleased that he had been able to make her laugh, to truly make her laugh. If he was honest, it wasn't quite in the way he'd planned to do it but he was pleased that he had been able to make her laugh. Then, suddenly, he got a mischievous grin on his face. So, she thought him being covered in sludge was funny, did she?

"Oh, I'll show you funny, Linney," he growled playfully before beginning to tickle her sides.

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari But aren't hearts safer? 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 29, 2018 7:24 PM

But softer, too by Evelyn Stones

As it turned out, laughing, crying, blushing, and breathing, aren't easy to do all at once. Evelyn hated to be the center of attention, particularly when she hadn't met any of the other members of her her House yet. These two facts together meant that a deeper shade of red rose in her face when she found a snort escaping through her laughter.

She did her best to restrain a shriek as Malikhi attacked. She'd never been particularly ticklish, but the effort alone made her laugh harder, not to mention the fact that they were cramped onto the Pecari bench and she didn't quite have room to escape. When she reached for his arms to push him away, giggling as she did so, she opened her eyes and found a face still covered in green slime.

"Malikhi, that's gross!" she laughed.

As it turned out, his name did feel safe in her mouth after all. This thought somehow managed to find a place in her giggle-addled brain, and she realized she'd just received her first nickname. Somewhere behind her sternum, just off to the left, something like a smile blossomed. She didn't have a word for it, although gratitude came to mind. She couldn't help being grateful for the goodness of this silly new friend.

A new nickname was a bit like a good joke-- explaining it ruined it. Evelyn didn't know this, never having received a nickname before, but somehow she could feel it. She decided not to comment on this new name, accepting it with a quiet smile, instead. Her eyes, she was sure, were warm.

"You're going to get us in trouble," she laughed, pushing his arms away by the wrists. "I don't know if there's a rule against that, but someone's going to look over and think we're fighting." She snickered at the thought, and smiled at Malikhi. "Do you want help? You've got it in your hair."

Evelyn considered waiting for an answer, but at this point, that seemed unnecessary. Instead, she patted him on the shoulder, what she hoped was a friendly gesture, and then reached for his hair. Removing strings of sludge was harder than she'd expected and she turned towards him, bending one knee to lay it across the bench so she could use both hands to untangle the goo from strands of gold hair.

"Are your pranks always this messy?" she teased.

22 Evelyn Stones But softer, too 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

July 29, 2018 7:32 PM

I was thinking of something a bit more... personal. by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha finished her delectable treat and licked at her fingers. It had been truly a new experience and delightful one, in more ways than just tasting something new. It was also nice that she'd shared a new experience with the lovely Mary Brooding. Tabitha found their new found friendship delightful but also, incredibly confusing. The woman was so lovely and Tabitha couldn't help but wonder if there was something... more than friendship lingering underneath all the laughter and niceties. However, Tabitha hardly believed that such a thing was possible given that they'd only known each other less than a day. You only read about such things in romance books and Tabitha knew that, more often than not, such things were unlikely to exist.

"It's delicious," she told Mary, in relation to the smore. "Really, truly a delight."

She was happy that Mary found her funny and laughed lightly when the marshmallow at the corner of her mouth was pointed out to her. Deciding that licking it away would be rather difficult, given the stickiness, she picked up her napkin and wiped away the final trace of her sugary treat. She felt kind of sad that the new experience they'd shared was now over but she also felt that it was the first paving stone for many other new experiences and the thought of that gave her a thrill of excitement.

She sat back, now completely relaxed in Mary's presence, her nerves at the beginning of the feast having been long forgotten. She agreed with Mary's assessment of the meal. "Yes, I don't think anyone has had a meal lovelier than ours."

What Tabitha did not say was that she didn't think anyone else had had a lovelier dinner partner than her, either. She felt really content. Which caused a question to occur to her.

"When..." she paused, quite unsure about how she should phrase the question and whether to ask it at all, in case it ruined the nice mood. She let out a sigh and decided to go for it anyway. "When were you happiest in life so far?"

20 Tabitha Hawthorne I was thinking of something a bit more... personal. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 29, 2018 8:00 PM

Doesn't that make them a comfortable place to be? by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi chuckled to himself as he leaned away from her, stopping his attack. Seeing her laughing like that made Malikhi equally as happy. She seemed to just come alive, with her bright eyes and nice smile. It was in that moment that Malikhi decided that that is how he always wanted to see her - laughing and smiling and only shedding tears when they were happy ones. He thought that she looked prettiest like that and he thought about telling her so but decided against doing so. He felt it was kind of weird to even be thinking it and didn't want to make the air between them weird by saying so.

Malikhi accepted the offer of Evelyn's help and inclined his head in her direction so it would be easier for her to help. Her fingers were gentle on his hair as she removed the foul bits of sludge and he found that he quite liked that feeling. The feeling of her fingers combing through his unruly hair. He blinked, unsure why he was feeling such things. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost missed her question.

"They can be," he answered, truthfully. He was reminded of the time when he had tried to cover his father with a bucket of PVA glue and pillow feathers - that had backfired when a young Malikhi had left it balanced on a doorframe so long, he forgot and had run into the room and ended up looking like a deformed chicken. "Are you prepared for that, Linney?"

He don't know where the nickname had come from but he liked that it his name for her and no one else's.

"What do you want to be when you grow up? Would you take a muggle or a wizard career?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Doesn't that make them a comfortable place to be? 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Mary Brooding

July 29, 2018 8:09 PM

Like socks? by Mary Brooding

The way Tabitha asked this last question, leaning back in her chair, made Mary think she was curious. This made sense, considering the conversations they'd had so far. However, the way Tabitha asked this last question, starting and stopping and only starting again after a pause and a sigh, made Mary think she was quite more than curious.

Mary wondered if there was a right and wrong answer, and she considered her words carefully.

For one, she was a generally happy person. She'd experienced the very worst of a normal person's life-- knowing, of course, that there was more evil and more grief in the lives of others-- and still made it through. She'd experienced the temporary love of a beautiful woman, and the beautiful friendship that endured a heartbreak. She'd traveled, and experienced, and laughed, and learned.

On the other hand, she was incredibly happy in this moment. The bright faces of students engaging with new friends, old friends, and friends that had become family brought a swell to her heart, and their laughter and chatter was positively contagious. They were the reason she was here, and she couldn't deny the happiness they granted her.

She was also a professor at a school that had practically saved her life. She was stepping out the door and on the first foot of a new journey. She had done it.

Then there was Tabitha. There was this beautiful, intelligent woman, sitting here beside her, eating toasted marshmallows and discussing travelling plans. This was a woman who could hold her own in any conversation, and she thought to care what made Mary the happiest.

She really wanted to say that these past few hours were her happiest, and in some ways it was true. Certainly, this time with Tabitha had brought Mary great joy. But she thought it might be a bit odd for anyone to say the first few hours of a meaningful friendship were the happiest of anything, and saying so would seem...superficial.

Whens he'd first met the woman, she'd been describing the school and this new experience as lovely and wonderful. She'd practically run out of adjectives expressing her joy. But her joy was not in its peak abundance here. Instead, she thought of a moment that hadn't left her, even when the memories of the worst that had happened threatened to overwhelm her. She hated to say it was her happiest, but she hated more to be dishonest.

She could feel a sheepish blush spreading on her cheeks, and hoped it was at least forming a rosy glow on her bronze skin, rather than the splotchy pink of nervous flushes.

"I was nineteen," she said, speaking slowly. "And I had just left. I graduated a while before, but had sort of...stuck around I suppose? Finally, I'd decided I wanted to go travel, and was actually going to do it. I had my potions equipment all packed away, and I was wearing this dark red robe. I'd gone to the beach. I grew up near there and I wanted to say goodbye before I left to see the rest of the world."

Mary took a breath and chuckled to herself, feeling quite silly for providing such a long-winded answer. "I was standing on a cliffside at sunset, overlooking the ocean and the waves, and thinking about how old I felt. I felt like I'd experienced everything. I'd had loss and grief and...and failure. I failed so many RATs. But it was the last moment I can remember not knowing what I didn't know."

Feeling confident enough to finally see how her audience was receiving the story, she cautioned a glimpse at Tabitha. "I knew then, that I really didn't know very much, and I knew it. That still happens now, but it's easier to say, 'Oh, I don't know much about politics in Zimbabwe, or Wampus Cats in North America." She winked at Tabitha at this last bit.

"That was the last day of my adult life that I really didn't know anything, and there's something beautiful about having the rest of the world in front of you."

She'd been honest, but she knew she had more to say. She paused a moment, and then decided that she might as well say it.

"If I'm honest, Tabitha, I feel a bit like that now. Here, with you... I feel like the whole world is in front of me."

A wash of heat came just as a wave of teary-eyed embarrassment, and Mary looked away, back out at the sea of sweet faces. "I really couldn't be happier than I am right now," she lied in a soft voice.

Quietly, in the depths of thoughts she would not share when it would put both their jobs at risk, she knew the truth: Mary would be happier if she could admit how fond she was of Tabitha Hawthorne.

22 Mary Brooding Like socks? 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 29, 2018 8:34 PM

But a harder place to keep things by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn smirked letting herself slump into a more relaxed position. She considered that it was probably rude to sit sideways on a dinner bench, and sighed softly before turning to sit properly at the table.

"I'm not sure anyone can really be prepared for you," she admitted, smiling again at how casually he used the nickname. "But I'll give it a go."

She thought again of Ness, and worried whether Ness would be prepared. Was Evelyn prepared for Ness not to be? Or what if they... no. That wouldn't happen.

The question of careers caught her off guard and she pulled a thoughtful expression. If she was honest, she doubted her magic would ever be good enough for most wizard careers. Spellcasting was a basic requirement for many of these jobs, unless she could get a desk job or something.

"A muggle job sounds nice," she mused. "But I don't think I'd like to hide this part of my life. Maybe if I married a muggle, but I don't think that will happen. Maybe, though. My dad did!"

Realizing how much life she had ahead of her was a bit dizzying and Evelyn took a breath before continuing.

"Honestly, I'm just hoping they'll let me graduate at this point," she laughed. "What about you? What do you want to do?"

22 Evelyn Stones But a harder place to keep things 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Grayson Wright

July 29, 2018 8:54 PM

All back to not as before. by Grayson Wright

They had been reasonably cooperative during their social time in the Gardens and their guided tour of the school, but Gray was still deeply grateful when the time came to hand off the first years to Selina. His boss was a consummate professional who had actually, as far as he could tell, set out to spend her life herding cats and keeping them from destroying buildings, which was more than he could say of himself.

The summer had been productive. In a fit of optimistic boredom, or temporary insanity, or whatever, during the quarantine, Gray had applied for a spot at a writer’s retreat in the middle of Nowhere, Vermont. To his amazement, he had actually received one of the spots, and had been released from Sonora in time to go. It had possibly been the strangest thing he had ever been to, somewhere between going back boarding school and what he imagined it would be like to check into a mental facility (indeed, one of the things he had started scribbling there, though he had not shown the other writers, had been a short play set in a mental facility, based on some of the antics he’d seen at the retreat). Half the group had been drunk the whole time, affairs had been carried on, one brawl had occurred, and yet, somehow, they had all produced material. Decent material, even – solid beginnings to good material.

Gray was glad about that, but equally glad to be away from the rest of the group. He knew the group dynamic had been part of the fuel for the productivity, but drinking and drugs rendered him incapable of writing, and being around a bunch of drunk or high people while sober was…irritating. Unfortunately, Sonora no longer felt like a place where he knew his exact place in the pecking order, either – not with both Sophie and Daniel gone. He quite understood their being gone, it was probably related to the same impulse which had landed him in Vermont for part of the holiday, but still – when he had shown up here, those had been the people he had been in school with, and so he had figured out how to fit in. Now they were gone and there were unknown quantities. So he felt a bit at loose ends, which was part of why he had volunteered to take Nathan’s place with the first years this year – he supposed they felt much the same way.

He watched them get Sorted and applauded politely for the new badges, then focused his own attention on the food. That, at least, could be counted on. And…yes. There was grape juice. His preferred beverage. He poured himself a glass, restored to a happier mood just by its presence, and then raised it to the nearest colleague, putting writing and his place in the world aside for the moment.

“Happy New Year,” he said, approximately half-joking.

16 Grayson Wright All back to not as before. 113 Grayson Wright 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

July 29, 2018 9:14 PM

Ew, I don't want your socks! by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha was quiet through the entirety of Mary's answer as she felt that it was a very important thing to listen to. It was a question that was designed to drag out a revealing part of the other person and Tabitha found herself wanting to know everything about Mary. There was just something about the woman that was now consuming Tabitha's thoughts. She wanted to know absolutely everything about her, though she wasn't quite sure why.

She was surprised when Mary said that she couldn't be happier than she was in that moment they were sharing. They were just two people, two women, two witches who had endured hardship and yet experienced the most exciting or glorious things. Yet, somehow, Tabitha felt that all of that wasn't really very important. Of course, in the day-to-day, it was and when getting to know each other as experiences made a person into who they were but, for the moment, Tabitha liked to think of them as just two people who had been thrown together by some odd twist of fate.

While she acknowledged the comment by looking directly at the Potions mistress, she didn't speak aloud. There was a silence between them as she mulled things over in her head. It was incredibly bizarre that this woman had managed to inspire such feeling within Tabitha in just the matter of a few hours. In the end, Tabitha let out a gentle sigh and began to speak.

"I was perhaps a bit older than you... Maybe twenty? I had begun travelling and I was in the heart of a forest in France. I was, in all honesty, rather miserable. We'd been caught in a storm the day before and all of our possesions were soaked, a lot of things ruined. It was a moment where I thought I'd made a mistake."

She paused to sip at her hot chocolate. Her voice was steady and calm and didn't waver for a moment and that, at her core, was who Tabitha was. She was confident and strong, firm in her beliefs and proud of her experiences. She was not a shy, shrinking wallflower who was scared to set foot out of the front door.

"I had walked away from where we'd set up camp as I wanted some time to myself to be miserable and brood," Tabitha couldn't resist sending a slight smirk in Mary's direction. "I was wrapped up in my own thoughts, not really aware of where I was going when I heard the snapping of some twigs underfoot. Thinking I was about to be attacked by some vicious beast, I drew my wand. As it turns out, I'd stumbled across a unicorn mare and her foal."

She turned herself to look at Mary properly, her grey eyes sparkling with the memory. It was as fresh as the day it had happened. If she closed her eyes and concentrated, she could still remember the smell of the wet forest that had surrounded her, of the damp ground underfoot that muddied her travelling boats, the cool breeze that rustled the leaves of the trees that towered above her, creating a canopy that blocked out the sun in the daytime.

"I never approached them as I didn't want to spook them and I don't believe that they saw me. If they did, they ignored me. But it showed me that I was doing the right thing, that I was on the right path, that travelling the world was something that I absolutely had to do. It was those experiences, those once-in-a-lifetime moments I was living for."

She trailed off, staring at Mary intently in the face, hoping she'd understand where she was coming from. She wanted her to understand so badly that she reached for both of Mary's hands, clasping them tight in her own. She started to speak again but her voice was much quieter, perhaps almost drowned out by the cacophony of noise that surrounded them.

"That is my happiest moment because... if I hadn't seen the unicorn mare and her foal, if I hadn't had some to assure me that I was doing the right thing, I don't think I would have ended up in America and therefore, ended up here at Sonora. All of those things mean that I never, ever would have met you..."

She paused and her eyes widened. She hadn't meant to say that.

20 Tabitha Hawthorne Ew, I don't want your socks! 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 29, 2018 9:38 PM

I think you'll find that my heart is quite big. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

When Evelyn's hands left his hair, Malikhi felt kind of sad. It had been nice, almost relaxing, feeling her fingers comb through his messy hair. He ran his own fingers through it now, pushing back the hair that had fallen in front of his eyes but that made absolutely no difference as it only flopped back over his forehead and messed up the rest.

He grinned at her response. She'd basically just told him that he was unpredictable and he liked that thought. To be a pranker, being unpredictable was an absolute must otherwise, what was the point? Well, Malikhi didn't see one. He wouldn't be a prankster if it was easy to guess what he was up to.

He was surprised by Evelyn's response about careers though and the part about her marrying a muggle and potentially hiding the magical part of herself stired up something within him, an emotion that didn't swell up within Malikhi very often... Anger. He grasped her hands, holding them tight as his eyes burned with intensity.

"Don't..." words seemed to fail him for a minute, the anger he was feeling taking over. In the middle of the red mist, a worry slipped through that he might be clutching her hands so tight that he could be hurting her and, instinctively, he let them go. He turned his face away, lowering his head, his hair completely hiding his eyes. "Don't hide something that is a part of you. It's not right. It'd be like you not wearing your orange lipstick anymore. It's wrong... I'd marry you myself before I'd let you do that, Linney."

Malikhi, being only eleven, did not understand the gravity of the statement he'd just made and wasn't really aware that he'd made it at all. He just had to make sure that Linney understood that it would be wrong to hide that part of her. He wasn't angry with her, not at all. He just hated the thought of Linney being anything else except for... well, Linney.

He answered her final question in a quieter voice, his head still bowed. "I've always thought I'd like to be a cursebreaker... or an auror."

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari I think you'll find that my heart is quite big. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Mary Brooding

July 29, 2018 9:46 PM

I might need them anyway. by Mary Brooding

Mary was surprised that Tabitha's response was so similar, and so...true. It spoke deeply of Tabitha's depth depth of love for magical creatures and adventure, and Mary was inspired by the sincerity.

Tabitha's hands were soft. She was warm and friendly.

Her eyes were big and dark and full.

Her words were... too much.

Somewhere, in the parts of Mary Brooding that were not lovely or wonderful, she felt something break.

She thought of Parker, her parents, and Michelle. She thought of this new job. She thought of how much this work mattered to Tabitha, even if she thought she didn't want to be a professor.

She was still thinking of all of these things when she stood abruptly, spilling her hot chocolate and knocking her chair back with a loud scraping sound. She didn't see if anyone noticed and didn't care too. The way her hot chocolate seeped across the table made her think of blood and she looked away, but not at Tabitha. Her face was hot and she didn't want to cry in front of anybody yet, least of all this beautiful, perfect, unattainable woman.

"It's been a lovely night," Mary said. "I will see you around, I'm sure. Goodbye."

Pushing past the other professors all in a row at the head table, Mary couldn't have escaped any faster without running. She had made a joke about heels too high to run earlier, and it wasn't really a joke; she walked quickly past the sea of students and out of Cascade Hall.

Defeated and deflated, Mary didn't cry until she was well beyond that beautiful room. The din followed her, but she didn't look back. She hoped desperately for a set of footsteps to follow after her, and hoped desperately that none would come.

She felt stupid, an unusual feeling for her. Mistakes had been made and she had gotten too close. She didn't want to hurt anybody. A scream was built in her chest. Heat blinded her.

Storming towards her new quarters, she stopped shy, and exited through the main doors, into the Labyrinth Gardens instead. She wished desperately to hide, and she cried desperate tears as she left everything she'd ever wanted behind her.

This night would end and then classes would begin, and she would be ready. She would not make the same mistake again. There was too much at stake and Mary was not willing to risk another's happiness for her own.

Laughter and the voices of children shut off abruptly as the doors to Sonora Academy of Magic closed behind her.

