Professor Mary Brooding
February 09, 2019 2:38 AM
A Practical Start [Beginners, I and II] by Professor Mary Brooding
October nodded crisply through Mary's window that morning, and she whispered a contented "good morning" right back to it as she disentangled herself from Tabitha's arms and legs and hair and warmth and scent. She was bloody perfect, but there were students to be taught and owls to send and papers to grade. There were probably things to plan too, but Mary had hardly stopped thinking of their wedding since it had been set and she was keeping those details out of her mind for now. There were only a few things that needed to occur, and the rest was just marshmallows on the hot chocolate of a perfect occasion.Now, far away from the Defense classrooms and their lovely professor, it was the scent of something much heartier that teased Mary Brooding. She was excited for today's lesson and was dressed surprisingly sternly for it all. Her hair, which was typically kept out of the way anyway, was pinned particularly tight, and her usual wide-brimmed hat seemed to sit a little straighter. Her clothes were simple, black and brown leather, with gloves nearby, and the sort of pants, boots, and flaring overcoat - the sort that almost looked like a skirt anyway - that women used to wear to ride horses. Or dragons, if Tabitha had her way.
Mary was far too small to be intimidating, but as her first and second year students bobbled into the classroom, she was suddenly confronted with the fact that they were wee. Had 11- and 12-year-olds always been so wee? Pushing that aside as well, Mary focused her attention on her students.
"Good afternoon," Mary smiled, hoping to offer some light-hearted energy. She was well aware that beginners' potions was the 4th class of the day for this level, and the first class after lunch. It was the least favorite part of her schedule with first and second year students, and she wanted to ensure their time was spent together with wide open eyes and alert minds. "We're going to have a practical lesson today, you'll be doing a lot of hands-on activities, and making potions."
She'd long since been in the habit of repeating the meaning of phrases to ensure that all of her students - no matter what their home languages were - could keep up, but the chalkboard that offered "practical lesson" and the names of the potions they'd be working with in English, Russian, Chinese, French, German, and Greek (because of course it was in Greek) helped too. She was glad it was a large chalkboard.
"There are two key things to understand about potions," she said, the chalk ready to take notes as she spoke. "First of all, they must be done carefully. It's important to take time to prepare your ingredients and potion carefully, and follow each step. The second thing to understand, is that potions are practical. We make potions for reasons."
Sometimes, Mary's reason to make potions was because it was fun. However, that wasn't a lesson she could teach with words, so she just left them to find that out on their own.
"Working together or alone, whatever your preference, I want you to choose which of these potions you think would be the most helpful to you and begin working on it. I have scrolls here with detailed instructions for each in each of these languages, and your textbooks, as well as my collection of multi-lingual textbooks, are yours to use as well. I am also available to answer any questions I can."
For a moment, she considered the chalkboard.
Broom polish, sleekeazy hair potion, indigestion relief, a cleaning solution, a hair dye, and various others were all listed and available for student creation. She hoped this didn't go terribly awry . . .
"Please remember to review the safety procedures in your book before you begin," Mary added, eyeing long hair and long sleeves and people touching their faces. She sighed and then smiled. "We're going to do this together, so just let me know if you need me for anything. Enjoy!"
Subthreads: Say no to sleekeazy's by Zara Jackson, Teppenpaw with Felipe De Matteo
Shall we? [Tag Julius.] by Evelyn Stones, Pecari with Julius Astley, Crotalus
Indecisive (Tag Katerina) by Allegra Brockert, Crotalus with Katerina Vorontsov, Teppenpaw
I don't think we have the same view of practicality by Topaz Brockert, Aladren with Jessica Hayles, Crotalus
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Professor Mary Brooding
A Practical Start [Beginners, I and II]
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Professor Mary Brooding
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Zara Jackson, Teppenpaw
February 09, 2019 9:49 AM
Say no to sleekeazy's by Zara Jackson, Teppenpaw
Zara took a seat in potions. The super exciting new school vibe was wearing off slightly, she had to admit. It felt like a really, really long time since she had seen her family, but it was still even longer than that until she would see them again. Even though nothing bad was happening to her at Sonora, it definitely didn’t feel like home, and she was starting to wonder if she had been kind of crazy to sign up for this.On the plus side, they had a practical lesson today. It was harder to let your mind wander when you were actively doing magic rather than reading and writing theory, even though she enjoyed both parts. Or rather, if you let your mind wander whilst doing practical stuff, it tended to have fairly disastrous results, bordering on the explosiony, especially in Potions. So, concentration time.
