Professor Kijewski
April 29, 2005 3:23 PM
Year 1, Lesson 1 by Professor Kijewski
Kiva walked out of the school and down the pathways to where the class was assembled. She didn't mind being outside for class, she felt one with nature and more at ease during class time. A strong wind blew through her thick caramel curls and she gently swiped them out of her line of vision. She had to constantly swipe at it since the wind seemed persistant before she finally grew tired of it and just pulled her hair back into a ponytail altogether. It was odd how much the wind seemed to be picking up. The sun beat down on her and she had to squint in order to see properly.Kiva was young, only 25, and could relate better to the students then most professors who were well into their middle ages. After she had left school, Kiva had traveled the world and studied many different creatures: Unicorns, dragons, bears, and gorillas. Didn't matter whether they were magical creatures or not, she studied them. This was her first teaching job and she wanted to make sure she did well in it.
Now standing in front of her class, Kiva couldn't help but smile. She never thought she would become a teacher and actually love it. Her thick curly brown hair was pulled high on her head and her freckled skin stood out beneath her royal blue robes. When it came to first impressions, Kiva was always thought to be only a teenager instead of a woman. Thoughts like that always amused her, and she wondered briefly what her students thought of her. Kiva shook her head to clear it slightly as she walked slowly to the front of her students and placed a crate down on the ground.
"Good morning class, my name is Professor Kiva Kijewski. You may either call me Professor Kijewski, Professor K. or Kiva. Any will be fine with me. I'm glad to see that everyone is here today.” She commented as her honey-colored eyes scanned those in front of her. Another strong breeze tore threw the air and she waited until it died down before continuing. ”I know this will be a rather boring lesson for you all, but as first years, we have to start small. In these crates there are enough flobberworms for groups of two. I would like for each of you to grab a partner, if you can't find anyone, I will be happy to assign a partner for you, take a flobberworm and study them." She paused and looked out at the class around her. During her pause, the strong wind russled in the silence, attacking her small ponytail and clothes. She noted some looks of disappointment from the students, which only made her smile grow, "By study, I mean, touch them, smell them, and listen to them. Learn what they eat, pick them up; try to see if they enjoy music or words. We will do this for a week or so. Studying a creature’s habitat can help us in our futures. It's always best to take our time with it. Most of you probably will find flobberworms to be useless, but they do hold of great value in the magical world. They are often used in potions and help keep gardens fresh and healthy. Now, if you need anything, please feel free to ask me."
OOC: Okay everyone, I'm looking for how well you write your reponses (make sure they are at least 2 paragraphs, 5 sentences each), grammar, and how well you develop your character. Take your time and have fun!
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Subthreads: Enjoyable lesson? I should say not! by Fawn Summers with Dalila Bastet, Fawn
Flobberworms? Partners? by Bella Santoro with Lexi, Gwenhwyfar Carey
Wormy McWormington by Leonides Lockwin with Laura Keaton
Flobberworms by Rachel with Carillon Arksington
This would be easy if I wasn't afraid of animals... by Anne Wright with Robbie Bates
I don't like worms... by Jordanna Howard with Skyla
Gross, but oddly cool by Earl Valentine with Adam Whitney, Earl
Thinking too much is bad for the health... by Connor Pierce with Mckenna Fallen
Ending the Lesson by Professor Kijewski
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Professor Kijewski
Year 1, Lesson 1
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Professor Kijewski
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Asher Tallow
May 02, 2005 11:52 AM
Forget singing...how about punting? by Asher Tallow
This professor sounded so...nice that it made Asher immediately suspicious. Adults simply weren't nice. They were patronizing or bullying or rude or mean or distant- not ever nice. It had to be a ruse, she decided, a ruse to trick the students into complacency with the wriggling ten inch worms flopping about in the boxes. There was probably some secret weapon the flobberworms had hidden up their skin that would pop out the moment she tried to sing. Like...these flobberworms could be crossbreeds with miniature dragons and breath fire when hummed at. She eyed the stringlike creature with healthy suspicion.Asher backed away from the box and decided to work on another part of Professor Kijewski's instructions- namely, find a partner. She saw Laura over aways talking with a boy from Pecari from the looks of his house badge. Thankfully, she didn't see Earl- not that she would partner with him, because she wouldn't. She was still mad at him, after all. Her eyes skirted over the next few groups, all people she didn't recognize and didn't particular want to go and be friendly with while having to deal with the possibly deadly flobberworms.