22 Mary Brooding I might need them anyway. 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

July 29, 2018 10:16 PM

While I'm left in the cold. by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha sat in her chair, still staring at the space that Mary had left behind. Her hands were still outstretched, reaching for the woman that was no longer there. Reaching for the soft and warm hands that had been so abruptly torn from hers, leaving them open, empty and cold. The hot chocolate that had been spilled was dripping steadily on to the floor, splashing Tabitha's boots but she hardly even noticed. She felt hollow, empty and ice cold.

Then, she felt angry.

How in the hell could she have been so stupid? How could she have opened her stupid mouth and made known her stupid feelings because she was feeling so bloody reminiscent and nostalgic? It was a stupid, stupid, stupid thing to do. And it was all over a woman who she had only known for a few hours. Despite all the dangerous situations Tabitha had ever landed herself in, this one was somehow the most reckless and the most insane and she hadn't even needed to leave Sonora for it to happen. It was completely and entirely her fault.

"Damn it..." she hissed to herself, rage burning within her stomach. She needed to leave. Mary's abrupt departure would have already caused enough of a disturbance so it hardly mattered to Tabitha if she added to it but she could not stay there, sitting in her seat. Not after everything her big mouth had just caused.

She stood up, producing her wand and waved it idly, cleaning up the spilled hot chocolate and made her excuses to the rest of the teacher's table, who were no doubt wondering what on earth was going on. Tabitha did not want to remain to explain it and if this whole disaster meant that she'd lose her position as the Defence teacher, then so be it. She made her way through the hall at a quick pace, her white robe billowing out behind her.

As she stepped through the doors, her first thought was to disappear up into her Defence classroom and her office, away from everybody. That would've been the sensible thing to do. Calmer, clearer Tabitha, the Tabitha from an hour before might have done that. It would be the smartest, ideal thing to do... except this Tabitha was not the calm and rational thinking one from an hour previous. This Tabitha had just caused a woman, a wonderful, lovely, beautiful woman to leave her company. Had caused to practically run out of the hall, all because Tabitha hadn't been able to control her mouth.

There was only one thing that Tabitha could think to do. It was the only thing that made any sense to her wound up and irrational brain. It was the only thing that might be able to fix this whole complete mess.

She had to find Mary.

20 Tabitha Hawthorne While I'm left in the cold. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 29, 2018 10:16 PM

I'm pretty small, too.... by Evelyn Stones

Malikhi's sudden intensity surprised Evelyn and she was sure she looked frightened. However, she was more surprised when he released her hands. When Evelyn's father was angry about something, he was much less likely to let it go without hurting her. She clasped her hands in her lap and rubbed them together nervously, stomach clenching.

"We never had to hide anything from my mom," she whispered.

She hated the idea that it might be wrong, somehow, to marry a muggle. She supposed that Malikhi wasn't angry about that part, but about hiding, which she understood. But she and her mom had hidden more from her wizard father than anybody else, and she couldn't see past the idea that it would somehow be wrong to marry a muggle. She didn't even know if she wanted to get married at all!

Evelyn fluttered at Malikhi's profession but didn't like that he offered to marry her to save her from...what? Making her own decision? Doing something he didn't like?

She didn't like to think of him as someone who would do that. The rational part of her brain knew he was trying to be kind and that he didn't mean it in a hurtful way, but she found that she was hurt. Determined not to cry again, she followed his change of subject.

"You'd probably be good at those," she murmured. "Your uh... Your spell was strong and that's... that's good."

Evelyn hated the way her shoulders fell forward into a slump and the way her head dipped. She was ready to accept a torrent of words or other, more hurtful things, that she knew Malikhi likely wouldn't deliver. But that's not something she could help.

"You're excited for Defense Against the Dark Arts then?" she asked, wishing she could say it normally.

Her hands were still warm, just like Malikhi, and she wasn't sure what she thought about that.

22 Evelyn Stones I'm pretty small, too.... 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 29, 2018 11:21 PM

Then you'd fit in my heart. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, a technique his father had taught him to help whenever he got upset. The idea was that it supplied more oxygen to the brain which in turn, should help with making the mind clearer and also calm down. He felt that his heart was racing, the anger he'd felt having been so white hot and intense. The blond hadn't experienced anything like it. There was something about Linney that affected him.

He looked up at her, wide-eyed, when her voice was no louder than a whisper. She seemed to be close to tears and Malikhi clenched his jaw. He'd caused that. He could see the traces of fear on her face and the way she was looking at him caused him to feel a strange, unfamiliar ache inside his chest. It was uncomfortable and unpleasant and Malikhi wanted to make it go away. He had no idea what it was but he felt crushed by it.

"I..." he started, but for once, even Malikhi didn't know what to say. He supposed he should start with apologising but that was something that Malikhi didn't do very often - he didn't upset many people - so he wasn't entirely sure how to begin. After a few more moments of reflection, he sighed deeply. He moved as if to reach out for her hands but remembered his previous actions and decided to place them firmly on the table instead.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to tell you what to do, Linney. I just..." he sighed heavily again and looked up at the ceiling momentarily, as if that would hold the answers. "It's your choice who you marry, of course, but don't hide any part of you from them. It wouldn't be honest."

Hoping he'd managed to convey that he only wanted her to be happy and didn't want her to be forced into choosing her magical side or the person she could end up loving, Malikhi looked away from her. There was silence for a moment as he reflected on what he just said. Then, he decided to add, "Everyone deserves to be happy, Linney... Even you."

Then, he turned to face her completely and he stretched out his arms, holding them open. "Hug?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Then you'd fit in my heart. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 29, 2018 11:40 PM

Can my heart come, too? by Evelyn Stones

Very little in the world upset Evelyn as much as she did. Whether it was her extremely poor magical abilities, her apparent lousiness at making friends, or her ability to hurt the people she cared for, Evelyn did not trust herself with much.

So when Malikhi Hill, her second friend, a boy with a friendly face and devilish smile was no longer finding reasons to smile and it was her fault, Evelyn found that she didn't like herself at all.

She didn't want to thank him. She didn't want to say what would feel like 'thank you for hurting me and then taking it back' because that's not how hurt works. She also didn't want to ignore the fact that he had tried and that he was sincere.

Nobody warned her Sonora would be so emotional.

"Thank you for caring," she said, deciding that the full truth would be better than just a 'thank you.'

She was quiet again when Malikhi said that 'even she' deserved to be happy. It was as if he knew that she didn't believe it. There was no way he could've known, but maybe...just maybe... he understood.

"I'm not mad at you," Evelyn told him truly, finding more strength in her voice. "I'm glad we're friends."

When he offered her a hug, Evelyn found herself surprised again. She wasn't used to affection like this. Ness had been kind and warm, and certainly shown an affection towards her, but not like this. Evelyn's mother hugged her sometimes, but that's different.

For a moment, she was reminded of the boys at muggle school who would try to trick girls into hugs so they could feel... she wasn't sure what. But they always seemed like it was a treat to squish themselves against her. The thought made her shudder.

But Malikhi wasn't one of those boys. He was kind and his eyes were soft and full of concern. He faced her directly, exposing himself to her will. She got to decide this time.

"I might cry," she warned, only half joking.

And then she decided. She didn't turn on the bench, afraid that they would bump knees and it would be weird. Instead, she reached over to her side, wrapped her arms around her new friend, and hugged him. He was still warm, and she got warm, too. He smelled like her new friend, and that was her new favorite smell.

He also smelled a bit like fizzy sludge, but that was a separate issue.

"Thanks, Malikhi," she murmured, pressing her face into his shoulder.

22 Evelyn Stones Can my heart come, too? 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 30, 2018 12:08 AM

It can beat next to mine. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi smiled tenderly, relieved that she was accepting his hug. For a terrifying moment, he thought that the damage he'd done was actually irreparable and he had made and lost a friend in the same day. That would've been quite the feat.

"You can always cry on my shoulder," he murmured to her as he hugged her back, her floral scent filling his nose. It was comforting to Malikhi and, despite the fact that he was a boy and flowers were girly, he liked it a lot. It was the smell of her, of Linney and he liked that. She was his first proper friend at Sonora and that made her special to him. She was his Linney.

When they parted, his usual smile was back in its proper place and his eyes sparkled with the mischief that they always held and they were sitting next to each other, two new Pecaris, embarking on a new journey that Merlin only knew where it would take them. Malikhi was extremely excited to find out, though he hoped it wouldn't involve him getting covered in any more green sludge. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be forgetting that incident for a long time.

There was a spread of desserts now laid on the table in front of the pair and Malikhi was delighted to see the stack of profiteroles that he had been craving earlier on in the meal. He piled his plate high and started to dig in, all previous notions of upset forgotten. He paused only momentarily to spear one on the end of his fork and offer it to Evelyn.

"Want one?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari It can beat next to mine. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 30, 2018 3:00 AM

Like a drum by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn felt better now, and took a breath to reorient herself to the physical space. She was reminded suddenly that there were other students, other Pecaris and members of other Houses, that there were professors, and that there were so many possibilities. She doubted her fears would leave her, but at least she wasn't consumed by them just then.

Her eyes grew wide at the array of desserts now available, including a plate stacked with brownies nearby. She could tell even from where she was seated that they were the gooey kind with extra chocolate. It had been far too long since she'd had a treat like that.

Before she could decide to reach for them, Mailkhi was offering a strange puffy pastry, chocolate and cream oozing from the inside. They were beautiful in the careful, delicate way that all the food at Sonora was so far, but Evelyn hadn't actually had one before.

"Yes please!" she said, eager to try something new. "But not one you've jammed your fork through. Can I have the plate?" Evelyn laughed at the prospect, somewhat horrified at the prospect of a pre-stabbed profiterole. That was like waking up on a snow day and finding out that someone else had already walked through your yard, disturbing the pristine whiteness. It just wasn't okay.

"Brownie?" she asked, hoping to pay back the offer.

Evelyn wasn't often able to enjoy these little luxuries and years of nervous habit pushed her to grab an extra brownie and shove it in the pocket of her robes. She'd missed the chance to do so with something from dinner and didn't want to risk being hungry later on. She knew that Sonora was not like home and she'd probably be fine, but thinking more of home made her miss her mom and she wanted to make sure she was looking out for herself if her mom wasn't there to help do it.

22 Evelyn Stones Like a drum 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Dorian Montoir

July 30, 2018 9:53 AM

And true by Dorian Montoir

He assumed that was good staring. Katerina was looking at him all wide eyed, in what he hoped was pleased surprise and not incomprehension at the jabber of syllables he had just produced. He had never tried speaking Russian on anyone who spoke it except for Tatya. Given that she tended to laugh at him when he was utterly incomprehensible (or, if she was feeling overly sorrowful at her linguistic isolation, to sigh as if he had physically pained her), he thought he had honed his pronunciation to a point that was probably intelligible. Given that she then thanked him, he guessed he’d got enough of his message across, and then she was back to French. That was getting more familiar… Everyone in his family switched languages all the time, and so it was a concept he was familiar with, and his brain effortlessly could transition along with the rapid succession of French to English to Chinese and back again and in and out and round in circles that came with talking with his family but especially with his sister. Émilie was always far too keen to just get her words out to mind which language they came in. Adding Russian to that mix - switching out of Russian and into other things - and following French with a distinctly Russian accent was a different mental gymnastic, but after two years with Tatya, he was become well practised at it.

“Je pense que tu es un bon élève,” he complimented her, “Oui, moi aussi,” he nodded, when she mentioned that she enjoyed studying languages, “You have tried any others?” he asked. "Though study two so well is already very impressive," he added, not wishing to undermine her quite considerable achievement. He was just curious, and enjoyed the subject. “Or have any other thing that you enjoy to studying?”

Tak mnogo slov, was such a familiar complaint that he could not help but smile. Katerina bore a family resemblance to her sister but they were not the most similar-looking pair of siblings he had ever seen. The jewellery certainly helped the effect, but that phrase did more than any amount of pearls and gemstones ever could have to cement the similarity. The sentences Katerina was using were short, and had familiar vocabulary. Dorian’s eyes flickered away breaking eye contact for a fraction of a moment, almost looking like he was searching the meaning out in the air around him or inside his own mind, before he came back to her with a nod. He had understood, it had just taken him a moment to do so - to check with himself that he had.

"Professor Wright khorosh. Mne on nravitsya," he said, more to confirm his understanding than because it was a witty or sparkling insight. There had been The Incident last year in which Professor Wright had not been those things but luckily there did not seem to be any permanent dischord between the teacher and Tatya. A lot of things had happened last year that... just should not count to one's permanent reputation.

He wondered what it meant that Katerina had not commented on anything beyond Professor Wright. He supposed not everyone could meet their Jehan on their first day. He tried to remember if he had even commented on the other boy at the feast, or whether he had just... kept it to himself. He remembered still being nervous at the feast, that the wonderful person he had met would quickly realise that he wasn't worth it. He had worried so often that Jehan would get bored of him, of his clumsy grammar, that he wouldn't be... enough. Those thoughts seemed strange now. They felt like they belonged to someone else. He had not thought them in a long time. Now, Jehan always made him feel safe and content.

"Toujours," he confirmed, as Katerina asked about the hall and its decoration, a little surprised that Tatya had failed to mention this. He thought it... rather noteworthy, especially to someone who did not exactly go in for subtlety and understatement. Her mention of it being a fete reminded him, they had been distracted by the pleasnatries and introductions from the other purpose of the evening, "I may get you something?" he enquired. The verb 'servir' would have been more elegant and appropriate but the English version was escaping him at present, and he wasn't quite sure it would have come in Katerina's studies. He did not wish to embarrass her by surpassing the level of French she knew as that would not be polite or gentlemanly behaviour.

13 Dorian Montoir And true 1401 Dorian Montoir 0 5

Malikhi Hill

July 30, 2018 9:54 AM

Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum. by Malikhi Hill

Malikhi shrugged as he then popped his offered profiterole into his mouth, the cream filling spilling out over his tongue and mixing with the rich chocolate and the sweet puff pastry. With his free hand, he pushed the stack of profiteroles - well, what remained of it after piling his own plate high - over to Evelyn. At her offer of a brownie, he reached over and plucked a particularly delicious-looking one that was large and thick and gooey looking.

Malikhi, when it came to food, frequently only thought about himself. He, admittedly, was a bit of a glutton, always having second and even third helpings to try and fill his bottomless pit of a stomach. It was lucky, really, that he kept in shape by being active through playing Quidditch or generally running around when playing pranks or he was sure that he'd be a lot bigger round his middle. However, just for a moment, his attention was diverted from his plate of chocolate goodies just in time to see Evelyn taking one brownie for her plate and then taking a second and slipping it into the pocket of her robes.

If it had been Malikhi to have done this, it wouldn't be surprising as he looked the type to go around sneaking food into his pockets for later but he was a touch surprised that it was Evelyn who was doing the stealing... Well, taking. Could something be stolen if it was on offer for them anyway? Malikhi wasn't sure and he wondered if he should ask her reasoning behind it.

Deciding that that was one thing he could just let go, he didn't query it. What he did do, though, was wait until she wasn't looking in his direction and took a second brownie and copied her, wrapping it in a napkin and slipped it into his own pocket. Linney clearly like the brownies so he hoped that he could surprise her later when they'd gone up to their dorm rooms by giving her a second one and then it would make her smile.

Then, he spotted some strawberries speared with cocktail sticks across the table, sitting in a circle around a bowl of melted chocolate and his eyes lit up. Profiteroles temporarily forgotten, he reached over to pull his new treat closer. He chose a particularly succulent looking chocolate and submerged it into the thick chocolate, before raising it above the surface and letting the excess drip back off and into the bowl.

With excited eyes, he turned to Evelyn, holding it towards her. "You have to try this! Open wide!"

20 Malikhi Hill Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum. 1423 Malikhi Hill 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 30, 2018 4:13 PM

Tssss by Evelyn Stones

Chocolate covered...strawberries? Evelyn wrinkled her nose. She had begun to trust Malikhi, but something as odd as this made her wonder if personal trust shouldn't extend to food choices.

She also wasn't precisely sure how to eat the thing. Certainly she didn't want to get stem in her mouth, although she wasn't sure if this particular berry still had its stem, but she also didn't want to get chocolate on her fingers. The other option was to bite at it where Malikhi was holding it out, and that seemed like an awkward choice.

"Is it good?" she asked, mostly rhetorically. She blinked once at Malikhi, aware that he had essentially offered to give her the strawberry, and decided she shouldn't act so silly. 'Open wide' meant just that, and she didn't need to be so weird.

Opening her mouth and maintaining eye contact with the strawberry itself, Evelyn leaned forward and chomped into the strawberry as Malikhi stuck it out for her. Maybe he was trustworthy after all; the strawberry was delicious.

"That's amazing," she said around a mouthful of oozing chocolate and tender berry. "Whoever thought of that is a genius! All the food here is incredible."

She thought again of the cheese sandwiches she'd had with Ness, and worked her way forward through the meal. Everything was delicious and she felt fuller than she had since she could remember. She was sure Ness was enjoying the food as well, knowing they had bonded over such things. She craned her neck but had lost sight of her first friend, and frowned.

Turning her attention back to Malkhi, she smiled again. "What else can you dunk in that sauce? I feel like I just want to drink it! But at the same time, I kinda want to save some for more strawberries because that was so good!"

22 Evelyn Stones Tssss 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 30, 2018 4:47 PM

Re: Tssss by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi laughed at her expression as she eyed him, holding out the chocolate-covered strawberry. There appeared to be a mixture of distrust and curiosity but he didn't understand why. He'd only shown and given her delicious treats whereas she was the one who got clever mixing magical juices and basically inventing a poison. His stomach churned slightly at the thought of the sludge that he'd tasted and also been covered in.

When she asked if it was good, Malikhi simply raised his eyebrows and gestured to the strawberry. He wasn't going to influence her thoughts on the sweet treat - she'd either love it or hate it but he wanted her to find out for herself. He wanted to learn things about her and he figured that the best place to start was with the food spread that was laid out in front of them.

Clearly her own curiosity won out over her distrust and she took a bite and he grinned when it was obvious that she enjoyed it. In a way, he hoped that it showed to her that he was a trustworthy person... Well, except when it came to tricking people with his pranks. However, Linney was the exception. He didn't want to prank her, if only because she was now his partner-in-crime.

"So," he began, turning back to his previously abandoned profiteroles. "Tell me about your family."

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Re: Tssss 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 30, 2018 5:33 PM

You can be the bass line by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn thought Malikhi looked happy, and that made her happy. She'd been such a ball of nerves when she'd arrived at Sonora, and between Ness and Malikhi she'd gotten to dive back into her curiosity. She'd asked questions about things she never thought of, she'd tried new foods, and now she was being asked again to think of things she wasn't sure how to talk about.

She supposed it was fair that others were curious about her as much as she was curious about everything else. Lots of things came to mind when he asked, and the question seemed to linger in her ears for a minute.

What struck her is how differently she'd reacted to Ness' same question. What was the difference? She supposed she'd known about Ness' family before she said anything about her own, and she'd not really said that much then, either.

"My mom's a muggle," she said, although Malikhi already knew that. It wasn't the whole story but it was good enough for now. "We live in a real small town and I've known the same people my whole life. Most of them are kind of old, and really good wizards, so I never fit in."