They also had a choice of what to work on, which in theory should have made it more interesting, although she couldn’t say any of the examples listed really spoke to her. She could fly, it was fun enough, but she wasn’t a broom nut. The hair ones were right out. She had no idea just how much sleekeazy’s it would take to get her hair straight and glossy but finding out was not high on her agenda, and she hoped her classmates had enough awareness to think before opening their mouths and suggesting she might like to try it. She took pride in her curls, even on their frizzy and badly behaved days. That also had her skeptical the hair dye. Sure, a magical hair dye might be handy, because certainly getting any colour into her hair without magic was going to be nigh on impossible, but she did not trust it. Chances were, that potion had been developed for Western hair. Dye, however magical, was usually drying and her hair needed moisture. Professor Brooding seemed pretty into catering to the diversity of Sonora’s population, and maybe that extended to different hair types as well but Zara wasn’t going to risk it. Sure, it’d be fun to rock some pink streaks for a bit, but she didn’t want to have to pay for that for weeks if it just didn’t gel with her. Cleaning and indigestion sounded the most practical, in that she supposed she might conceivably be able to use them one day, though they also sounded the most boring.
She gathered the recipe, and took it back to her bench, consulting the list of ingredients against her potions kit, and finding them mostly present. The recipe called for mint, stating ‘fresh if possible, but dried will work.’ She had dried, but thought she’d check the supplies in the corner. She doubted Professor Brooding kept many fresh ingredients in stock, but given that she had set them this potion, it seemed conceivable that she might have some today. And, indeed, she had. Fresh herby pleasantness secured, Zara made her way back to her bench. Step one was to crush the mint leaves. That sounded like it should be easy. Leaves were not exactly known for their toughness. But one thing Zara had learnt already was that crushing always took longer than anticipated. Sure, she could bash a leaf. She could bruise it, damage it, make it pretty sad looking pretty quickly. But to actually get it down to a fine smush…. She would be here a while.
“What did you choose to make?” she asked her neighbour. They hadn’t been set partner work but as she was going to be here a while, it seemed like more fun to pass the time in conversation.
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Zara Jackson, Teppenpaw
Say no to sleekeazy's
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Zara Jackson, Teppenpaw
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Felipe De Matteo
February 10, 2019 3:19 AM
Well, naturally. by Felipe De Matteo
Practical lesson was precisely the sort of lesson Felipe was interested in when it came to potions. Although he enjoyed the subject on a whole, he was less interested in the theory of potion making than in say the theory of defensive magic or the theory of transfiguration spells. It was helpful to know the theory of potions when it meant that more creations could be thought of, but he'd rather learn those tidbits through hands-on activities than reading. If he had to read another stinking book. . . .He focused on the tiny woman's speech. He'd come to appreciate her kindness as it did at least seem genuine. He doubted he'd ever manage such an affect, but it was good to see that it was possible. She also looked a bit like him. Sonora seemed to be a fairly diverse school, but not hardly diverse enough. It was nice to see another face a few shades darker than the others, and another wash of black hair to match his own midnight brown.
When Professor Brooding revealed the list of their options for potions in today's lesson, Felipe stifled a sigh. The variety of languages around the room, several of which he was fluent in and several others he could speak bits of, couldn't make his choice any better: he had to choose the indigestion relief. It was the only one that was particularly helpful to others and his father would probably appreciate the choice. If there'd been an option for fertilizer or pesticide, he might've considered that instead. As it was, indigestion was going to have to go the way of his excitement.
Irritated at his own sour attitude, Felipe took a moment to consider who might be an interesting choice of table-mate as he collected his recipe and ingredients, choosing the Spanish for good measure. When he saw another face that was several shades darker than either his or Professor Brooding's, he approached neatly and took the place beside her. It all seemed a bit rude but honestly, Felipe was just pretty well done with sitting besides blondes.