The wind yanked on her robes and she scowled in response. What a pain...stupid wind. That same wind sent a tuft of blond hair flying to her right and with a slight start, Asher recognized the hair as belonging to her housemate, Gwen Carey. Gwen was standing with two other girls who looked to be partners themselves, meaning that she had now found a partner for herself.
"Hey Gwen!" she called. "Come over here and help me see if kicking the worm makes it do anything!"\n\n
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Asher Tallow
Forget singing...how about punting?
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Asher Tallow
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
May 02, 2005 9:18 PM
I'll sing it a lullaby while you kick it fifty yards. by Gwenhwyfar Carey
Gwen jumped, startled, when Asher called her. "Kick it?" she said, walking over and pulling out the pin that held her hair up. Her hair, already made untidy by the wind, came loose and billowed around her like a pale veil in another gust, making her look younger than she was rather than older for a change. It wasn't long before it was securely in place on the back of her head and out of her way again, though. "I'm not sure if Professor Kijewski will approve, or if it's wide enough to kick properly." She grinned to show that she was joking instead of being prissy. "I am pretty sure that it would do something if we do kick it, though. Fly through the air." Stating the obvious was one of Gwen's forms of humor, though she and everyone else found it tiring if she used it for very long.She glanced into the box. The...creatures...inside looked strangely familiar. "Hey, I've seen these before!" she exclaimed. "My mother feeds them to her pet Fwooper, Madison." Gwen had always found it funny that her mother, who certainly counted as deranged if not psychotic, had named a bird that caused insanity by its singing for the county that had produced her. She hadn't been so amused by her mother's expiriments involving herself, Morgaine, and Madison. Neither had Great-Uncle Carey, meaning that Lorena's false interest in psychology and the advance of magical medical knowledge had been stopped nine months earlier. "She orders them in crates like these, though I'm not entirely sure they're supposed to be used to feed the bird. Natby-one of our house-elves-is the only one that actually feeds Madison, so he's the only one who knows if she's developed a taste for them. Must not be poisonous, since they haven't killed the crazy old thing." She was fairly sure that Asher didn't hear her mutter, "Unfortunately."
She prodded the crate with her foot. "Not very pretty, are they?" she asked rhetorically. "I was gonna try to sing lullabys, but I don't think that'll work, especially since the only one I know is the one I made up for my little brother,not to mention I can't sing. Do you think they would like poetry?" The question was only semi-serious. Kijewski had said to relax, which, from Gwen's point of view, meant she was allowed to make stupid jokes occasionally. She thought she might like this class for its dynamics in spite of its content. She certainly liked Kijewski, who was probably the nicest-seeming adult she had ever met.
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
I'll sing it a lullaby while you kick it fifty yards.
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
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Asher Tallow
May 02, 2005 9:56 PM
Ha...I have an even <i>better</i> idea. by Asher Tallow
Asher grinned as Gwen struggled to hide her blonde hair away from the wind's mischievous fingers. Her own too long hair was quite sensibly tightly braided back and tucked beneath the shield of her forest green robes. For all that the robes were inconvient otherwise in the current weather, they did serve as a handy block. She thought briefly of the Hens with their perfect little coiffs and her grin widened. It would serve them right.Her smile lost a bit of its energy as she peered down into the container, the flobberworm twisting devilishly in its pen. Gwen offered to sing to it, and Asher certainly wasn't about to discourage her. Maybe take a few healthy steps back in case the worm decided to explode or spit acidic venom like magical creatures tended to do. Harmless her foot...she had read loads about the dangers creatures imbued with magic could pose. Oh, sure, a glumbumble might look like a simple furry bug, sort of cute in an insecty kind of way, but Asher remembered perfectly what happened when her brother Sams adopted one as a pet. The buzzed up bee stung Sams and the poor guy was depressed for a month! If a harmless looking, furry little bug could make her sunny, sweet brother turn into a brooding mess, then this brown worm probably had a whole slew of weapons coiled within its innards.
Gwen's half joking question registered slowly in Asher's hyped up mind, and she jerked in startlement. "Poetry? Yeah, I've got a bit of poetry for it. 'What makes a flobberworm die?/ Stomped, kicked, smashed, pluck out an eye?/ Just quick as can be/ How happy we'll be/ When the dear flobberworm dies."
