This is so cool! [Zara] on Tumbleweed

Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

March 27, 2020 1:19 PM

Tumbleweed Trip by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

The second and last trip to Tumbleweed for the term was upon them. The weather was perfect for such a trip, and the bustling about the mansion provided a sort of eager energy that lingered in the air and made everything seem that much more exciting. Since there was no Quidditch match this time, students had a little more flexibility in how they spent their time. This had been done intentionally in case any of them wished to purchase anything for the Ball, just a few weeks ahead, or if they simply needed a break from studying. It wasn’t a mandatory trip – it couldn’t be since consent forms were required from parents and guardians – but it was strongly encouraged for those who were allowed to go.

Staff was assigned different areas of the town to monitor, as they had the last time, and students were expected to stay in groups of two or more, and to check in with a staff member before moving between areas in the town. There was enough flexibility built into that schedule that staff members could also enjoy the trip during their breaks, and that they could be available for students who may want to talk more privately than while they were on duty. Since travel in and out of Tumbleweed was only possible from designated travel points, there was little concern over anyone being able to sneak out or else sneak in. Still, staff would be positioned there as well.

Mary gave the temperature report this time, as she had volunteered to take over some of the coordination of the trip from Selina. It was good to have something to do and something to keep her mind busy. As they had last time, they would be leaving for Tumbleweed after lunch and students could choose to get there either by Floo or by magicked car-like thing. Mary thought it wasn’t very much like a car because the extent of her experiences with the Muggle transportation could be described as “cramped” but that was not important. Student comfort was the priority and if students were more comfortable in a magically expanded, self-driving car thing, then that was just as well.

Mary chose the Floo option and arrived with the students who had done the same. She helped sort of herd them while they waited for the other half of the students to arrive and everyone could pair up. Last time, having students go in pairs or groups seemed to work just fine, and the system of having students check in with staff before switching or leaving an area was not too difficult considering the saturation of staff around town.

Tumbleweed was less boisterous than it had been last time, as the residents – ghosts and otherwise – were less interested in coming to see students shop and eat ice cream than they were in coming to see a flight exhibit. Still, it was clear that the town was expecting a big day for businesses as every single one of them was opened and eager. The main area, with the most touristy shops and a saloon, was seeming a bit more reflective of everyday life in Tumbleweed now. Ghosts went about their reenactments still, but they also went about their errands. Many of them did work as actors in the street performances, or in the more historical performances within theatres and museums, so life in Tumbleweed was never quite as “everyday” as everyday life in other towns. Still, this was an unusual day for students, and some of them would undoubtedly be interested in the dress and robe shops available there.

The sports pitch was empty today, except a few odd groups of folks who would make their way there to practice Quidditch, soccer, or whatever other sport had caught their interest, magical or Muggle. The number of vendors around the pitch was massively reduced today and it was too large an area for staff to monitor effectively so it was closed off to students this time around.

The Town Hall was open again, though, with walking tours leaving every half hour or so, and various other civic sources of entertainment available within. Brochures advertising the various historical sites, scavenger hunts, and other attractions were available inside, as well as a map which would help students navigate the town. The area immediately surrounding Town Hall was the most historical, which always made it a popular draw for some students.

Finally, there was the pop up market. Previously, vendors and booths had set up at the sports pitch. With no real event happening this time, they had set themselves up in a Saturday Market type formation in an open area near Town Hall. More of them were selling fruit and snacks than novelty items, but both were available. Booths were set up in rows and winding through them all could take an hour or more on its own. Ghosts and other residents meandered through, so the conversations and negotiations there were boisterous, not unlike the students themselves.

OOC – Welcome to Tumbleweed! We are hosting this on the gardens as we are still working on an ‘out of school’ space. The trip takes place over several hours so your character is certainly free to explore more than one location in that time. There are limits to how badly wrong the staff would let anything go, so if you’re thinking of causing trouble or getting into any, please run it by us.
Great big thank you to Selina and other authors who have been around to help with Tumbleweed and this post. And also because I mostly borrowed this OOC and parts of the text from the fabulous Selina Skies.

Subthreads:

Main Street

This was a bad idea by Cleo James with Heinrich Hexenmeister

So... shopping? (Evelyn) by Ness McLeod with Evelyn Stones

Want to hang out? (Jezebel) by Bridget Ferguson with Jezebel Reed-Fischer, Josephine Clyde

I'm thinking ice cream, are you? (tag Johana-Leonie) by Malikhi Hill with Johana Leonie Zauberhexen, Freddie Zauberhexen

Today is about me by Ellie Alperton with Jasmine Delachene

Does spending fey money have repercussions like eating fey food does? by Mab with Alexander Pierce-Beales

Am I the bad guy? (Tag Dorian) by Jean-Loup Arceneaux with Dorian Montoir

Looking Good for my first Floo by Parker Fitzgerald with Beau Tate

I don't want to do this. Do it for me. by Leonor De Matteo with Isabella Harrington

It's a date by Dorian Montoir with Tatiana Vorontsova

Town Hall

Breaktime (Tag Conner) by Gary Harper with Connor Priory

We've got history. [Heinrich.] by Evelyn Stones with Heinrich Hexenmeister

Scavenger hunt sounds like it could be fun by Anya Delachene with Freddie Zauberhexen

Saturday Market

This is so cool! [Zara] by Felipe De Matteo with Zara Jackson

Shopping!! [Tag: Ruby] by Eden Manger with Ruby Brockert

Good Rockin' Tonight by Lyssa Fitzgerald

Es ist nett. Ich habe Freunden. by Hilda Hexenmeister with Jessica Hayles

22 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne Tumbleweed Trip 1424 1 5

System

March 27, 2020 1:19 PM

Main Street by System

0 System Main Street 0 System 0 5

System

March 27, 2020 1:19 PM

Town Hall by System

0 System Town Hall 0 System 0 5

System

March 27, 2020 1:19 PM

Saturday Market by System

0 System Saturday Market 0 System 0 5

Cleo James

March 28, 2020 8:20 PM

This was a bad idea by Cleo James

CW - references to assault and threats

Cleo was in way, way, way over her head. It had taken a bit of working out to decide exactly what she wanted but eventually, with a little more help from Virginia and, honestly, the library, she had got there. Who knew the library was actually that useful? Like, obviously that was the point of it for class stuff, like how many billywig stings go into a levitation potion, or why exactly chessmen were classed as transfiguration. The answers being ‘five’ and ‘any amount of rambling none of which makes the least bit of sense.’ And if you wanted to read for fun, it was probably good too.

However, Cleo had not expected to find answers to real life problems in there. Such as ‘how do I claim something as my own whilst remaining totally anonymous?’ But she had. She had actually gone to the library and answered her own question and everything. In part, it was because she hadn’t wanted to seem dumb by asking Viriginia something that seemed completely impossible, and in part it was because, nice as Viriginia was, her cheerleading letters and positive vibes could sometimes get a bit… much. Cleo felt horrible admitting it, even to herself, and she would never say it to her mentor, who really had helped her a lot. It was just… Cleo was currently managing to settle on ‘I am doing okay’ or ‘Sometimes I want to set people on fire but I can get over it/it’s not entirely undeserved’ or ‘I actually ate three meals, all in the same day.’ There were really only so many times she could be told that she was marvellous, or that her decisions were bound to be excellent before her brain just rejected it. She’d also always been a quiet person. That level of conspicuous feeling had always been so alien to her. Even before… everything.

It turned out the library had newspapers. And she had flicked through them trying to see what kind of thing people wrote, or where in the paper you were allowed to have an opinion, because she suspected most of them left it up to actual proper journalists. There was almost always a letters page though. People sometimes signed with their names, but anonymity was okay too. You usually had to give it a feeling like ‘Confused from Connecticut’ or ‘Outraged from Ohio.’ But the trouble was, these letters didn’t seem to expect replies. They seemed to just be people screaming into the void, venting their frustrations with the world. Occasionally there was an ‘In reply to Mr. H’s letter of the 23rd….’ followed by vehement disagreement with whatever Mr. H had said. That seemed to be the only type of reply there was - if anyone in the world politely agreed with anyone else, it didn’t seem to get published.

That had left her with something of a dilemma, because she wasn’t sure whether the things she was going for would be too conversational. She could see it getting into a heated row, but it wasn’t necessarily the intention. It also wasn’t necessarily a conversation she wanted to have in a public space. Because the list of those was limited to… oh right, absolutely nothing.

The lonely hearts had given her a get out though. She had started reading them partly for light relief, and partly because they were also people who had written in, and she had noticed that they all had, listed as their address, ‘Owl Office Box’ and then a number. Apparently, it was a thing for people who didn’t have a proper address, or wanted to get mail without publishing it.

Perfect.

Or, so she’d thought.

She had written to the post office in Tumbleweed to set one up. She had penned, with much stress and a few rushed homework assignments that had been pushed in around it, a letter.

Why are you pretending to be me?

At this time, I am choosing not to give my name, but I want to say this: I am the girl who Blake Brize-Norton assaulted.

This isn’t something I ever thought I would have to claim. It’s not something I wanted to happen to me, or to continue being part of my life. However, it has come to my attention that several other girls are pretending to be me. I don’t know why.

I tried to find people like me. People who might understand. And I was forced out of those spaces because they’d already got sick of listening to you, whoever you are. They’d already smelled a rat when several different girls showed up with the same story.

If you would like to explain why you wanted to further ruin my life or claim my story as your own, my Owl Office box is listed below.

Maybe I’ll never get an answer, but I’d like one.

She’d sent it to a few group newsletters, published by the various Beings and part-veela groups she’d been able to discover (these mostly courtesy of Virginia).

Now, they were in Tumbleweed. In theory, she was supposed to go with someone. She thought briefly about asking Professor Skies if she could just run some errands solo, but if she said ‘no’ then she was screwed. She supposed she could take a buddy to the post office, but she didn’t exactly want to. Luckily, it was near enough the shopping district that it was easy enough to blend into a gaggle of girls heading that way, and to just peel off when they passed where she was actually going. For a half-veela, she was surprisingly good at blending into the background.

She gave her number and showed her receipt for the box, and was presented with a surprisingly thick stack of letters. Thick enough that the clerk was giving her a raised eyebrow as if she was simultaneously flirting with every man on the planet or running some kind of smuggling ring.

“It’s a political campaign,” she told him haughtily as she took her letters, wondering where she’d pulled those words from. That was more or less close enough to what Virginia had mistakenly assumed she wanted to do. And she didn’t like him making assumptions that she was up to something awful.

She did not particularly want to stay under his scrutinising gaze, but luckily another customer drifted in. Quite literally - a cantankerous old ghost who started trying to buy some kind of postage that no longer existed. Cleo leant against the wall. She would have preferred the privacy of her own room, but that was hours away, and she was itching to know the answer…

She ripped open the first letter and… And it was horrible. It was not an answer to her question but just… Horrible. It was like the things they’d put in the papers last year, about how someone like her was bound to deserve it. That she was a liar. That there were several very alarming and violent things this person would do to her to ‘teach her a lesson’ if he only could get near enough.

What the hell?

She tried two more, only skimming their obnoxious contents for long enough to confirm they were the same as the first.

She shoved the remainder of the letters into her bag, wondering how many contained actual answers to her questions and how many were like that, and hastily pushed her way out of the post office. She had forgotten she was on the school trip, supposed to have a partner right now. Had forgotten everything except not wanting to have tears in her eyes in front of other people and the need to take a big, deep breath of air. She did this, leaning back against the outer wall of the post office, wiping a few stray tears from her cheeks and begging the rest not to follow. Oblivious to the fact that she had now been spotted.

13 Cleo James This was a bad idea 389 0 5

Ness McLeod

March 28, 2020 9:40 PM

So... shopping? (Evelyn) by Ness McLeod

So. Dress shopping. That was a thing they were doing. Or maybe ‘formalwear shopping’ because this could possibly be about Ness’ outfit too. Obviously, Ness was happy to spend time with Evelyn. It was always cool being The Chosen One. Although, on this occasion, was it because Evelyn wanted to surprise Heinrich with what she was wearing? Was this, in fact, all about him?

He was actually an okay human. He was kind of funny, especially when they played DnD, though in a way where Ness couldn’t ever really tell if he actually intended to be. He also kept managing to save Evelyn from stupid giant rats whilst Ness’ stupid dice rebelled and yielded 50/50 results at best. Or where Ness got to go first in the combat because of high initiative roles, and would wound the creature, but Heinrich’s lower ranking turn position would let him get the kill shot. And it was… fine. It was totally fine. Just… Firstly, as a feminist principle, Evelyn shouldn’t need someone to swoop in and save her all the time so it really shouldn’t have been that impressive. Secondly it was just… frustrating, when Ness had helped too and he got to just take the glory, or when it felt like there was this special little bubble around Evelyn and Heinrich at the gaming table. It was probably like it had been with Zevalyn and Kir. They got their own little mini world, all of their own. And then Evelyn would call Ness smart or awesome or they’d crack jokes together, and Ness felt bad for feeling bitter.

It wasn’t like Ness wanted to date Evelyn anyway. It was just… Ness didn’t want to not fit into Evelyn’s world any more. And the fact that, here they were, shopping together should have been proof that that wasn’t an issue. But it still was.

Also Ness sucked at dresses and was probably going to be no help.

They made their way towards the shopping district, and Ness tried to ponder what sorts of things were suitable remarks for dress shopping expeditions. Other people might have asked ‘What colour are you thinking of?’ or ‘What style of dress did you have in mind?’ The former did not occur to Ness and the latter was beyond the limits of what the Aladren knew about dresses.

“Did you know that there was an act in 1849 trying to ban women’s pockets from having undetectable extension charms put on them?” Ness offered. “Men were worried that they would be able to carry seditious literature and start rebelling. I mean, they weren’t wrong. They did that.”

13 Ness McLeod So... shopping? (Evelyn) 1419 0 5

Evelyn Stones

March 28, 2020 10:34 PM

Shopping! by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn was broke. Her father had given her some money to spend on whatever she needed being away from home, and she'd tried to save as much of it as possible, but that had also gone for Christmas presents and such. She had wanted to pay the McLeods back but suspected they wouldn't stand for it, so she kept the money and planned to figure out a way to express her gratitude after she'd graduated. For now, with just a little money, Evelyn was going to find a dress.

Dresses weren't ever something she'd worn much, which seemed silly now. But they just weren't super practical. Makeup of all sorts could be worn with a good pair of jeans and trees were easier to climb in jeans than dresses. Flying, jogging, climbing, dancing . . . all of it was easier with pants on. That being said, Evelyn was pretty proud of the shape she'd gotten herself in, and she was sort of excited to wear something that made her feel a little more like a princess than a pauper.

She had asked Ness to help her because Ness was the most honest person she knew, and the most sincere. Evelyn didn't much care whether she looked good in a dress because it was trendy or because she was asking a friend who was trying to be nice; she wanted to know what she really looked like and she wanted to pick a dress that honestly worked for her. She had no doubt that Ness would absolutely tell her if she looked like a grindylow or something, and Ness had a good sense of practicality, which was important. Plus, Ness would get excited about bright colors with her. And was also Evelyn's best friend in the world, so who else would she ask?

She had thought to invite Heinrich, but that seemed odd. For one, she suspected he wouldn't want to. More than that, Evelyn wanted to spend time with just Ness sometimes, and she didn't want to make Heinrich feel like she was pushy. They were planning to spend some time together a little later in the day, and Evelyn was ridiculously excited about that, but that was different than asking him to go dressing shopping with her for an event he was undoubtedly nervous about as prefect. They'd been spending more time together and so far, he hadn't asked her to the Ball. As far as she knew, he hadn't asked anyone. But still, Evelyn had slowly begun to accept that maybe he only thought of her as a friend. It made her sad, but he really was a good friend and she was trying to just accept that for what it was. She'd rather have him in her life as a friend than not have him around at all. Plus, they still had a few years left at Sonora, and a whole lifetime after that. Who knew what the future held? In any case, Evelyn didn't want to push him. She didn't want to push anyone. She knew all too well what it felt like to have your choices taken away and she didn't want to do that to her friends.

As Evelyn and Ness made their way through Tumbleweed to the main street and then began looking around for a shop, Ness began talking about dresses. Well, it was thematic! Evelyn grinned at the Aladren and offered a shoulder nudge, half-hug thing. "I did not know that," she admitted. "This is why I love you though. You're so smart! We should definitely put extension charms in our pockets though. I'm absolutely stealing some of the snacks for afterwards."

Evelyn smirked a little, trying to imagine it and hoping Ness would get in on the fun. On the whole, Aladrens tended to be rule followers. On the whole, the McLeods did not. It was a fun balance for Evelyn who definitely thought rules were a good starting place but thought that much more fun things could occur if rules were taken as guidelines more than hard and fast laws.

"Today, I want to find something that's cheap, comfortable, and fun colors," Evelyn told Ness, figuring it would be best to layout some criteria from the getgo. "And pretty," she added as an afterthought. Ness would know when Evelyn looked pretty because Ness knew how to tell these things. Ness knew all the things. "Do you want to find an outfit? We can look wherever you want to, too."

22 Evelyn Stones Shopping! 1422 0 5

Ness McLeod

March 29, 2020 6:20 AM

Okay.... by Ness McLeod

Ness beamed st Evelyn’s compliment, feeling reassured at having made this expedition based on merits other than being Not Heinrich.

“Absolutely,” Ness agreed, as Evelyn commented that they should expand the pockets of their outfits for the ball, “Remember, everytime you enlarge your pockets, you are undermining the patriarchy,” the Aladren noted. Even if the reason was stealing snacks not spreading about seditious literature. There were probably pastry-based acts of rebellion too. Ness would have to look some up for ball night. Assuming the two of them would be spending any time together… It would be a shame that they wouldn’t be able to have a midnight feast with their ill-gotten gains, seeing as they were in separate houses. An image came to mind instead of Ness’ sharing spoils with Heinrich instead, seeing as they were housemates. They could sit up late discussing Evelyn. Ness would have preferred Evelyn’s company though

Cheap. Fun colours. Comfortable. Pretty.

Okay. Ness knew all those words. When it came to dresses though… Ness maybe knew what two and a half out of four of those words meant? Fun colours was easy. Comfortable, reasonably so, and probably down to Evelyn to judge. Cheap… How much were dresses? Like, how much were fancy snooty people dresses, how much were normal people dresses, and how much was cheap compared to that? Ness had tried on a few things in the formalwear section of shops back home over Christmas and it had all seemed pricey compared to everyday clothes. But then… that made sense. It was just hard to get a sense of a realistic scale.

As for pretty, Ness had no idea. Ruffles were a heinous crime against nature, and anything too floofy that made Evelyn look like one of those crochet dolls that posh old ladies used to cover over their toilet rolls was right out. Beyond the ridiculous though, Ness was not confident of judging a pretty dress. Most dresses had never struck the Aladren as anything except ‘things I don’t want to be stuck in.’ Ness could not remember ever seeing a dress and thinking a nice thing about it.

“And with pockets,” Ness reminded Evelyn, wanting to add one more thing that was easy to judge to the list. After all two and a half out of four was well below Ness’ usual average on a test.

“Yeah. I mean… I didn’t find anything yet,” Ness nodded when asked about finding an outfit. “What do you think would suit me?”

13 Ness McLeod Okay.... 1419 0 5

Evelyn Stones

March 29, 2020 2:16 PM

We got this. by Evelyn Stones

"Undermine the patriarchy!" Evelyn said eagerly, raising her fist. It was easy to feel brave and strong and fierce with Ness, and that meant a lot since that wasn't something she'd ever felt before meeting Ness.

Evelyn peered in the windows of the stores they passed by, enjoying the colorful moving displays. Most of her shopping experience had been with her mom in a muggle town, so these expeditions were always exciting. She tried to pay attention to which items caught her eye the most, but she wasn't really sure what she was supposed to be looking for. One dress that was particularly floofy caught her attention but she had no doubt that it would be out of her price range, and it didn't seem very practical.

"And pockets," Evelyn agreed, bringing her attention back to Ness and steering them into the closest shop with dresses in the window. Ness' question struck Evelyn though, as she hadn't thought about that. She looked over her friend. "I think you'd rock just about anything. You could wear a dress if you wanted, but I bet you'd look amazing in a button up and one of those fancy vest things. And converse or something." She grinned, picturing it. "Very dapper," she promised.

Her eyes caught a display of colorful dresses, some of which were awful, but which were thankfully marked as clearance. Evelyn was terribly small and suspected she would have a hard time finding a dress in her size. "Do you want to look too or help me decide from the ones I find?"

There were a few she liked. One was blue and orange, so naturally that caught Evelyn's attention. It was also very shiny, which was fun. The next was blue and pink and purple, with rhinestones on the bodice. The last had a black bodice with lacy short sleeves and a full rainbow skirt, with a black cat sewn into the fabric. As Evelyn moved through the rack, the cat licked its paw and puffed up happily.

She grinned at Ness, holding up her finds. "What do you think?"

OOC - I was going from these three, except sans fish and weird writing:

Blue and Orange Dress

Pink and Blue Dress

Rainbow Dress

22 Evelyn Stones We got this. 1422 0 5

Bridget Ferguson

March 29, 2020 4:09 PM

Want to hang out? (Jezebel) by Bridget Ferguson

CW-Mentions of alcoholism, underage drinking and abuse.

Bridget arrived in Tumbleweed for their second trip there. From what she gathered, it was to shop for the ball. Which she did not have a date for. She probably wouldn't have one either. Martin was related to her. Felipe was probably going to ask Zara. She...wasn't sure she really would want to go with Jeremy or Julius who seemed kind of unpleasant.

The next best thing would be to go with friends, but Bridget was not sure she had any other then her cousin and Sophia would probably hang out with her other friends like she was now. The Aladren might allow her to tag along, but Bridget was unsure the other girls would want her there. Besides, presumably they'd also be speaking some German and she would not understand the conversation.

Part of her wondered if she should learn the language to fit in with them. However, right now, Bridget just plain old did not have the...drive for that. Most of the time recently, the third year did not feel like doing much. She was still worried about her mom who had been in and out of the hospital. Her dad was still drinking heavily. Bridget was pretty sure her cousin Nora was right and at this point her father's blood would count as an alcoholic beverage. Though the idea of actually drinking blood was utterly disgusting. Especially her dad's. Ew, yuck!

But then that was Nora for you, she was sort of weird. She was super smart and often, those people were also sort of strange. She was also a Leglimens....which made Bridget uncomfortable. Evan, Sophia's uncle, had become an Occlumens specifically to protect himself from her. His advice to Bridget and his wife, Lucille and others, was to think of things Nora would find boring.

Unfortunately for Bridget, she was even stranger than Nora-though possibly not as much as Evan, who in addition to being an Occlumens, was an artist and also very strange, but that was part of being an artist-but without the level of intelligence. She was just plain weird due to her family situation. Bridget loved them but she was deeply ashamed of how she had a step-cousin a year older than her mother, that Grandma Cora had married a man old enough to be her father-who was a Muggle to boot, which was totally unacceptable to people like Caitlin and Aunt Alicia-that one grandfather was a notorious philanderer and the other was a monster that abused both her father and her grandmother, the latter to the point of insanity due to mental magic. Oh and then there was the fact that before moving on to Grandma Cora, Grandfather Andrew had had an affair with her other grandma too! Bridget sincerely wished she didn't know that but her dad had a tendency to blurt things out when he was drunk. Which was, like, always.

Honestly, with their family history, she didn't blame her dad for drinking so much. Even though it did make her life more difficult and embarrassing. However, Bridget quite frankly had had the urge too! Dad would probably be all for having her as a drinking buddy but she also did not want to end up like him. Maybe she would in moderation. Or like...just sometimes drink a lot but not everyday. Just when she was stressed and at home.

However, Bridget also would need an outlet at school and she was at a loss for that right now.

Anyway, she rather understood why she didn't have friends. She was a freak. Still, there was one person not related to her who had shown interest in being around her. Surprisingly given the other girl had heard some of Bridget's history during the Challenges, but at least the Teppenpaw wouldn't have to learn another language to hang out with her.

The third year spotted Jezebel and approached. "Hi, do you want to hang out with me?" Bridget asked her. Please say yes , she silently begged. It would be absolutely mortifying if she was rejected.

11 Bridget Ferguson Want to hang out? (Jezebel) 1448 0 5

Ness McLeod

March 29, 2020 9:55 PM

We got strange rainbow cat vibes by Ness McLeod

"Thanks," Ness grinned. 'Dapper' was a great word. Ness could definitely embrace 'dapper' as an aesthetic. But it was good to hear Evelyn say that absolutely anything was an option. "I tried a few things like that over Christmas," Ness admitted. There was, in fact, a style of suit which they had taken note of. They hadn't gone as far as purchasing it though, for two reasons. One, there was a family tendency to sprout up like a beanpole and by the time of the ball, the next size up might be needed. But also, Ness had not been totally sure.

"Either way works," Ness answered, regarding how they did this. It was a relief though that an opinion might not be needed right away. Evelyn could shortlist, though Ness flicked through the other end of the clearance rack to show willing. Before Ness had formed an opinion stronger than 'this is hideous' and 'this is red,' Evelyn was holding up three choices.

Ness had very strong reservations about the middle one, and its ability to fight the patriarchy. It had both ruffles and sparkles and Ness was pretty sure those were, separately, bad enough, but combined it was like some nightmarish vision of mass market girliness. But like... like when you tried to make 'the perfect woman' by combining the hottest bits of different people and it ended up a huge Frankenstein's creature mess cos none of the pieces went together. The dress looked like someone had thrown every idea about what was 'dress like' at it. And also like a loo roll cover.

Figuring that recruitment for this job had been partially based on the ability to give a strong opinion, Ness decided not to sugar coat it.

"Good weird," Ness nodded to the cat dress, "Bad weird," the ruffles, "Dress," the orange and blue. And then, realising that had been a noun rather than an opinion, "It qualifies for bright colous, and I reckon you could put some fun make up with it, Ness expanded, mulling them over.

"That one," Ness still gestured to the orange and blue dress, "is more like what people wear to prom in movies and TV shows," citations were always needed, and Ness saw no reason why dress shopping should be exempt. "That one gives off strange rainbow cat vibes. I do not know how to choose between those things. Try both on?" Ness suspected that strange rainbow cat vibes were better than prom vibes but also that everyone else would disagree. That, in itself, didn't matter, but Ness didn't want to steer Evelyn towards something she would later regret.

Because of how their yeargroup fell, this would be the midsummer event they only got one go at. There was no chance to do it one time strangely and one time fancily. This was it.

And therein lay the dilemma.

13 Ness McLeod We got strange rainbow cat vibes 1419 0 5

Evelyn Stones

March 30, 2020 11:41 AM

The dress and us both. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn had to smile at Ness' assessment of the dresses. She rather enjoyed the experimentation that came with having a friend who was both so different and so influential on herself. On one hand, she had suspected that the rainbows would be a popular choice and that the ruffles and sparkles would not. At the same time, the ruffles and sparkles were the bi-flag colors and that seemed apropos. Maybe. Ness also knew that blue and orange were Evelyn's favorite colors, which meant that this was essentially a decision between Evelyn's insides or her outsides. Trying them on seemed like a good choice so Evelyn put back the ruffly dress and made her way to the changing room.

Another helpful thing about magic was that dresses could be tailored at the drop of a hat, so it wasn't so important that these each fit perfectly. Still, they surprisingly did. Mostly. The blue and orange one - also the more expensive one, Evelyn realized when she checked the tag - came down nearly to her ankles. She was pretty sure that wasn't meant to be how it fit, but wasn't that surprised that it did.

She came out of the dressing room in it to show Ness. "I don't love the length," she grimaced. "That could be changed but it seems. . . . I don't know. What do you think?" Giving Ness a moment to formulate and express any opinions, Evelyn went on. "Let me try the other one on."

She ducked back inside the fitting room and put on the rainbow dress. The cat seemed to be purring, although it didn't make any sound so Evelyn couldn't tell for sure. Still, it made her smile and that seemed like a good thing. It also seemed a bit more practical. Throw on a pair of spanx and she could run around in this dress all day. Looking in the mirror, she realized it also seemed . . . right. Evelyn didn't wear dresses hardly ever but she thought that if she was going to wear them regularly, dresses like this would be better than dresses like the orange and blue one. Still, the Ball wasn't an everyday sort of occasion, so maybe that didn't matter so much.

Smiling all the same, she stepped back out in front of Ness. "What do you think?" She considered telling Ness the prices on the two but decided she didn't want to sway her friend with such utilitarian considerations just yet. Besides, they were both within her price range. The blue and orange one, as Ness had pointed out, would maybe be easier to do makeup with, but the rainbow one would be more exciting to do rainbow with and would leave enough in her budget for Evelyn to pick out a pair of shoes, a hair accessory, or some new makeup to go with it should she want to.

Evelyn performed a quick twirl, thrilled with the way the skirt billowed around her without coming up too high and then drifted back to her knees. "They both have pockets," she added, sticking her hands inside the ones on this dress to demonstrate.

22 Evelyn Stones The dress and us both. 1422 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

March 30, 2020 12:10 PM

YES. I mean, yeah sure. by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Jezebel was not interested in the Ball in the slightest. For one, she didn't have a date. For two, she didn't want a date. For three, the Ball was the sort of occasion that would leave the Common Room and dorms empty, which meant Jezebel could nap, read, or do whatever she wanted and not have to worry about other people being around. Or, should she be so inclined, she could attend the Ball and just watch people to get a better sense of her classmates and their relationships. Either option sounded better than actually participating in the Ball in any meaningful sense, although she knew herself well enough to know that if Bridget or Josie wanted her to go, she would. She was a sucker for feeling included. which of course was why she was going to Tumbleweed at all for the most part.

The excuse to get a trip out of Sonora was good, but the excuse to go and be around people with no pressure was better. Jezebel had a lot of things to prove and none of them seemed within reach. As she took the weird limousine type thing to Tumbleweed, she did wonder a little about whether she should have planned for someone to hang out with before leaving. What if she got there and there was no one left? She doubted that no one would want to hang out with her, but she wasn't really sure whether she'd be anyone's first choice. Maybe Bridget? Or Josie? But both girls seemed friendly enough that she was sure they wouldn't have problems finding anyone to hang out with. Heck, Bridget was even a Teppenpaw!

They arrived in Tumbleweed just as Jezebel was beginning to realize that she may have made a mistake in choosing the limousine thing a second time. Would it have been better to show that even a Muggleborn could get used to the chimney thing? She'd keep that in mind for next time. Four years from now, her life might be a totally different story. Or maybe it wouldn't be at all. She wasn't sure which one was more depressing.

In any case, she climbed out of the vehicle and into the gathering area for students and staff. She watched as groups began to form and she tried to pretend she wasn't searching for anyone to make eye contact with her. Josie was probably here somewhere but Jezebel hadn't found her before she was being approached by another familiar face.

"Yes!" Jezebel said, trying not to sound desperate. She grinned and decided that it would seem like excitement that way. Of course, maybe that's what friends were supposed to do? Maybe she was supposed to show that she really wanted to hang out and was relieved to have Bridget's company? She changed her expression to one that was a little more demure. "I was hoping you'd want to hang out but I wasn't sure," she admitted, hating the taste of the words in her mouth. Honesty was rarely so pleasant as diplomacy but in this case, they happened to be the same thing.

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer YES. I mean, yeah sure. 1454 0 5

Malikhi Hill

March 31, 2020 4:41 AM

I'm thinking ice cream, are you? (tag Johana-Leonie) by Malikhi Hill

Malikhi hadn't really shown any interest in the trips to Tumbleweed. His mother always gave him some money to spend should he choose to go but with no one to really go with and no interest in walking around by himself, he'd mostly given the trips a pass. However, this time was different. This time, he had the thoughts of ice cream and spending time with Hana in his head. He knew that she was going with some other girls but hoped that maybe she could spend a little of her time with him and that the promise of ice cream would be alluring enough to convince her.