When the girl turned to him and didn't even offer a sample of her last name, Felipe about died of relief. Finally, someone stinking normal.
"Indigestion relief," he replied. He noticed that they had several of the same ingredients and parroted the question back to her.
"Do you like potions much?" he asked when she had told him which she was making. Then, suddenly deciding that this conversation was going to inevitably become boring, Felipe decided to preempt any misfortune by asking something more interesting. "I've been admiring Sonora's landscape and architecture; it must hold a wealth of ingredients. Have you gotten to explore much?" He was loathe to comment on his own interests first but providing some context seemed polite. Now to just hope that this girl wouldn't be as dreadfully boring as the rest. He didn't even care if she was nice so long as she was interesting.
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Felipe De Matteo
Well, naturally.
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Felipe De Matteo
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Zara
February 10, 2019 6:41 AM
Was that a deliberate pun? by Zara
“Same,” Zara smiled, when the boy next to her revealed he was working on indigestion relief. She’d noticed him around in classes. He stood out for the same reasons she did, being one of the very few non-white faces the school had to offer. It was pretty weird after growing up in a diverse neighbourhood to suddenly be in a situation where someone could probably refer to her as ‘the black girl’ or (if they actually fancied being accurate) ‘the biracial girl’ and literally, across the whole seven years of the school, people would know who they were talking about.“Fresh mint?” she offered, holding out a spare sprig.
“It’s ok,” she replied about potions. “She’s nice,” she nodded towards Professor Brooding, who had scored a number of points for checking the most boxes of ‘not being an old white man’ of any of the professors who taught them. “I prefer things that are a little quicker though. Like, with Charms you kind of know if you got it right away or not. With potions… you can brew for an hour, and then it turns out, you screwed up right at step one, which is sort of frustrating.
“I… I guess I haven’t,” she replied, when he asked if she’d explored much, “I mean, I took a walk around the gardes the first weekend… I guess I got kind of busy with settling in. Y’know, adjusting to living away from home, and making sure I was doing my homework and writing to my parents enough,” and somehow, in settling in, she had got too settled. Got into the routine, filled her time with work, write, sleep, eat… “Maybe I should do some more,” she grinned, the gap between her front teeth prominent as she did so. Exploration sounded like just the thing to shake her out of her rut. It was something to actually get excited for. “You?” she asked, wondering whether he was an expert or currently in search of a companion.
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Zara
Was that a deliberate pun?
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Zara
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Felipe
February 11, 2019 5:53 PM
I wish I was that clever. by Felipe
Felipe was surprised to be offered a mint leaf and appreciated the gesture Moreno than Zara probably realized. As interested as he was in agriculture, the exchange of biological materials was meaningful. Of course, it was also going to cure a stomachache if they did this right. He smiled and held up his own sprig, tapping them together in a mimicry of cheers.He considered Professor Brooding in a new light when Zara apprised her. He managed to keep the frown off his face, but he just wasn't convinced just yet. "Is she really that nice?" he managed to ask, looking back at his classmate. "I wonder at people who are so chipper all the time."
"I agree," he added about the nature of brewing potions. "I like that you can work backwards though, too. If something goes wrong with charms, it's hard to know whether it's something that went wrong with the incantation, the motion, or if there was interference somewhere from inside the caster." He shrugged, leaving it at that. Perhaps he was too analytical. He hoped it didn't push people away, as that was hardly nice of him. He also couldn't relate to wanting things to move faster. Things that moved fast couldn't be halted. "That's good though, right? I have something to learn from you," he said, offering a smile.
Zara sounded very sensible. He appreciated that about her and listened to her talk as he began working on crushing his leaves and things. "I like to explore," he conceded. It was a topic that he was passionate about. "I like to find the sort of hidden places. The places like... like mi propio lugar," he said, giving into his Spanish. Another shrug. It was a phrase his mother used often. "Finding my own Place," he said.
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Felipe
I wish I was that clever.