Asher gave the container a small nudge with her sneaker; the worm flopped once in response and she backed away. "Even though the meter was a bit off, I'd say poetry was a failure. But, as it says on page 15 of Faunaura's Beastiary Guide, '...however, the flobberworm prefers to be left alone and do nothing.'" She shrugged the once. "Professor K probably has some kind of trick planned to spring up on us. Maybe we can find a willing vic- that is, friend, to help us out."\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Asher Tallow
Ha...I have an even <i>better</i> idea.
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
May 03, 2005 9:55 PM
Hey! Anyone willing to be our guinea pig? by Gwenhwyfar Carey
Gwen couldn't keep from giggling at Asher's "poetry." She could tell her father that Care of Magical Creatures sparked creativity that could be translatd into cunning if he started trying to sue the school for having the class or something else as depressingly characteristic. "Pure Wyatt," she said, keeping her face straight by sheer strength of will. "I don't think the flobberworm is in a mood for the best of the Elizabethan era, though." She had read Thomas Wyatt poetry, and it wasn't the kind of stuff a worm would be interested in, since they were hermaphrodites.She decided not to mention her surprise when Asher tossed out the name of a book, a quote, and the page number. It was none of her business if Asher memorized textbooks or not, and she wasn't going to stick her nose in other people's buisness. Well...not more than she could help, anyway.
"I'm sure we could find a friend somewhere," she said, putting extra emphasis on the word 'friend'. "I'd personally like to dump it in Howard's hair, but I think we might end up on the recieving end of some nasty hexes from her sycopha-er, friends-Raines and Dupree before the Higher Powers decend in a fury on us. Still, in the interest of scientific investigation..." She shrugged. "Maybe we couldn't actually drop the thing down some prep's blouse, but I'm all for finding someone else to stick their hand in to see what happens before I stick mine in."\n\n
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
Hey! Anyone willing to be our guinea pig?
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Asher Tallow
May 04, 2005 12:22 PM
You know, that makes me think... by Asher Tallow
The mention of the name Howard was more than enough to get Asher started on a rant. "Forget dropping it down her blouse. I'd like to find someone willingly to do an engorgement charm, cast it on Wormy," a quick gesture to the pathetic brown creature in the crate, "our pal here, and then we can convince it that Howard is a well known breakfast delicacy. Now, that would make me smile."Asher bent to scoop a bit of soil with her hand and tossed it into the crate, notching off another requirement passed by Professor K. Wormy, much as she expected, did little outside of flopping a bit before promptly ignoring the new occupant in its domain. She stood and wiped the dirt off on the outside of her robe. "Seriously though, what is wrong with those girls? I would blame the house, but the second years aren't all like that, not that I can tell anyway. It can't be a pureblood thing, can it? 'Cause so far you and I haven't gone about sneering at the walls and claiming the need for better adobe."
She turned to her head to gaze at the three girls who had made it abundantly clear what they thought of both her and her friends. It made her so angry the other night when Jordanna Howard referred to being friends with Gwen and Laura as rolling about in the dirt. If it hadn't been for a convenient placing of the furniture and thus a clear path of exit, Asher might not have made it to the proper stairwell without crashing into something. She had literally seen red.
She clenched her jaw grimly. "What those girls need is a bit of plain old retribution. Mud in their beds, soap in their hair, and a couple hexes to their skin. Then, to top it all off, maybe a blackmail photo or two to threaten with disclosement."
Asher tried to picture the image in her head, and the promptly popped up scenario made her mouth spread into open glee. "I would sacrifice a kidney to pull that off."\n\n
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Asher Tallow
You know, that makes me think...
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
May 04, 2005 10:02 PM
The Conspiracy in Care of Magical Creatures by Gwenhwyfar Carey
Gwen stared slightly at Asher as she went on about training enlarged flobberworms to eat Jordanna Howard. Apparently, the conversation between them that she had partially witnessed before being virtually attacked by Catherine and Nicoletta had been as antagonistic as she had believed, if not more so."I think it's mentality," she said, bending over and making a show of observing the flobberworm roll into the dirt. "I learned to play dirtier than those three ever did at home, but I always wanted out of the life-it's not enough, I don't guess. I think those three like the pureblood life in all its messed-up manifestations." She grimaced. "Raines and Dupree cornered me in the common room, where they tried their best to act all superior. I find them pathetic."
She glared at the flobberworm. Nothing could make up for the past, but it was hardly Raines and Dupree and Howard's place to try to ruin the present. They thought they were better than her, did they? She'd show them. She'd show them all, every prep, every Crotalus, everyone in the whole school if she felt it necessary. They'd laugh, then they'd pay for underestimating Gwenhwyfar Carey.