Malikhi liked Hana. He was tentatively calling her a friend. They had studied together a few times (not that he really did much studying in those sessions) and they had nice conversations about nothing in particular. There was nothing complicated with Hana and he liked that. He liked that something in his life was tricky to navigate. He was just Kai and she was just Hana and that was nice.

So, he wanted to buy her ice cream as a thank you - for both putting up with him during their studying sessions and for not making things complicated. How he explained the second thing, he wasn't sure. Then he wondered if he would have to. Maybe, somehow, without saying anything at all, Hana would understand.

Then again, perhaps not.

Anyway, none of it mattered unless he managed to find her, so he started his search as soon as he reached Tumbleweed, ambling down main street with the rest of the group he'd tagged along with. It took a short while, given that he got distracted by some of the shop window displays but he spotted her in the end and waved, breaking off from the bunch.

"Hey, Hana! Over here!"

20 Malikhi Hill I'm thinking ice cream, are you? (tag Johana-Leonie) 1423 0 5

Ellie Alperton

March 31, 2020 7:49 AM

Today is about me by Ellie Alperton

Ellie was still really not sure what to make of the Floo. It was… very magicky. But the idea that you could get lost or sick was quite off-putting, even before you tried to get your head around the idea of willingly stepping into a fire. Ellie was aware that there were types of fire that didn’t burn. She had made bluebell flames in charms, and they were now one of her favourites. It was so much fun scooping them into a jar, and imagining they were fairies, or at least fairy fires. Still, it had taken quite a lot of effort to convince herself to put her hand in those never mind stepping your whole body into a fire that had, until you threw dust in it, been a literal burning kind.

Besides, the stretchy super car was pretty magical too. It wasn’t quite a pumpkin coach but she definitely felt like she was being fairy godmothered around, sitting on the bench-like seats next to her classmates. Or like they were all clowns. She was really hoping to achieve a much more princessy vibe than a Chuckles one.

Still, as they pulled into town, her stomach was twisting nervously. The ball was coming up. This was make or break time for dress shopping. She hadn’t done much over the holidays. Not real, physical out in the world type, anyway. There had been a lot of Christmas things to do. And she wanted to spend time with Seth, who wouldn’t have wanted to be dragged shopping, and the shops were busy and crowded. And possibly with people from Before. Even when they went up to her grandparents, even when everyone around was a stranger, it was so. many. people.

As Ellie disembarked from the magical car, it was starting to feel like that here too. Sonora always seemed like such a small school, until you had the task of facing its population - whether it was as a first year, dipping your badge into the potion, or even just standing in front of your own class to do a presentation. Ellie was just glad that, at the ball, she was unlikely to be the focus of many people’s attention.

Unless something went horribly wrong.

There was no reason to assume it would though. Still… The one type of dress shopping Ellie had done a lot of in the holidays was the imaginary kind. Looking online or through magazines. The real kind was a lot more daunting. Jasmine was going to help though. They were going to shop together, just the two of them, and it was hard to imagine feeling anything less than one hundred percent like a princess with Jasmine around. That was how the older girl always made Ellie feel. Though usually they weren’t facing situations like changing clothes or gendered changing rooms or x-ray eyed shopkeepers (the last one had always been one where she could comfort herself that at least she was making that up, but in the magical world who knew?).

She made her way to where the Floo kids were assembling, her fingers twisting the little pink, white and blue friendship bracelets on her wrist, as she looked for Jasmine. It had been a juggling act to switch from emails to letters, and to try to explain why, but she had kept some contact with the people who had made them for her. She had been able to talk to them about some of the things she didn’t know how to bring up with Sonora people either. Like how other people’s bodies might be changing, but how she couldn’t exactly ask that without seeming creepy. Like how hers wasn’t. Like how much scarier that made the thought of putting it in a properly dressy dress, in case people stopped seeing Ellie… They had had plenty of advice about that. Mostly of the kind that every dress she tried would rock cos she was in it, and anyone who disagreed could push off. Whilst knowing exactly what everything else she said felt like.

They were here, in spirit, and Jasmine was here in person, and Ellie was ready to bring her A game and get this done. With just a little bit of hand holding.

“Hey,” she greeted the sixth year, pressing her lips into a determined line and pushing back her shoulders. “Let’s get princessy.”

13 Ellie Alperton Today is about me 1456 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

March 31, 2020 11:06 AM

With me?? by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Johana Leonie was excited for this trip to Tumbleweed for a number of reasons. She always loved the opportunity to hang out with Hilda outside of class, but also the other girls who were learning German. It was nice to feel included, particularly since she knew some people weren't so lucky. There was no group for people who spoke Spanish or Chinese or French. Well, maybe there were and Johana Leonie just didn't know about them. She guessed that students who spoke those languages probably didn't know about the growing group of German language learners, so maybe she was just missing something about them. In any case, Johana Leonie was feeling pretty good about her social sphere. Plus, Johana Leonie already had a dress, which meant that she was more ready than she had expected to be for the Ball. The Ball.

When she got to Tumbleweed, she was extra grateful that she already had a dress. For one, it was perfect. For two, everything was buzzy and everyone was buzzing and everything was in English. Johana Leonie hadn't thought about that, and she was very glad she didn't have to go shopping in English because that was stressful on a slow day, let alone a busy one. She would be happy to help the other girls in her group find dresses if they wanted though.

Before she could find them, she heard her name - well, sort of her name - and turned around to find Malikhi standing there waving at her. She was surprised to see him in Tumbleweed as she didn't think she'd seen him at the last trip to town, but then, she wouldn't have been looking for him then either. She grinned, happy to see him, and brushed some of her hair out of her face. It was down today and a light breeze made it blow a bit all over, which was irritating when she was trying to look reasonably cool.

She thought of her conversation with Zara and told herself to just be normal. Just be normal.

"Hallo," she grinned. "You are here!"

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen With me?? 1432 0 5

Malikhi Hill

March 31, 2020 11:32 AM

Well, I am talking to you. by Malikhi Hill

Malikhi jogged over to Hana, smiling widely as he reached her. When he was a first year and had less awareness about what was acceptable and what wasn't during conversation, he might've hugged her but having gone through a phase where he hadn't wanted anybody to even be near him, let alone trapping him in a hug, he was quite happy to simply smile at Hana and bury his hands in his pockets, his fingers playing with the coins that could be found in them.

"Yeah," he nodded and then thought he should probably give a reason for suddenly turning up on one of these trips when he hadn't done so before. However, the truth was that he was there because of Hana and that if he hadn't wanted to invite her to have ice cream with him, he probably wouldn't have come at all. To admit such a thing was probably a bit much and his cheeks coloured a little in embarrassment as he tried to think of something to say other than 'yeah'. What had he been thinking earlier about conversations with Hana not being complicated?

And then, he realised that asking Hana if she wanted to go and get some ice cream with him didn't have to be complicated and that there was nothing weird about it. He was just making it difficult in his own head which was annoying and stupid and this was Hana and she was nice and ice cream was nice and they should just go and get some. Bloody hell, that was a tricky thought process to go through, wasn't it?

"Would you like to go and get some ice cream with me?" he asked her, trying desperately to keep the awkwardness and complication away from the whole thing.

20 Malikhi Hill Well, I am talking to you. 1423 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

March 31, 2020 11:35 AM

This is so cool! [Zara] by Felipe De Matteo

The world had been an easier place to live in over the past few weeks. Felipe still wasn't too thrilled when he had to see Jessica or Jeremy, but he wasn't trying so hard to actively avoid them anymore. Now, though, it wasn't just because he didn't have the energy. In fact, he had more energy than ever before. Which meant that his mind had turned towards other things that had never been priorities for him before, like school and friendships. Those things had mattered before, certainly, but a big part of how much they mattered was in context of their role in his longterm life plan. Now, it was different.

As it turned out, Felipe really liked Defense Against the Dark Arts. He hadn't known that before. Also, he really liked hanging out with Zara and doing whatever. Studying, walking around the Gardens, talking about silly stuff. Whatever. Between his academics and his very small social circle - party of two - he was feeling much more contented with life than he ever had before.

The last time he'd been in Tumbleweed, he had learned a whole lot about tourism and frontier life and old towns and Zara. More than that, he was pretty sure he'd had fun. Now that he could really go for it and was more used to what fun felt like - because it felt different when there was no voice in the back of his head reminding him how insufficient he was or how many other things he should be doing - he wanted to do it more.

Unfortunately, he was also more aware of just how much Zara had given him. Between her time, attention, kindness, and honesty, she was the realest person he'd ever met and he had mostly been a blockhead. He still was, but at least he was hoping he wouldn't be a pompous blockhead anymore. Sometimes he wondered if he would still be in Crotalus if he was sorted now, and if Leonor would still be in Pecari. But he supposed that their core traits hadn't changed; Leonor still liked adventure and pleasure and Felipe still liked order and the little things in life. That being said, adventuring was pretty fun, too. Apparently.

He had decided that he wanted to get something for Zara. He didn't have much money, but he also didn't have much else to spend money on. Maybe some food; it would be fun to get a snack while they were in town. But for the most part, he didn't need anything else. He wasn't sure yet whether he was going to the Ball because he wasn't sure whether anyone would want to go with him or whether he would want to go with anyone, but even if he did, he already had decent enough clothes for a non-heir to wear to such an occasion. But it did scare him.

Felipe was under no illusion that there weren't rumors. The expectation was that Felipe would ask Zara to the Ball. That also didn't sound totally terrible. At all. But . . . what if Zara didn't want him to ask? Would that ruin their friendship? If he didn't ask her, should he ask someone else? Would that ruin their friendship? He was grateful he was no longer in a position to feel like he had to choose between two of his friends, but that only made the whole thing a little easier. He had tried to consider how he would feel if someone else asked Zara and was surprised to find that it made him very angry. But that hadn't happened. Had it not happened because Zara wanted to go with him? Or because Zara didn't want to go with anybody?

All in all, it wasn't Floo travel that made him nauseous as Felipe made his way to Tumbleweed. There was a new section of town today, and he thought it sounded perfect. Markets would be full of fruits, vegetables, plants, and crafts. The first three were of the greatest interest to Felipe, but the last one was the most likely to offer something he could get Zara.

It struck him then that he wasn't entirely sure whether Zara actually wanted to hang out with him today. Maybe she wanted to hang out with her roommate? Or with someone else? He sort of hoped it wasn't a different guy, but that wasn't fair. He didn't even technically know whether she liked guys. He sort of assumed that girls liked guys but he didn't really know that for sure. There were definitely girls at Sonora who didn't like guys. Probably. Were there? There probably were. But how was anyone supposed to know who someone liked? What if they didn't like anyone? Was there a difference? What was the difference between finding someone really pretty and really nice and really wanting to just sort of be really close to them, and just finding someone really cool? All that to say that he wasn't sure whether Zara wanted to hang out with him.

So he lingered in the arrival area at Tumbleweed, trying not to look too desperate or too interested in anyone - not that there were a lot of people that would come talk to him other than Zara - hoping that Zara would either come to him, or he would see her go with someone else so he could find somebody else to walk around with. Maybe Leonor even. That sounded sort of crappy but at least it would look like he hadn't been trying to hang out with someone that didn't want to hang out with him.

So Felipe lingered, running a hand through his fading colored hair and looking around at the town of Tumbleweed. He tried not to fidget, but his clothes just felt all wrong when he was anxious. He tugged nervously at the bottom of his button up, then put his hands in the pockets of his chinos, then repeated the cycle. Then he forced himself to take a breath and count to forty-five. If no one had approached by the time he'd gotten to forty-five, then he would find someone, or go back to the school. "Uno, dos, tres, quattro, cinque, sei, sept, huit, neuf..." At least switching languages around in his head would keep him reasonably occupied. He would have to keep up his fluency on purpose now that he wouldn't be working directly with folks who spoke other languages as much.

22 Felipe De Matteo This is so cool! [Zara] 1434 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

March 31, 2020 11:49 AM

Richtig, that is what confuses me. by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Johana Leonie thought this guy had a pretty good smile, and she felt lucky that she got to see it. He struck her as generally reserved, which was very foreign to her. At home, everyone was family. But at home, everyone had grown up together. Here, she was thirteen and meeting someone for the first time and she didn't have any sort of reputation to give him an idea of who she was before they talked. At least, she was pretty sure she didn't. It was a dizzying amount of power to think that people only got to know what she told them. Or what Friederike Albert told them, but she doubted he would say anything she wouldn't.

He seemed to struggle with his answer, and Johana Leonie wondered for a moment if it was because she had said her question wrong. Well, it wasn't really a question. He was confirming that she had said something that was true, but maybe it was a weird thing to say? Or maybe it was supposed to be a question? Or maybe she had said it like a question so he felt the need to answer but it really wasn't a question? Ugh. English.

He moved on to a question that she was totally sure was a question though, and that was helpful. But it made Johana Leonie raise her eyebrows in surprise. She and Kai had hung out outside of class but it had mostly been to study, or to hang out around a study setting. This was a different beast altogether, and once the surprise settled, Johana Leonie grinned at him.

"Yes, natürlich! Of course!" Ice cream was a term she knew, because ice cream was a very important term. It almost always meant something good. She looked around for a moment to try to find one of the other girls she'd been planning on spending time with and caught sight of Hilda across the courtyard. Bis später, she mouthed, grinning and turning a little pink.

As it turned out, Zara was right. Boys were just people and they made pretty good friends. Johana Leonie made a mental note to thank her roommate later before she turned back to her friend who was a boy, which was different than a boyfriend, and nodded decisively. "Ready," she confirmed.

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen Richtig, that is what confuses me. 1432 0 5

Malikhi Hill

March 31, 2020 12:06 PM

It's simple, really. You. Me. Ice Cream. That way. by Malikhi Hill

When Hana looked surprised, Malikhi internally panicked, thinking that he'd done or said the wrong thing. Perhaps inviting someone to go and have ice cream was for people who had a much closer friendship than what he and Hana currently had and he had overstepped the mark? On the levels of friendship that existed, from acquaintance to best-friends-forever-and-ever, did Hana view him where he viewed her? He wouldn't have said that they were best friends by any stretch of the imagination but they were new friends and didn't new friends have to do things together to become not-new-friends? Or was that just some scale that Malikhi had come up with in his head and the reality was simply people were friends or not friends? He was either making this overly complicated or the world was far too simple. Making friends and keeping them had once been something that had come so naturally to Malikhi that it was like breathing but it seemed that was no longer the case. These days, he wished for an instruction manual.

It was why he was very relieved when the surprise on Hana's face became excitement instead and a smile was beamed in his direction and it seemed that it was a good thing to have invited her on this ice cream excursion. Hana often let German words intermingle with the English but he didn't need any help to understand that 'natürlich' sounded a lot like 'naturally' and that ice cream was a good thing.

"I think the ice cream parlour is this way," he gestured a little ways further down the main street. He wasn't sure as to the parlour's location but figured that that didn't really matter. They could talk while they walked and he was sure they'd find it eventually. "I hope they have chocolate-dipped waffle cones. They're my favourite."

20 Malikhi Hill It's simple, really. You. Me. Ice Cream. That way. 1423 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

March 31, 2020 5:02 PM

Sometimes bad ideas happen. It is more important that your intentions are not bad. by Heinrich Hexenmeister

Heinrich arrived in Tumbleweed by car. He did not trust his accent to the floo. He had plans with Evelyn for later, but right now, he was just here. He had dress robes already. Nothing particularly fancy or anything, but nice dark blue ones that Uncle Karl had helped him pick out over midterm that would befit a prefect of Aladren House. Speaking of being a prefect, he had recently been reminded that he was going to need to find a dance partner for the ball's first dance. This had largely escaped his notice during the initial announcement for the ball and prefect dance, because Being Prefect hadn't been something he really had identified with yet during the Opening Feast, but now it was all too clear: he was going to have to ask someone to dance.

Evelyn, in all likelihood. If he dared to try and ask her. He didn't want to make things weird between them. His next best choices were Ness - and that could also potentially make things weird with Evelyn- or Hilda, and frankly, he didn't want to ask his sister - or any of her strangely large number of friends - to dance with him. Maybe he could just quietly decline to participate. The teachers at the last prefect meeting had said that was an option if necessary.

He hadn't quite decided to go that route yet, though. He might still drum up enough courage to ask Evelyn, if nobody else had yet. He could at least ask if she already had a date when they met up later. If she did, that made his decision to bow out of dancing easier.

Heinrich stood on Main Street, still without a partner, but close enough to one of the teachers that it was clear that he was still just deciding what to do with himself rather than intentionally breaking rules. He had some coin with him, enough that he could do some of the museums or buy some snacks later, but he was saving that for when he went around with Evelyn, in case either of those things were what she wanted to do.

For now, he was content to just stand around watching different scenery to what he normally got to see. A brief running reenactment of a runaway stage careening down the street held his attention for a few minutes, and he clapped as the ghost actors got everything settled down again and gave their bows.

He glanced around him. He'd been diverted for long enough that most of his schoolmates seemed to have found partners and wandered off into the various shops or to another part of town. He was just starting to panic that he was breaking the rules by not having a partner already when he saw Cleo come out of the owl post office, and he let out a breath of relief. He didn't know Cleo well at all, she was a seventh year, so they'd only shared a class for one year, when she'd been his current age, but she was one of the other prefects, so she should at least know his name as well as he knew hers. And best, she didn't seem to have a partner yet either.

As he got closer though, he almost peeled off to find another group to attach himself to. She seemed like she'd maybe got bad news from the post.

But running away was bad wolf. He was a prefect. (She was one too, and older than him besides, so she wasn't technically his responsibility, but that was not morally relevant. She was upset, he was supposed to help other students when they were upset. That was his job. He liked that that was part of his job. It was all very unambiguously good wolf.)

So he kept approaching, trying simultaneously not to startle her and yet not disturb her. So he made sure he scrapped his foot in the dirt so it made a dragging sound, and gave her time to tell him to get lost, and then asked, "Do you need an ice cream?"

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister Sometimes bad ideas happen. It is more important that your intentions are not bad. 1414 0 5

Mab

March 31, 2020 6:10 PM

Does spending fey money have repercussions like eating fey food does? by Mab

Mab had not come on the first trip to Tumbleweed that year. She had regretted that even before everyone came back, so this time she got on the car-thing that was more like a bus-thing, but wasn't really that either. Apparently for all their skills in mimicry in other areas, imitating technology was not a skill the Fey had in abundance. Which was fine, because this was better than any bus she'd ever ridden in before.

Bel had given her a pouch of fey coins and told her to buy something to wear at the ball. This had taken her a bit by surprise as she'd been planning to just wear one of her nicer outfits that she'd been given last summer. The black skirt and purple blouse set, for example, was already nicer than anything she'd ever owned before. What did she need with a fancy dress? It wasn't like she had anyone she wanted to impress here.

Also, the pouch felt heavy in her pocket, because she didn't know what the coins meant, how much they were worth in real money. Was it just spare change or was it a small fortune? It just looked like a handful of coins, but the Fey didn't have paper money at all, so everything was counted in coins, and the exchange rate was pretty crazy, if she remembered correctly, so she might be toting around like a hundred dollars or something and that was all kinds of terrifying. What if someone stole it?

She wrapped her fingers around it to make sure she didn't drop it accidentally or give any would-be-thieves an opening. She looked around at the crowd of students around her suspiciously. Did any of them know she had Fey coin on her person? Actually, come to think of it, probably most of them did, too. This whole venture was basically touted as a shopping trip.

Then there was the other problem: should she spend Bel's money? Would spending it invoke some kind of Fey Bargain or Fey Debt between them? Was it as dangerous as eating Fey food?

Of course, she'd been eating Fey food for months, so that was kind of a bad example.

Maybe it would be okay. But she wasn't allowed to go anywhere without a buddy and she didn't think she could take that much close contact with Theo or even Leonor if she didn't have to. She looked around a little helplessly, hoping for a better option to present themself.

1 Mab Does spending fey money have repercussions like eating fey food does? 1473 0 5

Gary Harper

March 31, 2020 6:31 PM

Breaktime (Tag Conner) by Gary Harper

This term had gotten a bit crazy, and it was pretty much all his fault. He had slacked off last year and was paying for it now. The future was looming quickly before him, and he wasn't ready for it. Not by a longshot. Between the normal classwork, researching employment options, figuring out requirements, running the D&D game, learning how to dance, making other preparations for the ball, and everything else that seemed to keep cropping up, Gary was swamped. He'd purposely come on this trip to get away from it all for a little bit. He didn't even bring any of his notebooks with him. Well, alright, he had his small pocket sized tablet to jot down anything that seemed important but that hardly counted.

He had decided to take the floo route to Tumbleweed. He was a sixth year at this point and was soon to be thrown out into magical society. He needed to get the hang of it all. He had planned to hang out with Conner initially. As always, Jasmine had been his first thought, but she was off dress shopping and he was pretty sure he didn't want any part of that. It would be nice to just hang out with her a bit. He hadn't actually seen a lot of her lately and the times they had were mostly concerned with schoolwork or ball plans.

The plan was to check out some of the historic stuff around town and maybe the museum. Maybe he'd get some cool ideas for a Deadlands game or some other western type game. He wandered in that general direction as the students dispersed from the arrival locations keeping an eye out for Conner and he moved through the crowds. He stopped to watch the ghosts put on a reenactment, and finally spotted Conner as the scene wrapped up. He waved, "Hey Conner. How goes it?"

2 Gary Harper Breaktime (Tag Conner) 1404 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

March 31, 2020 7:06 PM

I can't speak to #1, but if #2 is true then we're both doomed. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Tumbleweed was a great place to people watch. And ghost watch as it turned out, which sort of made Alexander feel like he had lost his mind all over again. This was an ongoing struggle for him and he sort of just assumed he was never going to be able to tell for sure so he might as well try to enjoy these things. However, it also was a very public place with lots of opportunity to lose things or drop things or any number of other things.

Crowds had never been Alexander's favorite simply because there was too much that could go wrong in a crowd. He preferred to be on the outside, where he could sit and watch and think and draw. He was certainly working on a comic of Nathaniel and Professor Xavier (because Nathan) as superheroes except that they pretended to be the same person. The big problem with Superman and stuff was that no one saw him and Clark Kent in the same place at the same time. So naturally, if there were two people who took turns being Clark Kent and being Superman, then no one would be able to figure it out.

He did not plan to show this to anyone because that was weird.

Alexander decided to take the Floo thingy this time because why not? He was already losing his mind, or this was real, so he might as well go burst into flames, or travel to Tumbleweed. He thought it was a bit like reverse Santa Claus for a minute, but then he arrived at the other end and decided that it was just like regular Santa Claus on that side. Then a horrifying thought struck him that maybe that was because Santa was a wizard, and then he wasn't sure what exactly the root cause of his swirling stomach was.

He had left Barnabus in his dorm (because crowds) and was beginning to regret it. He clutched his bag to his chest, protective of the notebook and pencils within. He had left his quill behind too because who the heck brought feathers around with them? But also because ink was messy and he would prefer not to ink his drawings until later when he had something sturdier than his lap to work on.

To his surprise, and greater relief than he would have admitted had anyone asked (but no one ever asked), he wasn't the only one clutching at their possessions with the look of vague discomfort and disbelief on their face. Another first year, a girl Alexander recognized but hadn't actually spoken to (which was weird because there were like three students in the whole school) was standing by herself, looking around with searching eyes. Except she didn't really seem to be looking for something specific.

Alexander thought of when he was last in Tumbleweed and he'd been looking around with that same expression. He wasn't trying to find anything specific, just the right place to sit for a while. Since he didn't know what the right place looked like, he couldn't look for it specifically. Perhaps this girl - he was pretty sure her name was Mab, because he was pretty good at names - was also looking for anything, rather than look for something. Well, anyone rather than someone.

Alexander was an anyone, and before he could really decide whether he wanted to approach, he found that he already had. "Hi," he said, his mouth flat and his eyes neutral. He had literally nothing to lose from this interaction, so whatever happened was a win. He also wasn't terribly invested as a result and if she told him to fiddle off, he would do just that. "I don't have a buddy."

Ugh, what terrible wording. Why did they have to be called buddies? Except it was true. Alexander was pretty sure he also didn't have a buddy (the friend kind) in addition to not having a buddy (the Tumbleweed kind). Well, at least this Pecari would impress him; the bar was on the ground and she looked like she could jump.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales I can't speak to #1, but if #2 is true then we're both doomed. 1475 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

March 31, 2020 9:46 PM

Dann essen wir Eis. by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Kai led the way and Johana Leonie followed. She knew where the ice cream . . . parlor? Was that the word he used? Johana Leonie knew where the ice cream place was but realized she didn't actually care half as much about eating ice cream as she did about getting to walk around someplace exciting with her new friend.

Truth be told, Johana Leonie had motives. She had spent far too long wanting a boy to ask her to the ball, wanting a boyfriend, wanting something to not notice when a possibility came on the scene. That being said, she didn't actually want to be a weirdo, and she was much more invested in this friendship than she had anticipated. So she was perfectly happy to walk around with Malikhi Hill and see what came of it. Maybe she'd marry him and they'd have a bunch of kids. Maybe they'd be friends for the next two weeks and that was it. But she thought her parents would be proud of her if she married an American boy.

"I know chocolate," she said, wrinkling her eyebrows as they walked. "And waffle. I'm not . . . I don't . . " She searched his face and her vocabulary at the same time, trying to think about what chocolate waffles had to do with ice cream. She was pretty sure he'd said some other words, but she couldn't quite tell.

As they walked, Johana Leonie thought that maybe it was reasonable to ask him about his background, because he knew about hers by default and she was curious. Also, he was generally pretty easy to understand but she'd like to know more about why he sounded different. "You talk not the same like other students," she said, trying to find the right words. She had a limited understanding of what constituted offensive here, let alone wherever Kai was from. That being said, they had spent enough time together that he was probably pretty used to her idiosyncracies by now. "You come off England? Other Land?" The German word for 'country' was, conveniently enough, an English word that meant basically the same thing.

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen Dann essen wir Eis. 1432 0 5

Cleo James

April 01, 2020 6:44 AM

It's mostly other people who suck, to be honest by Cleo James

Cleo’s head snapped up like a small, startled animal on the lookout at the slightest boot crunch of an approach. She watched warily, the first thought coming into her mind being ‘Oh crud, he’s a prefect.’ Then she remembered that she knew this from seeing him in the prefect lounge. Cos she was one too. Though possibly that made it even worse that she was breaking a rule.

Heinrich was on the list of ‘unknown’ people and therefore pretty much untrusted. This was really not a small list, and Cleo might have started to think that she was going to have to start dividing that up a bit. Except regarding everyone with cold, hard suspicion until it proved to be unnecessary was working out pretty well so far. She hadn’t been hurt again. Except just now - where she’d dared tried being in the world exposing herself again to people.

“What?” she blinked, when he said something that sounded a lot like whether she needed ice cream. In spite of his accent, she was pretty sure she’d heard right. After the momentary surprise, she vaguely took this to be ‘do you want to go get ice cream?’ as… well, it was doubtful he had any in his bag and… well, that was a thing to ask someone, even if a bit random.

“I need a partner,” she acknowledged, standing up straight from the wall though not moving particularly closer to him. “We can do that, if you want,” she shrugged. She wasn’t exactly feeling hungry but not having to make any kind of decision or endure an awkward conversation about what they were going to do were plus points. Even if going off with a strange boy very, very much was not. They were in crowded, well supervised places though. So long as it stayed that way, it was probably fine.

She briefly considered telling him that if he touched her, she would set him on fire.

It was true. And seemed better for both of them to give him fair warning. But it was not a normal person thing to say. That might have ranked lower on her list of reasons to care except his mere presence had reminded her about the part where they were both supposed to be role models.

“It’s Heinrich, right?” she said instead, more or less unnecessarily. His name was weird enough that she’d had to listen repeatedly to be sure she’d got it. The vowels sloshed a little off their proper places when she said it, and the end sound was replaced with a solid ‘k’ rather than the more fricative sound it should have been, but it was recognisably his name, unlike the several times she’d called the Teppenpaw sixth prefect ‘Damian.’

13 Cleo James It's mostly other people who suck, to be honest 389 0 5

Ness McLeod

April 01, 2020 7:17 AM

That is, indeed, what I was getting at by Ness McLeod

“I like it,” Ness commented, slightly surprised by the certainty with which this insight could be offered. “It’s you colours, and it’s… You look like you but in a prom dress,” the Aladren tried to articulate, hoping the emphasis was clear that both of those elements made it a good thing. Ness hadn’t wanted Evelyn to stop looking like Evelyn. This dress seemed to accentuate the Evelyn-ness, just in a formal way.

“Can-ish,” Ness cautioned, when Evelyn mentioned adjusting it. “It’s like the librarian’s son said in that fashion lecture - there’s only so much you can pull things about by magic, especially when you don’t know what you’re doing. I mean, it’s probably a simple alteration? But you might be better finding something that you just like. It’s definitely going to be safer.”

Evelyn went to get changed, and Ness flicked through the racks a little bit whilst waiting to be called over to inspect dress number two. It was the fidgety, aimless kind of flicking though. Ness still couldn’t really picture what the ideal outfit was gonna look like.

Evelyn emerged in the cat dress, looking much more casual but also twirlier.

“Darn, that was going to be my decider,” Ness sighed dramatically when Evelyn revealed both gowns had pockets. “I mean… it’s the same as it was before. Prom vs weirdo. You’re twirling in that one though,” Ness observed. Evelyn seemed lighter and happier and just… wanted to Be when she was wearing that. “Like, you seem happier in it. Just… will you still be if you’re the only one wearing something like that, and everyone else is wearing something like the first one? I’m not saying you shouldn’t be,” Ness added hastily, even though this probably barely needed clarifying. Ness as The Conformity Police was a pretty laughable idea. “Just… know what you’re signing up for. We’re only doing this once,” the Aladren added, in case Evelyn hadn’t done the maths, “At Sonora anyway. I’m sure there’ll be other chances in life to wear fancy-pants dresses. And rainbow cat ones. There’s weddings, there’s Pride. There’s charity galas, there’s gay wedddings. Which person do you wanna be for this dance?”

13 Ness McLeod That is, indeed, what I was getting at 1419 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

April 01, 2020 9:14 AM

There are many bad wolves out there. by Heinrich Hexenmeister

She did not seem very sold on the ice cream. If you needed ice cream, it was often much more apparent than Cleo was showing. But she did admit she needed a partner, and Heinrich needed a partner, so this worked out well enough. He nodded in confirmation of his name, which was no more mangled than what he did to other people's names on a regular basis.

"I also need a partner, but I do not need ice cream if you do not," he offered, in case she had a better idea, and she was only agreeing because she thought he wanted some. "I thought you might have gotten bad news," he gave a nod toward the owl post. "Sometimes ice cream helps." He had found this to be true during the endless series of bad news that came out of Germany during his parents' trial. He was not sure if it was the cold that just numbed things, or if it was the sugar that pushed an artificial high, or some combination of both, but chocolate ice cream had gotten him through the worst of it. "The chocolate flavor is the most effective against bad news," he stated with an amount of certainty that could only have come from experience. Chocolate ice cream not only had the synergistic combination of numbing cold and sugar, but it also had chocolate, which was the recommended treatment for dealing with terrible things like Dementors.

He pointed down Main Street. "The saloon has ice cream," he stated, also with the confidence of experience. "If you want some. Or we can watch reenactments. There was one with a stage coach a minute ago, but I think there are more. I have read about the Old West since our last trip here. I have a better context for its history this time. For example, I now understand the humor of selling ice cream in a saloon," he added in a dry, slightly self-deprecating, tone of voice, as he almost, but not quite, broke out a tiny smile. It touched his eyes if not his mouth anyway.