She thought of the few people she'd known well, like Sarah in Kindergarten, but who had eventually faded from her life, leaving her alone with just her family. The thought made her sad, but she didn't want to be sad, so she changed the topic.

"I showed Ness but I don't think I showed you, check this out," she said as she pulled up her left sleeve. "I love to climb, much more than I like being on a broom, although I can do both. But I love climbing trees and one time when I was younger, I didn't land very well."

Evelyn giggled, the way she always did when she remembered falling from a branch a little higher than she would normally jump from.

"It's such an adrenaline rush to fall," she admitted. "But I caught a branch on the way down and landed badly on my arm."

Her sleeve up, she held out her left forearm, where tangles of gnarled skin knotted their way from wrist to elbow on the inside. With the lights of Cascade Hall glistening the way they did off the chandeliers, every ridge stood out, and Evelyn held it out proudly. Reds and pinks showed in thinner patches of skin, where sharp whiteness stood out in the thicker areas.

"I was young and we still didn't know if I was particularly magic at the time. They didn't want to risk any magical remedies," she admitted. "So my mom took care of it instead, with muggle methods. I think my dad also wanted to prove a point and make me stop climbing, but no one could keep me out of the trees."

22 Evelyn Stones You can be the bass line 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill

July 30, 2018 6:16 PM

Only if you listen... by Malikhi Hill

Malikhi looked at Evelyn's arm with a look that was a cross between morbid curiosity and reverence. He was also somewhat stunned that a girl like Evelyn, the one who had been miserable about not being sorted with her friend and who was small and tiny and looked like she could break like a twig if you touched her the wrong way, had such a momento on her arm, all because she'd climbed a tree. He really, really wanted to touch it.

"Can I...?" he gestured to her arm and, after a moment's hesitation, she held it out to him as his answer. He smiled slightly and, gently, tenderly, took her by the wrist in one hand and with the other touched her scar. He traced the scarred skin, fascinated by how it felt, knotted and twisted and yet, strangely, still kind of smooth. To Malikhi, it was cool and yet, he also felt kind of sad that something had happened to her that at the time would have caused her pain. He didn't like to think that Linney would have ever been in any kind of pain.

"You prefer climbing to broomsticks?" he asked her, finally letting go of her arm. "That's interesting. I've never climbed a tree but I love riding a broomstick."

He grinned at her and pointed to the back of his head. "I don't have a scar but I fell off my broom when I was first learning to ride. I didn't fall far but there was blood!"

20 Malikhi Hill Only if you listen... 1423 Malikhi Hill 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 30, 2018 6:35 PM

Me? Listen? by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn watched Malikhi's face as he touched her scarred arm, but wasn't sure she could identify what he was thinking.

"I can't feel that," she admitted. "I don't have any feeling at all on that part of my arm." She grinned, feeling a bit like a superhero who just had one arm dropped in something radioactive instead of their whole body. She doubted Malikhi would understand the reference.

When he released her arm, Evelyn pulled her sleeve back down and nodded as he spoke. When he finished, she couldn't help laughing. Sarcasm came to mind and she wondered if he'd be offended.

"I feel like there's something to tease you about if you've taken a bad fall to the head," Evelyn told him. "But obviously it didn't mess you up too bad." She smiled, hoping it was a good combination of joking and complimenting.

Why did she want to compliment him? She put that thought aside.

"We should practice together. Ness flies too, and all the first years take flight lessons together, right? The three of us could get together and play? Help you two get on teams!"

Evelyn loved the idea that she might've managed to find two friends. Two whole friends! The idea of just the three of them against the world was exciting and she could only imagine what they'd get up to.

22 Evelyn Stones Me? Listen? 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 30, 2018 8:10 PM

Yeah, I doubt you'd listen either. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi felt kind of sad when Evelyn told him that she couldn't feel anything where her arm was scarred. He couldn't iimagine not feeling something. It was a terrible thought in Malikhi's mind. What if he wasn't able to feel hugs? Or the wind or the sun? What he wasn't able to feel a profiterole on his lips ever again? That was Malikhi's kind of hell.

"Does it bother you? Not feeling anything?"

He wasn't sure how he felt when she talked about having flying lessons with this Ness person she mentioned periodically. She'd said earlier that Ness was a chaser and he'd privately thought then that he didn't like that. Evelyn had said that she wanted to cheer for him and he liked that. Something about thinking that she would cheer for somebody other than him made him feel... not quite right. He felt something welling up inside him, something that made his stomach churn and, for some reason, the thought of someone else, another friend, made him feel sick.

He picked up his goblet and swallowed. It was probably just that disgusting fizzy sludge coming back to haunt him.

"So, besides falling out of trees and maiming yourself, what else did you do before Sonora? What's your Mum and Dad like?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Yeah, I doubt you'd listen either. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Katerina

July 31, 2018 12:34 AM

What about making you feel good about yourself? by Katerina

“Oui,” said Katya, glowing with pride at all these compliments. “J’ai étudié un peu l’allemand.”

Katya was also good at and enjoyed her lessons – less formal ones than what she learned with Anton Petrovich, but lessons nonetheless – in sewing and art with her mama, but she was fairly sure that these feminine pursuits would be of little interest to Tatya’s kind, flattering friend. They were not even of much interest to Tatya, after all, and Tatya was actually also feminine. Tatya understood some of the principles of color and proportion, that was essential to dressing properly and, of course, her beloved jewels, but Tatya didn’t like sitting quietly to sew.

“J’aime histoire aussi,” she added, deeming that probably more interesting for conversation.

Dorian Montoir confirmed that Professor Wright was a nice and likable person. “Khorosho – c’est bon,” she said. “Les charmes – c’est…la bonne chose?” She made a face, realizing that ‘the charms – they are the good thing?’ might not exactly be clear enough to get a response. Especially since she had let her French grammar slip; in what French she knew, questions were usually grammatically marked much more explicitly than they were in Russian, where the main marker was intonation. He might think she was making a really silly statement. “The class – it is a good class, yes?” she asked, hoping that would be clearer, mimicking as it did the way Tatya spoke English sometimes.

Katya smiled again when she heard the Hall was always so finely turned out. “Oui, š'il tu plait,” she said. “Tam – ah, il y a – c’est canard à la – je ne sais pas le mot – on dit mindal’ en Russe.” ‘Almonds’ was not a word she could call to mind quickly in either French or English. The dish, however, looked appetizing, and also something that could be passed to her and transferred to her plate without much risk of a mess, which was an important consideration in this social eating. “J’aime canard et mindal’,” she explained.

16 Katerina What about making you feel good about yourself? 1418 Katerina 0 5

Dorian

July 31, 2018 7:26 AM

Also needs you to allow it, and is highly recommended by Dorian

Katerina seemed to be relaxing - she looked happier and more animated. He did not attribute anywhere near as much of this to himself as he probably should have done. Certainly, he assumed he was being pleasant company, but he did not think that his kindness or his gentleness were likely to be in any way particularly remarkable. He was not really used to being the one to bring someone else out their shell - he was normally the one who needed it more. When people managed it with him, he admired those qualities in them immensely, but it was harder to notice and to give it the same value when the situation was reversed. He did not assume himself to be doing anything special. He was just being nice. Again, something he valued highly from others, but took as the bare minimum he should expect from himself.

“Ah, très utile. Il y a un garçon qui parle allemand en deuxième,” he commented when she mentioned having also studied German. Then realising that he was allowing French to dominate the conversation, he searched for some appropriate Russian, but found himself coming up short of what he wanted to say. “I can say only ’Vy dolzhny praktikovat' because… this phrase I hear a lot” he paused, choosing to be diplomatic and leave it at that, although the conspiratorial smiles he gave Katerina, and the fact that there were a limited number of places he could have heard it rather ruined the face-saving effect of the passive voice, “But I do not mean to use l’imperatif with you - just to say you ‘you can.’ Ah… Ty mogu praktikovat?” he suggested, making a face that suggested he knew he was making mistakes. The verb conjugation was probably very, very wrong. But he used it about himself more than he used it about other people. As in the sentence ‘Ya ne mogu vspomnit' - pomogi mne.’

“L'histoire est très intéressante. You like in particular any time?” he asked, again feeling the clunkiness of the non-specific words that he had to use to convey concepts in English, “Moi, j’aime la philosophie,” he added. Et surtout, la poésie, he added to himself. Philosophy, he thought, sounded quite sophisticated and intellectual. A good accompaniment to history. Poetry was… He was not going to disparage it, even in his own head, but it seemed considerably less safe territory to admit to enjoying. Poetry, music… He thought life without was flat. Matthieu thought life with it was- but it did not matter what Matthieu thought any more.

“J’ai compris,” he assured her, when she switched to English to reiterate her question regarding Charms. Well, he had understood the component words, and the gist of her question. There were some subtleties lost, but they were not much made up for by the English translation. Still, he could just give her a detailed enough answer that he covered all bases. “Let me think in Russian,” he requested. He thought that, given how frequently she was using her French, she was perhaps enjoying the opportunity to practise, and he did not have to keep balancing the scales - she had definitely gone beyond a token politeness in using his language. But he knew from experience how tiring it could be to keep up a whole conversation in a foreign language, and he did not want her to fatigue. “Eto khoroshiy klass - Professor Wright khorosh i... khorosh uchitel? I want to say he is sympa but also teach bien. It… can be khorosh both time?” he asked. He supposed that in English there was to be morally good and also good at one’s job, so perhaps what he had just said made sense. Perhaps. “I klass interesnyy. Et très utile,” he conceded, lapsing back into French. Apparently two years with Tatya was no competition for four under a professional tutor. He wondered whether he was achieving his aim in not making Katerina’s head hurt. His felt… challenged. And she had to keep switching what she was hearing, which possibly wasn’t the easiest either. But then… there was no easy option for any of them who didn’t have English as their dominant language. You either had to fight down the words in one language, or keep your ears alert to the possibility of change, and both were tiring.

“Amandes,” he provided, as she questioned the name of the ingredient in French. “Amandes. Mindal. Xìngrén,” he listed, to help himself remember the Russian, and to help her remember the others, without noticing that he had automatically included an extra language. He placed some duck on her plate, serving himself some too, and his mind went wandering off amongst all the delicious things he had eaten during the holidays, “Zài zhōngguó wǒ-” he began, only this time he caught himself. “Sorry. I was starting to talk about China, and so I do it in Chinese,” he explained with a blush. And then realising that statement only really made sense if she already knew about his family, he added, “Tatiana explained me to you, yes?” He thought it was logically one of the first things one would mention about him, especially given that they studied languages together, but then he would have thought ‘the walls of the hall are permanently cascading with water’ was a pretty noteworthy feature too, so it seemed wise to check.

OOC - Glossary
Ah, très utile. Il y a un garçon qui parle allemand en deuxième - Ah, very useful. There is a boy who speaks German in second year

I can say only ’Vy dolzhny praktikovat' because… this phrase I hear a lot - you must practise

Ty mogu praktikovat - You can [with mangled verb conjugation] practise

Ya ne mogu vspomnit' - pomogi mne - I cannot remember - help me

Eto khoroshiy klass - Professor Wright khorosh i... khorosh uchitel? - It is a good class. Professor Wright is good/nice and… a good teacher?

Zài zhōngguó wǒ - In China I….

13 Dorian Also needs you to allow it, and is highly recommended 1401 Dorian 0 5

Kyte Collindale

July 31, 2018 9:06 AM

It's an outrage (tag Ben) by Kyte Collindale

Kyte dropped into his habitual seat next to Ben at the feast. He usually didn’t pay much attention to the announcements because they were a lot less interesting that imagining his classmates naked. At the returning feast, there were pretty slim pickings as far as girls went. Pecari didn’t have that many who were old enough for it not to be creepy with. Tess was off limits as ‘best mate’s girlfriend.’ Not that he had never imagined Tess naked. It was hard not to given that she sometimes wore really skimpy pyjamas around the common room. But he only ever did it by accident. That left him imagining the boys naked (which was also fun just… he had more experience of what naked boys looked like cos he was one - well, he was like… when he was in the shower and stuff. Right now he was clothed. It would be inappropriate not to be. Of course, it could still be surprisingly fun exploring naked boys whose bodies you weren’t familiar with - just getting naked with people in general was fun) or Lily, who was a very boyish girl anyway. Subsequently, Joseph Umland was already back to his seat with the Head Boy badge before Kyte remembered that was something he was meant to care about.

"Man, I can't believe neither of us got it!" Kyte muttered to Ben. Admittedly, his own chances had been seriously dented by the fact that he had not even made the ballot. Based on what the staff knew about him, they had not seemed to feel he was a suitable candidate. And the stuff they knew was only the tip of the iceberg. They did not.know that there were herbs in his trunk that were nothing to do with herbology. They did not know that the theory question (self-posed) he had given the most ever thought to was whether, if you tranfigured something into a trippy hallucinogenic rainforest slug, would it have the same properties as the real thing? Nor did they know (unless Professor Skies had seen him surreptitiously licking his classwork) he had investigated this (result: inconclusive. Hard to say whether it was impossible or he just sucked at Transfiguration). They didn’t know that he mentally undressed almost all his peers and some of the faculty on a regular basis. And they still had found him a terrible enough person not to put him on the ballot. Whilst Ktye was the first to say that the staff were stuck up, no fun and picky as all heck (even if some of them were damn attractive) he had decided to claim this as a perverse badge of honour. It sucked for Ben though, who had actually wanted it.

“Sorry for you and Tess, man,” he sympathised, once the announcements were over and the food had appeared. Joe Umland. What was so freaking good about Joe Umland? Just because he was organised, nice, well-qualified and had nice teeth. “It’s like a freaking Teppenpaw conspiracy sometimes. They seem to win everything.”

13 Kyte Collindale It's an outrage (tag Ben) 335 Kyte Collindale 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 31, 2018 4:09 PM

Of course not! by Evelyn Stones

"Not really," Evelyn replied, surprised that this would come to mind. She never really considered the fact that it might be a bother not to feel anything in her forearm, and she was far too excited about having proof of such a brutal maiming to worry about anything else. "It's been so long that I don't think too much about it. My mom was always worried if I wanted to help her cook, though, in case I burned myself and didn't realize." She laughed at the thought.

Then the conversation turned back to family. Evelyn wasn't sure if there was a particular reason that Malikhi didn't talk about Ness, or why he was particularly fascinated with her parents, but it was beginning to frustrate her. Not because he was asking, but because she didn't care to think about such things when her night was going well.

She wondered for a moment at the incredible happenstance of life's events. If she'd been sorted in Alandren, she'd be talking to Ness right now, and never have met Malikhi. The thought made her sad, but she supposed she was also sort of sad that she wasn't getting to talk to Ness more.

It had only been a few hours since she'd landed at Sonora, and the ups and downs of emotions were exhausting. She stifled a yawn in her cup, taking a drink to give herself a moment to think before responding.

"Mostly, I just spent time alone, reading, or playing by myself. I went to a Muggle school for a while, and that was okay but my parents had to take me out when I was getting older so they could try to teach me witchcraft." Memories of her days at home, practicing spells with her dad and potions with her mom stood out to her, but nothing was clear enough to feel important. "My mom was great with potions, although she couldn't always tell if she'd done something right or not."

Dangerously close to saying too much, Evelyn changed the subject.

"My dad worked a lot, and spent the rest of the time sort of...moping" because his daughter was a lousy witch "because he wanted to be at work more often." True enough.

"He loves his job and I don't even really know what he does. He's just gone a lot."

Evelyn forced a smile. "Tell me about your family, Kai! I don't know anything about them."

22 Evelyn Stones Of course not! 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 31, 2018 4:23 PM

Well, talking is always far more interesting. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi watched Evelyn closely as she spoke about her family, a slight frown on his features. There was no excitement in her voice, no endless babbling about how much she loved her Mum and Dad and how great they were. There was something about the way she almost seemed... reluctant to say anything about her family and Malikhi couldn't help but wonder if she was hiding something. He eyed for a moment longer before dismissing the thought. If she was indeed hiding something, then he wasn't going to force her to tell him. Still, the fact that she had spent a lot of her time alone. It didn't sit right with Malikhi, not one bit.

His attention shifted though when he realised that she'd given him a nickname. Whether she had done it consciously or not, the newly named 'Kai' didn't know but he found that he liked it. They now both had nicknames for each other and Malikhi felt that such a thing cemented their friendship. Nobody else called him 'Kai' and he was very happy that she was the only one to do so and privately, he wanted it to stay that way.

"My Mum is a witch, my Dad is a muggle," he told her, beginning to answer her question. "We all live in England, normally and I was supposed to go to school there but my Aunt, who lives here in America, wanted me to come here. She said that it would be good for me to experience a different culture. So, I'm glad to have met you... Maybe you could teach me about American things like that baseball you mentioned earlier?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Well, talking is always far more interesting. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 31, 2018 4:39 PM

But we can't talk at the same time! by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn was surprised to find out that Malikhi's dad was a muggle. They had something in common, except that Evelyn didn't really think that was a good thing in this case. Why had he acted so odd about marrying a Muggle when his own mother had? She'd been so defensive about her own parents and he didn't see the connection?

A decision was to be made, and Evelyn wasn't sure how important it was to her. She wanted to ask why he'd been so upset and why it was different for her to marry a muggle than for his mom. She wanted to tell him that it wasn't fair when she had tried so hard and would be just as well off with a Muggle as a magical person. She also didn't want to stir a cooling cauldron, and in that moment, her decision was not to comment on this revelation.

She did wonder at the fact that he was halfblood and hadn't heard of baseball, though. Maybe that was because he was English. His accent was rather adorable and she didn't mind explaining it to him.

"I'd like that," she said, smirking. "It's not a great sport, though, I think you'd like football better."

The thought of taking Malikhi to an American football game made her laugh, and she told him as much. "You can see all the people who paint their faces and where beads and feathers and silly hats, but they're all Muggles," she told him.

"But come on, tell me more. There has to be more about your parents than just whether they're magic or not. Who do you get on better with?"

Evelyn worried that she was being spiteful. She didn't know if Malikhi had a poor relationship with anyone in his family and didn't really want to make him upset, but sort of wanted him to understand how upset he'd made her. She was surprised to find such bitterness in herself, and it made her stomach turn.

"Only if you want to," she amended, deciding the better of it. "I know family isn't a happy topic for everyone." Like me.

22 Evelyn Stones But we can't talk at the same time! 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

July 31, 2018 8:37 PM

Well, we could try but it would be confusing. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi blinked, confused. She'd said earlier that she had attended baseball games with her Mum, to cheer for the players, no doubt. Yet, here she was saying that sport wasn't great? Why would she go to something that she didn't enjoy to the fullest? That didn't make any sense. What he did know was that he did enjoy football.

"Oh, I like football!" he said, grinning. "England haven't reached the final of the World Cup for years, though, which kind of sucks. So, that's two sports they suck at - Quidditch and football."

He shrugged, clearly not seeing it as a big deal despite his words. Which, it wasn't. Malikhi, as well as the rest of England, were accustomed to the team losing all the time. People tended to place bets more on how long they'd stay in rather than if they'd win the final. He did want to go to a football game with Evelyn, though. He thought that it would be fun, the two of them going together and having their faces painted with the colours of the team they would be supporting and wearing big hats. He was rather looking forward to such things, despite the fact that they hadn't arranged to go to one.