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Felipe
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Zara
February 12, 2019 7:48 AM
At least you're honest by Zara
“Coming from the ‘nice’ house I officially have to be appalled at your cynicism,” Zara teased, the wide grin that continued to play across her mouth making it clear that she was joking. “Ok… so, realistically, no - no one is happy or chipper or whatever all the time,” she added, giving his comment some serious appraisal. Zara did enjoy a good chit chat, and much as she loved Johana-Leonie, she did find that she was building up excesses of words that needed to be let out to people who they weren’t going to overwhelm. “But it doesn’t mean it’s fake when it is out there. And nice is different to chipper. You can be as chipper as a chipmunk chipping chips and still be a grade-a ass of a human being. She tries. Look at all the multilingual everything. Actions speak louder than words, and that’s niceness.“That’s true,” she acknowledged, when he made the point about working backwards, “I mean, nine times out of ten, it actually blows up in your face as soon as you get it wrong, and that’s a pretty big clue - or, like, something less dramatic but pretty obvious, like going the wrong colour. It’s just a bummer when that happens. I think I’d have more fun with that kind of puzzle and problem solving though - like, getting a bunch of messed up potions and trying to work out where it went wrong. Though maybe that’d just be a bunch of looking up common errors in a book,” she mused. Still, how and why things went wrong was at least as interesting as trying to make them go right.
“I think it sounds more like I have something to learn from you. Namely patience,” she shrugged, not quite sure what marvelous insight she had offered with her getting bored by things that took too long.
She considered the idea he expressed, about finding his own place. That resonated with her. School had been that. Doing something different, forging her own path. But… well, now she was here. She was here, and so was everyone else, and it belonged to them just as much as her. Moreso, in some ways, when they were older… It was nice to have people she knew around, and she was super grateful that Kir was always on standby to stop her getting lost but… Teppenpaw had been his home before hers. Ness had even referred to her as being in Kir’s house. And the library felt like Ness’ place. She had come on a voyage of discovery to school and now… well, now she had discovered it, and she needed something new.
“I’d like one of those too,” she decided. She would definitely spend some time looking. Though she liked the idea of spending time looking with a friend too. “Does it defeat the purpose of searching for our own places if I ask whether we can go exploring together at the weekend?” she asked.
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Zara
At least you're honest
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Zara
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Felipe De Matteo
February 12, 2019 11:25 PM
I'm very policy-driven. by Felipe De Matteo
Felipe nodded, keeping a smile to himself as he looked down at his work. He enjoyed listening to Zara talk and appreciated her humor. When she decided that Professor Brooding's niceness was sincere on the inside at the very least, he acquiesced. "That's true." He considered the ingredients labeled in Spanish on his desk and knew Zara was right.He also agreed about undoing potions and wondered if that would be something they'd ever get to do. "At home, my father would sometimes try to work backwards from potions to figure out what was harming the wildlife, the agriculture, or the residents nearby. Even the workers. I haven't learned how yet, but I think that would be a good challenge," he said. "He might use books, but I know sometimes he'll get little drops from the samples of different potions he's been working with and try them out on leaves or mix them with other potions to figure out what the reaction is." Felipe was proud that his father was so smart, but knew the man wouldn't appreciate being boasted of with too much pride, so Felipe kept his chest from puffing too much and simply smiled instead. It was a closed smile, the sort reserved for emotions other than joy.
When Zara suggested that Felipe was patient, he had to laugh. "I'm sure that my family would not agree that I'm patient," he said. That wasn't to say he thought Zara was wrong, of course. He did indeed think he was patient. But it would've been rude to say so. When she turned the conversation into wondering if he'd explore with her, Felipe looked up at her face to search for anything he could find.
"You'd want to explore with me?" he asked, truly surprised. His sister was the only other child he spent much time around, and she certainly wasn't interested in his adventures. Of course, they mostly ended with him drawing, painting, planning, reading, or something else equally relaxing and appropriate for his status. Leonor was much more interested in the sort of adventure that took her into the towns and away from home. Felipe's place was home.
Now, however, Felipe was not at home. He might never really be home again in the same sense, and the idea of maybe making a friend that was a decent person almost sounded too good to be true. He was supposed to be the nice one, why hadn't he thought to properly invite her first?