He now understood that a saloon was a kind of American West alcohol bar, and it was neither the name of the ice cream shop nor had Americans taken ice cream bars to a whole new level. It was a joke. And he got it now. He wondered how many other subtle stabs at the town's history he had missed last time. Any that might have been hidden in the sports fields were lost to time now, but Tumbleweed was mostly back to its normal state for this trip, other than the influx of Sonora students, so the more permanent reminders of its history would at least not be overshadowed by Quidditch exhibitions.

The not-quite-there smile faded quickly as he looked down the street toward the saloon again. If Cleo had received bad news she did not want to talk about, it might be hard for her to admit she wanted the ice cream now. So maybe he ought to push it a little? "I have CATS in a few weeks. Maybe some chocolate ice cream would be good for both of us. You are a seventh year, with RATS, yes? Are the CATS as bad as the teachers make them out to be?" He did have some genuine anxiety about the coming tests, but the question was equally as much to give Cleo something different to think and talk about if she needed a safer topic, as it was to give them a less traumatic reason to eat ice cream.

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister There are many bad wolves out there. 1414 0 5

Mab

April 01, 2020 9:46 AM

Doomed is right. We are totally doomed. by Mab

Mab knew all of her classmates' names. Names were important. This was true for humans, and doubly so for Fey. The one who approached her first was Alexander. She knew little about him other than that he was also a first year, and that he belonged to Teppenpaw. Teppenpaw was for the social fey who valued togetherness. Aladren was for the clever fey who valued intellect and cunning. Crotalus was for the strategic fey who upheld deals. (Bel's mother Amelia came from this lot, which was why Mab was as worried about the hidden catches of using Bel's money as she was.) She wasn't entirely clear what Pecari's unifying value was. She was a Pecari Theo was a Pecari. Leonor was a Pecari. Even Foster Cousin Ben was a Pecari. She had no idea what the four of them had in common. The brochures said adventure and adaptability, but she wasn't really convinced after meeting real Pecaris and going there herself.

Pecari might just be the catch all for 'everyone who doesn't fit the other categories'.

Maybe the other Houses were like that, too, but she just didn't know them well enough.

But 'social fey who values togetherness' was what she had to base her impression of Alexander upon. It was the least scary of the fey Houses, really. At least she didn't have to immediately be on her guard about being outsmarted or making a binding deal. Which was not to say other fey didn't do those things, so she still had to be careful, of course, but it wasn't going to be Alexander's defining characteristic.

"Hi," she returned his greeting, equally neutral. "I need a partner as well." And then she giggled because a pair of ghost cowboys walked past them just them, and 'partner' had an entirely different connotation in these circumstances. "So pardner," she continued, trying to force her Boston accent into a Western one, "how you fixin' to spend yer day?"

1 Mab Doomed is right. We are totally doomed. 1473 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

April 01, 2020 10:22 AM

Might as well enjoy it then. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Mab giggled. Alexander couldn't be totally sure because he didn't watch her all the time because he wasn't a weirdo, but he was pretty sure that he had never seen her giggle before. Maybe she did when she was in her dorm or something and he mostly just saw her in class, where there was arguably not very much to giggle about, so he just wasn't around for it. Or maybe he had breakfast on his face and she was laughing at him. He resisted the urge to check, deciding it was more likely that her giggle was because of her pun. Giggling in the face of a pun whilst watching a pair of cowboy ghosts go by definitely seemed like a Pecari trait.

More than that though, Mab was playing with him. He'd mostly played by himself before, with only a few odd exceptions. One family that he'd lived with for a while had had several young children, even younger than he was, so he'd been mostly tasked with keeping them occupied during the day. That hadn't lasted long, but it was about the extent of Alexander's play time. To his surprise, he felt a deep urge to play, too. Play along, play back, play around.

He lowered his bag to free his hands, which he put on his hips as he widened his stance. Except now he had to answer her question and 'ideally by doing nothing at all' seemed like a lame answer at this point. His accent was undoubtedly going to be terrible, but he tried his best for old western and replied: "Word has it that this here town's got the best dang soda this side of the . . . Rockies." He wasn't actually sure where Tumbleweed fell geographically, but he was pretty sure it wasn't directly in the Rockies, so it was possible either way. "Saloon's a good way for a couple sheriffs to spend their afternoon. Whaddya think?"

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales Might as well enjoy it then. 1475 0 5

Mab

April 01, 2020 11:08 AM

That's right. Laugh at the doom. by Mab

Mab let herself grin at Alexander because unlike with Evelyn, it was appropriately in character. "A soda at the saloon sounds right good," she agreed, her accent every bit as atrocious as his, if not more because she was fighting Boston habits.

She let the western dialogue drop for a second as she added in an aside, "I feel like we should have hats. Are we allowed to use magic to transfigure things here, or is underage magic bad again?" Bel had said it wasn't allowed at home, only at school, but they weren't at home. It was still the school year, still a school sanctioned activity, but they were not technically at school either.

Well, it wasn't like her ability to transfigure hats was all that great anyway. She'd probably end up with something floppy instead of the Western ten gallon she was going for. But it would be good to know one way or the other whether she could even make the attempt.

She squeezed her hand around the pouch of fey money. Hats were not what Bel gave her the money for. Neither was soda. But it had sounded like there was enough in there to purchase a dress and a few trinkets if she wanted anything. It hadn't sounded like hats or soda were forbidden. But after today, was there any reason why she'd ever want a cowboy hat again? Probably not. And stealing one was definitely forbidden. Bel had made that very very clear.

Mab was on strict orders not to steal anything.

And since she was probably the only Sonora student with A Criminal Record, she'd be Suspect #1 if anything got stolen.

Besides, Alexander cast them as Sheriffs. Wearing a stolen hat would be entirely out of character.

So, stealing one was off the table.

Even though there was a street vendor right there selling some cheap touristy cowboy hats and he wasn't even looking this way right now. She could just . . .

No. She shook her head and the black hat that had started to float up off the display rack dropped back down into its normal resting spot. Bel said no stealing. And Alexander was a sheriff and he was right next to her. She wanted a soda with him, not for him to drag her off to jail. That was a different game entirely, and not one he had signed up for.

Right. Sodas. She strode past the hat seller without another sideways look. "My throat is parched, pardner."

1 Mab That's right. Laugh at the doom. 1473 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 01, 2020 11:12 AM

purrs in queer by Evelyn Stones

Which person do you want to be for this dance?

Evelyn knew the answer because it sprang to mind unbidden as soon as Ness asked the question. That didn't make it an easier answer to digest. There were some things that were simple - I want to be pretty, I want to be practical, I want to have pockets - but others were not so easy - I want to be fierce, I want to be the sort of person that no one would mess with, I want to inspire people. Those seemed like lofty goals for a fifteen-year-old at a school dance. But as Ness said, this was their only shot. Life after Sonora was a big question mark right now, and Evelyn's one and only chance to be fierce and beautiful and everything she wanted to be was wrapped up in this one night. That was way too much pressure. But it did help make the decision for her.

She nodded thoughtfully and returned to the dressing room to put her regular clothes back on, sans the robe. Emerging, she hung up the rainbow cat dress on the rack, the blue and orange one draped over her arm. She smiled at Ness, feeling a little silly for making such a big deal of this.

"I'm that person everyday," she said, pointing with her chin at the dress she'd put away. "Just this one night, I want to be the most fierce, fancy version of me I can be. That means blue and orange I think." Evelyn had been wearing orange lipstick when she'd met Ness and that seemed simultaneously very far away and very recently. "The only thing that I didn't like about it was that it felt like . . . bigger than me. More important than me. But I think I want to be important on the night of the Ball." Evelyn cocked her head, smiling at her best friend in the world and thinking that she was easily the luckiest girl at Sonora. "Thanks for making me feel like I can be," she said.

Taking a deep, settling breath, Evelyn grinned. "Now your turn. Here, or someplace else?" she asked.

22 Evelyn Stones *purrs in queer* 1422 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 01, 2020 11:49 AM

We've got history. [Heinrich.] by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn had a dress. Evelyn had a dress! Feeling giddy, she made her way back to the arrival area to put her dress in the trunk of the weird extendo car. She cast one last look over it, wondering if adulthood felt anything like this moment, before turning around and heading back to where she was planning to meet Heinrich.

She reminded herself of what she'd reminded herself when she was with Ness: it was okay if Heinrich didn't ask her to the Ball because they were good friends and that was the most important thing. A horrible thought had crossed her mind that he might ask her because he needed a partner, and then still not actually like her at all and she would make a fool of herself not realizing the difference. All in all, it was best to just not think about such things. Evelyn was going to spend time with her friend, and he was wonderful, and that was the important thing.

Evelyn got to the Town Hall area first, and took the opportunity to grab a few brochures and identify the free and inexpensive things to do around town. There was a frontier museum that looked promising, not least of all because it meant they could still chat - which they couldn't do as easily on a walking tour with a group - but also had something more to do than stare at each other. She was perfectly happy to stare at him, but that seemed a little intense.

It struck Evelyn again that Heinrich had never seen a movie. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood... it didn't mean anything to him. She wondered what the town of Tumbleweed felt like to someone who had probably never seen an old west town before. Sure, Evelyn hadn't seen one in person, but this was a bit like stepping into a drive-in movie screen and that provided an extra layer of fun. At the same time, what it must be like to see it all for the first time as a totally real, not cinematic thing. Yes, a museum would be perfect.

She was smiling when she turned around to find Heinrich approaching, and she waved excitedly. "Great to see you," she said, meeting him halfway. "I found a museum I thought we might enjoy," she added, holding the pamphlet up for him to read if he wanted to.

22 Evelyn Stones We've got history. [Heinrich.] 1422 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

April 01, 2020 12:03 PM

That is generally the best approach. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Mab had a great grin and Alexander found himself actually smiling in return. It wasn't the sort of full expression of joy that she was displaying, but it was much more than he normally displayed.

"I'm not sure," he replied honestly. He thought for a moment and noticed that Mab seemed to be, too. At some point, she must have made a decision because she turned and headed off in the direction of the saloon. He was glad she seemed up for a soda because he'd felt really silly asking. He also had very limited pocket change, so he was glad when he turned around that he realized she must have been trying to decide whether to purchase a hat. Since she was walking decidedly past the booth, Alexander figured she must have decided against it.

Moving quickly so as not to get too far behind, Alexander reached in his bag and ripped two blank sheets of paper out of his notebook. Running up to the nearest staff person - Professor Brooding-Hawthorne - he asked for her help. With a smile and a flick of the wand, she managed it and he thanked her with a breathless chirp before darting back after Mab. He suspected that Professor Skies or Professor Wright would have been the better choice, but it seemed like all adults were reasonably decent at most forms of magic, so he wasn't too worried.

"Here," he said, holding out one of the identical cowboy hats out to her. "Professor Brooding can do it, even if we can't." Donning his own, he wondered for a moment what it would look like if the enchantment wore off and they turned back into paper. He doubted that would happen but wasn't sure if Transfiguration was like WiFi and depended on distance from the source. Guess they'd find out. "Let's get that thirst quenched," he told her as they continued towards the saloon. "Also, 'parched' sounds like 'parchment' and I won't be able to get that out of my head next time I have to write an essay."

OOC - I also write Professor Brooding-Hawthorne, so that wasn't godmodding. :)

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales That is generally the best approach. 1475 0 5

Zara Jackson

April 01, 2020 10:22 PM

Yup! by Zara Jackson

Zara was looking forward to a chill day in Tumbleweed. She had got her ball dress sorted over midterm so would not to scrum it out with the rest of Sonora's students in the few dress shops or pop ups that Tumbleweed had to offer.

It had been a sort of fun sibling bonding experience, picking her dress. She had never felt like she was particularly similar to either of her siblings, and being away from home had only emphasised the distance. Eva had always been a real beauty queen though, and so as a guide to the world of all things ballgown, she had been excellent. Even if Zara suspected she was a little jealous of the whole thing.

It had even evolved into whole make up sampling and demos, and things that tested the limits of Zara's patience. It wasn't that she didn't like a bit of sparkle but she drew the line at anything that took forever. Regular hair care took enough time - time that could be spent outside with the sun on your skin or a friend by your side. Still, she'd let Eva play. When hair and make-up became social, they were easier to put up with, and she'd really been having a good time with her sister. She would be recreating maybe one fifth of the effort that Eva had made for the actual ball, but she was looking forward to it.

She was looking forward to Felipe seeing her all fancied up.

Okay, yeah, it was for her, not for him. She would be rocking what made her feel good. But he was always good for a compliment, and seemed to think she was the actual sunshine when she just wore jeans and a hoodie. She kind of wanted to see if his eyes would literally pop out of his head if she looked fierce enough.

She hoped/assumed they would be hanging out at the ball. She hadn't heard anything either directly or on the gossip vine that implied otherwise. She wondered whether she ought to make sure though, in case there was a last minute flurry of people trying to snap up dates. She knew what people said about assuming.

First though, there was just a nice day of being out and about and enjoying the world around them. As the groups gathered, she spotted Felipe. He was, as per usual, kinda tense. Though she thought she had seen him more often lately trying to look like he wasn't (even when he still was). She made her way up behind him, hearing his voice softly counting, the pattern recognisable as numbers even if the words weren't - until he switched for a few into English.

"How many languages are you counting in?" she asked, the rest having blurred into just 'unfamiliar' to her but knowing that the possibility was 'several.' "And what happens when you get to one hundred?"

13 Zara Jackson Yup! 1444 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

April 02, 2020 12:04 AM

Like you. (is that right?) by Felipe De Matteo

Felipe breathed a sigh of relief through the sheepish smile that jumped to his face as he turned to the beautiful familiar voice behind him. "Four," he told her, a little surprised that they didn't sound distinct enough to tell. Perhaps she'd only just approached. Perhaps they just didn't sound that distinct if you didn't know them all. He blushed a little at her second question, trying to decide how much to tell her. His new thing was being honest and genuine - which was seriously friggin' hard by the way - and so he took a breath and shrugged, feeling shy. "At forty-five, I was going to count myself out as a lost cause try to find someone other than you to hang out with today," he admitted. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to hang out, but I was really hoping you did."

It was always easier to be around Zara than Felipe thought it was going to be, and he realized it was probably because being alone was so much harder. When he was alone, it wasn't hard to question everything about everything and start spiraling into his fears about why someone like Zara would want to spend time with him. When he was alone, the world was dark and he was blocking out the stars. That was the way with stars though; even small stars (and Zara was kind of small) lit up the world when they were as close as the sun.

The next breath he took was easier and his sheepish smile turned into something a little closer to giddy, although he was still generally composed. "I had an idea, if you want," he said, cocking his head and raising a questioning eyebrow. "I want to go to the market." It felt so wrong to say what he wanted like that. For a moment, he thought of telling her that he wanted to get her something, but that was simply not how things were done. Plus, she probably wouldn't be honest about what she was interested in that way and this way he could just watch her to see what she was interested in. "But only if you want to and if you have other ideas, we can definitely do that instead. Did you . . . need to go shopping today? For anything specific?"

22 Felipe De Matteo Like you. (is that right?) 1434 0 5

Malikhi Hill

April 02, 2020 5:29 AM

Ice, ice, baby? by Malikhi Hill

Malikhi laughed a little as he listened to Hana try and make sense of what he'd said. He supposed that to somebody who didn't speak English fluently, 'chocolate-dipped waffle cones' was quite the phrase to tackle. Nonetheless, to Malikhi, it was an important phrase that somebody should learn (because when it came to ice cream, they were best cones to choose) and as Hana's friend, it was his job to enlighten the girl as to what he meant.

"Chocolate-dipped waffle cones..." he said again, more slowly so she could hear each word clearly. "So, when you get an ice cream, there's a cone that the ice cream sits in, yes?" he asked her, trying to also pair his words with hand gestures. "The hard biscuit thing. These can be dipped in chocolate so the top of them has chocolate all around the edge. Then, sometimes, the cone can be printed with the pattern of a waffle - so it's all squares, you know?"

Malikhi was pretty sure that has hand gestures were not helping his explanation at all and probably just served to make the whole thing more confusing than it actually was. He'd never had to explain this before, in England or America so this whole experience was a brand new one. That wasn't a bad thing. New experiences were good (provided that obviously, they weren't bad ones) and he was finding the whole thing quite funny. He was sure he looked like quite the clown, with his gestures.

In the end he sighed and swept back his hair from his face, the action a fruitless one given that each strand immediately fell back into place once he let go. "It doesn't really matter what they are. They're just delicious. You'll see."

He smiled a little when she asked him about his accent, though somewhat indirectly. Why he 'sounded different'. He mused that that was a pretty good way of putting it. He'd long since gotten used to the sound of 'American' around him and some American phrases had started to slip into his vocabulary that he often forgot that he himself didn't sound the same.

"I'm British," he replied, clarifying. "From England, originally. I nearly went to school there but my Aunt thought I should experience a different culture and persuaded my mother to send me here."

He said little more than that and deliberately skirted around any mention of his father. It was a nice day and he was with a nice person and he didn't want or need dark memories of the past barging in and messing everything up.

"What about you? Why were you sent here?"

20 Malikhi Hill Ice, ice, baby? 1423 0 5

Jean-Loup Arceneaux

April 02, 2020 6:28 AM

Am I the bad guy? (Tag Dorian) by Jean-Loup Arceneaux

Jean-Loup leant against the outside wall of the saloon, biting at the skin around his fingernails and wondering how bad an idea it was to be there. Thinking back to the Floo call a couple of weeks ago.

Peering up out of the flames, he saw Dorian for the first time since That Day. It was too low a bar to set to say he looked better than he had then. After all, the last time he’d seen Dorian, he’d been bleeding and terrified. He had done his best to push that image out of his mind. To think, when he thought of Dorian, of sunlight through the summer house windows, lightening his hair so it stopped looking black. Of deep brown eyes searching his face, looking like he couldn’t believe his luck when Jean-Loup was staring back thinking exactly the same thing… The person in front of him now wasn’t either of those. Not the fresh-in-the-aftermath Dorian, nor the sweet, best memories that he had of him. He looked sad and defeated.

It helped that he knew Tatiana was on his side. It helped in a lot of ways. Firstly, he was significantly less in danger of getting his head mounted on a spike simply for being here. For another… it just helped. Having someone to talk to. She was Dorian’s friend, and he couldn’t offload all his woes onto her, but someone else knew he existed and wanted that to continue. Someone knew what Dorian meant to him and didn’t hate him for it.

Dorian had apologised about Valentine’s Day, and Jean-Loup had forgiven him. It had hurt, and there was a part of him that still had every cause to be concerned about what it meant. But it was clear that Dorian was a mess. About what had happened. About his Mama. About what to do next.
She also knew that he had screwed up - in Dorian’s eyes. She didn’t think so. It helped to know that he wasn’t completely crazy for not being totally sorry for what he had done. Sorry it had hurt Dorian, of course. Sorry that he had got himself banished, definitely. Sorry about the actual act of driving his fist into Matthieu Montoir’s homophobic, self-satisfied face?

About them.

He was going to hope he did not have to look his boyfriend in the eye and answer that. He knew better than to lie, which left him stuck with the answer that Dorian didn’t seem to like very much.
He was less sure about the Professor. From Tatiana’s letters, it sort of sounded like she’d told Dorian to dump him. However, Tatiana’s letters sometimes were a little.. Challenging. He wasn’t going to assume the worst, but he really thought he’d prefer it if he could avoid Professor Brooding until he’d straightened at least that point out with Dorian. Preferably rather more than that too...

He knew that. He’d been warned. But he had tried it anyway. Had tried to tell Dorian that it was okay that he felt like he was falling apart. That he would hold him together. That he had known what it was like to feel hopeless. And then he’d found Dorian. And that didn’t mean it was forever his responsibility to be the one who carried them, because that pressure - to be the perfect one, the one who believed in all the good things, seemed to be panicking Dorian and Jean-Loup knew exactly why. But maybe now it could be Jean-Loup’s turn to be Dorian’s light at the end of the tunnel.

It had hurt, beyond anything he thought he could have imagined, to know that he was regarded as the bad guy. Or a bad guy, anyway. There were a few. But to be lumped in and numbered among them… It had helped that he’d had Tatiana’s letter to warn him that was coming. In the Floo call, when Dorian had finally said it, he’d been able to keep a lid on his feelings. Not to the point that he hadn’t argued it, hadn’t begged for Dorian to see it differently but he had not gone to pieces when he had said it.

How can you be the light when you’re part of the darkness?

He’d done it later. When he had regained the privacy of his own space. And so many nights since. He could take the weight, if Dorian would let him. He didn’t need Dorian to be better, and to talk about the future with sweet, unguarded optimism. He could take over being the one to believe in that, for a bit. But only if Dorian was still on board with getting there. It was one thing to believe it wasn’t possible because society was going to kick you down and never let you have it. It was a different problem entirely if Dorian wasn’t sure he wanted it with him any more.

Dorian had agreed to see him though. Writing letters had been torture. The Floo call, though it hadn’t gone well, had at least removed the agonising wait in between exchanges, in which feelings spiralled. He had to hope that had been the poison being sucked from the wound. And that seeing each other in person - being able to touch, to smell, to comfort - maybe it could start to heal.

The same person he’d seen from the fire was making his way down the street. Coming over without the sparkle in his eye when he looked at him.

“Can I give you a hug?” Jean-Loup asked sadly, asking both because there were a substantial number of other people around and because he wasn’t sure right now whether his boyfriend was going to accept that from him.

13 Jean-Loup Arceneaux Am I the bad guy? (Tag Dorian) 1506 Jean-Loup Arceneaux 0 5

Dorian Montoir

April 02, 2020 7:23 AM

It's complicated by Dorian Montoir

On a practical level, Dorian was ready to see his boyfriend. ‘On a practical level’ consisted entirely of having got Professor Brooding’s permission, prior to the trip, to spend the time with a non-Sonora partner. She had said it was fine, so long as he checked in periodically.

That just left… everything else.

The conversation with Jean-Loup had not been great. He felt like they’d ended up being angry and hurtful, and he had wanted to keep any more of that from happening. He had to admit, it had gone better than anything was going with Mama at the moment. At least Jean-Loup was listening. She kept writing back to his letters with details of what was going on with Matthieu. With assurances that everything was fine. Going to be fine. Going to be able to go back to normal.

He had snapped several times. Written ‘And what about the fact that I AM GAY?’ Screwed it up. Thrown it in the fireplace.

He wondered whether he was holding back because he didn’t want to fight for him and Jean-Loup. Or just because it was too hard right now. Because he had no idea how to get her to listen. Because it all just hurt too much when he thought she might not accept it.

And that was kind of the crux… He wanted to put his life back together, but he had no idea what order to start picking up the pieces in. And he kept coming back to Professor Xavier’s point. What if they didn’t fit any more? There had been supposed to be a sense of optimism there, he recalled - logic said that how they had been had not been great. But it was a lot of pressure to work out what he wanted to make out of them instead.

Jean-Loup wanted Dorian to choose him.

Dorian was trying not to say that he wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground and have the earth close over his head. He didn’t. Not really. He didn’t want to end so defeated when everyone kept promising it wouldn’t feel this way forever. But he didn’t know what else to wish for, seeing as ‘everything back how it was’ was a bad idea, and that brought them back round to him having to work out what the answer was. He wished he knew.

He was so nervous about seeing Jean-Loup. What did that mean? You weren’t supposed to feel that about the person you loved. But did he really, or was it just everything else making him feel that way? It was like his sense of his own feelings had been scrambled. Like his ears had been jinxed, and he could still hear but whether it was pleasant music or discordant noise escaped him. Only with emotions instead. Something was constantly firing. His brain was jolted with the electric signal of Feeling, but he couldn’t say what it was.

It amped up a notch as he caught sight of Jean-Loup.

This was the heart-achingly gorgeous person whose lips he knew the feeling of. They kissed softly but were often just the slightest bit chapped. Same with the rough tipped fingers that had been worn by years of holding a beater’s bat but could brush his hair gently back from his face or press forcefully into his back.
Every neuron fired, skating down those memories, feeling light for a second, until they all joined back to form the concept of ‘my boyfriend’ and found only a black pit of despair filling the space that held the label. Give in to that, and put those away as memories, or try to rebuild what had been in there before?

Can I give you a hug?

“Of course,” Dorian answered, feeling a slight stab of guilt at the fact Jean-Loup needed to ask. There were people around, sure, but Jean-Loup had casually slung his arm around him last time, the side on shoulder squeeze of a friend. “I… I don’t not want to hug you. Or not want to see you,” he assured him, knowing that much at least was true.

13 Dorian Montoir It's complicated 1401 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

April 02, 2020 11:40 AM

Definitely not. by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Johana Leonie wasn't sure what Kai was talking about, but nodded, happy to see him happy. He seemed to realize that it was important for her to understand at the same time she did because he gave up on explaining and agreed that she would just have to wait and see. She grinned, enjoying his attempts nonetheless.

"You're funny," she chuckled, appreciating the effort behind his hand gestures. "Waffle cones," she repeated to herself.

England! That made much more sense. She could hardly tell the difference between American accents, so having noticed his at all was something. England made sense. There were a few people at Sonora with British accents. Professor Hawthorne was one, and Johana Leonie was mostly just glad that Defense Against the Dark Arts relied heavily on written material and that Professor Hawthorne spoke generally clearly. She nodded in understanding about being sent someplace for culture.

"My Familie, we make healing of sick people. Or hurt people," she tried to explain, scrunching up her face some with effort. "Many speak English. My Familie want that I go here or England. Sonora has good name for . . . uh . . . international students." She was pretty sure she had the word right, if it was butchered some when it came out of her mouth. "So I come to Sonora mit my brother."

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen Definitely not. 1432 0 5

Cleo James

April 03, 2020 5:08 AM

The kind that eat sweet little girls for breakfast? by Cleo James

Oh. Right. Sadness and ice-cream. That was a thing.

He had noticed her crying then, or at least looking emotional. That wasn’t great, but at least she didn’t have to pretend nothing was wrong for the rest of the day now. At least she hadn’t found a partner who wanted to jabber on and on about the ball and dates and kissing. The kid seemed to be able to talk a heck of a lot, but at least it was about something as mundane as ice-cream. At least it saved her from having to think of much to say.

“That’s nice of you,” she stated, her tone conveying both that this clearly surprised her somewhat, possibly to the extent that she didn’t trust it. “To think that way,” she clarified, wanting to make sure it was clear she understood this was an idea not an offer to buy her an ice-cream. A while back, she might not have noticed the difference between two things. But it had been one of the many realities she had picked up before she’d stopped reading the papers for her own sanity. If guys were nice to you, you owed them. And the bar for what they deemed ‘nice’ was pretty low. It seemed to mean not actively calling you names to your face. Maybe letting you talk sometimes and put up with it.

She wasn’t sure she got what was funny about selling ice-cream in a saloon, having never thought particularly deeply about it. The saloon was the main refreshment room in a tourist town. Why wouldn’t it sell ice-cream? Still, she wasn’t sure she could be bothered to ask, and the kid seemed very pleased about his joke, so she just gave him a sort of smile back, even though hers was just a brief flicker that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Why not do both?” she suggested with a shrug. “We can get ice-cream cones and take them outside to watch stuff.” That would save them sitting across from each other awkwardly trying to think of things to say. She stepped away from the post-office, walking towards the saloon broadly with him. She was probably a little further away than many people would walk with a partner, but the roads were wide without much differentiation between the dust that represented the vehicle and pedestrian parts, so it was less noticeable than it might have been.

“They’re okay,” she answered when he asked about exams, her tone softening to something approaching reassurance, although it was still a little flatter than it would have been on most people. She had got through them, and class wasn’t her strongest suit. “You’re an Aladren,” she pointed out. Sure, house stereotypes were kind of lazy. She’d never really fit hers super well, though she certainly wasn’t smart, caring or adventurous, so maybe that was more the reason than anything else. But anyway, she knew virtually nothing about Heinrich except that, so it was sort of hard to know what further reassurance to offer. “Are there any of them that you’re more worried about?” she asked, because it was definitely preferable to talking about herself, and probably less awkward than total silence.

13 Cleo James The kind that eat sweet little girls for breakfast? 389 0 5

Zara Jackson

April 03, 2020 5:35 AM

Exactly that by Zara Jackson

A slow count of forty-five and then she was a lost cause, huh? A playful comeback to that sprung to Zara’s mind but she held it back. For now. It would keep, and she wouldn’t rule out the possibility of using it later, if she decided that was what she wanted…

“Well, glad I got here in time,” she answered more earnestly, though still with a smile. “Course I wanna hang out. Come on,” she answered, linking her arm through his.

She raised her eyebrows, curious as he said he had an idea. It was…. To go to one of the three main places available. Uh, cool. Not quite as ground breaking as the big proclamation had made it sound. Zara, being quite decisive, and used to a family where people said what was on their mind, was less inclined to realise how rarely Felipe spoke up with a choice. Or rather, she realised she made a lot of decisions, or that they tossed a lot of coins, but she had never read into that the idea that he might secretly be longing for something but not saying it. She figured he just generally didn’t mind.

“The market sounds good,” she agreed. “I got all my ball shopping done, and am more than happy not to join in with fighting over Tumbleweed’s last pair of heels, or whatever else is about to go down,” she answered his other question. “Are you after anything specific, either in the market or elsewhere?” she checked.

13 Zara Jackson Exactly that 1444 0 5

Ness McLeod

April 03, 2020 5:49 AM

Smiles and pets by Ness McLeod

Ness was honestly relieved when Evelyn chose the ballgown. Like she said, there were plenty of times she would get to be the rainbow cat person. She was her, the whole rest of the time. Ness felt fuzzy about having had a hand in making that, or at least in making Evelyn the kind of person who would and could say that about herself. The accurate word, Ness suspected, for that was… pride (baddum-bum). But Ness didn’t have to worry that Evelyn was going to miss out on being the other version, the fancy going-to-prom version in order to be it. And, rainbow outside or not, Evelyn would still be Evelyn on the inside. And that was what mattered.

“No way,” Ness answered when Evelyn worried about not living up to the dress. “You got it. You’re going to totally own in that.” Ness was never quite sure whether those phrases sounded slightly ridiculous coming from a nerdy white teenager, but they worked for talking to Evelyn. It was believable and credible and Ness could carry it off here and now.

“Let’s look further afield for me,” Ness shrugged, more to buy time than because there was anything wrong with the choices here. Besides the fact that there were too many of them. That meant Evelyn could go pay, and that would create a few extra minutes, and then they’d have to walk along until they found a shop that they liked… Did that mean Ness was going to have to pick a shop though? One that ‘looked promising’? Ness had no idea what a promising shop looked like.

“Pick a number between one and five inclusive,” Ness suggested.

13 Ness McLeod *Smiles and pets* 1419 0 5

Jean-Loup Arceneaux

April 03, 2020 7:17 AM

How about we make it easier? by Jean-Loup Arceneaux

Of course.

Those two words were the best thing that had happened to him in weeks. What came after might have seemed like damning with faint praise but honestly, he was too relieved to care. Too relieved both that his boyfriend wanted a hug from him and that he finally got to give him one, after all these horrible weeks apart.

He wasted no time in pulling Dorian in, both arms wrapping tightly around him, holding him against his chest. There were a million things he wanted to say. A so many things he wanted to do - to lean down and kiss the top of Dorian’s head, or stroke back his hair, or… or just keep holding him. But he was aware that whilst a fierce hug might pass under other people’s suspicions, especially if they were aware Dorian was having a rough time (and surely anyone with eyes would notice, even if they could not see it in every single way Jean-Loup could, surely they could see enough to know this was not the same person who had walked amongst them prior to Midterm?) - whilst this might pass for ‘normal,’ other things would not. And, once he opened his mouth to say one thing, he would find it very hard to stop there.

“I missed you,” he allowed himself, not so much releasing Dorian as loosening his grip enough that he could pull back if he wanted to.