Then, she was asking about his family again, pressing him for more information. Malikhi didn't mind her asking, it wasn't like he had anything to hide. He just wondered why she was so interested. He had a sip of juice before telling her, "I'm closer to my Mum. She's a witch so she understands magic better than my Dad, obviously. It's not that he hates it or anything, he just doesn't like seeing something he can't understand but he's a great Dad. Though, he did try to frame me for some missing cookies once, but the truth was that he sneaking them into his office when Mum wasn't around."

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Well, we could try but it would be confusing. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Gary Harper

July 31, 2018 9:51 PM

The saga continues to continue by Gary Harper

"You got to work in a lab? That had to be cool. What all did you get to do?" Gary's mind was naturally filled with bunson burners, bubbling chemicals, jacob's ladders, arcing electricity and giant computers. Then as she mentioned mortar and pestle, he remembered where he was now and the kind of person he was talking to. His mental image switched over to the interior of a tall stone tower. It was filled with dusty old bookshelves and unidentifiable spell components. The bubbling chemicals were still there, just simmering over a cauldron while lightning flashed in the storm brewing outside.

He shook his head a little to return to reality. "Sorry, yeah I missed casting spells as well. I couldn't even talk about school at home." He didn't mind not talking much to June, Jeremy or Sasha, but he couldn't even find enough alone time with his Dad to talk about stuff. Oh well, that should all change by the time he got home again. Hopefully. He thought he'd better clarify a bit though, "Dad got re-married over the summer, and things were crazy. Dad's going to bring June up to speed now that they're married. I'm not sure about her kids though. I guess we'll see."

Ok, enough small talk. Time to get down to serious business, "So, do you think you'll be joining us gaming again this term? I was going to see if anyone wanted to make their own characters for the next adventure, instead of the pre-generated ones I gave you all last year."

2 Gary Harper The saga continues to continue 1404 Gary Harper 0 5

Katerina

July 31, 2018 11:41 PM

Very well, then, I allow it. by Katerina

Katya shared in the conspiratorial smile, thinking that this was very like Tatya – Katya wouldn’t think of ordering someone here to study Russian, but that was Tatiana. Her sister wanted what she wanted and often demanded it without a second thought. She should have been a man, Katya thought – it would have suited her better. Except for not being able to wear such pretty jewelry.

“Ty mozhesh’ poprakitkovat’sya so mnoi esli ya mogu poprakitkovat’sya so toboi,” said Katerina. You can practice with me if I can practice with you was a far more conditional, presumptive kind of statement than she was accustomed to make, but it was the first sentence Katya could think of which let her correct his verb conjugation in a sentence instead of either ignoring the mistake or pointing it out as a mistake. Besides, she couldn’t say she disliked the idea of him taking her up on the offer.

Katya thought for a word, but couldn’t find one which she thought her new friend was likely to understand when it came to discussing her favorite historical times. “J’aime l’histoire…Rimskaya Imperiya, i Byzantiya,” she said. “Je suis desolée – ya ne znayu eto v Frantsuzskii. I am want to learn more history of…not-Russkii.”

“Trés impressionnat,” said Katya, incorrectly finishing her own verb, when Dorian said he liked philosophy. She assumed this was the same thing as filosofiya based on sound alone.

She nodded when he asked for a moment to think in Russian. To her, thinking in Russian was automatic and natural, but to him it was – well – just like her trying to think in French or English. Not only did one have to find the word, but one also had to say them in the right order and with the right verbs and without mixing in similar-sounding words – in the worst-case scenario, false friends – from one’s usual language. “Khoroshii uchitel’,” said Katya this time, but only because she had been asked directly. “Ya ponimayu,” she assured him. I understand.

“Tatya telled me much about you,” said Katya. “Ty govorish’ po-Angliiski, po-Frantsuzskii, i po-kitaiskii, da?”

16 Katerina Very well, then, I allow it. 1418 Katerina 0 5

Tarquin Fox-Reynolds

August 01, 2018 8:13 AM

Should we panic? by Tarquin Fox-Reynolds

Summer had been very enjoyable. For the first time in a long time, he and Danny had had a holiday that was just the two of them. In spite of both their children being adults, they had still tended to take them on holiday… From their point of view as parents, it was always good to have some family time, and as perpetual students with long summers but little money, there was no reason for his children to refuse a holiday where they didn’t have to pay. But this year, Henny was finishing up her PhD, so was busy, and had opted to have a short break with Niall. Charlie had various projects on the go, and had also headed off with a group of friends on the kind of trip Tarquin suspected he did not want too much information about. Which had all been very convenient, as it saved him and Danny the difficulty of how to explain to them that they did not want their company for once. After the horrific year last year, with the quarantine and… everything, they had needed some quality time together. He and Danny had had a lazy two weeks by the beach. This played a little more to Danny's tastes than Tarquin's. He preferred historic buildings and museums over sand and sun but he had had to admit that peace and quiet had sounded preferable to the hustle and bustle of a city. He had just wanted time with his husband. And Tarquin liked ocean views - who could not find the endless crashing of waves a little hypnotic? Hypnotic because they were so repetitive. swell and break, swell and break, and also because each one was different. They existed in a state of flux - simultaneously the same and different, until you actually looked and decided. Schroedinger's waves.

And now it was back to school. He had left his husband with a promise that he’d miss him all day long. It had held true, but at no point more so than when he came to take his seat for the feast. Tarquin did not eat that many meals at school - his hours in the library were designed to coincide with the students’ leisure time, and it made more sense to eat at home, just at admittedly odd hours. The prairie elves did a spectacular job, of course, he could not fault their cooking, nor the range of dishes on offer. He just thought that dinner for two at the kitchen table was nicer than any feast.

He helped himself to what looked to be boeuff bourguignon, and poured himself a glass of red wine to accompany it - an act which brought back memories of last year’s feast with Sophie. He was sad to see her go, especially under circumstances that sounded less than pleasant and happy. He turned to offer his neighbour some wine, but found that Grayson’s glass was already filled and being profered in a toast.

“Same to you,” he replied, with the same tone, clinking glasses with the Charms teacher. Tarquin had deliberately steered clear of the new people. He was sure they were all… perfectly fine and such, but he wasn’t sure he had New People energy right now. Admittedly, his interactions with Grayson had been limited but… well, that was sort of, in a sense, why he liked him. He suspected that the man knew when there had been enough peopling, and that perhaps they had similar tolerance levels for the activity. The conversations they had had also been very interesting. “How was your summer?” he asked politely. “Read any good books lately?” he added, his tone playful. A cliched question but one he hoped he might get a genuinely interesting answer to.

13 Tarquin Fox-Reynolds Should we panic? 1464 Tarquin Fox-Reynolds 0 5

Tatiana Vorontsova

August 01, 2018 4:55 PM

Of brides and bribery, mostly. by Tatiana Vorontsova

Tatiana Vorontsova was not, to put it mildly, best known for her subtle approaches to color and adornment, but she was aware that she was probably going a bit beyond the norm even for her for the Welcoming Feast. At her waist, she had used a long scarf as a sash, wrapping it tightly around her midsection (there was, as yet, not enough figure for her to fake an empire waist or emphasize any particularly narrow section in general) and securing this by her side with a large brooch, a star pattern picked out in sky-blue turquoise and light yellow amber. Another pair of brooches in the same materials, these shaped like birds in flight, swooped at the top of her robes just beneath her collarbones. Several pairs of enameled bangle bracelets marched up her thin wrists, clattering together noisily every time she moved, and the enameled hair combs Dorian had given her before the Feast showed their mounts at the top of her head, where they were helping support the results of a fair bit of backcombing and swooping of the front half of her hair. More turquoises in granulated gold settings shone at her ears, heavy enough that they were bothering her by the time she reached the Cascade Hall, but she refused to take them off. Around her neck, she had three strands, draped over and around each other untidily, of pearls, one of the white strands her classmates were familiar with and two new ones, these highly baroque and silvery-blue in color.

Two months ago she had owned nothing but one of the necklaces. The rest of the items except the combs had been gifts from her papa over the summer, parts of the alternating efforts he and Mama had made to either cheer her up or else make her lie about being cheered up about Anya’s engagement. The earrings had been first, to cheer her up; then they had grown cross with her. When first lectures and then punishments had had no effect, Papa had started going back the other way, buying her first the jangle of bracelets while they had been on holiday with Rodion Alexandrovich’s family and then presenting her with the suite of brooches as a surprise along with her usual chance to pick something from trays at her birthday. This had worked temporarily, at least, and her parents had simply started ignoring her sulking, though Tatiana did suspect Papa had still been aware of it, because he had not put up much protest about buying her the peculiar blue Akoyas when he’d fulfilled his midterm promise of letting her go to Hong Kong with him. He could have just been proud and impressed that she had spoken Chinese a little, but she suspected a lingering desire to just make the problem go away had something to do with it, too.

It was too bad, Tatiana thought, that Papa felt that way, but not enough to actually make the problem go away. He could have prevented all this, saving himself a decent amount of money in the bargain, if he had just refused to give Anya and Rodya permission to marry.

There had, from her perspective, been no warning. Oh, Rodion Alexandrovich had come up in letters from home a lot, so she had known he was still accompanying Anya to dances and teas and such, and there had been allusions to maybe inviting his parents to the Dacha over the summer, but Tatya had never dreamed there might be an actual engagement until she had gotten home and Anya had hugged her and when Anya had stepped away, Tatya had seen the ring on her right hand.

It was, she had to grudgingly admit, a nice ring. It was a huge (it almost reached Anya’s knuckle! Anya had small fingers, but still) naturally purple star sapphire – an unusual, eye-catching thing in Anya’s favorite color. But still. Anya barely cared about jewelry. That was no reason to leave them.

Everyone else, however, thought that Anya leaving them was a brilliant idea, so this summer she would, and Tatiana was so irked by it that she had almost considered not showing off her new baubles at the Opening Feast, as they reminded her why Papa had felt the need to give her more presents than usual. Almost.

She still put her hands together a few times during the announcements, her wrists magnifying her contribution to the general noise, pleased at least to see Katya go into Teppenpaw. She had known there was very little chance that her poised, proper, sweet little sister would join her in Pecari, and while she had friends in Aladren and Crotalus as well, she just felt the best about consigning Katya to Dorian and Vladimir’s care. Maybe it was because Dorian had defended her honor last year, or just because Teppenpaw was a kind House as a rule – Pecari had always been kind to her as well, but she thought it was too rough for Katya. Katya would be a little shocked, she thought, by Pecari; Teppenpaw seemed sedate enough for her, and Dorian would never hurt anyone, and – yes, there, Katya had just smiled at him, so he must have made a good impression. Good. It was still bizarre to think that she and Katya would be under the same roof and not share a room, but – for America, it was good. She turned her attention to the Feast. She had, reluctant as she was to admit it, become somewhat fond of some American foods, so it would also be sort of good to be reunited with them after a summer of mostly plain, sensible Russian food.

16 Tatiana Vorontsova Of brides and bribery, mostly. 1396 Tatiana Vorontsova 0 5

Evelyn Stones, Pecari

August 01, 2018 6:48 PM

It would be entertaining, though. by Evelyn Stones, Pecari

At first, Evelyn just listened, an amused smirk on her face. Malikhi seemed so excited to know about 'football' that she almost hated to burst his bubble, but she supposed that was part of learning a new culture. His parents would be so excited, she thought.

"Malikhi," she started, speaking slowly as she considered her words. A grin played at her lips as she continued. "So American football isn't the same thing. We'd call the football you're thinking of 'soccer.' We can go to a soccer game, too!" She didn't particularly like soccer, but it seemed rude to turn it down when he was clearly so excited. "American football is a bit like rugby, but not quite the same. We'll have to go and then you can see."

Just a few hours into her time at Sonora and she was making plans to travel to San Francisco with Ness when they were older, and making plans to go see various sports with Malikhi. Then an idea struck her.

"Oh! Ness and I were talking about how wonderful it would be to go to San Francisco! That's in California, and our parents probably won't let us go for a couple more years, but if there's three of us I bet we could go earlier than twenty or something. Then we could go see a 49ers game! They're the football team in San Francisco. My mom likes the Seahawks a lot better but they're further away. It would be so much fun to go together!"

Evelyn could hardly wait. Imagining them all three together, cheering at a football game, riding the streetcars, and so much more, was a beautiful thought. She wondered if her parents would allow it, but figured she wouldn't worry about that until they got to that point.

"Your dad sounds like he's a jokester, too," she said when Malikhi told her about his dad framing him for stealing cookies. "Did your mom find out?" She laughed, imagining Malikhi and an older woman that looked like him discussing strategies for catching an older man in the act of stealing cookies.

"Can I tell you a secret, Kai?" she whispered, eyebrows pulling together. "My dad tried to teach me a little bit of magic..." and got nowhere "...but I feel like I'm behind. Did you guys do anything like that? Am I way behind for not being able to cast any spells?"

22 Evelyn Stones, Pecari It would be entertaining, though. 1422 Evelyn Stones, Pecari 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

August 01, 2018 7:09 PM

I hope it would make you laugh. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi blinked at her, not quite understanding how football... wasn't football? And that football was actually some new, ridiculous sounding word called 'soccer' and that their football was more like rugby. So, what was rudby now called? Malikhi felt that life had suddenly become a lot more complicated than it had been five minutes before. Still, Evelyn wanted to go with him and that placated him. He liked the idea of spending time with Evelyn and the prospect of spending time alone with her, outside of school appealed to him even more.

Then, she mentioned Ness coming with him and suddenly, Malikhi seemed to like the idea a little less. He didn't know Ness at all, only knowing that Evelyn had made friends with her at orientation, that she had been sorted into Aladren and that she was a chaser like he was. Still, to avoid upsetting Evelyn, he smiled and nodded like it was a good idea despite the fact that his stomach churned uncomfortably. What was with him?

"We had to catch him in the act," he told her, when she asked about the Great Cookie Robbery, as Malikhi now called it in his head. "We set up this plan where me and Mum pretended that we had gone out shopping, we even put on our coats and everything and said goodbye to him but, instead of leaving the house, we just opened and shut the front door before hiding in the house. We saw Dad going into the kitchen and coming out with a whole handful of cookies! Mum was so angry and refused to bake any more for a whole week!"

He laughed heartily, the memory clearly being a fond one and then, once he'd settled, he asked her, "What about you? Did anything like that happen in your house?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari I hope it would make you laugh. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones, Pecari

August 01, 2018 7:39 PM

I like to laugh. by Evelyn Stones, Pecari

A whole slew of thoughts played across Malikhi's face and Evelyn found herself utterly incapable of identifying any of them. She wondered if her face was as complex when she was feeling things, or if perhaps she was imagining all of it. It wouldn't be the first time her own worries made her think someone was having feelings they weren't. When Malikhi changed topics, Evelyn went with him, glad not to have to worry about whatever he was thinking.

She reached for her goblet and filled it with more juice, feeling another wave of tiredness slush over her. Perhaps the sugar rush would keep her awake. She was enjoying her conversation and the feast wasn't over yet; she certainly didn't want to be drowsy.

"That's amazing! And I love that you had baked goods the rest of the time," Evelyn said, loving that Malikhi and his mom were able to have such a fun relationship. It made her a bit homesick to think of family and then, as he was wont to do, Malikhi asked her about hers again.

Tired as she was, this didn't sit well with her. She knew it wasn't Malikhi's fault that she didn't want to talk about family, but that didn't make it any easier to brush off. It also meant that she was faced with either lying to keep the peace, telling the truth and spoiling the mood, or telling him to knock it off with that line of questioning and also spoil the mood. None of these seemed like good ideas, but in the name of a good night, she knew which one was going to get her where she wanted to go.

Evelyn was going to lie.

And then she was going to change the bloody topic.

She'd read in a book that the best lies always have a grain of truth, or indeed are mostly truth. This was her basis as she started speaking, and she hated that she was a good liar. She knew Malikhi probably wouldn't see through her story, and kept up a friendly face to make sure of it.

"Not too often," she said. "But I remember one time, my dad and I were talking about how careful my mom always is to look good. Not in a vain way, but she likes to make sure her hair is all put together and her clothes are nice." She supposed that was sort of true. "But my mom was inside changing into her nightgown or something and my dad and I were sitting outside. When she came out to kiss us goodnight, my dad got up to hug her and I went around her other side and tickled her a whole bunch."

Evelyn let her eyes fade over, remembering a much different memory than what she was saying. "She was so ticklish and she loved to laugh, so it was a lot of fun. It turned into this play-wrestling match and I got to stay up late."

She could vividly remember being at her friend Sarah's house and watching this all happen with Sarah and her parents. It was a good memory, although it made Evelyn jealous at the time. It still did, if she was honest, but it would get the topic off her actual family and that's all she cared about at that moment.

"Which reminds me," she announced, making it clear that it was time for a new thread of conversation. She paused, realizing she didn't know what it supposedly reminded her of. Evelyn let a devilish grin spread across her face, hoping it would let the moment stall. "You haven't said a word about whether I'm behind or not. Does that mean I am and you just don't want to say? Come on, be honest."

She laughed, forcing down the acid in her stomach. She hated to think she might actually be behind, but it was true, he hadn't actually answered the question, and that was as good a topic as any. Besides, she really was tired, and thinking of something else wasn't something she had the energy for.

"Help a girl out, Kai, what sorts of spells should I have on my radar for this year? I have to start studying at some point if I want to catch up to you and your magic sludge sparks!"

22 Evelyn Stones, Pecari I like to laugh. 1422 Evelyn Stones, Pecari 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

August 01, 2018 7:55 PM

And I like to hear you laugh. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi listened to Evelyn's telling of an experience with her family with a content smile on his face. It was nice to know that she also had a nice family with fun parents. He couldn't imagine want it would be like if their parents weren't the fun-loving people that they, mercifully, were. Malikhi supposed that he wouldn't be the happy-go-lucky boy that he was and he'd probably be a lot more negative. Those thoughts didn't sit right with him. He couldn't imagine himself being a miserable, negative boy who didn't make people laugh. That wasn't him.

He was caught out when she came back to the question about magic and spells. He'd intentionally avoided answering, just in case he upset her and he didn't want to see her crying again. He wasn't very good when it came to crying girls and he definitely wasn't very good when the crying was as a result of something he'd said. He should've realised that Evelyn wouldn't have been deterred that easily.

He cleared his throat and then had a drink of juice, biding himself a little bit of time while he tried to work out how to answer the question. However, the only two ways he could come up with were telling her the truth or lying and he was a terrible liar.

"I'd try to learn the two that I know... That's the wand-lighting charm, Lumos and the one that I used on our sludge, that produces red sparks. That's Vermillious. My Mum also tried to teach me a levitation spell to help me move heavy objects and stuff but I wasn't able to cast it. She said I kept getting the pronunciation wrong. It's Wingardium Leviosa. I wouldn't worry about being behind though, Linney. Loads of people are not going to know any spells, that's the whole reason why we're here."

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari And I like to hear you laugh. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones, Pecari

August 01, 2018 8:11 PM

You'll hear it a lot, I'm sure! by Evelyn Stones, Pecari

Satisfied that Malikhi had accepted her story, Evelyn relaxed. As much as she enjoyed talking with him, the thought of a warm bed was beginning to sound even better, and she took another swig of juice and mouthful of whatever confection was nearest as Malikhi answered her question. He seemed hesitant to do so, but by the time Evelyn had time to think about this, she had bitten into a jam-filled tart and was listening to various incantations being suggested.