She was startled to hear Asher say something very like what she was thinking, startled enough to straigten up without caring if Professor Kijewski noticed that neither one of them was paying the least bit of attention to the flobberworm. "So I'm not the only one who's thinking they're gonna reap what they've sown?" she asked. "I'm going for Raines, personally, and it sounds like you have something personal against Howard." An idea was forming in her head, a crazy idea. Maybe just crazy enough to work. "There's three of us with Laura and three of them with two wild cards-Valentine and the other Howard girl, Skyla. Do you think we could take down the clique?"\n\n
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
The Conspiracy in Care of Magical Creatures
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Asher Tallow
May 05, 2005 11:40 AM
Brilliant minds <i>do</i> think alike. by Asher Tallow
Asher scowled fiercely, and Wormy seemed to shrink under her gaze. Oh, she knew all about mentality all right. You're thinking about this in the wrong way, Asher, her father would say. Or, You need to have a better mentality. She's not gone forever. Mentality, in her book, was some adult thing, and highly over-rated. If Asher didn't like something, it was because she didn't like it, not because someone told her to not like it.That's what was wrong with those girls- they didn't know how to think for themselves. They were all so busy thinking about what sort of reaction would be proper that they miss out on what the real reaction would be. Well, Asher had a theory on that one. Given the right sort of circumstances, she was willing to bet a year's worth of chores that she'd get a reaction from them, all right.
Apparently, Gwen had the exact same thought. Asher motioned for the other girl to crouch down beside her, Wormy in his crate of boredom between them. "Taking down their clique? Let them keep that pathetic excuse for friendship. No, what we should do is get them where it hurts them the most. Because what is the worst thing to happen to an orthodox pureblood? What would be the absolute worst?"
The grin that slithered over her mouth was positively wicked. "I'm thinking winter holiday. I'm thinking the night before, when they'll have pampered and primped up a storm, all set to return to mommy and daddy. I'm thinking, we give them a make-over. A surprise one. And with Laura's help- she's really smart, you know- I bet we can find the right sort of sleeping charm or whichever in the library. Imagine them waking the next morning, and finding their skin spotted, hair frizzed out, and clothes handily out of reach."
She leaned in further, her appearence from afar being all that of intense study over the flobberworm. "Don't worry for a minute about Earl Valentine. He owes me a favor, and something tells me it won't be hard to cash in on it then."\n\n
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Asher Tallow
Brilliant minds <i>do</i> think alike.
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
May 06, 2005 9:28 PM
Two heads are better than one... by Gwenhwyfar Carey
Gwen moved quickly to join Asher on ground level, giving the appearance of studying their flobberworm. The irrelevant thought that the teacher was probably going to bust them any time now flashed across her mind and was gone. If she never learned to do anything else, she was going to learn to stop herself from having irrelevant thoughts when she needed to concentrate on something important, such as working out the niceties of an affair she had a feeling would turn Crotalus upside-down.Having been raised an orthodox pureblood herself, Gwen's immediate idea when asked what an orthodox pureblood would consider the worst thing that could happen was finding out that you were not, in fact, truly a pureblood. Asher was still talking, though, and the more Gwen listened the more she found herself liking the way Asher thought. It was nothing she would have ever thought of on her own, and it was brilliant. Sometimes the only way to win was to play by another game's set of rules.
"I think you're right," she said finally. "If we made it a clique war, we'd lose. They've got resources we don't and probably won't, and they've got the power. People hate them already, I think, and those who are most hated are also those who are most likely to rally support because people will believe there's an off chance that they'll be accepted into the fold and everyone will hate them. I know from personal expirience that it can be very gratifying to have everyone hate you.
"Play it that way, though, then they'll never know what's hit them. Their sort doesn't know how to respond to anything more physical than a slap or a hair-pulling fight. That scenario..." she smiled herself as she imagined the reactions of the hysterical trio at finding themselves with their hair out of control and their perfect complexions marred. "Don't just steal their clothes, though," she said. "Mess them up somehow,too." She was starting to feel excited. "Christmas is perfect timing," she said, thinking out loud. "Yeah...so it's us, Laura, and Valentine against them. Do you think we should let Juliet and Anne in on it?"
Her mouth twisted slightly at the mention of Anne's name. There was something almost sisterly in the immediate animosity that had sprang up between them.
"Do you know who Anne is?" she asked as a thought occured to her. Asher hadn't been involved in the series of events that had lead to Gwen and Anne's deal during their flying lesson, meaning it was pure chance if Asher had a clue who she was talking about or why Anne should be considered as an ally.