“Can we go somewhere? I have an idea of somewhere to take you,” he clarified, feeling encouraged by the fact he hadn’t been rejected outright. He had considered where they might go, remembering the small-town claustrophobic feel. They needed somewhere they could talk. Somewhere that was private enough to allow that to feel easy. But he had also played that scene in out in his head a few times, and expected that too much talking could be a problem. They also needed a distraction. And he had flicked through the Floo directory for Tumbleweed until he had found the perfect one.

13 Jean-Loup Arceneaux How about we make it easier? 1506 Jean-Loup Arceneaux 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

April 03, 2020 2:26 PM

See? I can learn. by Felipe De Matteo

Of course she wanted to hang out. Of course? Felipe was quite sure that this was not an "of course" sort of thing, but that was alright. If Zara hadn't realized yet that he was sort of lame, he wasn't going to be the one to break the bad news to her. On the bright side, she hadn't seemed particularly interested in friendship with him because of his titles - and in fact had been horrified to think Jessica might have been - so that wasn't an issue. That meant the only remaining barrier was his personality, and he wasn't one to talk himself out of having won the very best prize.

He still felt as giddy as he had the last time when they were going to be linking arms in front of people. It felt so formal and public, but also very intimate and private somehow. He was starting to understand why the rumors that were going around were going around though. And maybe that wasn't a bad thing.

Felipe grew very concerned when Zara spoke of people fighting over the last pair of heels. "I hope they don't fight over shoes," he said, appalled. He was intrigued that she had already gone Ball shopping though. Did that mean she was going with someone and hadn't told him? That seemed unlikely, but if she had just gone for it . . . Of course, Felipe wasn't going Ball shopping today either, and he didn't have a date to the Ball. It felt like it was none of his business to just come out and ask, but it would be better than some of his alternatives. If he didn't ask, he would have to make an assumption, and that was much more likely to blow up in his face.

He ran his fingers through his hair with his free hand and shook his head, answering about what he was looking for. "I want to see everything," he said a little quietly. "I have not been to a market like this in the United States. I don't need anything for the Ball either," he added, wondering if that's what she was asking. It probably wasn't but he was at an absolute loss about how to ask about anything else. Or say anything else. Or do anything else. He liked to think subtlety was his game, but he was pretty sure obscurity was.

They set off walking towards the booths, with all the smells, sounds, and sights of a proper market. Tastes and feels could also be found here, but Felipe wasn't about to start licking things without permission, and he tried to avoid feels as much as possible. So smells, sounds, and sights would have to do.

He smelled the fresh tarts being baked at one of the first tables, and the sunshine that caressed him from Zara being so close. He heard people negotiating, and his own heartbeat in his ears. He saw people milling about, living their lives exactly as he had never had the opportunity to do before, and he saw a new future that seemed much brighter than any he'd had before.

"Are you excited for Ball then?" he asked as causally as possible, before they drew near enough to any of those booths to make them the topic of conversation; at that point, it would be much weirder to ask about the Ball and they were already sort of talking about it now. He narrowed his eyes uncertainly. "I wasn't sure if you were planning to go."

22 Felipe De Matteo See? I can learn. 1434 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 03, 2020 2:36 PM

That's . . . surprisingly nice. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn grinned, stifling her laughter at Ness' compliment. "Thank you," she said, appreciating her friend's effort. It wasn't that Ness was bad at such things or didn't say such things regularly, but that encouraging words from Ness were most often based in fact or objective truths meant to perk up the lucky recipient. It was funny hearing something as simple as 'you got this' from Ness and also immensely sweet because it was clearly sincere. However amusing it was to interact so casually with the Aladren, it was never fake.

Nodding to accept Ness' plan, Evelyn made her way to the front of the store to pay. She felt a little surge of nerves and excitement. She was going to have a great time at this Ball, no matter what. That was something she wouldn't have been able to promise herself just a few years previously.

Thanking the cashier and turning back to Ness, Evelyn didn't have to think hard about answered the question. "Three." That was how many of her favorite people there were in the world, plus herself. She smirked at Ness. "You don't know what you want to wear, do you?" Another thought came to mind and she became a little more serious, albeit still lighthearted. "Do you want to go with a date? Or just with friends. Or just your coolest friend." She grinned again at the end, feeling that teasing was probably a good way to make this a less awkward inquiry.

22 Evelyn Stones That's . . . surprisingly nice. 1422 0 5

Dorian Montoir

April 03, 2020 8:30 PM

How? by Dorian Montoir

Dorian was surprised by the ferocity of the hug he was pulled into. Here. In public. At this point, he felt he had very little left to lose, but Jean-Loup still did. Still, right now he was less concerned about what other people were thinking and about how this felt. The safe, strong arms. The way his head fit so neatly against Jean-Loup’s chest. The familiar smell of high-end cologne, whose notes and tones he had no idea how to analyse but which undeniably smelt good, in and of itself and also because it smelt like every memory of getting close. It felt good.

But it didn’t stop feeling complicated.

Jean-Loup loosened his grip, and Dorian half pulled back, not really wanting to let go either. His hands longed to slide up around Jean-Loup’s neck and to continue being held and comforted. He’d felt Jean-Loup’s hand twitch on his back, like it wanted to go somewhere, and his own hands felt the same pull. He wasn’t sure if it was real longing or just muscle memory.

“I missed you too,” he answered, glad that Jean-Loup had chosen that and not a different three word phrase. It would have been rude not to say the same back, and - with this phrase - that was enough of a justification. He also thought there might be an argument for it being true. He had been nervous about seeing Jean-Loup, sure, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about everything that had happened. But it had stung to have him taken away. Not being sure what to say to someone wasn’t the same as not wishing that they were there to talk to.

“Where?” he asked, when Jean-Loup mentioned taking him somewhere. He was not opposed to going somewhere with him, especially if it was somewhere they had a bit more space to be themselves, but he had always been the look before you leap type.

13 Dorian Montoir How? 1401 0 5

Ness McLeod

April 03, 2020 9:24 PM

Why surprising? by Ness McLeod

“No,” Ness shrugged the question off like it wasn’t super important. Logically, it was the obvious answer anyway. If Ness had made a decision, the two of them would not be shopping now. And anyway, it was only a stupid school dance.

And the only one they were ever going to have.

“But I know we are going into the third shop we see - third clothes shop, I mean. I don’t want to end up wearing a teapot to the ball.” Damnit. No sooner than Ness had said that than the thought ‘or do I???’ made itself known. That would certainly be an amusing an avante garde statement. Or maybe a whole outfit made out of books? Though it would have to be constructed in such a way as to not damage them. Ness disapproved of so called ‘art’ or ‘design’ that involved destroying perfectly good books. “Assuming there are that many,” Ness added. It seemed like there were a few extra pop up stalls and shops compared to what the town usually boasted.

“I thought my coolest friend was planning on going with a certain boy, so I don’t know that it’s really up to me,” Ness batted back with arched eyebrows. “Are you gonna ask him or… what’s going on there?”

13 Ness McLeod Why surprising? 1419 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 04, 2020 12:09 AM

Because I have more in common with Edgar than I thought. by Evelyn Stones

Ness' answer came directly. Most of what Ness said came directly, but this seemed different. Maybe Evelyn was reading into it too much, but she couldn't help wondering whether Ness wished that the date game had played out differently.

Evelyn was enjoying the mental image of Ness' wearing a teapot to the Ball, singing the teapot song at everyone who got too close, when Ness turned the question back to her. She should have expected that, as it was logical, but Evelyn has only asked for shopping reasons and stuff. Right?

She blushed a much deeper shade of pink than she would have liked to admit. "I don't know," she said honestly. "But I figure that I know what I want and I don't want to push that if he doesn't. I'd rather have a good friend than nothing, and if he doesn't want to.. uh.. like date or whatever.. then that's fine." She got through her response okay until the last part. It was a big question mark in her mind because even if Heinrich asked her to the Ball, that didn't mean he liked her or that he wanted to make it A Thing. Being his date and dating weren't the same.

"Even if I did go with a date, I would still want to hang out with you," she added, trying not to think too much about whether Heinrich liked her or would ask her. Since it hasn't happened anyway, it wasn't a thing worth worrying about. If she got too caught up in it, she wouldn't be able to enjoy her time with him as friends. Because they were just friends. And that was fine. "Even if... A certain boy asked me." She tried so hard to keep her blush down. It wasn't like her to be so bashful about something. "You like him, right? I'd still wanna hang out with you too at least for part of it."

It struck her then that if Heinrich did ask her to the Ball, and if he did like her as not just a friend, and maybe I'd they did wanna date, then there could be lots of things to do at the Ball. Like dance. And... Uh...

There were a few things that could be done with a date and not a friend - okay, so maybe Ness' was the exception and maybe Evelyn would bring that up this summer if nothing happened before then - that Evelyn did not think she should be thinking about someone who was currently in the latter category. But it was a surprisingly nice thing to think about.

She wondered what he thought of her, and it made her understand why occlumency had become a thing. She would never really want to see in his head, and she definitely wouldn't want to breach his privacy, but she would have liked to know. When Evelyn thought about Heinrich, she thought of a very smart, very funny, very kind, very nice looking guy. Did he think she was any of those things? Except the girl kind? Maybe he thought of her like an old familiar chair at a grandparent's house:. Kind of comfortable and supportive but not very nice to look at and certainly not something you'd want to put in your own house.

"Ness, what if he does ask me?" she asked, dropping her voice. "I wouldn't know whether it was just because of being a prefect or whatever. Like... Do I tell him...?"

22 Evelyn Stones Because I have more in common with Edgar than I thought. 1422 0 5

Jean-Loup Arceneaux

April 04, 2020 8:03 AM

With bunnies? by Jean-Loup Arceneaux

“Can it be a surprise?” Jean-Loup asked as they stepped apart. He saw a flicker of doubt or anxiety cross Dorian’s face, and he wondered whether because he just wasn’t very good with surprises or because he didn’t trust him. “I want to take you to see something that I think you’ll like,” he clarified, hoping to offer some reassurance without giving everything away.

“Okay,” Dorian agreed, trying not to sound wary. His capacity for dealing with the unknown was pretty maxed out right now. Still, that meant the only option left was to just go with it, and trust. He didn’t doubt Jean-Loup’s intentions at all, and he probably knew Dorian well enough to know what he liked. He took a deep breath, falling into step beside his boyfriend, finding that he was sad not to be able to reach out and hold his hand.

“How are things?” he asked instead.

“More or less the same as before,” Jean-Loup answered. “No one knows anything… Nothing changed. Except having to worry about you.”

“Sorry to be an inconvenience,” Dorian huffed. Great. The most miserable part of Jean-Loup’s life was currently him. Like he’d chosen to get punched in the face or have his life fall apart.

“I didn’t say that!” Jean-Loup prickled. “I just- this does suck for me too, you know. I am allowed to be worried about you.”

“But how am I supposed to fix that? I can’t just… magic myself better. You think if I knew how to fix my life, I wouldn’t have done it?

“I didn’t- I just - I-” - am allowed to have some feelings here too. It was Dorian’s family though. So was he? He felt like this was a thing that had happened to him too. And it wasn’t like he had anyone else he could talk to about it. And he hated that part of him was getting so angry that he wanted to scream. Not at Dorian. He would never do that. But nonetheless, would it prove everything his boyfriend had been saying, if he revealed any kind of frustration or anger? He was that kind of person. The sort that gave in to yelling, to kicking a trash can to vent his feelings. He still didn’t believe that put him on the same rung as Matthieu, but it clearly kicked him far enough down the ladder to matter to Dorian. And that made him want to scream too.
“We’re here,”,” he pointed out. It was not a big town, and they had now reached their destination. That, at least, could put a pin in that fight before they could have it. Which was what he had been hoping for.

“A pet store?” Dorian asked curiously.

“They have bunnies,” Jean-Loup answered, his green eyes anxious but hopeful, “And we can pet them. I checked that they wouldn’t mind us doing that. I mean… both that we don’t intend to buy them and that…. They don’t mind us. I just wanted to make sure it would be nice for you,” he added, not sure how Dorian would feel about him confessing their personal lives to strangers, and somewhat worried that he might not be pleased with what Jean-Loup had done. Even though he’d had the best intentions…

13 Jean-Loup Arceneaux With bunnies? 1506 Jean-Loup Arceneaux 0 5

Malikhi Hill

April 04, 2020 1:08 PM

Just ice cream for two, then! by Malikhi Hill

It had been a while since Malikhi had been labelled as 'funny' and it was nice. Hana didn't know about the ugly, moody, depressing sides of himself and Malikhi saw no reason that she should ever really find out. They were in different houses so they wouldn't encounter each other in the private common rooms and thus far, hadn't done anything together at meal times except exchange friendly smiles from across the hall and, even on Malikhi's bad days - because he still had a couple - he could manage to maintain a friendly and approachable demeanor through lessons. He was satisfied and perfectly happy with the fact that Hana would just see him as a funny boy and nothing more.

He liked listening to her try and explain her family and why she was attending to Sonora and it made sense that she was there, given her family were healers. It was a profession that meant that you would come into contact with a lot of people and knowing different languages could surely only be a positive thing in such a career. He nodded, thoughtfully before posing another question, "And you want to be a healer too?"

He could see Hana being a healer. She was a nice girl with a sunny disposition, something that Malikhi thought was important. When he'd been in the hospital, all that time ago, some of his nurses and doctors hadn't been the friendliest of people and it would've been nice to meet someone with Hana's friendly personality. He dismissed thoughts of the past quickly, not allowing his mind to wander any further than they had and firmly fixated his attention back on Hana.

There was a bit of curiosity guiding his question. While he thought she would make a good healer, he also wanted to know if there was anything else she'd thought about doing. Or was she simply following in the footsteps of her family because that is what was expected of her?

20 Malikhi Hill Just ice cream for two, then! 1423 0 5

Bridget Ferguson

April 05, 2020 11:35 AM

Awesome! by Bridget Ferguson

Relief flooded Bridget when Jezebel agreed to hang out with her. She had been sort of worried. It was mortifying to ask someone to do something with her and then have them say no. Plus, if the second year had rejected her, she would have had to find someone else and then she might have had to pair up with someone who didn't really want to be around her but had nobody else to hang out with themselves so they had to hang out with her because everyone had to walk around with someone.

Plus, there were three types of people that tended to be left over in situations where one needed a partner. Two of which were people who were shy and quiet or weird and awkward. These people Bridget would not mind being around. They tended to be the type that needed friends most of all and besides, she fit into the "weird and awkward" category and well, it might be good to make friends with other weird awkward people. Freaks got to stick together. Though Jezebel was definitely not a freak.

The other category of people that would be left over, however, were people that were unpleasant. People who were mean and horrible and Bridget definitely did not want to be with someone who would be nasty to her. Of course, people who were mean and horrible in the same way also grouped together and, according to Sophia, some of the worst people were well-liked for some unfathomable reason.

Bridget beamed when Jezebel said she was hoping that the Teppenpaw would want to hang out. "Of course I want to." She felt all warm inside. Feeling liked, feeling like someone wanted to be around her was a really nice positive happy feeling and she quite frankly did not get to feel that way a lot. Mostly what the third year felt was shame and guilt for that shame. "What would you like to do? Do you need a dress? There's other stuff too. Like, shopping wise but also historical stuff." Personally, Bridget didn't really care about the ball much. What was the point when she so obviously wasn't going to have a date? What would she even do there? Besides, truth be told, other things were more fun to shop for than clothes. However, if Jezebel wanted to go look at dresses than that's what Bridget would do.

11 Bridget Ferguson Awesome! 1448 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

April 05, 2020 4:04 PM

I'm so glad you think so. by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Jezebel was at a bit of a loss for how to answer Bridget's question. Between the warm feeling she was experiencing that Bridget wanted to hang out at all and the uncertainty about whether the older girl would want to go to the Ball, Jezebel was hesitant to lock herself into an answer. Was that what she was supposed to say? She supposed honesty would be just as effective, if not more so, than most of her other options.

"Historical sounds great," she said, sincerely interested in the strange town. Literal ghosts. It boggled her mind. "I'm not sure whether I'm going to the Ball or not, honestly," she admitted. "Are you?"

Unbidden, an image of Bridget dressed to the nines in some amazing ballgown, with her hair up in some perfect hairdo, and her face done up with perfect makeup came to mind. It was the sort of thing that literature described as 'hauntingly beautiful,' not the least because Jezebel was sure it was a real possibility. Some people in this world were Bridgets. Some people were Jezebels. It was an unfortunate fact that Jezebel would probably never be as pretty as Bridget, but it was indeed a fact, so why try to change that?? Her imagination took a turn then and she thought of herself at the Ball, wearing a simple dress, her hair in a ponytail or something like that, just watching everything happen. She would have brought a book or something. And the world would go on dancing without her.

"We can go shopping if you want to," Jezebel added, suddenly motivated by the emptiness in her chest.

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer I'm so glad you think so. 1454 0 5

Eden Manger

April 05, 2020 4:46 PM

Shopping!! [Tag: Ruby] by Eden Manger

As the end of term ball grew ever closer, Eden realized she had not yet gotten her dress. That became the immediate focus for the upcoming Tumbleweed trip. However, that obviously meant she couldn’t hang out with Brett - one, because he would be absolutely no help shopping, and two, because she didn’t want him to see her dress until the ball (obviously she would tell him what color it was so he could match, but actually seeing it was a different matter) - and they weren’t supposed to wander around alone.

Unfortunately, the Teppenpaw didn’t really have any close female friends. Or, y’know. Friends. But she was sociable enough and from the Nice Person House™, so she didn’t feel too bad asking around. Her roommate Ivy had plans, but Ruby, the only girl in the year below hers, agreed to hang out with her pretty readily.

She didn’t know Ruby particularly well, but based on the Pureblood name, Eden had a feeling her companion would rather Floo than take the bus. Having no preference herself, she was fine Flooing in. As the seventh year steadied her footing, she turned to make sure Ruby was behind her and settling herself as well. “Ready to get shopping?” she grinned.

OOC: Mentions of Ruby agreeing in advanced approved by her author.

12 Eden Manger Shopping!! [Tag: Ruby] 385 0 5

Ness McLeod

April 05, 2020 5:52 PM

You have always been small and fuzzy by Ness McLeod

It was 'fine.' Ness took that to be a relative value of 'fine.' Clearly Evelyn wanted to go with Heinrich but Ness did understand the reasoning that Evelyn was more comfortable making peace with it not happening than taking a risk. Ness could respect that as a tactic, especially as it was Ness' go to in DnD. You could use your firebreath potion on a challenging enemy but what if there was an even bigger one down the line? Still, if the party reached the end of the adventure and it never got used, that was also a let down...

"Great. It's a date," Ness agreed when Evelyn talked about them hanging out. That felt good. And helped with the answer to the next question. "Yeah. He seems like a good human/dragon-born," she agreed regarding Heinrich, referencing his DnD character as that was Ness' main source of impressions. And, if the two of them weren't going to be in an either/or, direct competition for Evelyn's attention, it was easier to agree that he was a decent person.

"Still up to you," Ness answered, when Evelyn asked what to do if he asked. "No law saying you have to. No laws at all in these badlands," Ness grinned, trying for a cowboy drawl. "I guess... You worry you might lose a friend. If he's willing to ditch you like that, he's not a very good one. And you might lose a romantic opportunity if you don't say anything. Which one are you more willing to let go of?"

They had by now passed sufficient shops to be at the designated third clothes shop.

"Okay... Rule of three again," Ness decided. "Between us, we find me three things to try on," Ness stated, gravitating towards the suits.

13 Ness McLeod You have always been small and fuzzy 1419 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 05, 2020 9:29 PM

Hey, I wasn't always small to you, though. by Evelyn Stones

DnD, it turned out, had been a very very good decision. Evelyn sometimes tried to think of whether she'd ever been so happy in her life as she was these days. She couldn't even really remember the last time she was upset. The first time she had met Ness and Malikhi - which suddenly seemed like a very long time ago - Evelyn distinctly remembered wondering whether she'd ever just get to be a normal teenager. It had seemed impossible. As it turned out, it could be possible for her. Worrying about people to date and people to hang out with was much better than worrying about going to sleep at night.

"I think he's a good human/dragon-born, too," Evelyn smirked. She thought that Heinrich would probably like to hear that very much.

The rest of Ness' answer was initially frustrating, but Evelyn quickly dismissed that feeling. Giving her the answer wouldn't be any more helpful than making her figure it out on her own. Probably less so. Ness also raised good points, both in asking which Evelyn would choose if she had to pick between friendship and relationship, and in noting that someone who would just stop being friends over honesty wasn't a very good friend anyway. That didn't mean a relationship would happen, but Evelyn did sort of wonder whether she and Heinrich could still be friends if she told him what she thought and he didn't return the feeling. It also seemed a bit rude to put him in that position. She thought of when she'd hugged him at the bonfire and how startled he'd been; she doubted Heinrich would know what to do if someone liked him because he'd probably just be so surprised it was happening. Evelyn decided immediately that if she ever did tell him, she'd give him as much time and space as he needed to think about it. She also decided she would need better words because "like" and "like like" weren't maybe distinct enough in English to be clear. Miscommunications wouldn't do any good for anyone.

They drew up to a shop and Evelyn was glad to be brought back to the here and now. She nodded at Ness' directive, although she wasn't sure whether Ness would either like the items she picked, or whether Ness would pick anything out. "Three things," she agreed solemnly, following Ness to the suits and looking around at them, realizing she'd never shipped in this section of a store before. "To be clear, are you only interested in three of these type clothes? Or do you want to look at dresses, too?" She caught sight of accessories and grinned, grabbing a green and purple striped bowtie. "Please please for me try one of these on with a button-up."

22 Evelyn Stones Hey, I wasn't always small to you, though. 1422 0 5

Josephine Clyde

April 06, 2020 6:42 AM

Fun comes in threes! by Josephine Clyde

So this was Tumbleweed; ghosts, shops and a Town Hall that had tours! She would definitely have to go on a tour later. Tumbleweed was just like the plant that rolled around in the desert, it was loosey goosie and super fun already. Josie hadn’t gotten permission from her father for the Fall trip and she’d spent such a long time disappointed over it that he signed her permission slip just to make her stop moping. How could he keep her from this? It was a literal floating town!
When she’d heard about it from the people who’d gone to the Fall trip it had made her so jealous. But this time it was her turn to have fun. Ghosts weaved in and out of some booths that were in some open area, but it was the building next door that really caught her eye. Town Hall. Some people seemed to already know what they were going to and where to go, but even if everything here was new for her the Town Hall would definitely have more information. Maybe even a map or other things that would point her in some direction. It was better to start at the beginning of any adventure and the best way to do that would be to get a better understanding of the town. Josie skipped in the direction of the Town Hall when a familiar person caught her eye. Jezebel!
Josie skipped to a stop and ran over to Jezebel, smashing into the girl with a hug. She pulled back and, once she’d gotten all of her limbs settled, beamed at the Crotalus.

“Jezebel! Hi! I didn’t know you were here!” Then she noticed that Jezebel was with someone. An older student with really long brown hair. It was mermaid long! Josie took one step back so she could see the older student more clearly and gave this girl an equally bright smile.

“Hi! I’m Josie, a first year.” She paused before realizing that the two must have been in the middle of a conversation, “Oh! I’m sorry, am I interrupting you guys? I didn’t mean to!”

That was a bit embarrassing, but she’d been so excited at seeing someone she knew that her legs switched direction before her head had fully understood the situation. Her interruption was probably rude, but anyone who was friends with Jezebel had to be super nice! The second year didn’t strike her as the type of person who’d have mean friends.

44 Josephine Clyde Fun comes in threes! 1477 0 5

Connor Priory

April 06, 2020 11:36 AM

Thank Merlin! by Connor Priory

Connor was really looking forward to going to Tumbleweed. As the year pressed on, he was spending more and more time doing homework and studying for RATS. He needed a break badly and Tumbleweed was probably going to fit that bill well. Of course, what he really wanted to do was hang out with Peyton but she had plans with Ivy, whom she was not about to desert. The sixth year was very loyal. It was one of the things Connor loved about her. He supposed he could have gone with them, but either he or Ivy would have possibly felt like a third wheel. Better that the Crotalus found someone else to hang out with.

He looked around for someone he knew when Gary came up and greeted him. Connor smiled. After Peyton, the Aladren was probably his next choice to hang out with. Well, he supposed there was his sister or Bridget but they were hanging out with their own friends, which the seventh year was really happy about. He was glad that Bridget in particular was making friends and that Sophia was finding people that she didn't hate.

Besides, he would see them again after he graduated whereas he might never see Gary again. Which was kind of a depressing thought. Connor was sincerely going to miss the sixth year and playing Dungeons and Dragons with him and everyone else. He wondered if Pumine had people who played. Like, surely Muggleborns and half-bloods were admitted, even though Connor was pretty sure they hadn't been when the school was first opened, so maybe some of them played DnD.

Actually, he generally thought it was a good thing if Muggleborns were allowed into magical universties now because if they couldn't go to magical colleges, they'd end up back in the Muggle world where they didn't really fit now.

"Hey. Nothing much. You want to do something? Maybe go to the museum?" Connor asked. Even though he was not an Aladren, he was still something of a nerd and considered a museum a good time. "I have to get a souvenir for my little sister too. The one that's not in school yet. Maybe I'll get her something from the gift shop." Lydia had been thrilled when Connor had brought her something from the last trip so he'd said he'd bring her back something this time too.

11 Connor Priory Thank Merlin! 395 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

April 07, 2020 10:44 AM

Das ist gut. by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Johana Leonie nodded eagerly, her face brightening with excitement more than just the happiness to be out with her friend that had already made her bright. "Very much. I like to do healing. The gross does not make me upset." She hadn't thought so much about her long-term goals for a while, distracted as she'd been over the Ball and her own self-absorption. It was a good reminder that she was her for a reason and ought not to forget it. After all this was done, she was going back to Germany and everything would be perfect, but only if she got through school first.

Not to say she couldn't enjoy the journey, and a date to the Ball - or to life - would make that easier, but it seemed like a big jump from "be my date to the Ball" to "marry me and come live in Germany with our several babies." Really, she probably didn't need to worry about that either. She would get to attend a second Ball in four years, and she had over four years left to complete at Sonora. She had time.

"What want you to work?" she asked, turning her attention back to their conversation. As much as she liked healing, she didn't necessarily want to talk about it all the time. She didn't yet know enough to do so, and certainly not in English. "Do you know?"

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen Das ist gut. 1432 0 5

Gary Harper

April 07, 2020 7:01 PM

Yeah, really. by Gary Harper

"That sounds good." Gary responded to Conner's museum suggestion. Museums were good, they were usually filled with neat old things, and plenty of stories. He nodded along as Conner talked about getting something for his sister. "If I see something interesting there, I may have to pick it for my dad. I doubt my step siblings would want anything from here." He sighed as they walked.

He let a few moments of silence pass while the jumbled up thoughts tried to sort themselves out in his head. Which was going to win initiative and go first? Were some prerequisites to others? Things were just getting complicated. When they entered the museum he finally turned to the seventh year, "What are you doing after Sonora? How far have you planned?"

Without really waiting for a response more words came tumbling out. "I've got one more year here and I still dont know what I'm doing. Career-wise, Mr. Row has gotten me thinking about curse-breaking, or maybe magical culture anthropology. They seem like interesting options, but what if there is something else better that I'm missing? School-wise I gotta figure out classes for next year, but that's going to depend on the career path that I haven't selected yet. Relationship-wise I'm taking Jasmine to the ball, which is fantastic... she's fantastic, but I gotta admit that there are times I get the feeling that I'm just another accessory she needed for the event. I should talk to her about it, but frankly I still can't believe she agreed to go with me in the first place, and I don't want to foul things up for either of us." He slumped against the nearby wall and looked up at the older boy with a faint expression of hope, "Got any advice?"

2 Gary Harper Yeah, really. 1404 0 5

Zara Jackson

April 07, 2020 10:10 PM

You didn't take much teaching by Zara Jackson

"Me too," Zara agreed. Felipe had taken her comment about shoes much more seriously than she had really meant it but given news footage she'd seen of Black Friday sales, she knew she couldn't promise that she was only joking. Ah, the joys of being exposed to multiple cultures...

"Markets are fun," she agreed, when he stated he had never been to one like this is the USA. She did not dismiss it as 'not that interesting' or 'just the usual' because she knew enough to know just how relative those kinds of terms were. One of the things she had found super interesting when visiting Felipe had been seeing little snatches of things that probably seemed like every day life to him.

"I have no idea how different it'll be for me," she stated, not with a tone of reservation but one of open curiosity, "Different part of the country... Different demographics in the sellers and audience. And is this like... also gonna be fake historical? Or is it just a place to grab a modern day waffle between historical experiences? We might be about to travel back in time," she grinned.

The market was full of activity. Zara thought she might just enjoy the energy more than she did any individual stall. She was about to ask Felipe what he was noticing, when he brought the subject back to the ball. Interesting.

"I think it should be fun," she answered nonchalantly. She wasn't like... going to gush with excitement over it but she was looking forward to the chance to get dressed up all nicely and have a good time. "It's a whole school event," Zara pointed out. "I mean, I don't think it's mandatory, but why wouldn't I go?" she asked, wondering if he was digging for information about whether she had anyone to go with. She thought she rather hoped he was. Just not enough to make it easy for him. If he wanted to know that, he was going to have to ask it.

13 Zara Jackson You didn't take much teaching 1444 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

April 07, 2020 10:51 PM

Or you're just a great teacher. by Felipe De Matteo

Felipe wasn't sure what to make of the idea that a market was fun. He agreed, but he was generally in the minority with that opinion. Markets were practical, and any fun that came from them for most people seemed to be in the community and the family coming togetherness of it all. But Felipe just liked the opportunity to see new things, talk with new people, and especially to inspect new plants and produce. He wondered whether this one would have such things, and whether Zara saying it was fun meant that she was his sort of oddball, or this was a different kind of market.

"I like different," he told her, eyeing the market with even greater interest. "Although time travel sounds like a bit much for a Saturday afternoon. I guess a Saturday afternoon one hundred years ago gives us more time."

Zara was much harder to read than he thought was strictly fair. He had an entire lifetime - granted, a short one thus far, but still - of training in diplomacy, negotiation, and reading people. And he still couldn't tell whether Zara was actually feeling blasé about the whole thing, or whether she was just being chill because she was a chill person. He couldn't answer why she wouldn't go, but he thought it was maybe od that she brought up the fact that it was a whole school event. That was certainly not something that enticed him into going. Did that mean she was excited because she got to see everyone else?

"I think it will be fun, too," he agreed, trying to relate. It was true, he just wouldn't have usually described it as fun. Fun was such a strange word. It didn't say very much. Felipe thought the Ball would be exciting and beautiful and graceful and energetic and magical in all the senses of the word. But that really depended on who he spent time with while he was there.

They were coming to a point ahead in the market where they would have to choose to either go left or right through the next aisle of stalls. Felipe thought it was particularly apropos, as he was at a bit of a crossroads himself. Normally, he would let Zara lead. He'd follow, and that was no problem. But she always asked him, too, and they decided their adventures together. That seemed like the best approach, but making a decision about which way to turn was a matter of right or left. Real life was about right or wrong.

What if he did the wrong thing? Would that just make it weird and awful after that? What if he did the thing and it was the right thing but then later it turned out it wasn't the right thing? Except . . . that was okay now. He didn't have to find a wife this year, just a friend. Or whatever.

"You just hadn't mentioned it much," he said, shrugging and looking very closely at the first stall that would let him look away from Zara's face. "I wasn't sure if you were going with anyone."

Felipe. Say it. Say something.

His internal monologue was making his head hurt and he blinked to clear it as he looked back at her and sighed. There was no use in drawing out the weirdness that was making his stomach rollover, and he didn't have to say any of the stuff about wanting to . . . well maybe he didn't have to think any of that stuff either.

"If you aren't going with anyone, I'd-- I mean if you wanted to-- If it wouldn't be weird and you wanted to-- I thought--" he took a breath and blushed. Man, how he hated that blush. Normally he wouldn't call anyone a blood traitor but the rush of color to his cheeks made him think has own blood was a traitor. He thought of Leonor and her not-so-subtle comments over the past few weeks and then his words all came out in a rush: "Wouldyouwanttogowithmemaybe?"