Dread made it hard to swallow.

She reasoned with herself that although Malikhi knew more incantations than she did, he obviously wasn't that much further ahead if he couldn't cast them all yet. She hoped that she'd be able to surprise her parents with some unknown magical ability but doubted it sincerely enough that she only considered the possibility every once in a while.

"That's good to know," she managed around a mouthful of strawberry jam and puff pastry. "I know not everyone will know much, but it's good to have a starting point, y'know?"

Magic and Evelyn had a difficult relationship, and sometimes she wondered if it's because she associated it so closely to her odd neighbors and grumpy father. The thought wasn't particularly encouraging. She hoped she'd eventually associate magic with Ness and Malikhi, and various others here at Sonora, but she wasn't sure how long that would take.

She was tempted to try out the wand-lighting charm, but wasn't willing to risk failure in front of her friend just yet. She could imagine her wand growing a mouth just for the purpose of laughing at her, and that sounded almost as bad as a Howler.

"In Hinduism, once people reach a certain point of Enlightenment, it's believed that they develop the ability to naturally levitate themselves. It's not magic, exactly, but part of the progression towards spiritualism and the gods," Evelyn rambled, trying to think of everything she knew about the more complex of the spells Malikhi mentioned. "There are other mentions of levitation in many of the world's religious and philosophical sects, though, including demonic movements reportedly only alleviated through the application of holy water."

Surprised that so much had come rambling out of her mouth all at once, Evelyn smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry," she said. "I read a lot about philosophy and religion before coming here. I don't know if it'll help any, but we can work on that spell together if you want." She searched Malikhi's face, wondering if she would find humor or irritation there.

22 Evelyn Stones, Pecari You'll hear it a lot, I'm sure! 1422 Evelyn Stones, Pecari 0 5

Grayson Wright

August 01, 2018 8:16 PM

If you think it'll help, sure. by Grayson Wright

How was your summer was, Gray thought, a somewhat complicated question, at least if one did not simply say ‘fine’ and drop the subject. Since there was little else to discuss on the first day of school, saying ‘fine’ and dropping the subject was perhaps not the best idea. Luckily, the librarian gave him a clear follow-up question which was easier to answer.

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” he said. “I started out with juvenilia from the 1820s and 30s – mostly people who grew up and wrote other stuff as adults, some who just…constructed these elaborate worlds by themselves as kids and that was that. I brought some of it along if you want to take a look,” he added, remembering that Tarquin had admitted a liking for the nineteenth century. “And later, I was reading a lot, but unpublished stuff – I, er, was at a sort of camp. For writers.”

He lowered his voice slightly as he admitted this, though he knew there was no real reason to do so. He still had a few fans, and the awards were on the books – anyone could stumble across the information at any time. It had been a very long time since his scribbling had been primarily a private enterprise pursued during gaps in classes – honestly, it had pretty much been since he had been convinced to write that play for the Aladren Concert group in school, when the old-time cycle of Midsummer observations had first been brought back. It had also been a perfectly respectable – well, legitimate, anyway – way to make a living; there was no reason to be ashamed of it. It just…seemed a bit frivolous, somehow, in an academy, particularly when he thought about how very frivolous his writing had been the last time he’d lived here, even though it made no sense to try to link the two things together.

“In Vermont,” he added. “And I think there were days I was the only sober person on the grounds. But I got to read some interesting stuff while it was developing, so that was good. How about you? Any interesting finds?”

16 Grayson Wright If you think it'll help, sure. 113 Grayson Wright 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

August 01, 2018 8:43 PM

Good, I'm glad. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi wasn't entirely sure that he'd understood everything that in amongst all the words that had suddenly come rushing out of Evelyn's mouth. He was only just about sure that he'd caught something about Hinduism (though he thought he'd heard Pinguism) and something else about demonic movements (he hoped she wasn't referring to him). Nontheless, he found himself laughing.

"I'd be happy to work on the spell with you," he chuckled, still amused by Evelyn's sudden spewing of knowledge. "And hey, anything about your Pingus there could help."

Every time the conversation turned back to magic, Malikhi found himself returning to the question of whether magic tasted of anything (and also, if he stuck a lit up wand up his nose, would the light come out of his mouth?). He voiced these questions to Evelyn to gather her thoughts but it seemed that her answers wouldn't matter anyway, seeing as he was already pulling out his wand and muttering Lumos. The tip of his wand lit up in a soft blue hue. With a curious look on his face, he reached out a finger to touch it, to see if it was hot. It was a little warm but it didn't burn him. This revelation made his eyes light up in excitement. There appeared to be no risk of shoving his wand into his mouth or up his nose.

"What do you think? Should I go for it?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Good, I'm glad. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones, Pecari

August 01, 2018 9:18 PM

I'm not clever enough to come up with new subject lines. by Evelyn Stones, Pecari

Evelyn blushed, glad that Malikhi seemed to find the humor in her spewing. She wasn't precisely sure what a Pingu was (although she thought it sounded a bit like Hindu), but didn't feel like it was important enough to ask just then. Besides, Malikhi was laughing, and that was enough.

Spellcasting didn't seem so terrible if she had some help, particularly help from her new friend. She was sure a study date with him and Ness would be a great time, and was eager for the opportunities. Of course, that meant they'd have homework, a task which she was less eager for.

Before she could mention this, Malikhi was lighting his wand and proffering it in front of his face. She was quite sure this was a terrible idea. What if it exploded? Although Evelyn was quite inclined towards experimentation, a few bad potions had taught her to be careful with magic, particularly when one is prone to accidental magic. She rarely displayed any herself, but wasn't so sure about Malikhi. What if he accidentally shot off sparks into his mouth instead?

She grimaced at the idea, trying to figure out how to express some concern. Then, she considered that he'd probably be more careful with her than himself.

"So you know how sometimes...young wizards and stuff can like...accidentally blow stuff up? Because they don't control their magic well yet?" she started, taking the honest route this time. "So yeah, I don't want you to kill yourself. But I'm pretty sure you'd be more careful with me. Let me taste it."

Without waiting for an answer, she opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue enough to make it quite clear that she intended to be the guinea pig for this experiment. She knew her eyebrows were scrunching together and was sure it wasn't a particularly encouraging look, but at least it was a clear one.

"You wouldn't hurt me," she said, hoping to bolster his confidence. "I know that."

And again, she opened her mouth, prepared to find out what magic tastes like. Or have her head blown off by a novice wizard. One way or another, it was going to be a good experiment.

22 Evelyn Stones, Pecari I'm not clever enough to come up with new subject lines. 1422 Evelyn Stones, Pecari 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

August 01, 2018 10:31 PM

Well... uh... think harder? by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi had been seconds away from sticking his wand into his mouth, regardless of the consequences, when in a twist of fate that he hadn't expected, Evelyn offered to be the guinea pig of this particular experiment. He supposed that fair was fair, given the fact that he'd been the test subject when it came to adding explosive magic to a goblet of sludge but this was different. It was one thing to experiment on himself, where he was the only one at risk of getting hurt. He wasn't comfortable with sticking a wand in her mouth. What if he lost control of his magic? It was only the wand-lighting spell but that didn't mean that he couldn't cause sparks to fly or it to burn her if he lost control or didn't concentrate. \r\n

\r\nHe eyed her, sitting there, waiting for him to stick his wand into her mouth, regardless of the consequences. It seemed like there would be nothing to deter her from this and Malikhi sighed, knowing that he had somehow lost this battle. He swallowed thickly, now more nervous than he had been before. He really, really didn't want to hurt her. Not Linney. He'd never forgive himself. He could feel butterflies in this stomach, making his insides feel rather like a washing machine on a high spin cycle. \r\n

\r\nThen, she said that she knew he wouldn't hurt her. \r\n

\r\nWhile that sentiment was a nice one, it really didn’t do much to assuage his anxiousness. His grip on his wand had become white-knuckle tight, almost as if he was afraid it would suddenly fly out of his hands if he didn’t keep a strong enough hold on it. Despite the fact that he wanted to know what magic did indeed taste like, at this moment in time, he’d rather back out of the experiment. He didn’t feel as confident anymore. However, it seemed like Evelyn wasn’t going to be deterred and was leaving him very little option. \r\n

\r\nMalikhi swallowed thicking and reluctantly, he moved his wand towards her mouth, trying desperately to make sure that the wand-lighting remained exactly as it was. Unfortunately and to Malikhi’s utter horror, as he was putting his wand into her mouth and she closed it, he felt his magic surge, a pulse travelling down his arm and through his arm. That had never happened when performing the spell before and, in that moment, Malikhi realised that something had gone quite wrong. Yet, it was too late to do anything about it.

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Well... uh... think harder? 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones, Pecari

August 01, 2018 11:10 PM

My brains are tired. by Evelyn Stones, Pecari

As Evelyn waited for any recognizable taste to hit her senses, she had two thoughts, one more terrible than the other. First, what if not everyone's magic tasted the same? She would have to do this again just to verify. Second, and much more horribly, what if Malikhi didn't hurt her, but the spell itself was simply hot and burned her tongue?

Luckily, the latter of these was answered a moment later when she discovered that wands should be cleaned before being stuck in someone's mouth. She suspected she wasn't the only one with a brownie in her pocket when bits of chocolate dessert found their way into her mouth.

Finally, she tasted Lumos. It didn't exactly have a flavor, although she wasn't sure still whether that was on account of Malikhi's magic in general, or the spell itself. However, it wasn't something she'd forget.

It tasted like other sensations. Like the way a hot light bulb smells burning in a dusty room, and the way the summer sun feels on rosy cheeks. It was like a tasting the bright lights of 4th of July fireworks, but none of the sulfuric bitterness she might expect. She hadn't expected to taste feelings or sights or smells, and her eyes widened excitedly.

It did make her tongue tingle, though, so she wasn't too sorry to open her mouth and pull her head away. She took a deep breath, surprised at the way her mouth seemed to miss the brightness of the spell. Malikhi looked so nervous and she searched his face, examining all the brightness in his features, feeling more aware of light than she had been a moment before. And then she smiled. No, she grinned.

"Malikhi," she breathed, awestruck. "That's amazing. Probably really dangerous, but it's amazing."

Everything seemed brighter now, and she couldn't seem to stop smiling. Her tongue still tingled, but she wasn't too worried. She'd had an active wand in her mouth, after all, and a little weirdness was to be expected.

"You look so beautiful," she whispered, eyes still wide. "Everything is so beautiful. Your face is so bright! Did you know your face is so bright? Everything is so bright, Kai. You look beautiful."

She didn't feel tired anymore, but felt like she had already slept. It was like looking at everything in Cascade Hall as if a sunrise was lighting it up, reflecting off the crystal chandeliers and golden tones of Malikhi's hair and eyes. He really was so beautiful. Everything was so beautiful. Evelyn couldn't stop smiling.

22 Evelyn Stones, Pecari My brains are tired. 1422 Evelyn Stones, Pecari 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

August 01, 2018 11:32 PM

Aw, come lie down. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Something had gone wrong and Malikhi could feel the nerves bubbling inside him, churning in his stomach and making him feel rather sick. He swallowed thickly, not at all comfortable with the situation and could feel his hand starting to tremble as he grew more and more anxious. He was now wishing he’d been more insistent on doing such experiments on himself instead of putting somebody else’s health at risk. While he was curious about what magic did indeed taste like, the fact that it was Evelyn being the guinea pig was not sitting right with him at all. \r\n

\r\nEventually, and to his great relief that she seemingly hadn’t suffered anything dramatic, she opened her mouth, letting him take back his wand which he cleaned with a slightly disgusted look on his face. He had not considered the fact that mouths generally contained saliva. After cleaning his wand and putting it safely back in his pocket, he looked at her properly and it confirmed his thoughts that something had indeed gone rather wrong. \r\n

\r\nEvelyn looked like she'd been drugged up to her eyeballs, the way her eyes seemed to have a kind of glazed look to them, almost as if she was somewhere else entirely. She had a wider grin on her face than Malikhi had ever seen on her before and sounded like she was trying to say that he was 'beautiful' but her words were slurred together, almost as if she'd been drinking heavily. Malikhi was convinced that had somehow broken her. \r\n

\r\nThen, there was the cherry on top of the cake. \r\n

\r\nAs she continued to try and babble about how beautiful everything was, he managed to see that her tongue had turned a vivid blue. Clapping a hand over his mouth, he was in absolute horror and almost close to tears. He had somehow managed to cause Evelyn to become a blabbering mess, complete with glassy eyes and a blue tongue. It had only been a simple wand-lighting charm. He’d performed it lots of times before with complete success. How had he managed to screw up so badly and more importantly, how would he return his friend to her former state? Maybe a goblet of juice would help. He was somewhat concerned about her general state and her slurring words so he poured her a goblet of juice and handed it to her, supporting it with his own hands just in case she wasn't capable.

"Here, you'd better drink something."

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Aw, come lie down. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones, Pecari

August 01, 2018 11:43 PM

But the ghosts haven't tried the cobbler since the ballgame! by Evelyn Stones, Pecari

Apparently, Malikhi didn't like being called beautiful. She watched tears slide from his beautiful eyes-- noticing, of course, the way they caught all the beautiful light in the beautiful room-- and then he covered his mouth.

"Noooo," she groaned. "You're beautiful don't hide your face. The sun wants to say hi to your face. Isn't the sun so beautiful, Kai?"

Her tongue still tingled and she almost wondered at it, but there were too many pretty things to look at. "Isn't it so beautiful in my house?" she asked, raising her arms and gesturing around the room. "Welcome to my house, Kai! But don't wake my dad up, I don't want him to be mad at me again in case he gets mad and then if he gets mad he might hit me again and that's not beautiful at all. But Kai!"

Shrugging into her shoulders and wrinkling up her face in a grin, Evelyn patted Malikhi on the shoulder. "Malikhi, look at all the light."

Reaching for a spoon, she held it up between them, reflecting the light off the beautifully curved silver. It was so beautiful. "Malikhi, look at the fork! That's not a fork!"

She giggled as she put the thingy down. It was such a beautiful thingy. She leaned forward to see if she could see her reflection in it, wondering if her reflection was beautiful too. There seemed to be a whole lot of white. Her face and hair were white and she thought that was positively hilarious, so she giggled some more. Then she saw her orange lips and a dash of bright blue between them when she spoke.

"Kai, the mirror thingy is broken! But look how beautiful it is with all the thingies!"

Evelyn sighed happily, leaning all the way forward and putting her head on the table sideways so she could look up at Malikhi. "You're a beautiful thingy, Malikhi."

22 Evelyn Stones, Pecari But the ghosts haven't tried the cobbler since the ballgame! 1422 Evelyn Stones, Pecari 0 5

Dorian

August 02, 2018 8:31 AM

Glad to hear it by Dorian

Mozhesh and mogu were so very different sounding that it was hard to recognise that they were conjugations of the same verb. But, as often happened, there was enough meaning in the words he did get that he could catch the meaning of the sentence, and then his brain sort of worked backwards, replaying some of the sounds and working out that he did know those too, even if he hadn’t thought he did the first time.

“Nous pouvons pratiquer,” he nodded, both to confirm that he thought it was a good idea, but also with a slight hesitation that suggested he was double checking his comprehension. He wasn’t quite sure whether that meant he had just invited Katerina to join the Club of Tongues or something else. Not that he could see anyone minding. Although she wasn’t learning Chinese, he reminded himself again, and as they were both in Teppenpaw, there would be plenty of times they could talk just with each other.

“Je reconnais byzantin comme le nom d'une époque dans l'histoire, but I not know so much about.” In terms of non-Russian history, Dorian was relatively knowledgeable. Living in North America meant studying its history, but that was so strongly tied into European history, especially in Quebec, that you couldn’t do one without the other. His Chinese history was, by his own measure, against the knowledge displayed by his cousins, very bad, but he still thought it was likely to be better than anyone at Sonora. Except, of course Wu- except of course Wu had graduated now… He didn’t mention the range of his knowledge, because having received a ‘very impressive’ regarding his philosophy studies, he did not wish to seem like he was showing off. And besides, they had already agreed to practise languages together. If they agreed to a history exchange too, he and Katerina might end up monopolising rather a lot of each other’s time, and he did not wish to do that, even though the prospect seemed rather interesting.

Dorian was extremely gratified when Katerina told him was intelligible. Admittedly, he was not plumbing any great intellectual depths here but the thought was more or less exactly what he would have said in English, and he had managed it. Well… eighty percent of it. The fact he had caved on the last sentence was what stopped him beaming with pride at her feedback. He would have to look up ‘useful’ in his dictionary later. Ironically, he was pretty sure that was one of the first words he had looked up, so he could say ‘Thank you for my dictionary, it will be useful.’ But apparently, he had not had a great deal of use for that word since during conversations with Tatya, and it thus hadn’t stuck.

“Duile,” he nodded, when she ran through his languages. He always found the Russian word for Chinese funny – it sounded so feline. “Potomu chto moya Mama – kitayskaya,” he added. He expected that bit was unnecessary… Whilst people didn’t always pick him out as mixed race, the second he mentioned speaking Chinese, he caught them re-evaluating – the midtone skin, the dark eyes, the slight… difference in the shape of them. Things that had not been enough to make them think for themselves, but which made a lot more sense once they had reason to consider. Then there was the fact that Katerina said that Tatya had told her a lot about him. Presumably not just the fact that he spoke it, but the reason why a boy from Quebec spoke Chinese had been deemed more interesting than the fact the walls of the hall streamed with water. He wondered what else. He knew, on the one hand, that that was just… a thing that people said, but he was curious… Jehan, he believed, would have a lot to say about him. He was not sure that he did, because no one in Jehan’s family seemed very interested in the things that he liked, or had in common with Dorian. But Tatya had said a lot about him? He supposed he peppered his letters to Émilie with tales of everything he was doing with his friends here. He supposed Tatya had done the same… Dorian has a Chinese Mama and a Canadian Papa, and he speaks Chinese, French and English (and bad Russian). Those were facts, easily commutable to paper and understood by the reader. We went skating over midterm, he tried to teach me to waltz on the ice… What did that tell someone about him? Which anecdotes did Tatya deem worthy, how did she describe them, what meaning did Katerina give to them? He wondered what impression Katerina had of him from her sister’s tales, and how he was living up to those expectations. He was very curious as to how he looked through someone else’s eyes – through two sets of eyes, he supposed, writer and reader. He thought it might be rude to ask. ‘I’ve heard so much about you,’ was generic party small talk, and one was not supposed to respond by asking what the person had heard. But… this was a little different.

“A- a lot about me?” he asked hesitantly, knowing he shouldn’t but wondering… For the first time since the start of the feast, the new and self-confident Dorian retreated slightly. He trusted Tatya really, and doubted she had said anything bad about him, but… well, what had she said?

13 Dorian Glad to hear it 1401 Dorian 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

August 02, 2018 4:47 PM

I do not understand... by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi felt truly terrible at Evelyn's current state. He was trying desperately to get the girl to drink, hoping that it would help snap her out of whatever stupor she seemed to be in. Or, maybe food would help? He snatched a brownie from the nearby pile on the table and waved it in front of her face, hoping that her love of brownies was stronger than her current love for... well, everything that seem to glitter and shine and was considered to be 'beautiful'.