"I think that your place is much more important if it's someplace you share," he said carefully. "It's nice to have your own place that's just yours, but when la alma of a friend is there, it's better. That's much more special, to share your place." He hadn't meant to say so much and realized with some embarrassment that he hadn't even answered her question. "Would you like to go Saturday morning?"
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Felipe De Matteo
I'm very policy-driven.
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Felipe De Matteo
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Zara
February 13, 2019 7:38 AM
What's your policy on adventures? by Zara
“That sounds cool,” Zara commented, when Felipe talked about his father working on Potions sample. Not a Muggleborn then. That didn’t matter to Zara in the way it Mattered to certain Purebloods but anyone who said race was irrelevant was pretty naive. Race informed interactions and was part of people’s identity. Anyone who said it didn’t matter had probably never had theirs thrown in their face. So, Felipe clearly came from a magical family. But apparently not one so far up its own backside that he felt he was above speaking to her.“You like exploring, I like exploring - so far, you don’t seem to be telling me I talk too much, so yeah, I want to explore with you - why wouldn’t I?” The question structure was such that it could be taken as rhetorical if desired, as that question so often was, but it was asked with enough genuine curiosity that Felipe could venture an answer if he had one.
“I would like that very much,” she agreed, glad that he wanted to share special places. It might have been cool to have their own secret bases, and to try to find each other’s. Maybe they could do that too… But having a hangout space sounded nice.
“Hey look, crushed,” she added, holding out her mint leaves for inspection. “What’s next? I guess one advantage of doing the same but not working together is we can compare as we go, try to catch our mistakes.”
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Zara
What's your policy on adventures?
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Zara
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Felipe De Matteo
February 14, 2019 3:27 PM
That they should never end. by Felipe De Matteo
Felipe agreed that it was quite cool what his father did. However, he could not be so enthusiastic about Zara's question. He treated it as rhetorical and did not answer. He was very important, very well-educated, very wealthy . . . and not very good company. The very fact that he was a De Matteo was reason enough for most people not to talk to him, and the fact that he was one of the least friendly of the bunch was another.Felipe was sensible, the way an heir should be. However, he was hardly kind, the way a De Matteo should be. The question, while likely light-hearted, struck a cord for Felipe, and he merely offered a civil smile as he turned his attention back to his leaf-smashing.
When Zara said she'd like to find special places with him, the smile became warmer and his heart became lighter. Perhaps he wasn't totally awful at the interpersonal side of things. They had plans, now, and he was determined to give Zara no reason to change her mind. He wondered if that was self-serving, but pushed the thought aside. It was, if he was lucky, friendship.
"That looks great," Felipe said, admiring Zara's crushed mint leaves. When he looked down at his own, he realized his frustrations had not been entirely directed inward, as he'd managed to completely pulp his own leaves as well. He peered at the directions for the potion for a moment. "Dittany," he read to her. "And then fluxweed. Do you have those already?" he asked, gesturing to the table.
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Felipe De Matteo
That they should never end.
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Felipe De Matteo
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Zara
February 17, 2019 8:17 AM
Hmm... Do they involve nap segments? by Zara
Felipe didn’t offer an answer as to why someone would not want to walk the gardens with him. Zara’s mind whirred, trying to generate possibilities, and came up with three.Option one - people are racist jerks. Given that Felipe spoke with an American accent, she assumed him to be a US citizen. And people could really be racist jerks. But she doubted anyone would assume she would be one because… well, her face.
Option two - a broader version of option one, he had been bullied in some way was used to people not liking him for some reason. The way he carried himself didn’t exactly suggest it was a lack of self-confidence behind his remark though.
Option three - he had a dark and terrible secret, and one that he half expected her to already know. Well, seeing as it couldn’t be one or two, that had to be it. How mysterious and exciting, even if it turned out to be entirely within her own imagination.
For now though, he didn’t want to talk about it, and she wasn’t going to pry.
“Sure, everything except fresh mint should be in here,” she added, when he asked about ingredients, sliding across her potions kit so that he could share.