22 Felipe De Matteo Or you're just a great teacher. 1434 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

April 07, 2020 11:37 PM

I'm one of those three?? WOW by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Jezebel turned at the sound of familiar voice, one that she knew best because it was excited about everything. She would have grinned but didn't have time before she was collided with. She realized it was a hug and was more surprised than anything else, although she noticed that the instinctual sound that came out was laughter. She felt happy. Interesting.

"Not interrupting," Jezebel said, feeling more confident that Josie would want to hang out than she had been that Bridget would. "Joining! Is that okay with you, Bridget?" she asked, figuring she best check with all involved parties before deciding.

Realizing that maybe she best do that for Josie, too, Jezebel turned to the new addition to the group. "We were talking about whether we'd like to check out some of the historical sites around town," she explained. "Or whether we wanted to go shopping." She eyed Bridget, hoping to get some idea of the girl's feelings on the matter. The idea of going to the Ball with these two gals was sort of an amazing one, but Jezebel dismissed it as idealistic. "Are you going to the Ball?" she asked Josie. Maybe if one of them was sure, then the others could just follow suit. Jezebel didn't generally count herself as a follower, but between everything else going on in her life, she was perfectly happy not to be the odd one out either.

OOC - Welcome! I'm not sure whether you've been in a multi-person thread before, but what normally happens is that we'll continue with this posting order from here out. I asked Bridget's author about mixing it up once so Jezebel could respond to Josie, but now it's Bridget's turn and we'll go on like that. Bridget, Josie, Jezebel, Bridget, Josie, Jezebel. Unless something odd happens!

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer I'm one of those three?? WOW 1454 0 5

Parker Fitzgerald

April 08, 2020 4:03 PM

Looking Good for my first Floo by Parker Fitzgerald

The last time Parker had gone to Tumbleweed he was in full sports mode, which meant he was fairly focused on what was in front of him and the event itself. He hadn’t actually had time to explore, or hadn’t remembered it afterwards if he had. But he did remember some of the ghosts floating by and staring, and Lyssa had enjoyed walking through the townhall so much that she talked about it all the time during break. So when another trip to Tumbleweed was called, Parker jumped at the chance. Luckily, his mom had signed the waivers before so Lyssa could go and Parker could “play sports” as his mom called it.

Maybe there would be a girl he could get to meet before the Ball or if not that, something fun to distract him from not having Quidditch. Either way, Parker was excited to jump into this adventure and hoped that at least someone he knew, besides his sister, would join him.

He had woken up early to exercise and get ready before breakfast the day of. Making sure his hair looked nice, but also like he hadn’t spent a lot of effort on it, he had spent longer than usual in the bathroom and felt like he looked great. He wanted to look his best. He didn’t know what might happen and he wanted to make a good first or possibly second impression, if he’d met someone before when he was more… focused. Before he left his room he gave his cactus a bit of water and smiled as the little guy waved.

Parker had decided this time to take the Floo. He’d not taken one before as most of his travel was for Quidditch or going home. Using the Floo though was what normal wizards seemed to do, and if he was going to fully embrace this world once and for all, he might as well step into it. His stomach, upon arrival, disagreed with this notion and emptied its contents on the ground right outside the arrival point.

“I’m so sorry,” he said as he rushed outside holding up his hand to his mouth. He could feel his cheeks burn from embarrassment and his ab muscles working to help him equalize as he took deep breaths.

So much for looking good, was all Parker could think as he leaned against the wall next to the floo building.

As he regained his composure he ran his tongue across his teeth and decided he needed to buy toothbrush and toothpaste or chewing gum. Before he could do that though, he took one more deep breath of fresh air and headed back in looking for something to help clean up inside with.

41 Parker Fitzgerald Looking Good for my first Floo 1402 0 5

Zara Jackson

April 09, 2020 5:25 AM

Perhaps by Zara Jackson

"Ah, but if we time travel, who says it's going to be a Saturday afternoon any more?" Zara grinned, when Felipe said that might be a bit much. Though it would always be the case that that was where they were starting from, so if Felipe found time travel a not good thing to do on Saturdays, there was not much getting around that.

"I've heard it's not really advisable in general anyway," she agreed, deciding to stay in the here and now for now.

"Same," she observed with a shrug when he mentioned her not mentioning the ball much. Her assumption from that had been less that he wouldn't go and more that it didn't register as a big deal to him. She supposed the second part of that held true for what he had assumed about her. She was mostly figuring they could just hang out and have a good time.

She was curious to know what face he was pulling as he mentioned whether she might be going with anyone else. She bit her lip, hiding an amused smile (though not very well) as he kept his face firmly averted. Whilst that made it impossible to scrutinise him for clues, it was sort of a clue in itself. She was about to put him out of his misery on that front when he blurted out an addendum to that question.

He sounded flustered.

But then... it was Felipe. Flustered was his kind of go to thing when asking to spend time with someone. He'd stood counting to forty five to try and see whether the universe willed it that his best friend wanted to spend time with him on a school trip. So, it was hard to know whether this fluster indicated he was like... Asking Her (with capital letters), or whether he was just so embarrassed at impositioning her with the assumption that she might allow his presence to continue.

"Well," she smiled, "That's an interesting coincidence. I was considering asking you something... Namely, do I get more than forty five seconds to put in my appearance at the ball before you give up on me and go off with someone else? I’ll try to be punctual, of course, but I wouldn’t want to think I’ve got less than a minute."

13 Zara Jackson Perhaps 1444 0 5

Jean-Loup Arceneaux

April 09, 2020 6:43 AM

And petting! by Jean-Loup Arceneaux

That was… thorough. Dorian imagined Jean-Loup, head in the fireplace or writing letters. All in an unfamiliar language. To bring him bunnies. To check they could pet them. To check they could pet them.

“That’s really sweet,” was what he said out loud, still sounding halfway sad or stunned about this fact, though he reached out and gave his boyfriend another quick hug.

They entered the shop which, even by the strange standards of Tumbleweed, was rather on the odd side. The front of the shop had a small counter, behind which one of the resident ghosts and her corporeal assistant were chatting happily. The back half of the shop looked substantially larger than the front of the building had suggested was possible, and seemed to have all manner of animals wandering freely in fairly naturalistic terrains. Dorian watched as an eager little crup trotted up. At the point at which the grassed half of the shop stopped to give way to the business side, the cruppy stopped. Dorian marvelled for a moment at how well trained it was before he realised its nose had squidged slightly as if being pressed against glass. Indeed, as it stood up onto its hindlegs, wagging its tail, it was clear its front paws were resting against some kind of invisible barrier.

“You can cross but they can’t,” the ghost explained. “You wanted to see the rabbits, yes?” she added. She was mostly addressing Jean-Loup, who she clearly recognised from whatever call he’d made, but he seemed to be defaulting to letting Dorian do the talking. Apparently, he had enough English to get by when he had to but would happily pass on the responsibility when he could. Dorian supposed that was fair.

“Yes please,” he agreed. They made their way in, stopping to scratch the cruppy’s ears and throw his ball, the ghost leading them to a back corner.

“See the place where the grass changes colour?” she asked. Dorian nodded. “They can’t cross that line. And you won’t be able to when you’re holding them. We’ve carved up the space a bit, keep predators and prey away from each other,” she added, nodding to a tree just past the line where some curious owls were gathering, heads oscillating in anticipation as they looked into the area full of pygmy puffs, rabbits and other small animals. “Make yourselves at home,” she invited, drifting back towards the desk - this still had a clear line of sight to them to make sure they were treating the bunnies nicely (though there was little doubt about that really).

“This is lovely,” Dorian smiled, sitting himself down in the grass near to a grey and white rabbit and holding out his hand for it to wiffle at. It lopped a little closer and he stroked it, wondering where to begin with… everything. And finding that he wasn’t quite ready yet. “Do you think the bunnies have any magical powers?” he asked instead.

“Oh, absolutely,” replied Jean-Loup with a grin, settling down near Dorian and offering a stroke or two to the same rabbit. “I think you can’t feel completely sad or really angry whilst you pet one. Is it working?” he asked.

13 Jean-Loup Arceneaux And petting! 1506 Jean-Loup Arceneaux 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

April 09, 2020 11:39 AM

No, you are for sure. by Felipe De Matteo

Felipe hadn't thought about the fact that time travel didn't jump just in years. It made sense and he would have known had he thought more about it, but somehow that was harder to wrap his head around. Jump back to the 1800s, sure. Jump back to last Tuesday when he did that dumb thing in class? That was harder to imagine. Luckily, Zara agreed that the idea was fraught with peril and he didn't have to think too much about it.

Getting his question out went much more poorly than he had hoped, mostly because he wasn't sure when he had last breathed by the time he finished. Additionally, he wasn't really sure whether it was clear. He was pretty sure it had been English, at least. And then Zara replied and he was pretty sure he at least made a little sense. He looked at her with much more vulnerable eyes than he meant to.

She had been thinking about asking him something, too? He wasn't sure whether that was her way of giving a call back to earlier, or whether it was also true. He also wasn't sure whether he had sincerely worried her, or whether he hoped he did. It was kind of nice to think she had been thinking of seeing him at the Ball, but did that mean she thought he was just confirming that they were going to hang out like when he'd been counting before? Or that he was asking her to the Ball as his date? Was he asking her to Ball as his date?

It probably should have dawned on him sooner that he liked Zara. Like he Liked Zara. The realization made him both significantly more anxious because whelp, here was his chance to ruin everything, but also felt right and he relaxed some. Zara was his best friend and he thought that he'd rather like to be her adventure buddy for a long time.

He'd been thinking about courtship for a long time, and thirteen didn't sound terribly young to him, but he thought that it probably did to her. Also, he was pretty sure 'courtship' was the wrong word when you were not explicitly trying to marry someone into your estate.

"I wouldn't go off with someone else," he said quietly. "I'd give you as much time as you wanted." He wasn't sure where that meant they stood in terms of actually going to the Ball though. "Does . . . that mean you would like to go with me?" The words 'as my date' came to mind but they seemed so aggressive. The D-word. "Like together? Like . . . like together?"

22 Felipe De Matteo No, you are for sure. 1434 Felipe De Matteo 0 5

Ruby Brockert

April 09, 2020 12:55 PM

Yay!! Shopping!! by Ruby Brockert

Ruby had been surprised that Eden Manger had asked her to go shopping with her today in Tumbleweed. She had never really spent much time with the older Teppenpaw and while it was a little late for them to become super close friends, as Eden would be graduating soon,but they both needed someone to hang out with in Tumbleweed. Ruby would have hung out with Jasmine but the other sixth year was doing something with Ellie and apparently the Aladren wanted it to be just her and Jasmine.

Which was absolutely fine. Not everyone enjoyed big groups of people and that was perfectly all right. Ruby had several relatives who were shy or just not very social. Sapphire or Allegra would not necessarily want to be part of a large group they did not know very well. Of course, that was one of the reasons that the Teppenpaw would want to have Sapphire hang out with herself, Jasmine and Ellie, so maybe the two younger girls would become friends. And possibly Peyton and Ivy would end up joining them because Peyton was Jasmine's best friend. Actually, she could see how all that might be too much for both Sapphire and Ellie, but it would be good for Ellie to make a friend her own age-Jasmine would graduate way ahead of the second year-and Sapphire to make a friend period.

And Ellie would be a more...compatible friend for someone like her sister than someone like Jasmine's actual sister, for example. Ruby was sure that, while Anya Delachene might be a perfectly nice girl, that delicate Sapphire would find little in common with a rough and tumble Pecari. Ellie, who seemed far quieter, would probably connect to the second year Crotalus more. And, as they were both quiet, they might not take initiative on talking to each other. Ruby knew her sister doing so was unlikely.

Anyway, Eden needed someone to hang out with too. The sixth year assumed the older Teppenpaw would normally hang out with Brett Newell, maybe have an actual date off campus, but she could see why she would be a far better shopping companion when it came to dresses especially. Ruby was sure there were boys out there who would be interested in looking at pretty dresses, but she sure didn't know any. Not even Owen. who was a more sensitive type of boy, was interested in the highly girly world of fashion.

"Of course!" Ruby replied enthusiastically. She didn't need a dress for the ball personally. She as well as Sapphire, Topaz, Allegra, Esme and of course, Caitlin, had gotten them from Winston's cousins who designed clothes for a living. However, the Teppenpaw generally loved to shop and besides, there were balls that she'd be attending over the summer. "So, do you have any ideas for what sort of dress you want? Color? Design?"

11 Ruby Brockert Yay!! Shopping!! 1405 Ruby Brockert 0 5

Connor Priory

April 09, 2020 1:45 PM

Indeed by Connor Priory

Connor nodded. He was unsure if Gary's step-siblings were not the museum type-something hard to fathom, as he totally loved museums-or just...anti-magic. That happened and it was sad. Sad that the relatives of some muggleborns could not...accept their magical relatives. He had heard stories about how some muggles thought magic was "of the devil" and that their magical children were "possessed by demons". However, the Crotalus was not inclined to start something about it when he was unsure that was the case. Gary just might not be close to his step-siblings or have anything in common with them.

Besides, Gary turned the topic of conversation away from siblings. "Oh, I've always wanted to be a Healer." Connor replied. "And I've been accepted to Pumine, which is a magical college with a great pre-Healer program. I'm not sure what my specialty will be yet." There were so many different types of illnesses and injuries out there and so many people who needed help. Maybe pediatrics or diseases of the immune system or lung problems. "And hopefully, I'll be married to Peyton."

Gary continued and Connor felt sort of bad. His life had a distinct plan, more or less-he was a Crotalus, after all, they were planners-while his friend...not so much. Not that the Aladren could be blamed. After all, he had not spent his life knowing what options the magical world had. What careers there were available or anything about magical universities. "Well, I mean, even though I've always known what I want to do, that's not always the case with people. A lot of people go off to college undecided. My cousin, Beau, has zero idea of what he wants to do and he's only a year younger than you" Well, that wasn't exactly accurate. Beau didn't seem to want to have a career at all. "Both curse breaking and magical culture anthropology are great options. You could always just take a bunch of classes until you find something you really love. And Mr. Row probably has all kinds of tools to help you figure things out."

Connor continued. "As for Jasmine, I really don't think she's like that. That she would treat you as just an accessory. I mean, yeah, she's the type of girl whose very into...well, the ball but she's also got a good heart so it's unlikely she's using you. She's Peyton's best friend and I don't think Peyton would be friends with someone who uses people"

11 Connor Priory Indeed 395 0 5

Zara Jackson

April 09, 2020 11:17 PM

Okay, if you insist by Zara Jackson

Aw. He’d gone from babbly nervous to hesitant nervous. Zara felt kind of bad. Like, surely if she was a good friend, she would be able to make him not nervous. She couldn’t quite understand why Felipe never seemed to really believe in himself. It was an odd enough quality that it had taken her a while to really realise that he didn’t. That he wasn’t just being quiet or polite – he really just… wasn’t sure. He seemed like he should have been. Maybe that was the problem…

Luckily, Zara was usually decisive enough for the both of them. Although as Felipe actually had the guts to press the point and, effectively, ask her on her date, she felt far from being that. Her gut reaction was to tease him. ‘Together like…. Like together.’ No, doofus, I wanna go together but separately. Maybe that was the result of having siblings and cousins, whose common language of love was winding each other up. Did that mean she liked Felipe more or less though? Or did it just mean she was kind of a jerk sometimes?

She reeled in her impulse to make this a joke, reminding herself that she wasn’t dealing with Levon or James. Reminding herself that Felipe might actually be hurt to find himself on the receiving end of that, especially as he was putting himself out there.

But that meant she had to be serious and actually choose. She’d had no objections to the idea of going with Felipe, until he’d actually asked. Not that she had ‘objections’ now. That was too strong a word. It would just have been far more comfortable not to have to take any of it seriously.

“Yeah. That’d be nice,” she agreed, “Two questions though,” she added, wanting to get out of the suffocating seriousness of that, “I didn’t just agree to marry you, right? And what do you think that delicious smell is?”

13 Zara Jackson Okay, if you insist 1444 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

April 09, 2020 11:53 PM

No, I don't. I didn't mean to insist. You're probably right. by Felipe De Matteo

There was nothing quite like having a girl accept a date by clarifying that it wasn't a longterm commitment.

On the one hand, Zara was probably joking, and probably trying to be funny. It was a little funny, he supposed. Or at least, it probably was to other teenagers. He wasn't sure whether it was just the idea that she felt the need to clarify this - obviously he would have behaved much more appropriately and with greater fanfare had he been attempting to propose marriage, so this clearly wasn't that - or the idea that she felt the need to emphasize this. That felt weird though, because he couldn't exactly say that he was offended she didn't want to marry him either. It just . . . that was the first thing that came to her mind?

He thought back over the past few years since coming to Sonora and wondered then what people must have thought of him if his best friend had to clarify that he wasn't trying to wrangle her into a marriage. Was he really so duty-bound that he had failed at simply being a human? It really was for the best that Leonor was taking things over now because he obviously wasn't a good choice. He probably shouldn't even be helping her since he was primarily just skilled in the art of screwing up good things.

He couldn't help wondering what would have happened if he had retained his position, though. At some point, he would have had to marry somebody. Now he supposed he could just be alone forever, but that was a thought for another day. He had known for a long time that Zara would not have been the right choice for that because she would not have wanted the life he was responsible for offering. But then where would they be? How would he have answered this question six months ago?

He blinked and cleared his expression. His eyes, he knew, were always a little dark, both in color and temperament. It wasn't unusual to find anxiety or frustration or grief there if one looked close enough. Usually, Zara was the only one to look close enough. So Felipe looked around at the market instead. He had stopped paying attention to the food around them, and when he saw the varieties of it, he suddenly felt neither hungry, nor inclined to shop. What the heck? He should be happy now. Right?

Not for the first time, it crossed his mind that Zara was infallibly kind and that he may very well be imposing. His chest felt crumbly at the thought that she had only agreed to this thing because he had asked and put pressure on her by doing so. She was clarifying that they weren't getting married because she was trying to stop a speeding train before it ran her over on the tracks.

He shouldn't have asked. He shouldn't have asked. He shouldn't have asked.

"No," he answered, forcing as convincing a smile as he could manage and cocking one eyebrow as he turned back to look at her, his De Matteo expression back in place. It was a look he'd seen Leonor use when she was being snarky and he suspected it would do for his purposes. "Just friends, I promise."

Why did that hurt so bad to say?

"Roast corn," he added, pointing to the first food vendor he noticed. His stomach rolled nauseatingly at the thought of eating anything right now, but he set his mind to do just that if that's what Zara wanted to do. It wouldn't do to opt out. "Do you want one?"

22 Felipe De Matteo No, I don't. I didn't mean to insist. You're probably right. 1434 Felipe De Matteo 0 5

Malikhi Hill

April 10, 2020 7:35 AM

Good, it is. by Malikhi Hill

Malikhi smiled at hearing Hana declare that she liked to heal. It was just such a nice thing. To heal people, to look after them, tend to them when they're ill, fix them when they're broken. There was nothing nasty about healing, Malikhi thought. Being a healer meant making people better. How could there be anything wrong with that? Hana was perfect for the job.

He didn't really know how to answer her question because the truth was, he didn't know what he wanted to do. He toyed with many ideas as all teenagers did when they were going through school but so far, he hadn't got his heart set on anything. He hadn't that epiphany moment where everything came and fit together perfectly, like the pieces of a puzzle. At the moment, everything was a jumble and it felt a little beyond Malikhi's ability to try and sort it all out. So, he settled for a nonchalant shrug.

"I don't really know," he admitted, turning his eyes to the sky as if he might find the answers there. "I'm good at Defence Against the Dark Arts. I could be an Auror, maybe? Or a curse breaker?" he thought out loud, really just throwing mud at the wall and seeing what might stick there. "I'm not bad at Charms either," he mused. He finished with another shrug.

It was at that moment that they came to the ice cream parlour and Malikhi's uncertainty about his future faded to delight as he looked over the establishment. It was a nice-looking place, he supposed, with large windows at the front allowing them to look in before entering. An A-board chalkboard stood outside, listing all the flavours that the parlour had - Malikhi's curiosity was piqued by the candyfloss bubblegum flavour and every flavour jellybean one too. Both had the potential to be delicious or revolting and Malikhi was internally debating whether to play it safe or take a gamble on the unknown.

"Come on!" he exclaimed excitedly and in the moment, forgot himself as he grabbed Hana's hand to pull her inside.

20 Malikhi Hill Good, it is. 1423 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

April 10, 2020 11:15 AM

grins by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Kai reminded Johana Leonie a bit of the fancy chocolate eggs they'd transformed in class. On the outside, he was a lovely presentation. Just beyond that, he had his sweetness and goodness. Beyond that, there was something empty and dark. Hollow. Not in the sort of way that a bad dream is empty as it fades away, leaving just the darkness left in the dreamer, but in the sort of way that a deep well is. Perhaps Johana Leonie had just been reading too many romantic novels.

"I think that you would be good at that," Johana Leonie said, speaking softly and slowly to make sure she got all her words right. It was one of the lucky times that she knew all the words that someone was using, because they were all words from class. Plus, Professor Hawthorne said words kind of like Malikhi did, so that helped.

As they came upon the saloon, Johana Leonie couldn't help grinning at Kai's expression. He seemed so genuinely happy about ice cream, like it was the exact balm for his soul. Johana Leonie made a decision right then to stop reading so many romance novels. Although, maybe they were onto something, because then he grabbed her hand and pulled them excitedly into the shoppe.

It was a pretty cool place and Johana Leonie was happy to see that they had dozens if not hundreds of ice cream flavors. The benefits of magic. A few other Sonora students were coming in and out of the shoppe too, and Johana Leonie felt a bit warm and a bit proud that she got to be seen with a guy like Malikhi. She suspected no one was under the impression that anyone would date her, but it was nice to think that maybe this gave them pause.

"Sahne-Kirsch!" she said, surprised to find cherries and cream on the menu. "Das ist einer meiner Favoriten von zu Hause!" She looked back at Malikhi, feeling his excitement spreading contiguously over her and bubbling up through her cheeks in a flush. She was proud of herself for recognizing the English name for it. "Cherries und cream," she ordered a little nervously from the person at the counter, hoping her accent was clear enough.

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen *grins* 1432 0 5

Beau Tate

April 10, 2020 12:31 PM

Yeah, vomit is so attractive by Beau Tate

Beau was unsure what he was going to do today in Tumbleweed.Last time he'd gone off to the pitch to play with some of the games and stuff that had been there as even though Beau was not into playing Quidditch for the school team and having to submit to rules and practices, he still thought some of that stuff was fun. Like the climbing wall and the ropes course. However, the pitch would be closed to them today and he was not that into shopping,which was for girls,or museums, which were for nerds.

He supposed he could have stayed back and hung out in MARS or something, but the Pecari was not about to give up a chance to get off campus. Sometimes, a person just needed to get out. Beau would say that he was looking forward to the summer break, and doing what he wanted all the time, but then he remembered his sister was getting married and that she was likely to be more awful than usual. It was going to be all about Arianna.

On the plus side, maybe that would be good since Beau was not expecting to do more than adequate on his CATS. He knew he was supposed to be studying more but he just plain couldn't. He felt he could do fine on the practical but the theoretical side of magic bored him to tears. (Not literal tears, of course, that would be wimpy. He was a man and men didn't cry.) Who cared how magic worked? Honestly, breaking it down to some boring thing made it all the less special to have. And Beau had always believed having magic was better than not as well as in his own specialness.

Still, he would be happy to be spared any lectures about not trying his best or anything. Because, unlike Arianna, his parents did not believe he was stupid-and they were right but even any desire to prove his sister wrong did not stand up in the face of the boring-ness of Transfiguration theory.

Beau flooed into Tumbleweed without any mishaps. He had grown up with magic and was thus experienced with floo riding. He could not, however, say the same for Parker Fitzgerald who had no sooner arrived than he proceeded to ditch his entire stomach contents. Beau jumped back as he did not want to get his shoes full of vomit. After all, these were expensive shoes and he did not need them ruined. He looked down and checked to make sure they were puke-free and was relieved to see that they were clean.

Of course, the right thing to do was to see if the other boy was okay. Even though the fifth year was shallow and vain, he was not lacking in compassion, considering the vomit had missed his shoes. Besides, Beau needed someone to hang out with today anyway. He followed the older Pecari into the floo building. "Are you all right?" He asked. If Parker was sick and needed to go back to school, he might have to find another companion.

11 Beau Tate Yeah, vomit is so attractive 1416 0 5

Bridget Ferguson

April 10, 2020 2:36 PM

I'm surprised that I am as well by Bridget Ferguson

Bridget considered what Jezebel had said about possibly not going to the ball. It had not occurred to her that that was not an option. Maybe she shouldn't go either and they could just hang out together in the library or MARS. After all, the Teppenpaw was not really that great of a dancer. Graceful had never been an attribute of hers. Neither had coordinated. Bridget's skills were mostly of the Transfiguration and potion-and-drink making varieties.

"I was going to, but now that you mention it, I'm not sure there's much point." The third year admitted. Nobody was going to ask her and nobody was probably going to dance with her either. And if Jezebel wasn't going to be there, who would Bridget even hang out with? Sophia had other friends. "I'll go if you do."

She was about to say more when a girl whom she was unfamiliar with came up and hugged Jezebel, which confused Bridget as she had not seen this girl around Teppenpaw. Then the girl introduced herself and the third year immediately recognized the name as the girl Sophia had mentioned speaking with. "It's fine." Bridget assured her, smiling warmly. "I'm Bridget, Sophia's cousin and of course, you can join us." Maybe she could make another friend too. She felt she needed all the friends she could get, not that she preferred quantity over quality, she would rather have a few or even just one close friend than a ton of superficial relationships. She did not want to waste energy on something that wasn't meaningful. Contrary to what some might think, friendly did not mean the same as outgoing and not all Teppenpaws were extroverts and what time Bridget did spend with people, she wanted to have be valuable.

Still, that did not mean the she minded if Josie joined them. Besides, from what the other third year had said, this girl needed help and had lots of questions about the magical world, so maybe Bridget could actually be helpful.

"Maybe we could do both?" She asked, unsure. Obviously, if they were going, they would need dresses. "Or shopping doesn't have to be just clothes shopping. We could also look at all the tourist novelties too. However, I suggest we do things like the museum first so we don't have to carry around our purchases all day."

11 Bridget Ferguson I'm surprised that I am as well 1448 Bridget Ferguson 0 5

Gary Harper

April 10, 2020 5:30 PM

What next? by Gary Harper

Conner had a goal and a plan. Those were good things to have. He sighed, "Yeah. I think that's the main problem, I don't have a goal to aim for so I can't make a plan to get there. I'm usually pretty good at making plans, I've been doing it since my second year here." He chuckled a moment, "What is the bad guy going to do to thwart the plucky adventurers? What's going on over in that random town off the beaten path when Kir decides to take his character, and thus everyone else, over there? How do things play out when Zev's character makes the overbearing king wet himself? Good times." He sighed again. "Now it's for real, the stakes are high, and I'm not sure what my endgame is. Should I try to become rich? Powerful? A mysterious recluse? An ordinary wizardry townsfolk?" He shook his head, "Do I just follow Mr. Row's suggestions? Given certain deductions, that may be the best for society as a whole, but..." he shrugged, "I just don't know."

He shook his head the thought of going undecided. "I don't think I could do that. The search for knowledge is one thing, but floundering about hoping to run into 'the perfect thing'? No... I need a goal and a plan to get there. I should probably just pick something and go for it." He looked at the older boy, "How did you decide upon being a healer?" Then with just a hint of a mischievous smile he added, "Is there a tragic backstory involved?"

Shaking his head vehemently he countered Conner's misconception of his statement about Jasmine, "No way, that's not what I meant." He considered a moment before continuing, "Well, not for the most part. She's great and terrific, it's just that she is also really focused on the ball. Whenever we get the chance to talk it's either about classwork or the ball. We just haven't gotten a chance to.. you know... hang out much." He shuffled his feet a bit, "I can't say I blame her, there are better things to be doing, but...." He shrugged again, "How do you and Peyton manage it?"

2 Gary Harper What next? 1404 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

April 10, 2020 6:41 PM

Yeah, kind of like that. by Heinrich Hexenmeister

She seemed both surprised and suspicious by his offer. Heinrich remember Professor Brooding's remark that other students at the school had faced wolves in their lives, and suspected Cleo might be one of them. She did, however, seem agreeable to the ice cream, as well as the re-enactments. This was good, because he was interested in watching more of those.

"Good idea," he said and they walked together to the saloon. That she did not stay as close to him as Evelyn would have, he attributed to her not being a close friend. Given the option, he did not sit or stand as close to other people as he did with Evelyn either, so this suited him just fine.

He shrugged when she asked about any particular subjects he was worried about. "It is not subject matter that is a problem. My English is much better than when I started at Sonora, but I worry my essays will not make as much sense as I think, or a grammatic misunderstanding will change a meaning and I answer a question that was not what was asked, or a bad word placement changes my meaning and I am giving wrong answer even when I know the right answer." Even a year ago, he would not have dared to ask such a run on question. He would have needed to break it up into several sentences so he knew he was putting verbs in the right places. He was getting more and more confident in his use of English, but he knew he was still a long way from sounding like a native speaker. And he still couldn't break the habit of capitalizing nouns in written English, but that was the least of his worries since it did not affect the meaning of sentences.

It wasn't the test themselves that bothered him really. He was Aladren enough to almost relish the chance to prove his knowledge. His worry was that he couldn't know that his results would be accurate, and that bothered him very deeply.

As they arrived at the saloon, though, he felt much more confident of this much smaller test in front of him, and he headed for the ice cream bar. "A chocolate ice cream in a cone," he ordered, being extra careful in his enunciation. He exchanged the appropriate number of coins for the treat and stepped back to let Cleo do the same. He did not put his coin purse away quite yet though, in case she needed a spare knut for exact change.

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister Yeah, kind of like that. 1414 0 5

Ness McLeod

April 11, 2020 8:33 AM

Yeah, pretty much by Ness McLeod

Ness had sort of hoped the rules were clear enough by themselves. If an exclusionary criteria had not been presented then one, presumably, did not exist. Ness had stated all and every requirement. That had been ‘three.’

Because there was a difference between explicitly instructing Evelyn to go pick out clothes from other sections, and Evelyn just happening to do it (because it was allowed within the rules) and thus taking the matter out of Ness’ hands.

“Definitely,” Ness grinned, taking the bowtie. Cos, of course, a bowtie was cool. And especially one with such funky colours. And maybe it would look different this time around to the several really similar outfits Ness had tried over break, because after all there hadn’t been any green and purple ones.

“Find me a buttondown to go with it,” Ness directed, “It’s three outfits though -so the bowtie and the buttondown and stuff will count together. And then you can pick whatever else,” Ness shrugged, slipping in the answer to Evelyn’s question as casually as possible. It wasn’t like Ness really wanted to try dresses. Just… also that maybe ruling out trying dresses entirely also wasn’t on the cards? If Evelyn felt like forcing the point. Just out of curiosity. Or scientific research.

“Most scientific research says you can’t rule things out even if they seem like common sense without actually testing them. Just… fyi,” Ness added, in an attempt to be helpful that was probably more confusing than anything else.

13 Ness McLeod Yeah, pretty much 1419 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 11, 2020 9:54 AM

accepts by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn thought that it was really crappy that clothes were so often gender-coded. If Ness wore a button-up and bowtie, people would assume masculinity was the goal. If Ness wore a dress, people would assume femininity was the goal. That was not fair. Evelyn wondered how Ness would feel about a dress, combat boots, and a blazer. It was the sort of thing Evelyn would wear at home, but she wasn't sure whether it was her friend's style so much. That being said, she suspected Ness wouldn't be exactly comfortable looking at the dress racks; if a dress was to be tried on, Evelyn would need to pick it out. That seemed both like a responsibility to broaden the options, and also something to maybe indicated that Evelyn shouldn't broaden the options to that degree.