Which, at the moment, was his face.

He gave her a weak smile and laughed a litte. Despite the guilt he still felt tearing up his insides, he had to admit that her behaviour was rather amusing. At least he hadn't blown her head up or dissolved her tongue or maimed her in any kind of way. The butterflies and anxiousness in his stomach seemed to ease.

Then, she let something slip.

Malikhi blinked and for a moment, he was unsure if he'd heard correctly. He was pretty sure that he wasn't wrong though and his nerves and anxiety dissipated in favour of focusing on Evelyn and the words that Malikhi was pretty sure had unintentionally slipping out of her mouth. He thought that she had a happy home life. Or at least, that's the indication that she had given, what with her story about tickling her mother and getting to stay up late...

Had she lied to him? Why?

"Linney, your father hits you?" he murmured in a hushed voice, trying to make sure that nobody overheard them. "Why? I don't understand. I thought you said..."

He was so confused and Evelyn appeared distracted and more interested in the spoon that she was now accusing of not being a fork. She was clearly out of it and he wasn't sure if she was even hearing a word he was saying to her. He sighed heavily, wondering what on earth to do next.

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari I do not understand... 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

August 02, 2018 4:56 PM

You weren't meant to by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn's foggy brain seemed to clear as the scent of brownies wafted through the air. It was a delicious smell and utterly not like the smell of hot light bulbs. Evelyn blinked and lifted her head from the table.

Malikhi was speaking in hushed tones and looking worried. Whether that was because of whatever she done since whatever had happened with the spell or because of something she'd...

Then she remembered.

She wasn't prone to swearing but a number of choice words ran through her mind before deciding it would be best to maintain that she'd only spoken nonsense. A plan in place great but then she crashed.

A moment of beauty and euphoria followed by a desperate crash into darkness. She took the brownie from Malikji with weak fingers as tears slrhng to her eyes. She knew, rationally, that she wasn't actually sad. But she still felt sad, and suddenly nothing seemed beautiful at all.

"Awe, Kai," she whimpered as the first wave of years leaked from her eyes. "This is terrible."

On the bright side, she was more conscious of the situation now and was careful not to cry too loudly or to draw too much attention. The last thing she needed was a professor to remember her as the girl who ate a spell day one.

"What happened?" She moaned. "I don't think that was just Lumos."

22 Evelyn Stones You weren't meant to 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

August 02, 2018 5:29 PM

Will you explain it to me? by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi's eyes widened as he saw Evelyn crying. Terrific. This was twice in one night that the poor girl had become so upset to the point of tears and Malikhi was not sure how to deal with a crying girl. At least, she'd accepted his offered brownie and she was eating. He pushed a goblet of juice towards her as well, as fluids seemed like a good idea. Also, when he was sad and crying, his Mum used to rub gentle circles on his back to try and help soothe him. Maybe he could do that?

He moved closer to her and laid a gentle hand on her back and started to rub slow circles, hoping that he was indeed being comforting.

"It's my fault, Linney," he told her quietly. "I think I cast the spell wrong or something. I could have hurt you so much worse and I'm so sorry."

He hoped that she wouldn't be too angry with him. He'd just been so nervous and worried about casting the spell right and not hurting her that it turned out that he'd cast the spell wrong anyway.

It perhaps wasn't a good time to bring what she'd let slip earlier but given the fact that it would probably only upset her anyway, he figured that he might as well bring it up now. He let out a reluctant sigh. He was loathe to do this, to make her cry further but he couldn't shake it from his mind. "Linney... You said something about your Dad. You said that if we weren't quiet, you Dad would get angry and he'd hit you again..."

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Will you explain it to me? 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

August 02, 2018 5:46 PM

No, of course not. by Evelyn Stones

Malikhi's hand was warm and comforting as it made small circles on her back. Evelyn's mom did that sometimes and it was a welcome touch of familiarity. She managed a grateful smile before returning to tears.

She fought with herself to everything under control, and Malikhi's persistence helped focus her mind. She absolutely couldn't let him know the truth.

Taking a swig from the goblet Malikhi offered, she actually managed to stop crying and wiped her face on her sleeve.

"Don't worry," she said honestly. "It happens. It probably would be worse on yourself! At least you were trying to be careful with me." She gave another weak smile, knowing she wouldn't really be able to make him feel any better.

"I really don't know what I said," she added, leaning forward and holding Malikhi's gaze. "Other than something about a fork. But it really was beautiful up until it was awful!"

This time, Evelyn managed a more genuine smile. Whatever she told him, truth or lie, she had come to care about him. Seeing Malikhi so sad and worried made Evelyn feel sad too.

"I told you, my dad is good." She couldn't come up with anything better to say. What did people say when they got on with their parents? "We get on great." That seemed lame, too.

"But now we know! Tasting magic is a very dangerous thing to do!" She giggled at the realization that the now both been the victims of magical mishaps, and this was only day one. "How are we going to get through the rest of the week like this? Let alone the whole school year?" she laughed.

22 Evelyn Stones No, of course not. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Katerina

August 02, 2018 9:51 PM

I will try to return the favor. by Katerina

The next sequence of French had unfamiliar vocabulary in it, but concentrating, and picking out words she did know, Katya thought she got most of the gist of it – that Dorian knew that Byzantiya was the name of an era. She nodded when he added, in English, that he didn’t know much about it.

“C’est une grande époque,” said Katya. “Tatiana aime les livres sur Byzantiya pour des bijoux,” she added with a laugh, sure anyone who had known her sister any length of time knew of Tatiana’s odd fascination with jewels. Katya understood they were useful in many ways – they beautified the wearer, they clearly demonstrated status, and they were a form of wealth it was much easier to move than stacks and stacks of coin – but Katya couldn’t understand why Tatya seemed to find them interesting of themselves. When the jewelers came to their house, Tatiana asked them all sorts of technical questions, and had once astonished Mama and Papa by asking if she could go watch a jeweler make things (a request which had been denied; Tatya had cried). She didn’t even seem to care much about intrinsic value, which would have at least made sense; tonight, Tatiana was decked out to the point of excess, but all in semi-precious materials at best. Katya didn’t quite understand it.

Nor, if she was to be perfectly honest, did she quite understand how Dorian had come to have a Chinese mama and French-Canadian papa – how such a marriage would even happen. Papa had married a Russian witch, Anya was engaged to a Russian wizard, and so it went – though reasonably, she knew this didn’t really make sense. Outside marriage happened often enough in Russia, if her histories were anything to go by – there were prominent families whose surnames were poorly Russianized, or simply not Russian at all, and the Tsaritsa Ekaterina had originally been a German called Sophie! Sonia joked that Mama and Papa had so many daughters that they had named two, Sofiya and Katerina, after the same person! – but it didn't in Volshebnaya Derevnya. It had been Papa’s idea to send Tatya to America, but he had scolded Sonia before for flirting too much with boys from the lesser Russias….

“Oui,” said Katya offhandedly when Dorian repeated what she had said about Tatya talking about him, then realized it had sounded like a question. “Only things sympa,” she added. “Tatya like you very much. She told me you invited me – thank you,” she added, realizing she had not said this before. She poured herself a drink and raised her cup slightly to Dorian. “Za tvoe zdorov’e,” she said. To your health.

16 Katerina I will try to return the favor. 1418 Katerina 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

August 02, 2018 10:41 PM

You're quite infuriating. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi felt that Evelyn was deliberately avoiding the topic of her family and her tone indicated that she did not want to talk about them anymore. Malikhi was a nosy boy, wanting to know everything about a person. He supposed that it was because he himself was a very open book, having no qualms about sharing his personal life with other people. Though, as he pondered this, he supposed that his life had been a happy one and why would you have any secrets if you were happy?

He couldn't help but continue to worry about Evelyn though. Despite the fact that she'd said her Dad was good and that they got on great, he felt that she was only saying that to try and get him to move on from the subject. He realised that if she truly didn't want to talk about, he was not going to try and force her. What he did know was that if she ever decided that she did want to talk to someone about her problems, he would be there for her and ready to lend an ear.

He laughed as she asked about surviving the rest of the year and her pulled her into his side, wrapping a loose arm round her back. "Eh, we'll manage. After all, we'll have each other, right?"

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari You're quite infuriating. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

August 02, 2018 11:22 PM

You're welcome. by Evelyn Stones

Where Malikhi's touch had been soothing and welcome before, it now made Evelyn feel sick. Why should he be comforting her when she was lying? Why should he be kind to her at all?

Oh right.

Friendship.

Not that she was much of a friend. Evelyn knew she was ultimately condemning herself. She'd either remain stuck in limbo as the crappy friend who hid the truth from him, or she'd eventually slip up and reveal the truth, proving that she'd been lying. The only option was to maintain the perfect facade, and she made the decision right there not to let anything slip up again.

The harder part was not having anyone she could talk to. She thought of Ness, but would Ness tell Malikhi? Maybe a professor could help but the risk was too high.

Harder still was not sinking out from Malikhi's friendly touch. She wanted to scream. She wanted to hide amongst the clouds, where no one could know how stupid she was.

Once a disappointment, always a disappointment.

Swallowing hard, Evelyn reached her arm under Malikhi's, around his back.

"Of course we will," she said. "That's not going to change."

The words rose like bile from her throat and she blinked hard. This would be the last time she would make this mistake. She hugged Malikhi closer for a heartbeat before releasing him entirely, and it felt like a goodbye to whatever friendship they might've had. One built on honesty and trust.

He was still beautiful, inside and out, and Evelyn suddenly couldn't wait to be anywhere but here. She smiled.

22 Evelyn Stones You're welcome. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

August 02, 2018 11:55 PM

Re: You're welcome. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

Malikhi still felt like something wasn't quite right between him and Evelyn. Where before there had been laughter and smiles and an easy air amongst them, the air now felt awkward and sad and Malikhi wasn't sure what he could do to repair it. When she pulled away from him, he suddenly felt cold, like someone had covered him in ice cream. He felt like the remark that she'd accidentally let slip about her father had caused this and he didn't like it.

He was worried about their newly found friendship. It wouldn't be strong enough to hold out if she chose to walk away from it as it was only a few hours old. She was his only real friend here at Sonora and he liked her. She was his new partner-in-crime. That had to count for something.

He took her hands into his own, needing to make her understand that he was there for her. That, despite the fact that they'd only known each other for a few hours, he would be willing to listen to any issues she had. He knew that he wouldn't be particularly useful in terms of advice or actual help but he did have shoulders to cry on.

"I am here for you, whatever's on your mind. I can't promise that I can help with anything but if you ever want to just talk, I'll listen."

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari Re: You're welcome. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

August 03, 2018 1:42 AM

Goodnight, Friend. by Evelyn Stones

Everything suddenly seemed to feel like too much and Evelyn found herself quite tired. It hadn't been a very long day, but it seemed to have spanned weeks and the weight of it all crashed onto her as Malikhi took her hands. His were soft and warm, and his eyes bore into her with liquid affection.

He seemed to genuinely care, and Evelyn wondered why she was so determined to hide things from him. She was fairly sure neither he or Ness would judge her for the relationship she had with her parents, and she was pretty sure they would help her if that situation arose. She thought perhaps she was embarrassed, and that was certainly true in part; she couldn't help blaming herself for being the disappointment that brought out such strong feelings in her father, even if his reactions weren't justified.

The truth felt worse, though, and made her actions seem petty. Guilt burned her cheeks as she realized she simply wanted to fit in. She wanted to be the girl with a happy family and a good home and strong magic and lots of friends, and she hoped that maybe she could make that happen by making it up. But that wouldn't work, and she knew it.

Well, the rational part of her brain knew it.

The rest of her wasn't willing to give up trying until it truly proved futile. Stubborn as she was, it might be a long time before that was proven.

"Thanks, Kai," she whispered, hating herself. "It really means a lot." And thus she spoke the truth.

Before she could say anything else, though, and really before she could think of what else to say anyway, her attention was drawn to the dismissal of all the students to their Common Rooms. Leaning forward, she spoke in a low whisper, close to Malikhi's ear.

Her voice was thick with emotion, and she hoped it sounded like gratefulness. After all, at the core, it really truly was. "You're a really really good friend."

Evelyn pulled her hands away and sat up straight, wishing desperately that she could focus on anything but her own thoughts.

22 Evelyn Stones Goodnight, Friend. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Cleo James

August 03, 2018 7:29 AM

Food? by Cleo James

Cleo’s summer had actually really been quite good. The quarantine last year had possibly helped with that in some ways. At Midterm, she had still been mixed up, confused and angry over the fact that her daddy had waited so long to tell her the truth. It would possibly have been a miserable Christmas. As it was, she ended up stuck at school, and by the time summer rolled around, she was just so desperate to see him again that none of it mattered any more. It also helped that she had worked through some of it with Parker. The whole ‘half veela’ thing still scared and confused her - she still didn’t want to be it, if given a choice - but, as having a choice in the matter seemed pretty unlikely, she supposed she could be said to be dealing with it. Summer had just involved her and daddy doing all their usual things - running the shop, gardening in the allotment, listening to the wireless - and it had been perfect.

Now she was back at school, ready to see what Sonora held for her in her fourth year. Hopefully a lot less drama and adventure than her third… There was still a lot to deal with though. She felt less upset about her situation but was still concerned about control, especially as she was now conscious of how she was growing up… Her daddy had shirked relatively few of the duties of raising a daughter single handed but over summer there had been a couple of conversations and shopping trips that he had decided it was better if her grandma dealt with.

She took a seat at the Crotalus table, grateful for the figure-hiding green sack that was the school uniform. The announcements weren’t of much interest, although she thought Parker would be happy about Quidditch, and she would look forward to cheering him on. Then the food appeared, and Cleo glanced around. A lot of the food at Sonora was kind of fancy, or a bit different than what she ate at home. She kind of liked things plain and simple. All around her, spicy smells drifted over, or otherwise perfectly nice looking dishes were ruined by little black bits suggesting yucky things like olives. Next to her was a first year boy, and next to him was a tasty, and safe looking, lasagne. He looked kind of annoyed, and Cleo hesitated. She wasn’t the biggest people person anyway, and had little desire to interact with anyone unfriendly. She searched around her a bit more but finding nothing that appealed, returned her attention to her neighbour. He noticed it this time, addressing her rather snappily.

Temper was one of Cleo’s worse traits, but one her daddy had taken great time and care to help her get the better of. She instinctively frowned at the boy’s manner, but knew that her daddy wouldn’t find it a reasonable excuse for being rude back, so she arranged her features into a nicer expression. Admittedly, there was a little selfish motivation in this - Cleo was the kind of person who generally felt best about being good to others when there was some kind of extrinsic reward to her in the process. Even if it was just the morally victory of knowing she was the better person - it was very much the victory half of that sentiment and not the moral that motivated her.

“Could you pass me the lasagne?” she asked, trying her hardest to be pleasant.

OOC - here are some guidelines I wrote last year on Cleo and her powers. I have left this post pretty ambiguous. If it’s something you’re interested in having happen to Julius we can either assume she is veela-ing, or we can build towards that happening later in the thread. Or, if you feel he’s too young/not likely to be affected and/or just don’t want to mess with this, that’s fine too. Choice is up to you, or hit me up in chatzy to work it out.

13 Cleo James Food? 389 Cleo James 0 5

Jehan Callahan

August 03, 2018 8:47 AM

The wanderer returns by Jehan Callahan

Returning to Sonora was, for Jehan, like returning to a dearly-loved but forgotten friend. After his discovery of the bookshop in Muggle New York, sneaking out of his house to spend hours there had become a habit. Previous summers spent outside reading under trees in the large Callahan garden meant that Jehan's absence wasn't remarked. Despite his lack of Muggle money, the kindly old bookseller had been happy for Jehan to just sit and read. And oh, had he read. Jehan had devoured book after book, and his reading had benefitted from being specially tailored to his interests and his age by the bookseller. Unlike last year, he'd had a thoroughly enjoyable summer, and his joy at returning to Sonora and his friends had been somewhat tempered by the loss of new friends.

The bookseller wasn't the only friend Jehan had made that summer - books aside, of course. The bookseller’s nephew, Oliver, had come to stay with his uncle for two weeks. Oliver was a year older than Jehan, and loved the streets as much as he loved books. Jehan had had a companion to read with, but in return had been dragged along on quests to find takeaways, skate parks, and chewing gum. The two boys had a few things in common, but also some fun differences, and Jehan had enjoyed the brief time with his new friend.

Despite making new friends, Jehan had of course missed his old friends. He’d sent letters to them over the summer, of course, and as always more lengthy epistles were sent to Dorian, with details of both the muggle world and the exciting books he was reading.

He hadn’t had much opportunity to catch up with his friends pre-feast, but there had been lots of hugs and presents, and a very cheerful Dorian, and he was looking forward to hearing all about their summers in person, and couldn’t wait to show Dorian a couple of the books he’d brought back with him.

With all this to look forward to, Jehan tucked in happily to his dinner at the feast. It was unfortunate that none of his closest friends were in his house, but there were always other friends to chat to. He turned to the person next to him at the Aladren table.

“Did you know that some sharks can go months without eating?” he asked.

9 Jehan Callahan The wanderer returns 1398 Jehan Callahan 0 5

Julius Astley, Crotalus

August 03, 2018 1:17 PM

Food is about the only thing worth thinking about here. by Julius Astley, Crotalus

Julius eyed the blonde girl who had felt it necessary to speak to him. For a moment, he thought he saw her frown and mentally prepared himself for another time-wasting argument. He was surprised when the frown seemed to fade, replaced by a nicer-looking expression. It didn't mean that he'd talk to her any more than he had to, simply because she had put a smile on her face. It did mean that he was more inclined to pass the lasagne that was sitting on his left side. She also hadn't been rude to him at all so he couldn't refuse to honour her request. That'd go against everything his mother had taught him about interacting with other people and, even though she wasn't there with him, he didn't want to feel like he'd disappointed her. He let out a quiet a sigh. The situation was rather unavoidable.

He gently positioned his knife and fork on his plate, the ends pointing towards each other, looking rather like the point of a triangle indicating that he'd simply paused during his meal. He doubted that anybody actually followed the etiquette rules when it came to eating dinner but that was no excuse for him to start shirking everything he'd ever learned. Everything, including passing a dish of lasagne, required so much thought.

"Here, enjoy," he murmured quietly, picking it up and handing it to her, hoping that would be then end of any interaction with somebody else. He did take the opportunity to look at her properly, if only to recognise who to avoid in the future.

She hadn't been amongst the rest of Julius's year as he hadn't seen her around the gardens at orientation or approaching the cauldron of Sorting Potion. Looking at her closely now, he could see that she was older than him and the rest of the first-years and rather pretty, with her light blonde hair and grey-blue eyes. She seemed rather sophisticated and elegant. He frowned slightly. She seemed to carry herself well, in a similar way that he'd seen Pureblood girls do at various social engagements. Had he got lucky and found someone actually worth talking to? He supposed that he could at the very least ask her name. If she didn't turn out to be worthy of his time, he'd know her name and her face so he could definitely avoid her.

"You are older than me, correct?" he asked her, his tone formal and detached. "What's your name?"