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
Two heads are better than one...
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
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Asher Tallow
May 12, 2005 2:43 AM
Yeah, but three heads can be hard on the shoulders. by Asher Tallow
Gwen's reasoning made little sense to Asher. The way Asher understood things was that hate generally was something bad. How could it possibly be a nice feeling to have someone hate you? There were few things, let alone people, that she could claim extreme dislike for. Hate was totally out of reach in her book. She might get really mad sometimes and consider various ways of breaking someone's leg, but that was the limit. But Gwen seemed to understand this type of thinking. Even more than that, it seemed like Gwen might have practised it a bit herself.That realization gave Asher a momentary mental rearing back. Gwen, for all that she was not stuck up like the Hens, was still kind of like them. Gwen thought like they did. She even spoke like they did, with that creepy sort of older voice that reminded Asher little of other girls her age she had known. Chances were Gwen probably would have become friends with the Hens had they offered it in the beginning. And, Asher realized as she threw a handful of grass to the flobberworm, chances were fairly strong that should the Hens suddenly open their arms, Gwen would probably stick with them.
Like calls to like and all that other stupid reasoning.
She pushed those thoughts from her head fiercely, though. There was no point in thinking about hypotheticals; after all, what Gwen did was Gwen's business. For the present, they were friends and they both wouldn't mind putting a few of their housemates into a roaring panic. She nodded and made a mental note on Gwen's suggestion about the clothing. She added find hexes for clothing to another mental list, the one for their eventual trip to the library to research.
Gwen's question gave her a second or two of consideration. She tossed Wormy a leaf the generous wind had driven their way and watched as yet again the flobberworm failed to respond beyond a slight flop or two.
"I don't know. I think this should stay in-House. I mean, it's not like Juliet could come in to the dorm and help us out." Asher thought over the second question. She had heard a few rumors about an Anne that had confronted Gwen out on the Quiddith Pitch during the first flying lesson, but beyond that she was clueless.
"I haven't met Anne, but same goes for her as for Juliet. And besides, the more people who know, the more likely the secret'll be told. Isn't there some kind of rule about secrets- a golden number or something?"
She braced herself as another strong headwind knocked fiercely from the west. "Anyway though, after class I'll dig up Earl, drag him to the library, and give him the general outline. You do the same with Laura, and then we can all meet up somewhere toward the back part of the library. Sound good?"
Her eternally delayed inner voice on tact and decorum chimed in with a strong mental cringe. The latter part of her reply sounded terribly bossy, but Asher shrugged it off. She could waste time and effort by acting all sensitive like, or she could just state the obvious. The latter was far more simple in her opinion, and if it bothered Gwen or anyone else, then they could feel free to tell her.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Asher Tallow
Yeah, but three heads can be hard on the shoulders.
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
May 12, 2005 10:27 PM
That's why runespoors bite off one... by Gwenhwyfar Carey
Gwen nodded slowly as Asher suggested keeping it Crotalus against itself. "You're right," she said. "It keeps things...simpler. The simpler the battle plan, the better the chances of winning the battle. As for Anne..." she was sure the rumor mill had blown her and Anne's minor catfight into the Vampire Wars already, but that wasn't her concern. "Anne is my cousin," she said bluntly. "That's her over there-the black-haired Aladren working with the Teppenpaw." She looked around and realized the other black-haired Aladren was also working with a Teppenpaw. She wondered how to explain which one Anne was without actually pointing when she caught a snatch of-song?-on the wind. Anne had just broken into song. "The one who's singing," she finished. "She's making sure I'm a good girl until Christmas. Anne has her doubts about the sincerity of my break with...the other kind." She jerked her head towards the preps."As for secrets..." she gave a rare genuine smile. "The golden number is one, the way they taught me. A secret is a secret while only one person knows. It's a confidence when two know, a conspiracy with three, and a revolt with four. Any more, and it gets out. We've got four-revolt. Revolts can be kept secret for a time, if history's anything to go by. When it gets out, it's typically too late for the other side to stop the descent of the furies." She mentally slapped herself. She was sounding like a prep again.
Gwen listened to the plan, trying to sketch out a timeline and such in her head. "Sounds good," she replied. "I'll be there, unless some disaster outside of my control comes along. And I'll bring Laura." The library was a good place for a conspiracy. It was quiet, had lots of corners to hide out in, and would in all probability be close to empty. Plus, it was the middle of the day. They would come across as a study group. Not that far from the truth-they were studying, just not class topics.