Ness was taking the "for science" attitude though, so maybe all the things were on the table as options. Evelyn nodded, taking up the task with pleasure. She chose a shirt she thought would go well with the bowtie and then picked a vest that would go well with various shirts. She was pretty sure that Ness would look good in anything anyway. The vest struck her interest though, because it didn't have to go just over a shirt . . .

Evelyn meandered around, the rack and spotted a soft, simple looking blue dress. It was sort of shimmery but not because it was bedazzled or anything. Just because it was light. And it was light enough that the black vest would probably look pretty good over it.

"For science," Evelyn said as she returned to Ness and presented the button up, vest, and dress. "You look good in everything, so we should try everything. Try it with the vest."

Three years ago, five years ago, Evelyn would never have been able to do that. She had learned to be bold and daring and speak her mind because of the lovely human she was shopping with, and she was pretty sure that meant it was her turn. Ness deserved to be bold and daring and happy. And comfortable.

"Do what makes you happy, friend," Evelyn emphasized. "Should we do our hair for this thing?"

22 Evelyn Stones *accepts* 1422 0 5

Parker Fitzgerald

April 11, 2020 9:56 AM

But so easy to clean by Parker Fitzgerald

As Parker came in to clean up a bit of his vomit he was startled by a voice. It was Beau, who Parker new from the Quidditch team. After catching his breath a bit he nodded his head.

“Hey. Ya, I’m fine. Still not 100% used to being a Wizard I guess. Either that or I ate something bad at breakfast.”

Parker turned to face Beau quickly looking him over “You’re free and clear ya?”

Parker wanted to make sure he hadn’t gotten any on Beau, cause though they were both on the same team, Beau seemed like the stereotype jock character in Muggle movies. Worried about his masculinity, needing to prove himself without showing he was trying, while also more than just a whiff of entitlement. So, Parker imagined, this might actually want to fight. Still, the boy had come back to check on him, so he wasn’t all bad.

Parker turned back around and waved his wand, “'Scourgify.” And suddenly the vomit was no more. More importantly though, the smell had dissipated as well.

“So damn helpful that spell,” Parker said, putting his wand back into his jacket. He’d learnt it in his third year and used it so often that he probably did it in his dream. Usually to get mud and dirt off of his clothes or objects. Still, he wondered where it all went. Especially now as his vomit poofed away into nothingness.

He looked over at Beau standing there. “You need a partner, partner?” Parker asked, putting on a fake western accent and hoping that Westerns were a thing. Either way, Parker thought, he’ll either laugh and be my partner for the day or decide not to be my partner and I’ll just find someone else.

“If so, let's mozy on over to a place I can get some chewing gum.”

41 Parker Fitzgerald But so easy to clean 1402 0 5

Malikhi Hill

April 11, 2020 11:22 AM

This is on me. by Malikhi Hill

Sweet things had never ever failed in their duty to cheer Malikhi up. How could they? Malikhi had not yet discovered a sweet thing that he didn't like and that didn't make him feel better upon consumption. He had found chocolate to be the best thing and he often walked around now with a chocolate frog in the pocket of his robes, just in case of emergency (or, alternatively, in case he got peckish).

It seemed to him that Hana was just a big a fan of sweet things as he was. He freely admitted that he did not understand a word of the German that had flown out of her but it was clear that she was happy and Malikhi grinned at her, especially when her cheeks coloured too. Seeing her so happy gave Malikhi a warm feeling in his stomach. He didn't know where that had come from or indeed what it meant. Maybe the ice cream would help cool it down?

"I'll try the candyfloss flavour with a scoop of chocolate, please, in a chocolate dipped waffle cone" he told the gentleman behind the counter who smiled and filled the order.

When it came to paying for the ice cream, Malikhi fished a few coins out of his pockets. "I'll pay for her's, too," he declared to the man before turning to smile at Hana. It wasn't anything big or extravagant but he hoped that she would realise it for what it was - a thank you for being his friend. "It's my treat."

20 Malikhi Hill This is on me. 1423 Malikhi Hill 0 5

Eden Manger

April 11, 2020 11:39 AM

My sentiments exactly! by Eden Manger

Ruby’s enthusiastic response, while not wholly unexpected, did provide Eden with comfort that she had selected the right companion for the day. She thought Ruby was quite fashionable herself, always well styled with her clothes and makeup. Eden was also pretty good at those things when it came down to it, but given that Brett would hardly appreciate a conversation around it any further than “you look hot today”, this was a welcomed presence. Not that Eden didn’t like hearing that her boyfriend thought she was hot, but sometimes she wanted a little more depth about it. How did this color look on her? Was this the right lipstick? Did she look completely wrong in this heel height? Brett was not the person to ask about that sort of thing.

“I’m not exactly sure,” she confessed as they got walking. “I like mermaid style dresses, but I’m also kind of on a budget.” Ruby’s last name sort of indicated that she wouldn’t have ever had the same sort of issue, but Eden’s funds were not as unlimited. Her mother had sent her what she could - about ten Galleons - and her sister Desiree had also chipped in three, so her pockets were not empty, but money was definitely a consideration.

“I’m torn on color, too,” she added. “I think blue might be nice with my eyes, but I was also thinking about pink, because… well, I like pink.” Eden laughed lightly. “Do you already have a dress? What’s yours like?”

12 Eden Manger My sentiments exactly! 385 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

April 11, 2020 12:12 PM

blushes more by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Johana Leonie thought that her ice cream was perfect. She didn't understand most of what Kai ordered but his looked perfect too. Then Kai said he'd pay for them both and Johana Leonie blushed, feeling like perhaps today was perfect altogether. She was excited to tell Hilda about this later on, in German of course, so they could discuss every little thing that was happening. Hilda would probably care much less than Johana Leonie did, as she leaned toward the tomboy side and so far as Johana Leonie knew was not particularly interested in romance or anything, but she was a good friend and would probably be willing to listen.

"Thank you," Johana Leonie said quietly when Kai had finished and they took a seat at a nearby table. They could look at out the window from here and watch as students passed by, came in and out, and went about their business among residents of Tumbleweed who were doing the same thing. "That was not need," she added, trying to be polite. "Still . . . thank you muchly. Is yours tasting good?"

She held her own ice cream aloft to show that she'd already tried hers, and offered a happy face. She wasn't sure how to say "delicious" in English, so that would have to do. "Mine is sehr gut. Ice cream is good."

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen *blushes more* 1432 0 5

Malikhi Hill

April 11, 2020 3:39 PM

Blush is a good colour on you by Malikhi Hill

Malikhi had been a little dubious about his choice of candyfloss ice cream paired with chocolate but decided after a taste test that he had made the right one. The candyfloss flavour was light and sweet and the chocolate added a smooth richness that balanced it out. It was perfect and delicious and he was very happy. The company that he was keeping was also making him smile. For once, he was in a bubble of happiness and calm and Malikhi found that he would like to be in this bubble a lot more than just every so often. Looking at Hana, a part of him hoped that she would be in this new bubble.

"I wanted to," he told her, almost brushing off her thanks. To him, no thanks was necessary. "Friends treat each other to ice cream, especially ice cream this good."

The thought briefly popped into his head that maybe they used magic to make the ice cream this delicious and a distant memory appeared to remind him that he had had these sorts of thoughts before but they hadn't been with Hana and certainly not over ice cream. He shook his head to clear it. That was a different place, a different time and a very different Malikhi. There would be no experimentation with the tasting of spells today.

"My ice cream is perfect," he told Hana, smiling widely.

20 Malikhi Hill Blush is a good colour on you 1423 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

April 11, 2020 3:43 PM

I don't want to do this. Do it for me. by Leonor De Matteo

Leonor did not want to go to the Ball. She did not want to wear a dress or get a date. Which was really irritating because that was the sort of thing she would have loved to do six months sago. But now that she had to do it, it felt like just one more item on her endless list of things to do. Also, she was eleven and what the heck did she have to start looking for a husband for now? It wasn't like she had a lot of say in the matter. She wasn't about to ask a boy out. That was inappropriate. If a boy didn't recognize that she was amazing and ask her himself, then he wasn't worth her time.

Either way, Leonor needed to get a dress. She had thought what she had before was good enough, but suspected now that it was not. Mara or Jessica probably would have been happy to go with her, but that sounded exhausting. Mab probably would have been hilarious to go with, but she probably wouldn't be happy to go with her. So Leonor arrived to Tumbleweed alone, her head held high as she looked around to find somebody worth her time.

There weren't many reasonable choices.

She paid extra attention to how the Pureblood students conducted themselves. She was going to. Need to learn about how to fit in with them if she was going to get anywhere. One of them would be her best choice for husband. Jeremy was among those and seemed like the least awful choice, but Felipe would not appreciate that. Also he was gross.

Frowning at the thought, Leonor brought herself back to the moment and approached the first girl she saw alone. It was an older student and not one Leonor had spoken to before, although she was pretty sure she was in Felipe's year. The girl was pretty. Really, Felipe could do better here than with Jessica or Zara but whatever made the moron happy was fine with Leonor at this point. He didn't have any other utility.

"Hi," Leonor said directly. "I need a dress. Do you want to come with me?" Leonor certainly wasn't about to ask whether she could tag along with this older girl. The girl should feel honored to tag along with Leonor, regardless of the fact that Leonor was required to find a partner. "I'm Leonor De Matteo."

22 Leonor De Matteo I don't want to do this. Do it for me. 1471 0 5

Isabella Harrington

April 11, 2020 4:01 PM

And who exactly are you? by Isabella Harrington

Bella had had no intentions of taking the opportunity to go to Tumbleweed. She hadn't needed to. Anything she had needed over the previous years, her grandmother had sent them to her. From school supplies to new dancing shoes, everything had been delivered by owl to her and Bella had liked this arrangement. It had meant that instead of wasting her time wandering aimlessly around, her time was used far more productively in getting ahead on homework or getting in more dance practice. Sometimes, both of those things had been achieved and Bella had been satisfied that her time had been well spent.

Until this particular trip.

After writing a letter to her grandmother to request a dress be sent to her that was suitable to wear for the ball, the reply had come that all of Bella's currently owned dresses were unsuitable and that instead, Bella would have to venture out into the big wide world and find one for herself. Bella had argued that surely her normal dressmaker (because, of course she had bespoke dresses for dance competitions, she couldn't have something off the rack) could make her one, her grandmother had replied that Barclay was on holiday and would not be available.

So here was Bella, in Tumbleweed, looking for a dress. Potentially off the rack. This was awful and she didn't have the first idea on where to start.

She had been looking in the window of one of the shops, with a frown and pursed thoughtful lips when the girl had approached her and Bella was a bit startled by the sudden invitation and introduction. She didn't know this girl. She had seen her about Sonora, of course but she hadn't had the faintest idea as to her name and was fairly certain that she was a first year. This was all very odd. What on earth was a first year doing approaching a third? Did she need a guide or something? Bella wasn't some kind of buddy to pair up with so that the little first year didn't get lost.

"Uh," she hesitated, unable to keep the frown from her face. "Maybe?"

It was more of a question than an actual answer and Bella thought that perhaps a better place to start would be to give her own name. "I'm Bella Harrington."

Bella. Not Isabella. Never Isabella.

20 Isabella Harrington And who exactly are you? 1435 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

April 11, 2020 4:02 PM

blushes extra more by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Friends. That was a nice word. It made Johana Leonie think that she had maybe taken her roommate's lessons to heart and learned how to talk to boys. Or at leat a boy. Of course, she was also trying to decide if she was in love with him. He looked a bit like what she thought of when she read Romeo und Julia.

Okay, Johana Leonie. Get it together.

"Good," she beamed, happy that his ice cream seemed to make him happy.

She turned her attention out the window, not sure what to say now that they were just sitting together. When they studied together, they had a topic right there in front of them. When they were spending time together and not studying, they were usually catching up on something. But they'd seen each other recently and Tumbleweed was the big thing to catch up on, but they couldn't do that until after it had done. What would Zara do? Just talk to him like a friend. Like her brother? That didn't seem like a good choice.

Kai wasn't her brother. The fact that Friederike Albert spent most of his time grinning about something or other and it was more surprising when Kai did it was enough to prove that. Plus, Friederike Albert was not half so handsome. Someday he'd probably find a girl who'd think he was. Well, he had a date to the Ball at least. Ellie Alperton must have thought he was decent to look at if nothing else. But they were also young, the difference between twelve and thirteen seemed like rather a lot to Johana Leonie. Her new training bra digging into her back was proof enough of that.

"This is nice," she told Kai, deciding on a simple course of action. "You have happy today?"

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen *blushes extra more* 1432 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

April 11, 2020 4:10 PM

The most amazing person you'll ever be lucky enough to meet. by Leonor De Matteo

CW: Leonor is just generally rude, but also a bit ableist in terms of insulting people's intelligence.

Uh. Maybe?

Great. Leonor had picked a real genius to spend the day with. At least even the most dull student would satisfy the partner requirement, and Leonor suspected this particular dull student would have good taste in clothes. She stifled the urge to look her up and down to decide for sure; she'd already approached and some part of her subconscious had undoubtedly decided she was good enough for today.

"Great," Leonor replied flatly, not registering Bella's name as anything noteworthy. She committed it to memory though. Bella Harrington, Aladren badge, third year. Leonor had to commit every name to memory now. How else was she going to get anywhere in the big wide world of diplomacy? "So you're alone. Unless you had a better option, I thought you might want to pair up. Was that not accurate?"

If the girl said no, this conversation was an utter waste of time. So Leonor should probably do something to reduce the chances of her saying no. She took a soft breath, trying to appear a bit demure without actually lowering her chin or eyes. "I don't have a partner yet," she said quietly. There was no apology or shame in those words because those were not things that Leonor could gather up and fake on the spot just yet. Felipe could have. But Leonor could not. So meek vulnerability would have to do. "And I don't have a dress yet, either."

22 Leonor De Matteo The most amazing person you'll ever be lucky enough to meet. 1471 0 5

Malikhi Hill

April 11, 2020 4:20 PM

The ice cream should be cooling you down! by Malikhi Hill

Malikhi normally felt sort of awkward when the conversation died between him and the person he was talking to. It often felt like if you were with someone, then conversation was a must and for it to fail meant bad things but sitting in the ice cream parlour with Hana, the silence between them didn't feel awkward or bad. At least, not to him. He felt comfortable, calm and with the added bonus that he had ice cream, Malikhi was very happy in this current moment even thought there was no longer any conversation flowing between them.

He thought perhaps he should say something. What if Hana was feeling awkward? That wouldn't do. He didn't want her to feel that way. On the other hand, if she was feeling as fine and happy as he was, he also didn't want to ruin the nice moment by forcing unnecessary conversation. Malikhi found himself wishing for an instruction manual again. Thinking back to their earlier conversation about future career paths, Malikhi wondered if there was any call for instruction manuals to socialising. Or maybe just even life? Perhaps that could be an avenue he could explore. Malikhi Hill - Life Instruction Manual Writer.

Hana asking him a question interrupted these thoughts and he blinked at her, for a moment not understanding the question. How could a person 'have happy'? He knew that a person could feel happy but could one have happy? Could you have emotions? Could emotions have a physical embodiment or was their physical embodiment the reactions on people's faces? Malikhi then decided he was thinking too much about too many complicated things and realised that she was probably just asking him if he was happy, in a normal way.

"I'm very happy," he confirmed for her and smiled widely to prove the point. "I hope that you're happy too?"

20 Malikhi Hill The ice cream should be cooling you down! 1423 0 5

Isabella Harrington

April 11, 2020 4:41 PM

I rather doubt that. by Isabella Harrington

Bella's frown or confusion didn't disappear the more interaction she had with this girl. Actually, she seemed rather rude and Bella didn't really want to waste any time deal with an uppity, bad-mannered first year. She just wanted to find a dress and then return to the school and if she made it back early enough, she might be able to fit in enough time for a decent practice in the dance room of MARS. Dealing with an upstart did not fit into any of that plan.

Bella was just about to reject the girl's proposal. Her entire situation was already causing her a headache and this girl was looking like she was only going to add to it. Then, the girl seemed to decide that her forward (and, according to Bella, annoying) attitude wasn't going to get her anywhere and go for a different approach.

Why Bella would care that a first year didn't have a partner, she didn't know. At eleven years old, the only kind of partner Bella was interested in was one who could dance. That had been Alex but he had been annoying and still was being an idiot so Bella was no longer interested. She could enter solo competitions and still become a champion, it didn't matter. So, the lack of partner didn't make Bella feel any sympathy for... what did she say her name was? Leo, something?

The fact that the girl also didn't have a dress yet, however, did give Bella pause. Maybe there would be something useful in pairing up with her. Bella wasn't really sure what she was looking for and a second opinion wouldn't hurt. Provided it was delivered as rudely as the introduction had been.

"Alright, we can pair up. I don't have a dress either so we could help each other out," Bella conceded, trying to ignore the little voice in the back of her head that said this was a bad idea. "Shall we try looking inside here?"

She gestured to the shop that they were standing in front of and waited for her reply.

20 Isabella Harrington I rather doubt that. 1435 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

April 11, 2020 4:50 PM

You would, wouldn't you? by Leonor De Matteo

It . . . worked??? Leonor blinked, surprised, but cleared the expression just as quickly. This seemed like A Moment that she should remember. It would be helpful to note that such a strategy was effective, although she doubted she could swallow her pride with her bile and make it work very often. She wondered whether that meant that Bella was so dull that she was easily manipulated, too, or just that she was as desperate as Leonor was pretending not to be.

"This would be fine," Leonor said, agreeing to the store in front of them and leading the way inside. The fewer decisions she had to make about this stupid dress, the better. Her parents had sent her a large sum of money and she doubted there was anything in Tumbleweed that she wouldn't be able to afford. She was glad again that she wasn't going with Mara because the fellow first year's opinion of such a sum would not be in line with Leonor probably. The De Matteos were not wealthy, and that was a hill Leonor would die on. If they were, she wouldn't have to do so much stupid stuff all the time.

"Are you looking for anything in particular?" she asked, wondering how far she could push the nice card before it would be reasonable to make the conversation about her again. The next time Leonor attended one of Sonora's balls, it would be the same year as her quinceañera, so that would be a much fancier affair. Also, she would have a date, full stop. For now, Leonor just wanted something pretty. But it would help to see Bella's tastes first. "Any particular colors?"

22 Leonor De Matteo You would, wouldn't you? 1471 0 5

Isabella Harrington

April 11, 2020 5:11 PM

Yes, because it's true. by Isabella Harrington

Bella still wasn't sure about Leonor (she had finally remembered the rest of her name) and was just as equally uncertain about the decision to accompany the girl. Still, she would have to cast those thoughts aside because the decision had now been made and Bella would have to live with it, regardless of what happened next. A part of her also didn't care whether the decision was a good or a bad one as long as the end goal was achieved and that was finding a dress. She doubted that Leonor was going to make the task any easier but it was already difficult so what difference did it make really?

"As for the partner," she added as she followed the girl into the shop. "There's really no point in having one unless he can dance. Dancing, after all, is a rather large part of a ball."

Bella would have no issues in regards to dancing at the ball. She could waltz, foxtrot, quickstep and many more and she had made the decision some time ago that she would rather go alone than go with someone who couldn't dance.

The shop was a nice one and absolutely full with dresses, some one racks and others on mannequins. Bella wandered around, not seriously browsing yet, just running her fingers over the different materials to see what felt nice (tulle could sometimes be scratchy and silk was too much of a bother to deal with). "I normally wear yellows or oranges. Sometimes red," she answered Leonor as she paused at a rather bright red dress that Bella quickly decided was too bright. "I was thinking perhaps something darker. What about you?"

20 Isabella Harrington Yes, because it's true. 1435 0 5

Cleo James

April 11, 2020 7:59 PM

Once bitten, twice shy by Cleo James

Heinrich ordered his ice cream and his ice cream only. That was a good start. Cleo got her own money bag out as she lined up, just to make sure there were no misunderstandings. She eyed Heinrich’s with slight suspicion, shifting hers pointedly in her hand as she ordered a strawberry ice cream. He had recommended chocolate, but she liked strawberry better. And didn’t have to do something just because he’d said to.

“So… re-enactments?” she stated, as she put her money away. That was the plan. Buy ice creams (not together) and then go watch re-enactments.

She headed towards the street again. Heinrich, so far, did not seem like a bad person. But she was worried that maybe, just maybe, bad people rarely did. Winston Pierce was supposedly a highly respectable member of society. Blake Brize-Norton was a golden boy and sports star. Both of them had treated her like an object. There was, she supposed, a difference between being ‘respectable’ which just seemed to mean ‘rich enough to get away with doing whatever you wanted’ and ‘nice.’ A big difference. But she was still finding it hard to trust either of those exteriors. Or just… well, anyone and anything.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked Heinrich. "Being nice to me," she clarified, wondering whether there was really any point to asking. Was someone with bad intentions really going to admit that this was all an evil scheme? Probably not. But it at least let her feel like she wasn't having the wool pulled over her eyes.

13 Cleo James Once bitten, twice shy 389 0 5

Zara Jackson

April 11, 2020 8:41 PM

Make your mind up by Zara Jackson

Zara was so surprised her feet stopped moving for a second. Given that she was still linked with Felipe this was bound to be noticeable.

Just as friends?

What the heck? There were a whole range of things on the spectrum between ‘marriage proposal’ and ‘just friends.’ And she was pretty sure he had placed them in between those two extremes not a minute ago. Hadn’t he just asked her out? She replayed the conversation in her head. It didn’t seem possible that he’d intended anything different by those words. Now he was… what, taking it back? And why?

She retraced over what she herself had said. Okay… she had teased him a bit. But it had just been a joke. Wasn’t Felipe used to the fact she liked to not take things too seriously? Wasn’t it one of the things he claimed to like about her? Also, even if he didn’t like it, it was one thing to… well, not like it, and another to just casually demote her from ‘date’ to ‘friend’ - to pretend like he hadn’t ever even asked.

She unlinked her arms, crossing them in front of her, and standing to face him squarely. She had never been one to pull her punches, and now - when he was being both confusing and a jerk - was not going to be the time to start.

“What are you playing at?” she demanded.

13 Zara Jackson Make your mind up 1444 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

April 11, 2020 9:07 PM

It's your mind I'm worried about. by Felipe De Matteo

Zara was a force of nature, for better and for worse. Most of the time, it was for the better, and she was the movement that made Felipe keep going. Sometimes, it was for the worse, and she stopped in her tracks, pulling his arm with her. He stopped too, and turned, naturally spun around some to face her. Which was terrifying.

It was more terrifying when she then let go of his arm and crossed hers, glaring up at him with big, beautiful eyes. She was ferocious and Felipe wondered for a moment if gazelles ever fell in love with lions before they were eaten. He reminded himself to look contrite and confused rather than weirdly enjoying the force of her emotions, which wasn't hard because, again, it was terrifying. He wanted very much to be someone capable of that much emotion all at once.

He also wanted to answer anything Zara asked of him just then. He wasn't sure whether it was because of his personality or hers, but he found that he wanted to say whatever would make her happy. If he ever committed a crime and she was the detective, he'd be in jail in no time at all.

"I'm not playing," he said, honestly confused at that part.

His insides played tug of war. On one hand, he did not want to risk ruining things with Zara. Losing Jessica had been awful, but now losing Zara too would be much worse. So it would be best if he played the whole thing off, right? But now he wasn't sure whether she was upset at him for asking or for trying to downplay it, and she was just so scary and he wanted to tell her the whole truth and let her decide what to do with it. He wasn't to be trusted with such things anyway.

He took a deep breath and meant to release it, but found that it caught in his lungs as he thought about what to say next. The desire to be a more honest, more reckless person won out, and he let out his thoughts and air at the same time: "I don't want to make you feel like you have to hang out with me if you don't want to and you're really nice so I think you'd probably just hang out with me because you are nice and I don't want to be a bother and I don't want to make you feel bad so I didn't want to keep clarifying and I don't really know what you want and can you please tell me because you're so scary and so pretty." His cheeks turned red. He hadn't meant to be that honest. "Sorry . . . I didn't-- I don't-- please help me understand because I don't understand."

He had never pleaded before and it was not awesome. Was this what it felt like to be more honest and more reckless? Because it felt pretty crappy. Hi, I'm Felipe, here's my heart and soul out on this table here, and a ticker tape of my most recent thoughts, did you want to blast me with them or just chop them into pieces for a potion? But scary was also sort of . . . exhilarating. He'd never felt like this before, and that was exciting. And terrifying.

22 Felipe De Matteo It's your mind I'm worried about. 1434 0 5

Zara Jackson

April 11, 2020 10:43 PM

Why? by Zara Jackson

Scary and pretty.

That was… interesting. Zara kind of thought she might quite like ‘scary and pretty’ as a compliment in general, although right now she was still too busy being pissed as heck to let Felipe off that easily.

Also, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be scary to him. Or confusing. All of the things he was saying about her didn’t really sound like how she thought of herself at all, which was kind of disconcerting when someone was supposed to be your best friend. Who was she, exactly, in Felipe’s eyes?

“You should know what I’m thinking,” she said, her voice still quite sharp, “Because it’s what I say. I don’t have fifty layers of subtext and hidden meaning. Just because you do,” she added pointedly. “So when I said I wanted to hang out with you, or go to the ball as your date, I meant it. You’re the one who took it back in the very next breath, without any kind of explanation. So, maybe I should be asking you the same question. Clearly you think there’s multiple hidden layers to every interaction we’re having, when as far as I’m concerned, what we say is what we mean. You do know me. You do know what I want. Because I tell you. So, are you telling me, or am I meant to be playing subtextual guessing games all the time?”

13 Zara Jackson Why? 1444 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

April 11, 2020 10:58 PM

Because it's scary. by Felipe De Matteo

Should he know what she was thinking? Was that a thing he was supposed to be doing? How was he supposed to know what she was thinking? There weren't really a lot of people who meant exactly what they said, because that just wasn't how people were. Zara was a little closer to transparent than other people but that wasn't to say she was easy to understand. She thought he was confusing. Subtext and hidden meaning. Felipe thought that that wasn't fair, just because he grew up having to negotiate everything. She knew that. Had that always bothered her?

Felipe thought back to when he and Jessica had argued - pick a time - and he remembered being angry. He didn't feel angry now, he felt a bit scared and a bit . . . something else. He wasn't sure what. Then he felt another thing because she said she wanted to be his date. His face lost whatever expression he was carrying and he stared at her with round eyes.

"You wanted to go as my date," he repeated. "You just said it would be nice to go together and then you asked about getting married and then you asked about the corn." His stomach rolled with some more of that fear and some feeling he couldn't identify but that felt a lot like warmth. "You changed the topic. I thought I upset you."

Okay, but literally every time he did anything he screwed it up. Why? Why did this happen? He couldn't just have one stinking normal interaction? He'd just asked a girl on a date and then she said yes and then he said no and then she said why and he said . . . what was he saying?

He tried to get all his words in the right order in his head, which was hard because Zara was still glaring at him. When he finally managed to make them come out of his mouth, they were much quieter than he meant them to be. "You wanted to go as my date?" he confirmed. "I'd really like to be your date." The D-word was actually a really nice word, as it turned out. But he wanted to be clear now. Everything had to be right. "Like . . . like I like you date?"

22 Felipe De Matteo Because it's scary. 1434 0 5

Zara Jackson

April 11, 2020 11:30 PM

And pretty by Zara Jackson

She… hadn’t said yes? She was pretty sure she had said yes. But she watched Felipe mumble and crumple his way through his version of events, and felt bad. It took guts to ask someone out, and apparently she’d inadvertently kicked him in his instead of saying ‘yes’ properly.

“You said… I believe ‘together like… together’ were your oh so eloquent choice of words, and I said yes,” she reminded him, but her voice had softened. She wasn’t challenging his version of events.

And then he said the D word properly, and it was super sweet. And she felt fuzzy, and it sounded like a super fun evening and-
And then he had to go and spoil it all. Didn’t ‘date’ sort of imply that in itself? Or… at least, like they were gonna go see if there were feelings. Was she being asked now if she had those feelings?

She didn’t know.

How were you meant to know??

The thought of sticking her tongue down Felipe’s throat wasn’t totally repellent, not least because it might stop him overthinking everything for five minutes. But like…. How many feelings were they talking about having here?

“Yes?” she stated, wishing she didn’t sound so unsure. “Like, let’s see where the evening takes us,” she added, unable to stop herself giggling slightly. Not wanting to make him feel insecure, and wanting to live up to her promise of being someone who said what she thought, she added.

“Sorry, it’s not you. It’s just… The idea of me on a date. Being the grown up one who goes in for make up and boys has always been Eva’s thing. But then I’ve never liked being lumped in with Bertie as one of the little kids either. It’s sort of been… A while of being this in the middle person who isn’t either of those things. Having a date sounds sort of weird. But nice. And especially with you.”

13 Zara Jackson And pretty 1444 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

April 12, 2020 12:10 AM

Very very pretty. by Felipe De Matteo

Felipe wasn't sure whether he was supposed to be sort of scared still, or contrite maybe. But he couldn't be. He managed to stifle a grin, but he smiled sheepishly at Zara - at his date - and ran his fingers through his hair. "That's completely fine, that's perfect," he said hastily, perfectly happy to see how the night went. Also terrified again. But mostly he was happy and excited.

He wanted to tell her that she didn't have to wear makeup if she didn't want to (did she usually wear makeup? Felipe wasn't sure how to tell), and that she didn't have to change at all, but he wasn't sure if that would sound like he was giving her weird permission to exist, so he held back. Plus, he was just really happy. He was pretty sure he was grinning like an idiot but it was much better than outright whooping and jumping around in the middle of the market, so that was okay.

And she thought a date with him sounded nice. And he was pretty sure he had either just become the luckiest guy at Sonora, or the unluckiest fool ramping up for another destroyed friendship. Right now, it definitely felt like the first one.

"I think it sounds nice, too," he told her, hearing more in his own voice than he usually let slip out.
"So," he breathed, feeling light. There were probably a hundred things he would need to think about between now and the Ball, but right now, he was just feeling a bit hungry. "Did you want some corn?" he asked, extending his arm for her again.

22 Felipe De Matteo Very very pretty. 1434 0 5

Ness McLeod

April 12, 2020 12:10 AM

Bleeeugh by Ness McLeod

“For science,” Ness agreed solemnly, taking the dress. Whilst Evelyn had been picking that out, Ness had continued to browse, picking some dress robes out. Assigned male at manufacture dress robes, probably. That was the thing about magical clothing, it was sometimes harder to tell. The robes were also kind of vintagey, with some kitschy details like a coloured panel to contrast and make them flare more, and some velvet strips around the ends of the big bell sleeves.

“I don’t know if my hair does things,” Ness answered with a shrug. It was short. It… just was. “Suppose I could dye it bright purple or spike it on its ends. Have you got ideas for yours?” the Aladren asked, eyeing Evelyn’s long blonde locks with… not quite jealousy. Evelyn had opportunities that Ness didn’t though. “Unless we break into hair growth tonic and wigs, of course,” Ness finished the tought out loud. With a little magic, a lot of things were possible, although Ness wasn’t convinced that hair from a bottle - without any kind of shaping or styling - was going to be a winning look.

Ness disappeared into the changing room, grateful for the fact they were just a row of single cubicles at the back of the store.

The first outfit was the full on shirt and vest look, complete with the funky little bowtie. Ness… looked like Ness. Maybe smart Ness, but there was nothing super attention grabbing about the look. The bowtie was cute enough that it was possible the Aladren would purchase it for everyday wear but… Well, Ness had seen this look over Midterm, and it hadn’t felt exciting.