20 Julius Astley, Crotalus Food is about the only thing worth thinking about here. 1425 Julius Astley, Crotalus 0 5

Malikhi Hill, Pecari

August 03, 2018 1:31 PM

We'll see each other like... all the time. by Malikhi Hill, Pecari

As Malikhi and the rest of the students were dismissed and free to leave the feast, the first years being led to their common rooms and their dorms, he felt that the evening and dinner he'd shared with Evelyn was ending on a sort of negative note. She didn't seem as joyful or as eager to talk to him as she had been over the course of the night and Malikhi couldn't help but feel like he'd done something wrong. The guilt over what he'd caused to happen to her as a result of a poorly cast wand-lighting charm was crippling and if that was upsetting her, he didn't know how he'd be able to make up for it.

On the other hand, she did kind of look tired and it had been a long day. For her, possibly more so given the crying and the moments of hysteria. It was probably a good thing that, at any moment, they would be shown the way to their common room and then she'd be able to go to bed and sleep. He hoped that tomorrow would be a better day for her. It wasn't like they wouldn't see each other again. Bumping into each other every day would probably be almost unavoidable, given that they were in the same house. Though he did hope that they wouldn't just bump into each other and would spend time together in the common room, studying together or generally just hanging out.

"Come on," he murmured quietly to her as he, like the rest of the Pecari table, rose from their seats. "Let's go see our common room."

Just as they were about to walk and leave Cascade Hall, he remembered something. He popped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the brownie that he'd saved for her. He offered it to her, thinking that she could do with the pick-me-up. "I saw you take one yourself, earlier. I don't know why but two brownies is always better than one, right? This is for you."

20 Malikhi Hill, Pecari We'll see each other like... all the time. 1423 Malikhi Hill, Pecari 0 5

Evelyn Stones

August 03, 2018 2:24 PM

That makes me happy by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn smiled, surprised at Malikhi's thoughtfulness. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised, and supposed she wasn't surprised that Malikhi was thoughtful, just that anybody would be thoughtful at all. She took the brownie gratefully and took a big gooey bite before saying anything.

She thought of everything that night before replying, and was careful to make sure every word was true. She wouldn't lie about anything she didn't have to lie about, and she didn't want to lie about this at all:

"I'm glad we're in the same house and I'm glad we met."

Evelyn hoped Malikhi knew she was sincere. She felt tight in her chest and wondered if that's what all friendships felt like. As they bumbled through the sea of students, Evelyn thought to look for Ness, but only for a moment. Tonight she was a Pecari.

Wrapping one arm around Malikhi's side, she gave him as tight a hug as her tiny self could manage. She turned her head to smile at him before letting go and walking out of Cascade Hall for the first time. More importantly, she walked out with her friend.

22 Evelyn Stones That makes me happy 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Cleo

August 04, 2018 2:28 PM

Gee, thanks by Cleo

Well, her tablemate for the evening seemed quite the little ray of sunshine. What a fun dinner she seemed to be in for. In general, Cleo wasn’t the most outgoing person, she could kind of take or leave socialising, and spending the meal by herself wouldn’t have bothered her if he was equally quiet. But he was being rude to her, which she disliked. Of course, she knew she knew what it felt like to be miserable - she hadn’t exactly been in the most sociable mood for… well, basically all of last year. But she had kept it to herself rather than take it out on other people. Empathising was not Cleo’s strong suit. The boy was being snappy and rude with her and that hurt her, and she cared much less about why he might be feeling that way than she did about how he made her feel.

At least he had passed the lasagne, and she busied herself with serving a portion of it. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, even though she had already felt him looking. Was she doing the veela thing? Or was he just… curious? He hadn’t seemed curious in the slightest about her before, he had seemed to want to be left alone.

“Yes, I’m a fourth year,” she replied when he asked about her being older than him. “My name is Cleo,” she answered, automatically leaning away a little. “What’s yours?”

13 Cleo Gee, thanks 389 Cleo 0 5

Kir McLeod

August 08, 2018 9:12 AM

Get out clauses (tag Joe) by Kir McLeod

Kir was excited for fifth year. He had major exams to sit which he was enough of a weirdo to be kind of looking forward to. Kir was bright, and he tested well. He was sure he wouldn’t feel quite so chipper when he had to spend every minute revising, but right now the exams were far enough away to just seem like a fun challenge. He was also glad to be back to spend time with his girlfriend again. Who wouldn’t be excited for a year that promised both standardised testing and snogging?

He watched the sorting with a degree of interest, given that Ness was involved, although it was pretty much a foregone conclusion where his sibling would end up. Sure enough, the badge came out of the cauldron blue, declaring Ness an Aladren. Kir smiled, knowing his sibling would be happy. This expression rapidly changed when he noticed where Ness was sitting. Oh, Merlin, why?!

He did not have long to brood on this though, as he was called up to the stage, and there was not a lot he could do about it because even shooting Ness a stern warning stare or mouthing ‘behave’ would be visible to the entire population, and once he got back to his seat, he no longer had a clear enough eyeline. That left him the remaining options of praying or complaining bitterly. Or both. He found he was next to his fellow prefect, and in fact newly minted head boy, Joe Umland, who seemed like he might be a reasonable authority on the question currently on Kir’s mind.

“Congratulations,” he nodded at the boy’s badge, “So… That prefect thing where we have to be nice to everyone and show a shining example - not murder people and the like. There’s a loophole when it’s your pain-in-the-ass sibling, right?” he asked.

13 Kir McLeod Get out clauses (tag Joe) 366 Kir McLeod 0 5

Julius Astley, Crotalus

August 08, 2018 2:48 PM

You're welcome. by Julius Astley, Crotalus

Before Julius answered Cleo's question, he reached for the jug of water that was sitting just to his right and filled his goblet. It also bought him some time as he chewed and swallowed his mouthful of food as it was always rude to speak to somebody in the middle of chewing food. He swallowed, had a drink of water and then finally replied to Cleo.

"My name is Julius Astley," he told her. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

That wasn't strictly true. He wasn't finding much pleasurable about meeting Cleo at all but it was a required formality in these situations, whether one meant the words or not. He didn't know why but she seemed to be a bit nervous and way as he'd noticed that she'd moved away from him. He wasn't particularly bothered by this as he hadn't really wanted to talk to anybody in the first place. If she found that she didn't want to be near him, then that was just better for him.

Then again, that could build a bad reputation for him and damage the reputation of the Astley name. As an Astley, he was supposed to be respectable with an honest and good reputation. His father would be disappointed if he didn't uphold the Astley name.

"So... do you like it here at... this place?"

20 Julius Astley, Crotalus You're welcome. 1425 Julius Astley, Crotalus 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

August 09, 2018 2:14 PM

Sharks by Heinrich Hexenmeister

Heinrich had a terrible summer. It opened with the bad news his uncle hadn’t wanted to send by owl, and it never got better. His parents’ trial had concluded late last Spring with a conviction. They had been sentenced to twenty years in prison. Their appeal had been denied.

He and his siblings had gotten to travel to Germany to visit them, but it wasn’t pleasant and Heinrich almost wished he hadn’t gone. It was depressing and made it feel like it was real and this really was his life now. He was the son of convicted killers. As if his last name meaning ‘master of hexes’ hadn’t been bad enough already, he was also the first generation offspring of duly tried and found guilty dark wizards.

Worse, when he pressed Uncle Karl for answers as to why the appeal had been denied and what could be done now to prove their innocence, Uncle Karl just sighed and gave him the trial transcripts.

Reading those over the course of the summer, his hopes had popped. Several times, he wanted to throw them in the fire and deny they existed, that any of what they said was true, but then the need to know the truth overruled the impulse and he kept going.

There was clear proof even Heinrich couldn’t ignore or explain away. They were both practitioners of dark magic. Books with damning margined commentary in both their hands had been found in the basement when the aurors raided, along with evidence of recently performed dark rituals, and Heinrich knew for a fact the basement had always been strictly off limits, and remembered the creepy feeling he got when he approached too close to the door.

The transcripts laid it out plainly. Mom and Dad had been hired to kill people and then did so. Many times. In a variety of ways. Sometimes it was as simple as a poisoning. Sometimes it was worse than that. Their financial records were particularly incriminating. The Hexenmeister account swelled with funds coming in from accounts associated with the enemies of recently assassinated officials from all over Europe, shortly after the deaths. And their ‘consulting business’ that they claimed as their source of employment was pretty clearly just a front for their other activities.

He guessed the persistent rumor that the fairy tale of the old witch who had lured in Hansel and Gretel and tried to eat them (and then been outsmarted by a couple muggle kids) had been based on one of his great-great-something-grandmothers wasn’t his family’s biggest ancestral embarrassment anymore. Well, maybe it was. Cannibalism was just gross, and it took a whole team of aurors to raid their house to defeat Mom and Dad, not a pair of magic-less children. He would give his parents that much credit, even if they were professional assassins, which even sounded almost cool until they turned out to be your parents.

But they were still a whole lot more immediate and much less deniable as family, and maybe not being in Germany right now really was for the best. Merlin know the newspapers there were talking of nothing else but than the capture and conviction of two of Europe’s most prolific assassins this summer. Most of Europe probably was.

He could only hope the news hadn’t reached Sonora. Last year the little school had seemed so deeply buried in the middle of the American desert that it was basically a whole different world than where he came from. That had been a bad thing then. Now he wanted nothing more than that otherworldliness, so far away from everything he’d had to face this summer.

Even the barrage of English was welcome as he rode the wagon back. Too many terrible things had been imparted to him in German lately. English was so foreign and safe from those things he hadn’t wanted to hear or read. And with his Aladren badge in place, nobody ought to give him a second look as he spent the wagon ride and the hours leading to the feast getting a head start on his textbooks (which were still the German versions - he might resent his native tongue right now but if he wanted to pass his classes, English texts were not going to cut it quite yet. His skill in English was leaps and bounds better than it had been this time last year, especially after a summer of using his English practice as an escape from everything else, but he was in no way ready to declare himself fluent yet.)

He did understand nearly everything the Headmaster said in his speech, and he could easily pick out English words from names now, so he was feeling pretty proud of himself for that. He read silently along with the school song, mostly to see if he could keep up with the singers. He could. He couldn’t always translate that fast, but he could match the English lyrics from the paper to what his ears were hearing, so that was pretty sweet. He’d take his little victories where could get them.

When the older student sitting next to him spoke though, his English competency fell immediately into question. He had picked this student to sit beside because he recognized him from class as one who often sat with other people who had less than native fluency in English.

But what on Merlin’s green earth was a ‘Shark’? Some kind of animal, he guessed from context, but he had no idea if it was one he should recognize. “I did not,” he said speaking clearly but with an accent, hoping this was a safe answer. It was at least true that he could not think of any creature that could survive for months without eating.

“What is Shark?” he asked, partly because he was genuinely intrigued that something could do that, and partly because he needed to expand his English vocabulary if sharks were something people randomly brought up in conversation, but mostly he asked because it was a topic that had absolutely nothing to do with recently convicted German dark wizards.

Those were good topics he had deeply missed this summer.

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister Sharks 1414 Heinrich Hexenmeister 0 5

Joe Umland

August 09, 2018 10:21 PM

If you aim at the sibling, you best not miss. by Joe Umland

As he approached the doors of the Cascade Hall, Joe found himself, to his surprise, hesitating slightly before taking the step into the room.

This, he thought, was it. Last first time. It was his seventh year. This time next year, he would not be in this room – or even, more likely than not, this country. With John in New York, Joe would need to stay closer to home – somewhere where it would be easier to get home to check in on Mom and Dad, be a sounding board for his sister, make sure the Damn Purebloods weren’t brainwashing his goddaughter-niece too much. This meant Canada, not least because of how easy it was to lose time crossing borders. So this was it. Beginning of the end. His American interlude was almost over. It was a stunning sort of thought.

Not as stunning, though, as the jostle to his elbow, which reminded him he was holding up traffic. He went ahead and entered the Cascade Hall.

The Sorting , to his relief, inspired no sentimental welling-up of feelings, no thought that he would even miss Old Brockert - that, he thought, would have been sure evidence of a deranged mind. He thought for a moment he might have one after all, though, when he heard the old man ask him to come up to get the Head Boy badge.

Head Boy. Him. He was Head Boy. Presumably, unlike John, legitimately – by the vote. He had been sure Ben Pierce was going to get it. But no. Joe got it. Even though he had once hit the old man now handing him the badge.

“This should be fun, huh, Nevaeh?” he said, smiling automatically before remembering the Head Girl wasn’t going to notice this. Congratulations.”

Kir McLeod took the position of the fifth year prefect; Joe tried to catch Georgia’s eye, remembering the amusing conversation they had had last year about her instituting a rule of terror over that very person. He dropped that quickly, though, when Kir sat down next to him, beginning to serve himself after the song and looking up in surprise when Kir offered his definition of what constituted showing a shining example to the public.

“Only if you aim well,” he replied drily. “If you miss and hit Brockert, he’ll still give you a look which suggests he’d like to stab you with this badge several years later – hypothetically, of course,” he added. “Not that I would know. But with everyone but siblings, yes, not murdering people is a good start. Congratulations.”

16 Joe Umland If you aim at the sibling, you best not miss. 329 Joe Umland 0 5

Tarquin Fox-Reynolds

August 12, 2018 6:36 AM

I fear change. And sexy vampires. by Tarquin Fox-Reynolds

“Oh, very much so. Thank you,” Tarquin smiled. He was not given to overly animated facial expressions but he did both look and sound very genuinely pleased and excited at the fact that not only had Grayson had interesting and enjoyable summer reading but this was now being extended to him in the form of lending some reading material.

Grayson then continued to be interesting company, as he explained he’d been to a writers’ retreat. This was the second time Grayson had mentioned writing. The first time he had seemed a little embarrassed at letting the subject come up and had not really been drawn on it, but he seemed to be willing to volunteer just a little more this time.

“Sounds like an interesting anthropology exercise, as much as anything else,” he smiled, when Grayson mentioned the writers. “What’s the collective noun? A scribbling of writers? A melodrama? Hopefully it was productive as well as interesting?” he added. Presumably one went to a writers’ retreat to write, and Grayson had done so alongside reading other people’s efforts. The question easily invited him to divulge as much (or as little) about that particular subject as he wished.

“Still firmly ensconced in the nineteenth century,” he smiled, when Grayson asked after his own holiday reading, “Something in one of the magazines I subscribe to sent me off on a tangent of reading and rereading gothic novels and their analysis.” The ‘something’ in question had been an article on the gothic’s role in allowing authors to express homosexual themes. There was the simple fact of the genre’s melodramatic nature, a world of blood, and vice and sin - admittedly, most of this was in the context of violence, rather than sex, and had not exactly promoted gay relationships in a positive light or made an argument for their social acceptability. But it had given a bunch of repressed nineteenth century queers an outlet for their burning passions. Had allowed a certain degree of graphic lingering overing naked flesh and moaning and groaning. And of course, sexy vampires. There were always sexy vampires, although that was not something he felt particularly comfortable discussing with the somewhat straight laced Charms professor. It had been a rather strange pairing, the bright sun and ocean views, coupled with death, melodramatic violence, and frequently homoerotic subtext.

“From there, I got onto ‘A Year in Arcadia,’” because harking back to Ancient Greece was another great way to talk about men doing it with each other, which had sort of become the theme of his summer reading by that point, and he thought that ‘homoerotic subtext (or, in that case just… text) of the 19th century’ was most likely his specialist field, if he had one.

“I also spent quite a lot of time reading my daughter’s PhD. She’s hoping to submit before the end of the year,” he added, deciding to give himself somewhere to steer the conversation other than what, in particular, he’d found interesting about his chosen gothic reading.

13 Tarquin Fox-Reynolds I fear change. And sexy vampires. 1464 Tarquin Fox-Reynolds 0 5

Jehan

August 12, 2018 12:52 PM

Hai by Jehan

”What is Shark?”

Well. What a question. There were so many ways one could start to answer that. To begin with, sharks as simple creatures were, actually, fascinating. Jehan had stumbled upon a book on marine biology recently which, whilst being quite different to his usual topics, had definitely captured his interest. But a shark was so much more than a physical creature. One could consider what it meant to be ‘shark like’, or describe the different types of human described as sharks (on the subject of which, Oliver had introduced Jehan to the muggle games of cards). The possibilities of the word shark were near-infinite. It was also a rather fun word to say. Shark.

However, time spent around other non-native speakers of English had taught Jehan that such possibilities were best discussed only after a basic definition had been given. He didn’t particularly want to confuse the younger boy, so he decided to stick to that course of action.

“They’re the really big fish,” he started, then realised that his current description could also apply to whales, or dolphins. “With the big teeth. Everyone thinks they eat people but actually they don’t – well, not that often.” He felt sorry for sharks, having this largely-unwarranted reputation.

“I tried to go a week without eating once, but it got boring and then my brother made me stop,” Jehan reminisced. “I don’t think I could last months.” That had been a few years ago now. He’d read of prisoners going on hunger strike, and had wanted to join in with their experience. However, the hungrier he got, the harder it actually became to sympathise with the dramatic life that being a prisoner presumably was. Plus, after a day of getting Jehan’s helping of pudding, Victor had become concerned about the risk of his younger brother fading away, and had swiftly put a stop to the exercise.

“What’s your favourite animal?” Jehan asked Heinrich. This was actually a pretty serious question, and one that Jehan thought was rather hard to answer. There were so many animals that it was hard to narrow down the choice of favourite to just one. That sentiment could be applied to many things in life really – favourite colour, favourite book, favourite person, favourite smell. Things were always just different enough that they became almost impossible to compare.

9 Jehan Hai 1398 Jehan 0 5

Kir

August 13, 2018 7:21 AM

Duly noted by Kir

Joe’s reply was certainly… unusual. It took Kir a moment to process, to work out what exactly Joe was implying and to connect it-

“Wait, that story’s true?! And about you?!” he asked. He remembered hearing that some older student had taken a wild swing at the headmaster. He even remembered hearing that it had been some older Teppenpaw, which had of course only inclined him to dismiss it even faster because who ever heard of Teppenpaws punching people? Said older Teppenpaw might even have been named in the versions he had heard, but at the time he hadn’t really known that group well enough for the name to stick. “And you were actually aiming for a sibling,” he added, the rest of Joe’s story, and its relevance to the current context filtering through, “I think by the time I heard it, you’d deliberately assaulted the headmaster. I always wondered why someone would make up something so outlandish.

“Am I… allowed to ask what actually happened?” he queried. He couldn’t help but be curious about such an undoubtedly strange situation, but it also seemed like it must have been rather an extreme situation to provoke such a reaction. Joe had always seemed relatively even tempered, from the (admittedly very) little that Kir knew about him. And he was a Teppenpaw. Kir was not one to dismiss their house as fuzzy and spineless - he imagined a lot of Teppenpaws had issues about which they cared very deeply. He thought that was probably true of people in all houses, actually - who couldn’t care passionately about something? But the whole point was that they dealt with those things being threatened, or with having problems, differently - Aladrens studied them, Crotali repressed them, and Pecaris fought them. Teppenpaws were supposed to try to work it all out.

13 Kir Duly noted 366 Kir 0 5

Joe

August 13, 2018 10:03 PM

Well done padawan. by Joe

“You can ask,” said Joe, slightly amused despite himself at Kir’s reaction to realizing Joe was apparently infamous – something Joe had not really fully realized himself, but which seemed to be the case. “Sorry – bad joke. Yes, it was me, and yes, I was aiming for one of my brothers. That…episode, it was….”