It occured to her that she was taking this a litle too seriously, but as long as none of her co-conspirators turned out to be mind readers, it didn't matter what went on in her head. As long as she was in control on the outside, she could allow her brain to do as it willed. \n\n
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
That's why runespoors bite off one...
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Asher Tallow
May 14, 2005 11:11 PM
Sounds mildly masochistic... by Asher Tallow
The sun seemed to glare unbearably, and the wind only served to tease and mock its victims with slight touches of a cooler temperature. Asher felt the sweat pool on the back of her neck, and it was with unreasonable relunctance that she finally yanked off her school robes. The sudden wash of relief that swept over her body wasn't long in the lasting, and she quickly sprawled out on her robe, as if hoping that by increasing the distance between the sun and herself, the heat might abate.She cupped a hand over her eyes as she peered up at Gwen, listening as the blond girl explained who her cousin was. Her dark eyes traveled across the open air classroom, its walls non-existent and its ceiling that of the sky, to a girl with features similar to Asher's own working with Robbie. Asher studied the girl Gwen proclaimed to be acting as a watchdog of sorts. Odd sort of cousin to have, but who was she to judge? The best she had to go by pureblood relative wise was her unmarried uncle. Her mother's family was never mentioned beyond the occasional pulling out of photographs of her long deceased grandparents, and what good were dead relatives?
Asher lowered her hand and plucked a piece of grass, working it into shreds with her fingers. The way Gwen spoke made her wonder about this strange universe the pureblood network seemed to live in. Her plot, at least in her mind, was nothing more than good old fashioned pay back. A secret night time raid with all the extra perks magic gave to such things- and yet, the way Gwen spoke seemed to make it larger than that. More serious-like, and it was confusing to understand.
She opened her hand and released the grass slivers into the flobberworm's crate, giving her head a slight shake to clear away the heavy thoughts. She reached for her satchel and withdrew a bound packet of parchment and her ready-rite quill.
"A revolt it is then," she said as she began to sketch out a chart on a blank page of parchment. Shielding her eyes again, she gazed back up to Gwen and added, hoping to relieve the tension that seemed to have gathered, "What are the chances our flobberworm here is going to break out in dance if we sing to it?"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Asher Tallow
Sounds mildly masochistic...
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
May 15, 2005 10:00 PM
Though it's really just that the right head is so annoying. by Gwenhwyfar Carey
Gwen could feel the tension her...peculiar...way of looking at things had injected into the conversation. That's me, she thought bitterly. Gwenhwyfar. The White Shadow. Always to betray and be betrayed. Oh, it will be rich if it actually falls out that way. Her gaze strayed towards Howard and Howard, and her whole face tightened with a cross between fear and anger. Thank God I ruined things for myself. If I hadn't... Her train of thought was broken by Asher changing the subject."I don't think dear old Wormy will dance very much unless we get him some peg legs," she said, deliberately removing as much of the over-serious conspiratorial note from her voice as she could. She was satisfied to hear herself sound relaxed, easygoing. Not at all what she was. "That's gotta be the worst part of being a worm or a snake, not having any legs." Her grammar was disintegrating, but it didn't matter. It added to the impression she was trying to give, and she knew if she could hold it for five minutes she would actually be in that frame of mind. It was a useful talent.
She sat down and pulled out a sheet of parchment. "I hope she doesn't take anything up," she said lightly, observing that her grammar had improved without her going back into pureblood mode. "Heaven knows we haven't got much done." She scribbled down some notes based on what she had observed while staring intently at the flobberworm during the tactics discussion-it was impossible to fake that kind of concentration and not take in a little of what you were pretending to focus on-and glanced back at the worm to reassure herself that she hadn't missed anything. "Who's singing, me or you?" \n\n
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
Though it's really just that the right head is so annoying.
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Asher Tallow
May 17, 2005 2:35 PM
Anyone care to join? We need comparison. by Asher Tallow
She longed for a pair of scissors. Desperately. A pair of gardening shears even, or anything with a sharp edge that could hack through her hair and give the back of her neck respite from the heat that pooled and clung to her saturated skin. Her hair hadn't always been so unbearable. When Asher was younger, her mother would wake an extra thirty minutes early just to save time to do Asher's hair by hand. Asher would mark her mornings by the ritual: awaken, brush teeth, water the tomato plants, shower, dress, eat breakfast, and finally, a full half hour alone with her mother. It was their special time, and even with her mother off doing who knows what in who knows where, Asher still hadn't found it in her to cut off the source of those moments alone each morning.Still, she and her hair had never undergone this kind of heat before, and the memory of those mornings held little of an empirical level to cancel out the oppressive warmth.