Ness stepped out to dutifully model for Evelyn, giving no particular reaction (this should be a blind study, as far as possible - it was unlikely that they could achieve double-blind given the circumstances, but Evelyn should, as far as possible, make her own mind up). There was one more test when Ness got into the changing room. And it was unsurprising that the combo failed.
The next up was the dress robes, which were… sort of fun. Ness had been keen to find some vintage looks, but it just… it was a cool enough set of robes. Ness felt like Kir would have enjoyed wearing them. They might have done something different on him too. Evelyn got another mini fashion show before Ness disappeared to face The Dress.

Ness slipped into it. It felt… weird. It was all slippery and shimmery. Almost like Ness wasn’t actually wearing clothes except that would have been hor-rif-y-ing and this felt… nice? It was like if you could wear water. Or skin. Only in a not creepy way. Water. It was like water. Ness stared at a short-haired reflection, which was wrapped in a slippery blue dress, slightly hairy legs peeking out from the bottom, and considered pulling jeans back onto hide that. Did pull jeans back on to hide that, and then realised that looked even more stupid. Ness kicked them off again. The dress route clearly opened up all kinds of other complications. Did wearing a dress mean wearing tights? Or shaving? Or having hairy legs that people could see and not caring because frankly everyone else could just screw off if they were gonna be horrid?

“Don’t laugh,” Ness’s head made Evelyn promise, poking around the curtain, holding the rest of it close to prevent Evelyn seeing. “Or like… tell Kir. Ever.”

Letting go, the curtain dropped back, and Ness stood sort of awkwardly so Evelyn could see the dress. Currently minus vest, in all its raw dressy dressiness.

13 Ness McLeod Bleeeugh 1419 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 12, 2020 12:35 AM

This would be easier if you weren't perfect. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn was generally pretty okay with how she looked. She didn't think she was a real stunner, but she wasn't awful looking either. But Ness was sort of the perfect package. Short hair could do spikes - that wasn't something Evelyn could do - and Ness could look amazing in literally any of the three outfits. "I think purple spikes would be lots of fun," Evelyn said, imagining it. "I . . . don't know actually." She thought that her hair probably depended on what she was doing. If she was just going with Ness and they were doing their own thing, Evelyn's hair could be something fun. If Heinrich did decide to ask her, then she wanted to make sure that she looked every bit as formal and perfect as he did. Too many thoughts to think.

The first looked very much like Evelyn thought that Ness probably would look all the time if their school uniforms weren't required in class. Evelyn grinned. "Very you. And very sharp; you look dapper in that," she said, trying to offer the sorts of things she doubted Ness would come up with without Evelyn's input. Ness could tell whether something fit well, whether something was comfortable, whether it was a good skin-fabric color combination, but the impression clothes gave seemed more like Evelyn's area. If Ness lived brain-first, Evelyn lived . . . maybe guts first? Instinct.

The next outfit seemed a bit less like Ness but also sort of fun in its own way. "You look like a Ball advertisement," Evelyn decided, imagining that Ness and a date could be put on the posters for the Ball if they went up around Sonora.

Then Ness tried on the dress. Evelyn's first thought was "Tinker Bell." Not because Ness looked like a little lady fairy, but because Ness looked as fierce as ever, and also like someone had offered to make the outfit from flower petals and Ness cocked an eyebrow but agreed. Evelyn was not about to say that, though. It was also sort of weird seeing Ness in a dress. Evelyn didn't think of Ness as a girl or a boy, just a Ness. She was happy that in this dress, Ness was still a Ness. And if that meant girl or boy, that would be okay too. But if it didn't mean either, that was fine. Evelyn had never spent this much time thinking about Ness' gender, and she wondered whether Ness spent this much time thinking about it. Was Evelyn a bad friend for not having brought it up much before? She didn't think so.

"I would never," Evelyn promised before Ness stepped out. The effect was profound. "You look . . . light. Like you feel soft inside."

Evelyn sat back in the chair she'd commandeered for this task and thought about a better way to describe what she was seeing. Really, she was seeing Ness, with all the loveliness and awkwardness and perfectness. Suddenly "ness" seemed like a really perfect name for her best friend. "You look like you, and you look amazing. How does it feel?" She cocked her head, wondering if Ness would be comfortable answering that question, since nothing about the expression Evelyn was seeing said 'comfortable'. "Does it feel soft, too?"

22 Evelyn Stones This would be easier if you weren't perfect. 1422 0 5

Josephine Clyde

April 12, 2020 5:23 AM

But of course! The more the merrier! by Josephine Clyde

Jezebel and the other girl didn’t seem to mind her, in hindsight, rude interruption. In fact, they seemed welcoming. Josie breathed a sigh of internal relief and returned her attention to what the older girls were saying. Historical sites? Count her in! She’d wanted to go on a tour anyway and even if Jezebel and Bridget didn’t want to go on a tour, they probably already had since they were older than her, she could still go on one later. Whatever historical sites the three of them would go to together would be more than enough fun for her. Shopping brought her to a bit of a stop. She hadn’t really gone shopping shopping for a long time. Shopping for Sonora didn’t count and it had been a long time since Josie had bought something nice for a fancy event. Her father wasn’t big on fancy events.

“The Ball,” She hummed, “I mean, I guess so? It’s a big event here, right? And it’s not something you guys have every year? I think it would be super lame if I missed it, but…do we need dates ?”

Please say no, she begged. The only boys she knew were Theo and Gabriel and while they were both very nice she didn’t really want to go on a… date with them. At least, it must be a date, right? A boy and a girl at a dance together, which meant dancing, which was a girl-boy thing to do, as far as she knew. Josie would much rather go with a bunch of friends and everyone have a good time then have to go with a boy and be more than a little awkward.

The mermaid hair girl was Sophia’s cousin! Well, she was automatically kind, nice and everything good in the world. Sophia had been more than willing to answer her long list of questions. Bridget was definitely going to be as nice Sophia, she could feel it in her bones. The older girl’s suggestion was already a good clue and a step in the right direction.

“Both is good for me! This is my first visit here, so everything is new and exciting and I really don’t mind where we go because it will all be awesome. I’d love to go to the museum!”

She wondered if the museum would have a gift shop. What could one buy as a souvenir from a magic museum in a magic floating town? Would it sparkle, explode, sing or talk? Anything was possible and she couldn’t wait to find out with new friends!

44 Josephine Clyde But of course! The more the merrier! 1477 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

April 12, 2020 11:07 AM

Bites hurt. I don't blame you. by Heinrich Hexenmeister

He put away his coin purse when it looked like Cleo had all the change she needed for her strawberry ice cream. "Yes," he agreed to the plan, and followed her out of the saloon, carefully licking his ice cream so the chocolate did not drip and make a sticky mess on his hand or the floor.

Heinrich was surprisingly unsurprised when she asked after his motives for being nice. Not even Evelyn had ever questioned his motives in the beginning, when she'd had little reason to trust anybody, but his association with Evelyn had begun very strangely, so that probably accounted for a lot of that. He thought they'd accidentally snoozed past most of each other's barriers entirely without intending to and somehow woke up inside each other's barbed wire fences that were supposed to keep people out.

Heinrich did not make a habit of wondering about other people's ulterior motives, so it wasn't even something he recognized from his own social distrust. He didn't doubt why people were nice. He doubted whether they'd be nice.

But he was no stranger to people looking different on the outside to what they were really like on the inside, so Cleo's suspicion seemed more prudent than rude when he really thought about it. He gave her an honest and serious answer.

"I am nice because there is not enough nice in the world. There would be less hurt if there were fewer bad wolves, but I cannot stop there being bad wolves. I can only stop me from being a bad wolf. So I am good so I am not bad. Bad bites, and bites hurt, and that I will not allow myself to do. There has been too much hurt already."

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister Bites hurt. I don't blame you. 1414 Heinrich Hexenmeister 0 5

Connor Priory

April 12, 2020 12:56 PM

The museum? by Connor Priory

Connor considered what Gary had said. "Well, what's most important to you? I mean, I think that since you're going to be working anyway, you should do something you really enjoy. If you have a well paying job that you don't also happen to like,you're going to be miserable." Gary had never seemed particularly money or power hungry to Connor so he'd be rather surprised to see the Aladren go down that route. True, one hundred or two hundred years down the line his descendents might appreciate it. Sadly, however, power was going to be hard for Gary, as a Muggleborn, to come by in the magical world. Especially since the younger boy had never seemed particularly ruthless either. Which Connor found to be a positive thing. Being a good person was more important than being powerful.

Of course, that was easy for him to say, given his family already had money and power.

He continued. " Or if you're working around the clock to earn lots of money, you won't have any time to enjoy the money you make. I sort of know what that's like. To be a Healer, I had to continue taking everything except COMC and have spent most of the last two years studying and doing homework."

The Crotalus almost laughed, even though it was not really funny. It was just that Gary was probably not actually expecting him to say yes. "Actually, sort of. When my mom was in school she was playing Quidditch. She was a Seeker and our cousin Lily was a Beater on the opposing team. Mom was about to catch the snitch so Lily lobbed a bludger at her and got her right in the back. Mom caught the snitch anyway, but it was a really bad injury. Then my grandparents took my mom to a Healer with an experimental treatment but he only made it worse. She has back pain to this day."

Connor went on. "Also, my sister Lydia was a preemie and my cousin Bridget's mom has serious health issues, so all that has rather inspired me to want to help people."

"Hmm. I suppose Jasmine is just the sort that really is into balls and fancy dresses and stuff like that. I'm sure that will die down after this year. I mean, she'll probably still be interested in those kinds of things but it won't be quite as much of a focus without an actual ball to prepare for. Peyton and I...well, I try to make time for her, which with my class schedule isn't the easiest really. Maybe you could make a plan to just..hang out with Jasmine somewhere that doesn't involve studying."

11 Connor Priory The museum? 395 0 5

Beau Tate

April 12, 2020 2:40 PM

Isn't magic great? by Beau Tate

"Oh, well that's good then." Beau replied. He meant it too.The fifth year really did not wish people pain and misery and sickness. Well, except maybe his sister to a degree but she was generally a terrible person. There were times that she had made him miserable and he tended to respond in kind. People said that when they got older they'd stop hating each other the way Mother tolerated Aunt Nina and Uncle Adam now and vice versa. Sort of an absence made the heart grow fonder thing.....in that fonder meant going from total hatred to a grudging tolerance of each other.

Beau really did not see this happening with him and Arianna though.

He also did not quite understand how Parker wasn't used to being a wizard by now. For one thing, the older Pecari had technically always been one. For another, well, he was a sixth year, he should have learned magical ways by now. Still, he did sort of understand where Parker was coming from. "Yeah, Floo is not the most pleasant way to travel, but I've been using it all my life so I'm rather used to it now." Magical transportation sort of sucked somewhat but on the plus side, it was efficient.

"Yup, it's all good." Beau replied. He was relieved to see Parker use scourgify. Clearly the elder Pecari had at least picked up something. "Oh yeah, spells just make life so much easier." Not that he knew anything different. To him, living without magic sounded just terrible. Like going back to prehistoric times practically. Without magic, people just spent so much time having to do things like cleaning and looking for things whereas wizards and witches could use charms like Scougify to clean-especially bad things like vomit, if Parker's puke had gotten on his shoes and this was the Muggle world, his shoes would have been ruined and he would have been in a far less generous mood towards the other boy-or Accio to summon lost items to you. Of course, for menial labor, his family just used house-elves.

"I sure do." Beau responded. Parker was as good a partner as any, probably better than some. A fellow Pecari would probably have similar ideas of fun. "And that sounds like a good idea." He could not imagine going around all day with barf breath. "Maybe the candy store sells some?" A candy store actually seemed like a fun place to shop as he did like sweets.

11 Beau Tate Isn't magic great? 1416 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

April 12, 2020 4:51 PM

I mean, you're the merriest of the three of us. Bridget can agree? by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Jezebel nodded, agreeing with Bridget's suggested order of events. Carrying her stuff through the museums and stuff didn't sound like any fun at all. Plus it made decision-making easier.

"The Ball is every four years," Jezebel pointed out. "If we don't go this year, we could still go later. Or we could go this year to learn about it and then be more ready next time." She shrugged, not sure how to get out of making a decision about such things. Really, she probably would have enjoyed going. But not alone. It was weird to imagine her sixteen-year-old self attending the Ball. Who would she be four years from now? That was hard to wrap her head around. "No dates if we go together," she added hastily, not wanting to think about that for a moment. "Maybe four years from now."

Jezebel smiled a bit, which was nice. It was easy to talk to Bridget and Josie. Satisfied that everyone was on the same page about what to do first, Jezebel urged them all to move together by beginning towards the more historical part of town. "It's . . . weird having ghosts right?" she asked, looking more at Bridget for an answer on that one. "Do all wizard towns have this stuff?"

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer I mean, you're the merriest of the three of us. Bridget can agree? 1454 Jezebel Reed-Fischer 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

April 12, 2020 5:22 PM

We also have a present. by Heinrich Hexenmeister

It had been an interesting day. He hadn't expected to spend the first part of the trip with Cleo, and it had been an experience. He'd known she was a half-veela (the whole school did), but that hadn't been the difficult part. She was pretty, he wouldn't argue with that, but he wasn't one to be overly influenced by that kind of thing. The inside was more important than the outside, and Cleo's inside . . . was hurting. Which was not her fault, of course, but it did not make for a restful time.

He was honestly a little bit relieved to part company with her to go meet Evelyn. The re-enactments had been good, but he was looking forward to spending time with someone he wasn't worried about hurting by accidentally brushing against a fresh wound.

He smiled when he saw her. She looked happy. It was a good change. Not only was a contrast to Cleo, but Evelyn herself didn't look truly happy often enough. "Hi," he said, returning her wave, if not so widely and energetically as she had done. The short English greeting even sounded almost casually comfortable on his tongue.

His smile broadened at her suggestion. "I was hoping you would want to see the museums." He accepted the brochure she offered and he looked it over before nodding in agreement. "This looks good. Let us do it." He looked at the little map printed on the back and then pointed down the road. "I think it is this way?"

As they walked, he asked, "Did you have fun with Ness?"

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister We also have a present. 1414 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 12, 2020 5:32 PM

Wrap it in a bow. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn felt completely spoiled by Heinrich's smiles. They were becoming less rare but no less special. She generally felt spoiled by today though. She got to spend time with her wonderful best friends. Ness had stepped way beyond the boundaries of "comfort zone" and somewhere into "new year new me" and that was exciting. Whatever happened from here, Evelyn and Ness had experienced something new together, and that was always special. Evelyn was the luckiest girl in the world to be best friends with literally the two coolest people she knew.

She relaxed, happy that he wanted to see the museums, too. She stood up on her tip toes to look at the map he was now holding a little better, craning her neck and ultimately agreeing. "I think so too," she nodded.

"I did! We went shopping, and it went a lot better than I expected! I was worried I wouldn't be able to find anything." She hadn't been planning on telling Heinrich that they'd been shopping unless he asked, because it seemed pushy, but it was what they'd done so there was that. She also wasn't about to say that she was worried she couldn't find anything because she couldn't afford it. That was the nice thing about Heinrich though; Evelyn didn't have to say everything, and he still understood. It was nice that he and. Ness were better friends now, too. Evelyn liked feeling like she could talk about Ness to Heinrich and Heinrich to Ness and be very excited either way. Maybe different excited, but excited either way. "Have you had a good day?" she asked, smiling up at him.

22 Evelyn Stones Wrap it in a bow. 1422 0 5

Freddie Zauberhexen

April 12, 2020 5:45 PM

What about me? by Freddie Zauberhexen

"I have happy," Hana was telling a boy with blonde hair as Freddie made his way into the saloon. He'd spotted his sister in the window and immediately headed in to say hi. He had heard about this boy before - Hana couldn't keep her head on straight for a moment about these goes - but he wasn't sure what to make of him and he definitely hadn't met him before. He seemed alright though. He liked ice cream at least.

"Hana!" Freddie called as he approached. "How geht es you? Ist er Kai?" He put his hand out to the boy, ignoring Hana's vaguely horrified, indignant expression. "I am Freddie."

"This is Friederike Albert," Hana added, regaining her composure. "Mein Bruder." She always looked a little proud of Freddie, but she also sort of looked like she wasn't very proud of herself most of the time, which Freddie thought was dumb. She also really hated when he mixed English and German in the middle of his sentences but Freddie thought that was dumb, too. If he had all sorts of words to choose from, why not choose from all of them?

"So? Are you going to marry him?" Freddie asked his sister in German. She turned scarlet and looked to her friend with a horrified expression before remembering that he wouldn't have understood the question. Ignoring her, he turned back to her friend.

"Hana says you are nice," he told Kai, looking him over before shrugging. "So I think you're okay too." He nodded his head decisively.

22 Freddie Zauberhexen What about me? 1452 0 5

Dorian Montoir

April 12, 2020 8:05 PM

It's a date by Dorian Montoir

The bunnies had been pretty effective. It was easier to talk when there was something small and soft to keep you grounded. It was possibly easier in person too. There were also the words that Jean-Loup had been able to say that had stopped Dorian mid-spiral.

I know what that’s like.

Professor Brooding had comforted Dorian, of course. All his friends had. Had promised it was fine that he felt like his brain was falling apart, or like he had to put himself back together and had no idea where to start.

After I told my parents… It felt like it changed everything. Even with Charlotte. Even though she hadn’t done anything and wasn’t involved. I know that’s a little different to you not knowing how you feel about me… But it was like… how could I relate to her if I wasn’t even sure who I was any more? Or what she’d think about me….

And they had resolved one or two other hurt feelings too. That Dorian didn’t think Jean-Loup was like Matthieu. That he had never, never put him down to the same level. He just didn’t want him to stoop to that kind of behaviour. It was hard though, to look at him sprawled in the grass, laying out so he was looking up at Dorian with those beautiful green eyes, and to not give in a little bit. He could see it in his face, how every soft word wanted to be accompanied by a gesture. By reaching up to brush Dorian’s cheek or reaching out to take his hand. And how there was this force that pulled Dorian in and wanted so much to just let him.

I know you must know this by now but… I would do anything for you.

And how at that point he’d given into it, and twined their hands together in the grass, leaning into Jean-Loup and… and remembering that they were not somewhere especially private. And so they had said goodbye to the bunnies and snuck around the back of the petstore. It was hard to feel like you were still falling apart when someone strong put their arms around you. It was hard to feel like the world had come crashing down around your ears when the way he kissed you made you forget it even existed.
It had taken him longer than it should have to make good on his promise of checking in with Professor Brooding. Time flew when you were having fun… But he had, and now he and Jean-Loup were working out how to spend the rest of the day. It was tempting to disappear again. But that word made Dorian’s heart ache.

“Can I tell you something really stupid that’s been bothering me?” he asked Jean-Loup.

“Of course,” Jean-Loup answered, though he felt himself tense. He knew not everything was going to feel resolved straight away but he had been hoping they had put it behind them for the rest of the day.

“There’s this ball at the end of the year. And as a prefect, I have to lead the dance at the start and… And I know that I can just do it with Tatya. And it should be nice - she’s my best friend and she’s been wonderful. But… But I think half the school thinks I’m dating her anyway. And… and did I go through everything I went through? Did I tell my friends, and get forced to tell my family - all the people I was always the most afraid of telling - only to still be completely invisible?”

“You want to be that visible?” Jean-Loup questioned, sounding anxious.

“I just don’t see what I’ve got to lose at this point,” he shrugged. “And it’d be nice… Like you said, we keep missing out. And it’s not fair.”

“Wow. That’s….pretty big,” Jean-Loup noted. He took a breath, finding there was nothing really on the other side of it though. That he still needed a moment to process that thought. “You wanna get an ice cream or something?” he asked.

“Yeah, okay,” he agreed.. “It’d be big if it actually could happen,” he sighed as they made their way in.

Jean-Loup was quiet, tense jawed as they ordered, thoughts flickering behind his eyes. Dorian called it his ‘thinking in English face,’ watching as he took an overly long time scanning the ice-cream flavours. Dorian glanced at him, wondering if he needed translation but they were simple enough words, especially when accompanied by colour-coded clues. He predictably chose the mint chocolate, whilst Dorian got regular chocolate because they didn’t have anything resembling caramel.

They slid into one of the booths side by side. They maintained a slightly more formal seating posture now there were other eyes on them, though they slipped their hands together under the table.

“Are you okay?” Dorian asked. Jean-Loup still looked tense.

“Just trying to work out how to get around my parents,” Jean-Loup sighed. It wasn’t like he hadn’t got quite good at sneaking off lately, but it was going to be harder during an evening - especially as the time difference meant he’d be coming back even later…

“In what sense?” Dorian asked.

“For the ball. It should be after my exams are over, so I’ll be free from school and-” he caught sight of Dorian’s perplexed face and stopped. “You were talking about going with me, weren’t you?” he checked.

Oh. Oh - no. I mean, yes - of course, I was. But we’re not allowed outside guests. Sorry- I didn’t mean to-” Dorian stammered. “It was just hypothetical. ‘In an ideal world….’ But we live in this one.” He paused, thinking over the rest of what Jean-Loup had said. “I didn’t think you were… there yet. In terms of being public. Like you said, there’s still so many complications for you.”

“I… don’t know. But I know I told you I’d do anything for you.”

“That means a lot. So… relieved you don’t have to?”

Jean-Loup let his feelings settle for a moment before answering. When Dorian had told him that he didn’t have to, the world had undeniably got a lot simpler - the complex twists and turns his brain had been taking had stopped, the half-formed plans evaporating with them. But the one thing he hadn’t let go of with them had been the image that had formed, of him dancing with Dorian, of making him happy, and of them being like everyone else for one.

“No. More disappointed. Which I think is a good indicator of where we’re at.”

For a moment, the only noise between them was the soft clink of metal spoons on elegant cut-glass ice cream dishes. Jean-Loup was the one to break it.

“You know… If it means that much to you, for them to know who you really are… They’re all here right now, and so am I?”

“What are you suggesting?” Dorian asked. He could not imagine waltzing down the street in Tumbleweed nor standing on the table to make a speech to the saloon.

Jean-Loup shrugged. He hadn’t exactly come up with a list of publicly approved versus forbidden activities. He was not planning to start making out in the middle of the street, not because it might set people gossipping but just because it was a vulgar and crass thing to do. But he felt there was some degree to which they held themselves back. Held hands under tables instead of in the open. Waited until they had privacy to smile at each other.

“Just… be ourselves?” he suggested, making a conscious effort to relax his posture. To sprawl. To invade Dorian’s personal space in tiny and casual ways. He watched Dorian do the same. And from the outside perhaps very little had changed. There were two boys, comfortable enough to sit informally together, one with his arm draped across the back of the seat, the other leaning into the territory it crossed. There wasn’t much to see. But inside the little bubble, there was all the difference in the world of knowing too that there was nothing left to hide.

13 Dorian Montoir It's a date 1401 Dorian Montoir 0 5

Malikhi Hill

April 13, 2020 4:57 AM

I did not invite you? by Malikhi Hill

Malikhi was smiling at Hana when Freddie arrived, pleased that she was happy. His smile faded somewhat when the boy approached the table, calling Hana's name. Malikhi had no idea who this boy was, couldn't even summon up a name to put to a face. What was worse was that he was speaking in German to Hana and Malikhi couldn't understand a word, apart from the shortened version of his name. Malikhi tried not to frown. He was at a disadavantage. This boy knew him, even knew his nickname (not that it was a hard leap from 'Malikhi' to 'Kai') and yet, Malikhi didn't know him from Adam.

Suddenly, there was a hand in front of him and an introduction and the whole situation was a little less complicated with a name. Malikhi knew what to do in these sorts of situations. He had, after all, successfully introduced himself to people on many occasions so why was he being such an idiot about it now?

He cleared his throat and took the boy's offered hand, shaking it. "I'm Malikhi Hill. Nice to meet you."

The introduction was perhaps rather pointless given that 'Freddie' already knew his name and stock phrase at the end wasn't quite true. Malikhi didn't know if it was nice to meet this boy. At the moment, he was interrupting time between him and Hana and making everything awkward and complicated.

He was pleased when Hana spoke and the current situation became a little less complicated for him and explained that Freddie was her brother. That was okay. Hana had mentioned her brother before. Looking at Freddie now armed with the knowledge that Malikhi wished he'd had previously, he could admit the boy looked nice, friendly even and Malikhi couldn't really fault the boy's approach to them - he would have done the same, once upon a time. Freddie reminded Malikhi a little of a younger version of himself.

He had no idea what Freddie asked Hana but for her to flush such a bright colour and look so appalled, it had to be something worrying. Malikhi grew concerned for Hana and what was a wrong but a more selfish part of him hoped that it didn't mean their time together was over. He was enjoying spending time with her and would be annoyed if some outside force ruined that.

Without any answer to these thoughts in his head, Freddie suddenly turned back to him and declared him 'nice' and 'okay'. Well, Hana thought he was 'nice' and Freddie thought he was 'okay' and that was fine. They were both positive things. That was good. A little part of him felt smug that Hana had talked about him. That was nice too.

He grinned at that thought, pleased. "I've heard a bit about you too," he told Freddie. "You seem nice too."

20 Malikhi Hill I did not invite you? 1423 0 5

Freddie Zauberhexen

April 13, 2020 10:32 AM

A forgivable oversight. by Freddie Zauberhexen

"You probably do not heard much," Freddie said, wrinkling his nose and looking at Hana with a smirk. He did enjoy these opportunities. Normally, he was a very sweet brother, but she just made it so easy sometimes. She wouldn't tell him off, so really this was just an exercise in self-efficacy building for her. "Hana talks about you and does not do the stopping."

"Friederike Albert!" Hana gasped.

"If you don't act weird, then it's not weird." Turning back to Kai - did he say his name was Malikhi? Whatever - Freddie grinned. "How much is true? Are you really very nice and funny? Has you seen her Ball dress? Es ist pink und she sees pretty." With Hana looking like she may never be un-mortified again, Freddie chuckled softly. "I play. But it is good to meet you."

Freddie had a brief moment of feeling bad, because Hana was almost always nice to him and probably didn't know what to make of this situation. However, Hana also had a sense of humor, and it was something she simply didn't use enough of. She was funny too, when she tried, and she worked way too hard for her own good.

When Freddie glanced back at his sister, he stopped feeling bad, because she was stifling laughter. She was still blushing fiercely, but her eyes were sparkling. After a heartbeat of time, she burst into laughter, giggling behind her hand as she tried to contain herself.

"I am sorry, Kai," she laughed, a tinkling sound. "Mein Bruder ist silly. He is also right. You are nice and funny." She raised an eyebrow at her brother and took a breath, apparently resigning herself to the turned nature of the conversation. "I think you two will . . . ah . . . get along?"

"Get along," Freddie filled in her German.

"Yes, I think you two will get along," Hana said, smiling at her brother and then beaming at Kai. Freddie couldn't help noticing that she looked a little pleading, as if she was just hoping that Kai wouldn't get up and walk out on her. Family was important to the Zauberhexens and friends were just family that RSVPed to their life yet.

22 Freddie Zauberhexen A forgivable oversight. 1452 0 5

Mab

April 13, 2020 10:54 AM

I think so too by Mab

Mab slowed down when she realized Alexander wasn't right beside her anymore. She looked back, kind of confused, and then spotted him hurrying after her carrying two cowboy hats. He gave her one, and she couldn't help the look of stunned surprise on her face.

Alexander had gone to a teacher and gotten hats for them. For her.

She put hers on her head and tried to talk but her voice caught in her throat and nothing came out. This was stupid. He gave her a transfigured hat that he didn't even make himself. Why was she all choked up about something so little? It was just a dumb hat that wouldn't even stay a hat.

"Yeah," she croaked after another moment. "I definitely need ta wet my whistle." Soda would hopefully help wash this unexpected sentimentality away.

She fell into step with him, going toward the saloon. She cracked a smile at his comment about parchment, glad to have something else to think about. "They could have the same root word." Good words were coming easier again.

They entered the saloon and headed for the bar. "A ginger ale," she ordered, because it sounded more like an alcoholic beverage than a Diet Coke rather than because she particularly favored ginger ale. This was a saloon, after all. A certain ambiance had to be maintained that asking for a Coke just wouldn't satisfy.

When he named the price, she gave him a blank look for a moment, having briefly forgotten that she shouldn't expect it to be named in dollars and cents and therefore being taken off guard by the unfamiliar currency. Then she remembered, and pulled out her bag of fey coins, which she was still tightly gripping, and opened it enough to peak inside. "Which ones are sickles and which ones are knuts?" she quietly asked Alexander, showing him the coins inside her purse, and half watching his expression to see if he thought Bel had given her an absurd amount of money for today's trip.

OOC: It's enough for what a former New Hampshire Pierce witch considers adequate funds for a nice ball gown, plus some extra for fun spending money. Feel free to have Alexander think it's a large sum if he's at all familiar with wizarding coinage.

1 Mab I think so too 1473 Mab 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

April 13, 2020 11:14 AM

I'm glad we're on the same page. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

If Alexander had noticed Mab's reaction, he might have felt shy. As it was, he was distracted with trying to get his hat to sit on his head right, and feeling increasingly more like he had swallowed a mouthful of desert. The saloon was sounding better and better and by the time he looked more closely at Mab's expression, she was agreeing that a drink would be nice.

The saloon was such a funky little place, and Alexander instinctively clutched a little tighter at his notebook, squirming inside with the excitement of drawing it all. When he looked at Mab, though, he thought that maybe he would draw this place from memory later and focus on making a friend today. That would be nice.

Alexander had no idea what wizard money equated to in dollars and cents, but he hade made a point of learning which ones were which. That being said, he wasn't sure how much Mab had, just that she could have probably bought several of every soda in the shoppe if she'd wanted to. His eyes rounded and he raised his eyebrows.

"You have a lot," he told her just as quietly, not wanting to draw attention if she didn't want it. Normally he wouldn't have commented at all, but she seemed to not really know too much about what she had and it seemed prudent to be helpful. He wondered whether she had known she could have afforded a cowboy hat and just didn't want one, though, and felt silly for giving her one. At the same time, she didn't seem to be aware, and she had been happy enough to accept the transfigured hat. He pointed out the difference between knuts and sickles and let her pay before ordering his own drink.

"Lemonade," he asked, noting that it was cheaper than soda, and also that it seemed appropriately outdoorsy. He associated lemonade we lemonade stands, and while he didn't think those were real popular in frontier America, something about it still seemed old timely. He retrieved his own money, a much smaller sum than his co-sheriff had, and paused for a moment to count out how much he needed for his drink.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales I'm glad we're on the same page. 1475 0 5

Malikhi Hill

April 13, 2020 12:09 PM

Well, as long as all is forgiven. by Malikhi Hill

Freddie was smarter than Malikhi was giving him credit for. The boy was right. Malikhi hadn't really heard much more than Freddie was Hana's brother and only knew the little bits and pieces of their family that Hana had given him. That was fine and he had only said it to be polite because that was how he had been taught. He hoped his mother was proud that something in 'appropriate conversational skills' that she had taught him had stuck.

Freddie continued talking and Malikhi knew teasing when he saw it. It was clear that Hana's younger brother was on a mission to tease Hana and such a thing was quite amusing to Malikhi. He didn't endorse the nasty kind of teasing that included name-calling but this was teasing between siblings and that was fine. It was rather amusing to see Hana's cheeks change colour.

'Also, rather cute...'

Malikhi was startled at himself. He didn't know where that thought had come from and his own cheeks had coloured. He was thankful that Freddie's questions served as the needed distraction from his own surprising thoughts.

"Uh," he began, not really sure which question to start answering first or indeed how to answer them. How could he answer if he was funny and kind? He thought he was funny and kind but whether others thought him so was entirely up to them and he couldn't answer for them. Still, he supposed Freddie was not particularly thinking about other people. "I have been told I'm funny and I hope that I am kind," he settled on that as an answer, deciding that it was a safe one.