He trailed off for a moment, trying to think. He couldn’t tell the truth, or even half of it – it would raise more questions than it answered. He supposed he could technically say it was about a girl, but that would be…wrong on many levels, at least when he knew the truth and also the impression it would give….

“My brother – well, this brother, I have others – this brother, he’s one of those people who doesn’t have simple relationships,” said Joe finally. “And one of those people who – no matter what he says, it just sounds like what he means is ‘please punch me in the face.’ To me, anyway,” he added fairly – John had an interestingly large number of friends for someone who sometimes struggled with completing normal conversations, didn’t really do facial expressions quite the way everyone else did, and was also morbidly religious, obsessive about weird stuff, considered himself a law unto himself and considered other people’s regulations objects more similar to only vaguely helpful guidelines, had mood swings and bouts of seeming paranoia that made the whole family worry he had inherited a predilection toward madness from his biological father (though admittedly less since learning that he was not, in fact, paranoid, just a bad liar and very good criminal who had been dedicated to protecting his partner in crime), invariably considered himself the smartest person in the room, and lived in a tent in the woods.

“I take it your sibling is similar, just younger instead of older?” he asked Kir, mildly curious.

16 Joe Well done padawan. 329 Joe 0 5

Amelia

August 13, 2018 11:39 PM

I suppose that beats the alternative. by Amelia

“Not much, really,” said Amelia regretfully when Gary asked what she had gotten to do in a lab over the summer. “My uncle made me learn more lists than I want to think about by heart before I was even allowed to sort stuff. I had graduated to writing lists and powdering beetles by the end of the summer. He says that if I get an O on my Potions CATS, I can assist some next summer, though,” she added, though she imagined this, too, would turn out to be less than interesting – Uncle Geoff was something of a control freak about his laboratory, as she had learned well. “I’m guessing I have to make an O+ somehow on my RATS before he’ll put me in the will,” she joked.

In fact, she rather expected she was already in it. Uncle Geoff wasn’t exactly like a dad to her – she guessed Granddad was kind of more like that – but he wasn’t exactly not, either, and anyway – he had even talked about it before. Still, though, it was best not to count her inheritances before they were in her hand.

Her eyes widened a little in sympathy as he talked about a stepmother and stepsiblings, presumably, from what he was saying, Muggles. “Oh, wow. Bet that is a lot to get used to,” she said, privately seeing an advantage to being brought up by her grandparents. Mama could have all the boyfriends or husbands or whatever she wanted and Amelia didn’t have to put up with them. She just wished sometimes that this didn’t also generally tend to mean also not putting up with Mama, more often than not….

“That sounds cool,” she said, slightly cautiously, when Gary mentioned adding different characters to the game. “How would it work – like you give us the classes, or we just put together whatever, or what?” She had been behind the beginning stages of things last year anyway, somehow ending up in this to cover for Lily one night, so she was a bit clueless on that front.

16 Amelia I suppose that beats the alternative. 360 Amelia 0 5

Grayson Wright

August 14, 2018 1:47 PM

Change is...not my favorite thing, either. by Grayson Wright

“Somewhat,” said Gray, shrugging a tad indifferently, on the subject of whether or not it had been productive as well as interesting. “I’m trying to get used to working in prose, there were some false starts.”

If anyone had no real grounds for judging him for that, he thought, it would be the librarian. People who had nothing better to do than write were a librarian’s whole business. Without the Grays of the world, there would be no need for the Tarquins – at least in his present job. Gray had the impression that most people didn’t have bouts of near-compulsive need to do their jobs, which made it easier for them to seek out and obtain other ones in the event their main jobs became redundant. Or at least he thought this was the case. He’d gathered that some researchers were also fairly compulsive, but didn’t know much about that.

“Collective nouns – I occasionally thought it was going to be a murder of poets, but then – well, you get your epic poets and your lyric poets and your dramatic poets and your modern poets and they all hate each other,” he summed up. “Of course, drama, you work directly together, so a melodrama of dramatists is probably accurate.” He realized he had just given up the game. “I’m – er – a – semi-failed – “ he couldn’t quite bring himself to just say ‘failed’ by itself, though it would be simpler to do so – “dramatist, I guess you could say,” he admitted awkwardly. Not that the dramatists proper seemed to see it that way. “But in prose, you mostly lurk alone and only see other people when you hand stuff out for feedback. Not really pack animals, proseists.”

Gothic literature was not a subject Gray knew much about; neither did the title of something else ring much of a bell for him. He thought Gothic novels were the ones where Muggles wrote about vampires acting vaguely like vampires and ghosts acting nothing like ghosts and it was all about the Muggles wanting to have sex with the vampires, or the ghosts, or each other, or something – he couldn’t say he found vampires, ghosts, or sex interesting as subjects for reading, really, though he had read a rather amusing little tale over the summer about someone being sent a letter sealed as ‘from a ghost’ which had been part of a mystery. A rather brilliant half-blood child had written it, trying to weave together traditions in a surprisingly sophisticated way for a child of thirteen at the time; she and several of her siblings had later been published. One of the other authors at the retreat had informed him that his stuff, however, was unreadable because of the lack of genitals involved; Gray had replied that he found the other fellow’s exceedingly tedious due to the number of them in his stuff, and there had nearly been a brawl.

“Impressive,” he said when Tarquin mentioned a daughter working on a Ph.D. and hoping to submit this year. “What’s she studying?”

16 Grayson Wright Change is...not my favorite thing, either. 113 Grayson Wright 0 5

Kir

August 15, 2018 9:53 AM

I try my best by Kir

“Sort of,” Kir agreed with Joe’s assessment. A lot of the things Joe was saying were true of Ness too, although he couldn’t actually imagining wanting to literally punch her. Sometimes he just wished she would shut up. Or be elsewhere. Or both. He thought that might be quite normal sibling behaviour, and he was a bit concerned about whatever had made it spill over into a physical fight in Joe’s case. “I said murder though. Not punch. Punching definitely wouldn’t be approved of,” he joked, deciding that was all he wanted to know about Joe’s family drama for now.

“Ness… Ness is smart. And has very strong opinions. A lot of opinions that I agree with - we were raised by all the same people, after all. It’s just… Well, I’ve ended up in the house of tact and diplomacy. Ness has ended up in the house of people who like to prove how right they are about everything. You can see how that might… yield differing approaches. She’s also chosen to go introduce herself to my girlfriend. I mean, I don’t exactly imagine Zevalyn is going to disagree with many of Ness’s perspectives. Zev’s… well, willing to date me,” Kir said, in a tone that was not exactly self-deprecating but showed awareness that perhaps he was a niche taste, and with a vague handsweep that just gestured to all of him. “It’s just… I would rather it wasn’t happening.”

13 Kir I try my best 366 Kir 0 5

Zevalyn

August 15, 2018 12:00 PM

That can probably be arranged by Zevalyn

Zevalyn arrived at Sonora feeling glad she only had to ride the wagon here from Phoenix. How some people managed to cross the country on them and not have back problems baffled her. She got out, rubbed the small of her back, and head to the library to entertain herself until the feast. She figured that would be the first place her friends might go to look for her, and if they didn’t, there were still plenty of books to read.

Eventually feast time arrived, and her stomach urged her down to the Hall with just as much urgency as her watch. Her lunch had been small (she got a little wagon-sick if she ate too much beforehand) and by the tome her stomach had settled enough to want food once she was here, it had been too close to dinner to bother.

She saved a seat at Aladren for Georgia or Kir, but Georgia was obligated as prefect to stay at her House table as much as Zev was stuck to Aladren, and Kir was the only Teppenpaw candidate for prefect in his year, so he seemed trapped as well. A first year ended up taking the spot.

Zevalyn nodded back politely in response to the kid’s smile but figured that would be the end of it unless there were specific questions the new student needed a prefect’s help with. Sixth years and first years had a nearly insurmountable age difference that made it unlikely they would converse much. Though she couldn’t help but give the kid a sympathetic look when it seemed her friend got sorted to a different house.

The rest of the sorting finished and Headmaster Brockert gave his announcements. Joe and Nevaeh for Heads. Excellent. Her vote mattered. Kir got prefect, as expected. Good good. Emerald would be joining her as an Aladren prefect, very good. Zev made a mental note to talk to the younger girl later and congratulate her.

New potions professor, interesting, what happened to Professor O’Malley? Quidditch yada yada, not her cup of hot chocolate. Midsummer Fair. Georgia had mentioned the last one, but that had been the other one she missed by starting late, so it was still new to her.

Song. Food.

Zevalyn was filling her plate when she was surprised by the first year talking to her. Then she finished the introduction and Zevalyn understood. Ooh. Kir’s little sister. She smiled warmly, “Oh! Hi. Welcome to Aladren! Yes, I’m Zevalyn, Kir’s girlfriend,” she confirmed with a wry look at being identified in this manner, though with Ness being Kir’s sibling, she assumed it was more intended as showing a common interest in the same person rather than basing Zevalyn’s worth on who she dated.

“It is good he got prefect,” she agreed, “though honestly, I don’t think he had much competition. He’d be a good pick though even if there was. Plus,” she added with a playful wink, “I’ll be glad to have him around to look at during prefect meetings.”

She nudged her chin toward the Pecari table, “Did your friend get put in another House? Don’t worry, other than the feasts, we’re allowed to sit wherever we want. Most of my friends are in Teppenpaw. If I wasn’t a prefect I’d probably be sitting over there even during a feast.”

1 Zevalyn That can probably be arranged 380 Zevalyn 0 5

Joe

August 15, 2018 4:47 PM

Do or do not. There is no try. by Joe

“Naturally,” agreed Joe, straight-faced, when Kir proclaimed that his family would find murder more acceptable than punching, grateful to have that awkward bit of the conversation end in a joke. “It’s an important distinction.”

Despite Kir’s assertions that he would find punching unacceptable, the tenor of his description of one Ness rang a lot of bells. Excessively smart, check. Strong opinions, check. Yes, this sounded very familiar. Except when Kir started using the word ‘she’. That did change things. The rules on that had been slightly muddier when they were all very young, of course – back then, the only real difference between Julian and the rest of them had been that she had longer hair and wore dresses for an hour every morning to Mass, and at some points she had been decidedly bigger and stronger than John or Joe – but now that they were adults the rules were very clear: you did not hit women and girls. You were not supposed to hit anyone, really, but definitely not women and girls. That was improper in the extreme.

He thought about the problem. “Hm, yeah,” he said when the different approaches of Teppenpaws and Aladrens. This was much of the trouble with John and Julian, when one of them had an uncooperative mood. He nodded, too, as Kir summarized that he wished this wasn’t happening. “Can’t blame you for that. If John just spontaneously introduced himself to my girlfriend with no warning, I’d probably take a swing at Brockert on purpose this time just to distract everybody,” he joked. “But this is why reasonable people don’t hold your siblings against you, and Zevalyn, she seems all right – and she’s an Aladren, so she’s logical enough.” Of course, John was also an Aladren…Joe decided not to mention that bit. It would ruin the theme he was cultivating here. “So I reckon you’re fine,” he concluded instead. “Except you should probably know I told Georgia last year that the big perk of being the sixth year prefect would be getting to lord it over you this year, so sorry if she takes that literally.”

16 Joe Do or do not. There is no try. 329 Joe 0 5

Ben Pierce

August 16, 2018 12:59 PM

I will survive by Ben Pierce

“Hey, Kyte,” Ben greeted his roommate cheerfully as the other joined him at the Pecari table, quickly fell quiet as the first years started to get sorted. He held little personal interest in the small new students, but he cheered for the ones that pulled a brown badge out of the potion, hoping they were Quidditch players who could fill the vacancies left by the graduated former seventh years. Actually, he hoped that for all the new kids, because Quidditch was no fun if you had nobody to play against, and filling all the House teams hadn’t happened in a while.

It was a small class though and he wasn’t sure they could manage to fill out all the vacancies even if every last one of them joined, which was statistically unlikely. Pity. But the end of the line meant that Head Students were about to be announced and he sat up straight, more attentive than he had ever before been to Headmaster Brockert’s words.

Joe Umland and Nevaeh Reed.

Ben deflated. He sent a grimace of commiserating sympathy to Tess. Joe and Nevaeh were fine people and he liked them both well enough, but they weren’t him and Tess. He’d wanted to have matching badges with his girlfriend.

He was just coming to terms with the disappointment when Kyte put in his two cents, and Ben couldn’t help chuckling a little because Kyte, at least, hadn’t even been in the running. “I shall get over it in time,” he intoned in a dramatic way that could only be interpreted that this had already happened and now he was just playing it up for sympathy. “I only hope you, too, will survive this crushing defeat.”

After food appeared, Kyte seemed to shared a more serious bit of sympathy for the loss, though a Teppenpaw conspiracy did seem a bit far fetched. Even if they had won the last few House Cups pretty soundly. Maybe there was something to that after all?

“No, it’s fine,” Ben assured, “I’m more worried about what this new school wide Quidditch team is going to do to my chances of being Captain.” Jos had been an actual captain last year (even if there hadn’t been any games) while Ben had just been Ingrid’s Assistant Captain. “If him being Head Boy gives me a better shot at being Quidditch Captain, I’ll take that trade.” The school seemed to like to spread out the badges when possible so he hoped that applied here, too.

“I hope Tess isn’t too upset though.”

1 Ben Pierce I will survive 339 Ben Pierce 0 5

Gary

August 18, 2018 11:01 AM

Indeed, nowhere to go but up. I hope. by Gary

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem," Gary responded to Ameilia's comment about getting an O+, "You just need to get all the answers correct. That's the point of coming to the school, right? Learn how to do the things they want us to know how to do? They've got to tell you the answers, or at bare minimum how to get the answers, or else it's not a legitimate test." He shrugged. "I'm sure they try to make things tricky, it needs to be a true test, but if you're paying attention and learned what they've taught, it's gotta be possible." Gary was never one to get anxious over tests, and couldn't quite figure out why people seemed to get so worked up over them. He wasn't one that always scored perfectly, but upon receiving a corrected test he could see where he had made mistakes, and didn't repeat them.

"Yeah..." Gary responded slowly, "At this point, I'm just glad to not have to deal with it right now. This place is a welcome escape. Although I wonder what it'll be like when I get home again." He paused for a moment, "Think we'll be allowed to go home for Christmas this year?"

He grinned wide as showed even the slightest interest in the game. "You'll get to pick whatever you like this time. You've seen what the different races and classes can do, how the work. Now you'll get to make your own character from the ground up. Kir seems awful uncomfortable with the idea of Goblins as a whole, so I've tried to work out a game that doesn't even mention them this time around. It'll be more of an urban investigative/mystery type plot this time around. So your first step is to try and thing of a character concept that you think would be fun to play in that sort of environment." He paused and glanced around the table, as if making sure no one was eavesdropping. "Also, Amber and Erevan don't exactly get along very well, but I've been picking up some subtle hints that Zevalyn and Kir may actually like each other." He quickly stops Amelia from responding, "No, no, I know I may be wrong, but this may give them a chance to make up some characters that get along, and maybe that will spur things along for them if they are inclined." Gary grins and winks at Amelia, "Don't say anything to anyone though, I may be completely wrong."

2 Gary Indeed, nowhere to go but up. I hope. 1404 Gary 0 5

Ness

August 19, 2018 7:17 AM

Excellent by Ness

Ness gave a slight giggle at Zevalyn’s comment about staring at Kir during prefect meetings, not quite sure whether that was meant as a joke or not. On the one hand, presumably Zevalyn did think Kir was nice to look at, and Ness - to the extent that it was not weird to do so - could see why someone would think that. As far as boys went, Kir was nice enough looking. But during prefect meetings, Zevalyn was presumably supposed to be concentrating and taking her duties seriously, not eyeing up her boyfriend.

“Yeah, that’s Evelyn,” Ness nodded, when Zevalyn asked about the non-Aladren. Huh, Evelyn and Zevalyn. That was fun. Especially if Evelyn and Ness dated, cos then Kir and Ness would have rhyming girlfriends, which would be cute. “We talked a bunch at orientation, and she’s really cool. I mean that in like… the way where it’s actually true, not the way most “cool” people use it. She has a brain.” Ness realised that the question of preferred pronouns had not come up when they were making friends, but as Evelyn had talked about being someone’s girlfriend then that seemed to mean she was fairly comfortable with the whole girl label. For now, anyway. It would probably be best to check at some stage whether that meant she was also ok with ‘she.’

“Kir said that it’s only even really the Opening Feast that matters,” Ness replied, half to confirm with Zevalyn, half to show that Ness had learnt all the relevant Sonora Lore with due diligence before beginning, “The Returning Feast after Christmas is more flexible. He's quite Aladren-y too though, and now we're both here, so we could bring him over here sometimes too,” Ness suggested. Ness would sit at Teppenpaw to have time with Kir, she supposed, but when they were all together, Aladren made the most sense. "And Evelyn - she is as well. So that's like, three out of four Aladrens, if they count for half each. Or... Well, I guess they must be slightly less than half to have ended up not being here? But even if they're each .45 or something, that'd still be majority Aladren, especially if we round up to whole people. Which I think would be good. Part people is creepy. No one wants a part person at breakfast, right?"

OOC - Gwen is still active, as she was involved in a post or two last year and has been referenced by other characters, just fyi

13 Ness Excellent 1419 Ness 0 5

Heinrich

September 06, 2018 10:21 AM

Ente by Heinrich

“Danke, thank you,” Heinrich said after Jehan explained what a shark was. The German word always slipped out first when he tried to thank people, but after a year in Sonora, the English followed so close behind, it became almost a single mixed language phrase of gratitude rather than two separate sentiments.

But he was glad to know they were talking about Hai. He knew what Hai were. Granted, he’d only seen them in person once, when they visited the Wizards Aquarium in Berlin, but he had read enough books to feel capable of engaging in a conversation about them, now that he knew what they were conversing about. Assuming, of course, his English was up to the task. The language barrier was always the trickiest part in engaging with the Americans.

For a moment, he wasn’t sure it was as Jehan took off on a explanation of a time he starved himself? But then he remembered the Hai topic had been introduced with a question about how long they could go without eating. So it was at least tangentially related and he wasn’t completely missing some key link between the topics that would make complete sense to a native speaker.

No, he decided, Jehan was just one of those people who talked all over the place and woe-betide those who couldn’t keep up. Heinrich decided to take it as a challenge to his English comprehension skills.

“Mein Lieblingstier?” he repeated the question in German, not because he thought Jehan could confirm he had understood it correctly, but because he needed the moment it took to say it for considering his options. He wasn’t really sure what his favorite animal was.

The hawk was growing on him, as it represented Aladren, but he wasn’t sure that it was his favorite. He certainly couldn’t say he was fond of hawks. That emotion went to a different kind of bird entirely. “We had,” he paused, trying to recall the little used English word, “ducks, at home, in Deu- nein, Germany. I miss the ducks.” He paused again, looking far away and immeasurably sad.

It wasn’t exactly an answer to Jehan’s question, but it was going to have to do. His throat was tight with thoughts of the home that wasn’t his anymore and he didn’t think he could say anything more.

He took a sip of his pumpkin juice to try to wash the tighness away.

1 Heinrich Ente 1414 Heinrich 0 5