“So, what’s your best discovery about school so far?” she asked, “Mine is that the jelly at breakfast changes flavour depending on what you ask the pot for.”
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Zara
Hmm... Do they involve nap segments?
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Zara
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Felipe De Matteo
February 28, 2019 1:56 AM
Naps are mandatory. by Felipe De Matteo
Zara looked very much like she was thinking, which made her dozens of times better than any of the other ninnnies he'd met at Sonora so far. Okay, they weren't all morons, but they certainly didn't hold water compared to his tutors and those he socialized with at home. Granted, there weren't many and they were mostly well-educated adults . . . perhaps some of these ninnies would became nannies and gain something interesting to talk about someday. For now, he preferred Zara's company."Thank you," he replied, grateful for her sharing her potions kit. He had his own, which made it even kinder. She wasn't sharing her kit because he needed her help; she was sharing her kit because it was the nice thing to do. He was gaining further reasons to support her Teppenpaw sorting and decided she was probably exactly the sort of person his father would want him to spend time around. That thought almost turned him off any developing friendship, but her next comments made him push that temptation aside.
"I love jams and things," he admitted quietly. "My mom always makes different ones from the crops every year so we can give them out to people, and hot jam fresh on the spoon is my favorite." A blush colored his cheeks, as he had not meant to say anything like that. "I think my best discovery is that people like you are here," he said, turning his tone. It was sincere at least. She really was a Sonoran treasure. "And also that the elves know some card games."
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Felipe De Matteo
Naps are mandatory.
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Felipe De Matteo
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Zara
February 28, 2019 6:08 AM
Fully on board then by Zara
“Yum. What flavours does she do?” asked Zara, when Felipe mentioned his mother making jam. The sentence intrigued her… The image of Mama Felipe making jam and letting her kid lick the spoon was super wholesome and cute. But he had mentioned crops. Like ‘we have crops.’ Who in the heck had crops? That sounded… kinda extra. She decided to focus on the ‘mmm, jam’ part because that was way more relatable.She side-eyed him when he called her the best part of Sonora so far, wondering if he was for real. He didn’t seem to be joking though.
"Thanks," she offered simply. She wasn’t sure what she’d done that was so bowl-him-over awesome. Her eyes lingered a second on the Crotalus badge and she found a small smile creeping onto her face.
“Not many adventure buddies in your own house?” she hazarded a guess. “And that’s cool about the elves,” she added with a laugh, really enjoying the mental picture he’d given her, “I’m picturing like… some super seedy, smoky room with you and the elves playing high stakes poker. All super secret, underground stuff, and one guy keeping a lookout in case the staff come by. At which point, you know they can pop-snap right out of the room and just leave you with all the incriminating evidence, right? You’d better watch how you go.”
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Zara
Fully on board then
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Zara
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Felipe De Matteo
February 28, 2019 9:46 PM
Let the onboarding begin! by Felipe De Matteo
Felipe thought that Zara's question was very important. What flavors didn't his mother do? "It depends on the season," he explained. "She usually makes jam from whatever fruit we have. She makes a lot of salsa, too. We have mangoes a lot and she makes sort of a mango jam, sauce stuff. When the citrus crops are ready, she makes a lot of orange and lime jams, and some lemon spreads. Apricot jam is a big one, too, and apple jam," he listed, mouth watering at the thought. "It really depends on which crops have come in. My family--" Felipe paused. He had very nearly said something about the family estate, and realized that that was horribly pompous. If it had been a Mordue he was speaking with, he might've been happy to say such a thing. But with Zara? She was too real for such nonsense."My family lives in a big agricultural area," he explained. "Most of the people in our village and the surrounding areas have farms, including ourselves."
Felipe blinked at the description of what Zara imagined with him and an elf playing cards, and then laughed aloud. It was rare that something struck him as so funny. "Not many adventure buddies indeed," he said. "And none with your imagination." He chuckled to himself. "Me agarraste en curva," he said quietly. "I didn't expect that. Have you spent a lot of time in seedy, smoky rooms?"
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Felipe De Matteo
Let the onboarding begin!
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Felipe De Matteo
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