She laughed at Gwen's reply. Peg legs, indeed. Her mind conjured up the picture of a flobberworm dressed in pirate gear and sporting a peg leg for literal kicks. "I bet Professor K would be all for giving extra credit if we dressed the flobberworm up. It could make up for the lack of reactions it's giving us."
She gestured down to her chart, where next to the various stimuli were written the same responses every time. Flobberworm did nothing. "I think, though, I'd rather have no legs, than no arms. Imagine not being able to hold onto anything- at least with no legs, there are prosthetics and wheel chairs and stuff. Or," she grinned, "your peg legs."
Asher bent forward, setting aside her parchment book,and curled her toes backward in a nice, joint popping stretch. Her hands went almost immediately back to the collar of her short sleeved shirt, and she considered for a moment whether the amiable Professor K would be willing to slice off the lower half of her jeans. She made a strong, blaring mental note to never again wear denim during this class.
She coiled back in, and folded her legs into a more comfortable position. "I don't think we need to worry about who's going to sing. Your cousin Anne seems to have sung enough for all of us."
Asher looked down at her chart and then raised a hand to squint into the crate. Despite what she had read, there was always the chance that these were special flobberworms and a special kind of test Professor K cooked up to trip up her students. She shot the professor in quesiton a suspicious glance. It would be exactly the kind of thing a teacher would like to pull during the first class- a sort of gauge to test which students would need to be watched more carefully in the future.
"You're right though about lack of substance to our observations- but I figure a bit of comparison shouldn't do any harm." She stood up with that, wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans, and braced as another gust of hot aired wind struck from the north. She pointed to a nearby pair. "They look friendly enough, how's about we ask them to compare notes?"
She didn't pause for an agreement from her housemate, however, and cupped her hands over her mouth, calling loudly, "Hey! You there! Can we compare notes real quick?"
While waiting for a response, she added under her voice, "This way, we'll have a better idea of what kind of trick Professor K is trying to pull."
OOC- Yeah, so I don't want to hold up this thread or anything, Gwen, should no one jump in for comparison, so definitely feel free to post in reply. For whoever decided, if they should, to join in, do it however you like. And bring notes. *Peers suspiciously at Prof. K* Something's fishy about these worms, I'm positive.
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Asher Tallow
Anyone care to join? We need comparison.
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Laura Keaton
May 20, 2005 6:36 PM
You mean your worm hasn't done anything yet? by Laura Keaton
Laura was officially bored. Her worm was boring, her partner was boring, as he was completely enthralled by the boring worm, and the class itself, so far, proved to be very boring. As an increasingly warm sun beat down on the class, Laura began wondering just how long it takes to flambé a flobberworm. If they were anything like regular old normal earthworms, they didn’t have too much longer before they would be crispy critters instead of wiggly, slimy ones.From somewhere across the grassy lawn, Laura heard Asher’s voice yelling for someone to compare notes with. She seized her chance, pushing the slightly guilty feeling of abandoning the guy who had practically kidnapped her into being his partner to the back of her mind. Grabbing her notebook and quill then hastily capping her ink, Laura hurriedly said to Leonides, “Looks like Asher wants to compare notes. I’m going to take her up on the offer. Ok?” Laura didn’t wait for an answer, before hurrying across the grass to where Asher and Gwen were studying their own worm, which looked identical to the one she had left Leo in charge of.
“Hey,” Laura said to her friends cheerfully, plopping down on the ground by them, and with a goofy grin continued, “So, have you got your worm to start whistling yet?”
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Laura Keaton
You mean your worm hasn't done anything yet?
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Laura Keaton
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
May 20, 2005 10:14 PM
Nope, nothing at all. by Gwenhwyfar Carey
Gwen raised an eyebrow when Laura came over to compare notes and asked if their worm had started whistling. "Well, if it has, I haven't heard it yet," she said. "Of course, I wasn't paying very close attention,either, so no telling what it's actually been up to."She closed her eyes and let the heat of the sun soak in. It made her feel lazy, but that was the point. "If the weather doesn't cool off I'm going to be sleeping through this class," she said, yawning. Rubbing her eyes, she looked at the flobberworm again and scribbled down the words 'still inanimate'.
"What did you get on your worm, Laura?" she asked. "We've got doesn't respond Asher's poetry, doesn't respond to Anne singing, and doesn't do nothing on ours."\n\n
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
Nope, nothing at all.
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Gwenhwyfar Carey
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Asher Tallow
May 21, 2005 9:49 PM
I knew there was a catch...whistling indeed. by Asher Tallow
"Hey Laura," Asher greeted with a slight wave of her parchment pad. She gestured to an open space on her makeshift tablecloth. "Whistling, huh? I figured Professor K had some kind of trick up her sleeve."She turned a newly suspicious gaze to the crate that held the still uncompromisingly boring flobberworm. It mocked her renewed interest by flicking the latter portion of its body in a half hearted flop. She quickly jotted down on her chart 'Flobberworm does not respond to addition of new observer.
She pulled at her collar again in response to Gwen's comment and wiped off her sweaty palm for the upteenth time on her robes. "I wish Sonora had a lake or something- I'm all up for skipping lunch and taking a dive into something deep and cool. I suppose a shower will have to do though..."
She briefly envisioned the swimming hole that she and her brothers practically lived in during the summer up in Waxonberry. When she and her two older brothers had left for school, they had all nearly finished a dam built from carted in stones and branches. She supposed Mikes and Sams were still working on it, despite the probably cool weather.
Asher leaned her head back and stared skyward. She vaguely heard Gwen ask about Laura's results and chimed in a lazy remark of her own. "And don't leave out the details of this whistling. It's far more interesting than anything ours has even dreamt of doing."
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Asher Tallow
I knew there was a catch...whistling indeed.
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Laura Keaton
May 21, 2005 11:31 PM
Hehe, we could use them to <i>catch</i> fish by Laura Keaton
Laura couldn’t help but laugh as Asher bemoaned the lack of a lake on Sonora property. “Yeah, I wish there was a lake too,” she responded, “that way we could see if these worms responded to being used as fish bait. Of course, we’d probably just find out the silly things could breathe underwater and that the fish were magical as well and know not to eat other magical creatures.”Laura looked around at the other groups and their worms. No one seemed to be very excited about the flobberworms, and the flobberworms surely didn’t seem enthusiastic about being studied by a bunch of first years. The sun and the heat seemed to be more on most people’s minds than the worms, and Laura was surprised that the preps hadn’t forgone the worms and laid down to start tanning.
“Yeah, my worm whistles Yankee Doodle whenever it sees me,” Laura joked. “What, yours doesn’t?” She leaned over to peer at their worm, which, big surprise, didn’t start whistling. “Oh well. Ours didn’t seem too interested in anything else either, though I had no intention of singing to it. It certainly didn’t do anything when it heard our voices. It does wiggle more when you pick it up though,” Laura added, unconsciously wiping her hands on her jeans.
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Laura Keaton
Hehe, we could use them to <i>catch</i> fish
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Laura Keaton
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Asher Tallow
May 27, 2005 12:02 AM
I like the way your mind works... by Asher Tallow
Asher had no great inclination to touch the ten inch long worm and decided to take Laura's observations as her own. Carefully she wrote out in a sweat mired grip: Flobberworm wiggles when touched. She tilted her head back and crained her neck for a moment of relief from the sweltering heat. "I hope it's not this hot every class. I'm not used to weather like this. Montana's pretty mild, even in the summer, and it's always cool at night."Her eyes fell down to her wrist, where the leather band of her watch chaffed unpleasantly against her skin. The minute hand showed that class was nearing its completion, and gingerly, she stood up. It was rather lucky that Laura came over when she did; now there would be no need to waste time seeking her out later on. Motioning for the two girls to lean closer, she acted as if inspecting the crate one last go.
"Okay Laura, Gwen and I have been talking and have come to an agreement on a few things. The biggest of which being that there are certain people in our house who need to be taught a lesson." She pointed discreetly in the direction of the over dressed Hens. Viciously, her mind gave a crow that in this heat, their fancy clothing was now most likely ruined. "Gwen'll tell you more as class is almost over, but can you meet us in the library after dinner? We need to strategize."
She pointedly left out Earl's eventual involvement. She wasn't sure whether Laura held the same grudge Asher did about that whole paper war in Dai Oni's class or not. Regardless, Earl was a necessary evil for the plot. They needed a place to stash any evidence after the attack without leaving the dorm, and the impossible to enter Boys' Dorm was by far the best place.\n\n
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Asher Tallow
I like the way your mind works...
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Asher Tallow
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