Had Malikhi seen Hana in her ball dress? The answer to that was a simple one, 'no'. A part of him, however, found that he would quite like to see her in that dress though and he was sure that Freddie was right and she would be very pretty in it.

"I haven't seen her dress, no," he answered. He decided to keep the compliment to himself as telling Hana that in front of her own brother would surely embarrass her and he didn't want to do that.

Then, he heard laughter. He heard laughter coming from Hana's direction and he looked at her, enjoying the sound. He hadn't heard her laugh like that before and the sound, combined with the colour of her cheeks, was almost magical. He truly looked at her then, drinking in her appearance and losing himself in the sound of her tinkling laughter.

'She is very pretty,' he thought to himself. 'In a ballgown or not.'

Then, he started laughing too, letting out a laugh that hadn't been heard for quite some time. It was deep and rich and loud. It felt good to properly laugh again and in that moment, it felt like there was nothing wrong in the world. Like everything bad could be banished with the sound of their laughter.

"I think we'll get along perfectly, Hana," Malikhi responded, still chucking and smiling wide.

20 Malikhi Hill Well, as long as all is forgiven. 1423 Malikhi Hill 0 5

Mab

April 13, 2020 12:29 PM

Should we check if we have the same book? by Mab

She had a lot. Mab felt vaguely dismayed by his confirmation of her suspicions. She had a lot. Bel had given her too much. It had to be a fey trap. Except, she'd already eaten their food. She was already stuck in their world. How much more could they really take from her? And she'd already lost everything that mattered well before she'd eaten any fey food. Getting nabbed by the fey police had been an upturn in her personal fortunes.

She had a lot.

She wasn't sure if the fey were trying to make a point with this coin purse being some kind of underscore. She got it already. The fey were good for her. She shouldn't try to escape. Point taken.

She paid for her soda with the appropriate number of each coin that Alexander pointed out, then watched as he ordered a lemonade, which was distinctly not a soda. It was, however, cheaper than a soda, and his coin purse was notably smaller than hers. Even the price of the lemonade looked like it was going to wipe him out. "I got it," she said, and put the requisite smaller number of coins on the counter and pushed them toward the cashier. She closed her coin purse around the remainder and tucked that safely in her robe pocket.

Now having drinks, she picked a bar stool with an empty one next to it and climbed atop of it. She sipped at her soda, feeling like she was pretty dang rich. She kept one hand in her pocket to make sure the coin purse didn't wander away. She had a lot. That made her a target.

"I'm supposed to get a dress for the ball today," she explained to Alexander, hoping that would explain why she was so loaded without coming across as a rich snob. And also hoping that maybe they could work that into their plans for the day.

1 Mab Should we check if we have the same book? 1473 Mab 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

April 13, 2020 12:59 PM

Standard Book of WHAT Even is This Place, Grade One? by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Mab was going to cover his drink? He'd never been given so much by someone who wasn't federally responsible for making sure he didn't die. He blushed and stammered out his thanks, both to Mab and to the person who'd served them. Taking the seat next to Mab, Alexander put his notebook bag on the table and pondered whether it would be rude to start taking sketches of some of the textures in the room. Before he could decide, Mab was talking about the Ball.

The Ball.

It all sounded so extreme. He hadn't been totally sure that those things really happened in the real world and the closest he could imagine was Prom, which was rarely thought of as a Ball. He thought that that meant this one would be a lot more formal and well-to-do than proms and things, but he hadn't been to prom either, and who was to say what was normal in this crazy world?

In any case, he wasn't exactly sure why Mab was telling her. He was happy to know, but he wasn't sure what the expectation of his response was. He certainly wasn't going to be able to go shopping for the Ball. Did she want his company to go shopping? Another thing he would be perfectly happy to do but wasn't really sure whether that was what she was getting at.

"We can go shopping if you want me to come," he said. "I'm not sure if I can help but trying is the least I can do." He held up his lemonade to emphasize what he was grateful for. "I'm probably just going to wear jeans or something." There was no sign of unhappiness about this, as it was the only option that had ever been open to Alexander and thus the only one he had considered. Also, he suspected he'd be going alone and just find a spot to watch and draw from. "'Supposed to'?" he added, wondering at her choice of phrasing.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales Standard Book of WHAT Even is This Place, Grade One? 1475 0 5

Parker Fitzgerald

April 13, 2020 3:13 PM

It is, but it does lessen my favorite adjective by Parker Fitzgerald

“Candy store it is then.” Then remembering what his dad used to say to get them all in the car he added, “Let’s hitch 'em up and move ‘em out.”

As they walked through the dusty street Parker looked around at the other students going about their business. Many looking to get ready for the ball and it struck Parker that Beau might be of some use for a problem Parker was having. Mainly, he was realizing that others might know something that he didn’t in terms of getting a date. Parker looked over at Beau and scrunched his mouth up as he thought. Ya, Beau may be many things, but he probably had enough wits about him to be able to answer some questions if broached subtly.

“Hey Beau,” Parker said turning to his partner for the day, “I wanna ask you something and it’s mainly because the only person I have to ask is my sister, who is… well my sister.”

Parker was trying to figure out how to ask and had already killed the subtlety of it all. So he might as well ask straight ahead.

“Look you seem good with the ladies,” Parker lied. He honestly had no idea how Beau did with the ladies (and assumed that even if he liked men he'd hide it behind a player personality), but he also figured flattery might get him an answer he could use.

“How do you do it? How do you get someone to go on a date with you? I can't put a spell on them ... or I guess I'd like a different way to do it.”

Parker was a bit nervous that Beau would say something stupid or laugh at him, and if he did Parker would just ignore it or try to make it into a joke. But you never know, as he always heard his mom say, “Even fools and kids can speak truths.” And Beau seemed a bit of both, so maybe he had some truths.

41 Parker Fitzgerald It is, but it does lessen my favorite adjective 1402 0 5

Ruby Brockert

April 13, 2020 3:14 PM

It's the best by Ruby Brockert

So Eden was on a budget. That was very much something Ruby had never had to worry about. She could have anything she wanted regardless of price. The sixth year felt very lucky to have this advantage in life and while she didn't feel guilty about it-she hadn't done anything wrong-Ruby did feel sympathy for those with less. That didn't have it as easy.

And it was really unfortunate in this particular situation as ball gowns tended to be expensive . Obviously that wasn't an issue for Ruby but she hoped that Eden had enough to buy something decent.

On the other hand, Eden did have something Ruby didn't. She had a boyfriend who attended Sonora. The sixth year's more or less boyfriend and probable future betrothed, Dean went to school in New Orleans and was not going to be allowed to come to the ball as in the past outside guests had not been allowed to come and she had no reason to think it would be different.

This was one time that Ruby sort of wanted to use her privilege as the Headmaster's granddaughter to ask her grandfather to change the rule, not only for her and Dean but for others who had outside partners too. However, she knew that was wrong, being that using Grandfather to get privileges that one normally would not have was something Topaz did. Ruby had seen her sister sneaking around the Restrictive Section in the past and there were taxidermy supplies in the Art Room now. Even though the Teppenpaw would be doing this to help everyone while Topaz only helped herself and was probably using the Restrictive Section to find ways to hurt people.

Oh well, at least Ruby wasn't a prefect so she wouldn't be humiliated by having nobody to dance the opening dance with. Unfortunately, she would not have anyone to hang out with either. Jasmine was going with Gary and they were sure to be hanging out with Peyton and Connor as Connor was friends with Gary. Ruby would be a fifth wheel and she did not want that. She would consider hanging out with Allegra and Topaz's group of friends as since Emerald and Winston got engaged, she had gotten to know Caitlin better,, but after last summer, the sixth year had jumped on the "avoiding Topaz" bandwagon.

And Eden would be with Brett so Ruby wouldn't be able to join her either. Maybe she could hang out with Dorian, who she still considered her closest friend at Sonora even though he was closer to others, and his group.

"What's your...price range then?" The Teppenpaw really didn't want to have to ask this. Asking someone about how much money they had was rude and tacky, especially when someone obviously had less money than she did, which was often given she was a Brockert. Therefore, Ruby generally tried to avoid the topic but in this case, it would help narrow down what Eden could buy.

"Hmm....okay, we'll look for a mermaid dress in pink or blue. Hopefully you'll find the dress of your dreams. Something that would make you feel like a princess." Ruby replied. And what you can afford She added silently. It would be especially condescending for her, as a Brockert, to say that to someone with a budget.

Suddenly, she had an idea. If Eden found a dress that she liked and couldn't afford, Ruby would help her out. She would lend her accessories too.

Ruby nodded. "Yes, my future brother-in-law's cousins design formal wear and my sisters and cousins and I all got custom gowns from them. Mine is a full-skirted, off-the-shoulder, vivid pink ballgown with what looks like a flowered tuelle overlay. It's absolutely beautiful." She only wished Dean could see her in it. Maybe she'd put it on to show him over the summer as she certainly wasn't going to wear the same dress twice.

11 Ruby Brockert It's the best 1405 0 5

Lyssa Fitzgerald

April 14, 2020 2:24 PM

Good Rockin' Tonight by Lyssa Fitzgerald

Well, one I got money. she sang in her head patting her pocket where her money sat. Her mom had found out about the ball from Parker who asked for a suit or money to get one. Parker, who seemed to be planning… something. That idea alone made Lyssa intrigued, but he wouldn’t tell her what he was doing. So she’d gone out and decided she was going to get clothes for the dance.

Two, we got a show as she moved her hand around the marketplace in Tumbleweed. She laughed to herself, it really was quite the show right now. A bunch of students mixing with salesmen and women. She saw a few flustered students and assumed it was about getting asked out (or not). She didn’t think anyone would ask her. Actually, she was pretty darn sure on that point, and she was content on that point. Didn’t mean she couldn’t come and enjoy dancing.

Three I need to get ready she said as she tapped towards one of the stalls that held suits. Bobbing her head to side as she picked her way through the suit styles and sizes. These were not the height of fashion, but that’s not what Lyssa was looking for. She was looking for something she’d like to wear outside of just this one time, and thus she was looking at suits.

“Now go cat go!” she said out loud as she pulled out a deep blue suit with a white ruffled shirt. She held it up to her body. Still on the shorter side she knew it would have to be taken in. If she switched out the shirt it would actually be a pretty businessy suit.

But now. Oh I need a blue suede suit! she sang in her head as she shimmied down the rows of clothes to the cashier.

Oh yes, she thought, today was looking good.

41 Lyssa Fitzgerald Good Rockin' Tonight 1421 0 5

Cleo James

April 14, 2020 8:51 PM

But you don't do that? by Cleo James

Heirnich’s reply started out simple enough. Almost naively simple, and Cleo was about to wonder why he hadn’t been sorted into Teppenpaw with the attitude that enough hugs could make the world go round when he dropped a surprise.

He wanted to be a good wolf. So… he was…. Oh. Okay.

She had often heard people say not to assume about what any of her classmates were going through because who knew and maybe other people had faced similar struggles. She had assumed that was more like… if you had zits, or got rejected by your crush. Those kinds of ‘every teenager deals with them’ kind of things. She hadn’t expected anyone except her to have a real and genuine problem, as complex as what she was going through.

Of course, it was slightly different. Apparently werewolves weren’t dangerous enough that they needed announcing to the whole school. Or she’d somehow missed that one during one of her antisocial phases.

It was sort of reassuring to know that Heinrich maybe actually had approached her out of a sense of… of something. Community. It was a hard word to swallow, after how her alleged community had treated her over midterm, but maybe the other Beings weren’t all bad. Just the ones she’d met. And it made her realise it had been sensible to ask his intentions not because evil was going to admit itself but because niceness might. And that was something she could judge how well she believed. She was pretty sure that Heinrich’s motivation for talking to her was not trying to cop a feel. Not enough to like… stand any closer, but enough to not feel totally on edge.

“People are crappy to you too?” she asked, when he mentioned there being enough bad already, “About the… wolf thing? They definitely are when you’re part veela,” she confirmed with a frown. “Boys think I must… be a certain way. Like, it sounds so good on paper. Being extra pretty. But it just means everyone stares at you, and thinks you must want to have boys around you all the time and that you like them trying to touch you. And I don’t,” she said very firmly, giving him a slight glare over the top of her ice cream. Just because she didn’t think it was his intent, there was no harm in making absolutely sure.

13 Cleo James But you don't do that? 389 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

April 15, 2020 7:17 AM

Right, I don't do that by Heinrich Hexenmeister

Heinrich drew in a breath, watching a nearby ghost who looked like she might be an actor, if not one actively engaged in a re-enactment at that very moment. Whether people had been bad to him was sort of a mixed bag. He'd avoided direct attack by bad wolves for the most part, but his life had certainly been altered for the worse because of them. Not that Uncle Karl was bad, and if he had gone to some German school, he would have never met Evelyn, and that he could hardly imagine.

Something about Cleo's words seemed slightly wrong, but while he was getting much stronger in understanding casual conversational English, he was still working his way through figures of speech and non-literal phrases, so he assumed there was just an idiom he wasn't quite getting. Her words mostly seemed understandable and he got the gist anyway. 'Wolf thing' was probably just conversational shorthand for the whole wolf philosophy and how the bad wolves had upset his life, in whatever way they had. Cleo had to have figured out by now that the wolves had impacted him, too.

So he just shrugged. "I am lucky. Only some of the staff know about the . . . the wolf thing," he admitted, using her phrase. "Maybe all of them. I am not sure. Most do not talk about it to me. But Professor Brooding has done much to help me. And I talked to Professor Hawthorne some, too." Well, he wrote to her, in an essay, to make his initial confession. But they had talk about it afterwards, even if the deeper philosophical discussions had happened later with her wife. "Among students, only the Germans and Evelyn Stones know, and I waited until I have trust Evelyn not hurt me before telling. The Germans already knew," he grimaced unhappily. "This is why we left Germany. But they have not told, so . . ." he shrugged, admitting reluctant acceptance of their existence in his new American life. "I do not complain of them. I am lucky," he repeated. Three years ago, he would not have been able to say that about his life. Time and perspective were good things.

It did not sound like Cleo was lucky.

He stepped back and put his hands up defensively at her glare. "I do not like touch either," he promised. Physical contact with anyone but his siblings left him feeling weird and vulnerable. Evelyn had hugged him once, and while it hadn't be bad, it had been surprising and left him vaguely unsettled.

He could not speak to other boys. He knew he was deeply reserved compared to most people. Hilda even called him emotionally stunted when she was angry at him. He did not see Cleo as wanting to be touched. Quite the opposite. But perhaps that was because she had just explicitly said so. He certainly hadn't felt any inclination to touch her before she had said as much, though, so maybe some of it had come through non-verbally. Or he was just being his normal physically avoidant self, and that wouldn't have helped her against guys who were more demonstrative.

"I am sorry," he said in sympathy. "That," he paused, frowned in concentration, and came up the English vernacular, "sucks. Boys smell."

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister Right, I don't do that 1414 Heinrich Hexenmeister 0 5

Bridget Ferguson

April 15, 2020 1:31 PM

Yes, very much so. by Bridget Ferguson

Bridget shook her head. "We don't need dates. I mean, there tends to not be enough to go around. Usually there's more girls than guys so it's impossible for everyone to have a date." The whole thing was further complicated by the fact that girls like Bridget were only supposed to dance with or go to the ball with pureblood boys, which was further complicated by the fact that Bridget was often related to said boys but she decided not to mention this as she was afraid it would confuse and/or alienate her friends. And yes, she knew that some girls wanted to go on dates with other girls like her uncle Oliver preferred other men even though he was married to Aunt Jessica but lots of people were not comfortable doing so or like the opposite sex.

" It only becomes an issue if you're prefect or Head Student and you have to do the opening dance." The Teppenpaw never thought that this was going to be an issue for her since she very much did not expect to get either. She assumed Zara would be prefect and if not her, Johana Leonie. Bridget was weird and awkward and quiet. As for Head Girl, well, she was certain Zara or Sophia would get it.

It seemed though that Josie did want to go to the ball. "I'm good with just hanging out together at the ball." The third year agreed. "I mean, I really don't think I'm going to be asked. Not that you guys won't." She added. Jezebel was a wonderful girl and while Bridget didn't know Josie well, Sophia had spoken well of her and since her cousin was, well, not someone who liked everyone to put it mildly, Josie must be a good person as well.

Still, she doubted they would get dates either just based on ratio as the Teppenpaw had heard her roommate's brother was taking Ellie Alperton and Martin, who wouldn't take a non-pureblood anyway, was going with Katerina Vorontsov. Jeremy seemed even less likely to take a non-pureblood then Martin was. So that only left Nicolas DiCaprio, and she supposed he might ask either girl. As for first year boys who might ask Josie, well, Bridget wasn't especially familiar with the first year class but she didn't think there were many boys. She didn't remember seeing many during Sorting.

But what if they did get asked? Bridget would not want to begrudge her friends dates, but what would she do then? Standing around by herself all night sounded terrible and she didn't know if Sophia's friends would want her to hang out with them and she knew her cousin Caitlin's wouldn't. And Connor had a date.

Luckily Jezebel seemed fairly adamant about them not going with dates if they went together. "Agreed. No dates."

Bridget nodded. "Yeah, ghosts are fairly standard in the wizard world. My great-great-great-grandmother grew up in a very haunted house, with the ghosts of our ancestors. Her brother and sister became ghosts later too.Though other magical towns and neighborhoods also have living people and aren't necessarily touristy places with old west themes."

11 Bridget Ferguson Yes, very much so. 1448 Bridget Ferguson 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

April 15, 2020 2:49 PM

Add a To/From tag by Heinrich Hexenmeister

"Good," Heinrich said upon Evelyn's happy recounting of her shopping trip. This good for two-fold reasons: first being that she had fun, second being that she was seemingly done shopping now and didn't expect him to help.

Then she turned the question back around on him, which he really should have anticipated and avoided better, but he hadn't. "I had a . . ." he tried to think of a word that was neither too complimentary but not too insulting to describe the earlier half of his field trip, "interesting time. I watched re-enactments with another prefect," he added, offering the part that definitely wasn't bound by confidentiality expectations as it could be confirmed by eyewitnesses.

"We talked about CATS some," that seemed safe, "and prefect things," also safe, and a nice segue. "Speaking of," he added carefully, "Do you have plans for first dance?" After asking, he realized she might feel obligated to help him out so he hurried to add, "If you have other date already, I can find a different partner." He didn't know who, but he thought it was important not to put pressure on her, in case she didn't want to.

"You are not," he paused, checking his words then asking very carefully, hoping he wasn't prying into her personal business, "dating Ness, are you? It is good if you are," he rushed to add, in case she was, and his question came across as disapproval, which it wasn't. "I want you happy. Ness makes you happy."

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister Add a To/From tag 1414 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 15, 2020 5:03 PM

"With love, Evelyn." by Evelyn Stones

Heinrich had hung out with another prefect! Evelyn grinned, happy that he seemed to be connecting with his peers on that side of things. She wasn't exactly sure how prefect duties worked, but she suspected they sucked less if one was with friends, or peers of relatively good relations. "That's great!" she said. Then, realizing what they were about off to go do, she nodded at the brochure. "You're not sick of history yet, right? We can do something else if you don't want to go to the museum." The museum and reenactments seemed different enough to Evelyn, but she certainly didn't want him to get bored today.

And then everything that Evelyn had been thinking a whole lot about happened all at once and none of it happened the way Evelyn had been thinking about. For one, she had forgotten how very chill Heinrich was about things. Or perhaps understated was a better word. But now Evelyn had decisions to make and that was really sucky. The suckiness of it was mostly outshined by the happy feeling blossoming in her chest, though. She was trying not to smile way too much, but couldn't help herself in smiling a bit.

"I'm not dating Ness," she chuckled, sort of pleased that anyone might think that and especially pleased that Heinrich was seemingly not bothered by it. She knew he was a good one, but even more so now.

It seemed easiest to start with the last part, as that was the easiest answer, but it didn't actually help her figure out how to say the rest of what she wasn't even sure she wanted to say. In part, the problem was that she wasn't sure whether Heinrich was asking her to just the first dance, or to the whole shindig. She was over the moon either way, but she didn't want to gush about going with him to the Ball if he meant just the one dance. But he said he could find another date which indicated that he was maybe asking Evelyn to be his date? But also that he had other options. . . . but also that she was maybe his first choice? She thought of the WWJD bracelets and sort of wished she could have a magic one for "What Would the McLeods Do" so she could just pop in a piece of advice from Ness or Kir and go for it. But life wasn't that easy, it seemed.

"You make me happy too, you know," she said lightly, trying to say things that she wanted to say without sounding too . . . whatever. Serious? "I don't have plans. I was . . . really hoping you'd ask me, actually." Her face turned red and she looked down at her hands. "I'd be happy to," she decided, trying not to use the word 'date' and also trying not to limit the whole thing to not being his date. She forced herself to breathe and be rosy instead of crimson before smiling up at Heinrich again. Then she thought about his wording and blanched. "Uh . . . you are asking right? That's what you meant?"

22 Evelyn Stones "With love, Evelyn." 1422 0 5

Mab

April 16, 2020 7:43 AM

Great, that's the one I have, too. by Mab

It felt pretty good to be the one able to pay for things for once. She enjoyed Alexander's stammered thanks, but brushed it off lightly. "No problem." It wasn't like it was really her money anyway. It was still Bel's. Mab would give back what wasn't used because Bel was legally responsible for feeding her and clothing her, so presumably she could safely use the coin on food, drinks, and the dress, but she didn't want to accrue too much fey debt this early in her time within the Fey Lands. That tab was only going to get bigger.

They sat the bar and she sipped at her ginger ale. It was good. She hadn't had a soda in a long while. Bel had some weird fascination with pumpkin juice.

She smiled when he offered to come shopping with her. "Thank you," she accepted his company, then made a face as he noted her choice of words when it came to the dress shopping. "I'd rather just wear jeans, too. But my fairy godmother insists I need a dress." And jeans would probably stand out. She didn't want to stand out. So she guessed she was getting a dress for camouflage. As long as she didn't get anything too fancy, it should be fine.

"If there's enough of Bel's money left over, do you want to see if we can find a second hand suit or something so you look a little fancier?"

1 Mab Great, that's the one I have, too. 1473 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

April 16, 2020 8:32 AM

I . . . don't know how to respond to that by Heinrich Hexenmeister

"I am Aladren," Heinrich reminded Evelyn gently. "I do not tire of history." Particularly since so much of his childhood history lessons had been European rather than American, so it wasn't even the same old history he'd always heard. "Museums are good. I learn more of my adopted country."

When she answered his questions concerning her ball plans and dating status, he felt a stunning relief break over him, not just once but repeated breaking waves of it. She wasn't dating Ness. She didn't have plans. She'd be happy to.

He laughed a little, a release of the relief he was feeling, at her worry that he wasn't actually asking her. "I was testing waters, to see if you wanted me to ask." That seemed to be a resounding yes on her part. She'd even said, she'd said he made her happy too. She'd said that in the context of him explaining that was why he thought it was good if she wanted to date Ness. Did that mean . . .? He wasn't sure.

He didn't want to assume. And after talking to Cleo, he definitely didn't want to push anything. Plus every book he had ever read proved that getting involved with people just led to trouble.

But this wasn't a marriage proposal. He was asking for a dance at the ball. That was all he really needed. A date for the whole event would be nice, too. She'd said she'd be hoping he would ask, so he could do that anyway. That did not seem unwelcome.

"Would you do me the honor of being my date to the ball, Evelyn?" he asked formally.

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister I . . . don't know how to respond to that 1414 0 5

Jasmine Delachene

April 16, 2020 9:22 AM

It certainly is by Jasmine Delachene

Jasmine stepped confidently into the floo and called out, "Tumbleweed!" She didn't floo a lot - as a muggleborn, most of her relatives were muggles - but she'd done it often enough to some of her mothers' friends' homes that it was at least a familiar if not common process for her. It was, at the very least, much quicker than riding in the car. She stepped out of the fireplace on the other side, used a quick cleaning charm to tidy up any ash that might have tried to cling to her shoes or dress, then made her way over out onto the main street.

She smiled as she spotted Ellie, and laughed at the younger girl's goal for the day. "Can we make that my campaign motto?" she asked, smiling warmly.

"Anyway," she continued, waving about the main stretch of shops. "I checked some of these out last fall," mostly as a distraction from thinking about what might happen to Anya if she fell during her Flying demonstration, rather than as a preparation for Ball Dress Shopping, but it would still suffice. "I think this one will be a good place to start," she pointed out one of the clothiers not too far from where they were standing. "It leans a bit more toward younger styles, so we should be able to find more nice dresses that don't accentuate breasts." Her own dress - which she had picked out over midterm - also did not, as Jasmine herself was not particularly well endowed in that area either, but it had been a bit trickier than she would have liked to find such dresses among the adult styles.

"I didn't wear a bra until I was fourteen," she admitted, "so that's nothing to be worried about. Many of the beginner class girls are going to be in that same boat where it comes to style." Sure some developed early, and there were some twelve year olds that Jasmine would readily swear were at least fourteen, but she'd developed late, and Anya didn't look to be maturing any quicker, so Elly would not be a serious anomoly in that respect.

1 Jasmine Delachene It certainly is 1397 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 16, 2020 9:58 AM

I think it's hyperbole. by Evelyn Stones

Heinrich laughing was a lovely lovely sound and Evelyn was glad he didn't seem to be laughing at her at all. The color came back to her face - a normal color, not the red color she'd been trying so hard to get to go away a minute before - and she smiled at him. Testing the waters was very much an Aladren thing to do if Ness and Heinrich were anything to judge by, but it was especially a Heinrich thing to do.

She wondered idly whether Heinrich would mind the dress she'd picked since now it would reflect some on him, but she suspected he had fewer opinions about that than he did about many other things, so she didn't bring it up. If he had some preference, he could let her know. No matter what - even if she'd gone with the weird rainbow cat dress that she was suddenly very glad she hadn't gone with - she would be feeling just perfect.

Dancing was, admittedly, not within her skill set. She had seen people dance and had danced alone in her room sometimes, but she'd certainly never danced with anyone before. Her stomach did annoying back flips at the thought of being that close to anyone, and then front flips when she thought of being that close to Heinrich. She thought that that was probably not a question she needed to raise to Ness or Kir to know what they would think of that.

Heinrich interrupted her careening train of thought by asking her formally, and it was seriously the most precious thing ever. Evelyn had heard at some point that you should be around the people who make your name sound safe in their mouth, and she thought that this was definitely checking that box. It was so weird that she could just find amazing people, think they were amazing, and then get to hang out with them. They wanted to hang out with her too! That was bananas.

Evelyn's smile brightened and she felt like she was positively glowing. "Yes," she agreed. "It would be an absolute pleasure."

22 Evelyn Stones I think it's hyperbole. 1422 0 5

Anya Delachene

April 16, 2020 11:28 AM

Scavenger hunt sounds like it could be fun by Anya Delachene

Anya would never have missed a chance to take a school trip anywhere, but she was not anticipating the spring Tumbleweed trip quite so excitedly as she had the fall one. There wasn't going to be any flying demonstration this time, and it was mostly taking place so people could buy stuff for the ball. Anya, fortunately, did not need to deal with anything like that. She could just enjoy her time away from the school.

Mom had already bought her a dress. Anya hated it. It was frilly and long and people might actually mistake her for Jasmine. They looked nothing alike because they weren't actually blood related, but this might make people mistake her for her sister. It might even be the one Jasmine wore to her first ball, though Anya wasn't entirely clear on that point. It might have been Jasmine's second choice runner up dress.

But at least she didn't need to waste her own time trying to find one, because all dresses were terrible and she didn't want one.

She was disappointed to hear that the sports fields were closed off and the games of skill didn't seem to be around anywhere anymore, but Professor Brooding had said something about scavenger hunts, and those could be cool.

There was the partner thing going on again, but that wasn't really a problem. She had a solution for that. She stood up on a bench and called out loudly, "Anybody wanna go scavenger hunting with me?"

1 Anya Delachene Scavenger hunt sounds like it could be fun 1453 0 5

Hilda Hexenmeister

April 16, 2020 1:28 PM

Es ist nett. Ich habe Freunden. by Hilda Hexenmeister

Three years ago, Hilda hadn't wanted to go to Sonora at all. Sonora was an English speaking American school, and that was not where she belonged. She wanted nothing to do with it. Two years ago, she was most of the way through her first year and she had Johana Leonie at her side. Not all of the time. They were in different Houses, so that hadn't been possible. But enough of the time that she'd heard of at least one person referring to them as twins. But she'd only had Johana Leonie and Heinrich. The communication gulf between her and everyone else was just too wide to breach, though a few, like Sophia and Katerina, had at least tried to throw ropes across the chasm.

It had all changed last term, at the bonfire. Hilda had friends. A lot of them.

So when Johana Leonie wandered off with a boy and a backward wave to her, Hilda did not feel abandoned or left adrift and alone. She waved back and gave her friend a thumbs up, knowing her friend was really hoping for a date to the Ball this year.

Hilda herself didn't mind going stag. She had plenty of friends to spend time with and boys weren't any more or less interesting than other girls were as far as she was concerned. She just didn't see the appeal in spending time specifically with boys. Heinrich and Freddie were fine, but most of her friends were girls, and she was good with that.

And there was one now. "Hallo!" she called out, with a smile and big wave to draw her attention. "Willst du," her face scrunched up in tight concentration as she tried to switch to English, "today with me go?"

1 Hilda Hexenmeister Es ist nett. Ich habe Freunden. 1433 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

April 16, 2020 2:36 PM

I think we've made it to page two or three. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Alexander actually smiled. He was pretty happy that Mab was down for some company whilst shopping. He rather enjoyed all the colors and frilly things, although he noted that mostly it was just girls shopping. He also noted that girls apparently shopped in pairs or flocks or gaggles or whatever, so he hadn't been sure whether it was okay to offer to go with one. There didn't seem to be many boys shopping today, which was weird too because they couldn't all just be wearing jeans. Did they all go shopping in secret? This was a memo Alexander had missed, even if he could have afforded to go. In any case, this particular girl would rather have worn jeans than a fancy dress, so she was pretty okay, too. He didn't see why she couldn't, but if her fairy godmother (was that a euphemism?) insisted, then who was he to stand in the way?

He blinked in surprise when Mab offered to buy him a suit. He was glad the offer was for something second-hand and not 'let me buy you a tuxedo' but it still felt like he couldn't politely accept an offer like that. That being said, years and years of not looking a gift horse in the mouth had taught him to always accept a friendly offer by a friendly person.

"That's really nice of you," he told her sincerely. "I'd really appreciate that. But . . ." He took a moment to try to imagine himself at the Ball, in a suit. He'd probably look fancy as heck. "Only if you'll go with me or something. I don't want to get all fancied up to stand alone in the corner." Alexander was entirely oblivious to the gravitas that that question carried elsewhere in Tumbleweed right now; why did people have to make stuff weird? He just wanted to make sure he wasn't going to be alone in looking like a stuffed monkey.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales I think we've made it to page two or three. 1475 0 5

Freddie Zauberhexen

April 16, 2020 2:51 PM

Ja let us things finden! by Freddie Zauberhexen

Freddie was excited for the Ball, but he thought he must be doing it wrong when he saw the fervor of everyone else. He had his purple party package ready to go, and didn't need to worry about anything else. Hana wandered off with a boy - Freddie made a mental note to interrupt them soon - and he knew that she was probably excited about it, but that didn't leave much for him. Ellie was probably excited because she was like that, but he thought she probably wanted another girl to hang out with if that was the case. Plus, they were friends, but they weren't each other's only friends. That would be weird.

It was fun to stand there for a minute and just watch people act like weirdos as they wandered around to find their bearings and their friends. Freddie didn't understand one bit why people didn't just say what they wanted or act how they wanted. Why did everything have to be a game? Play by the rules and you can get what you want. Hana had started believing that, too. But Freddie thought the whole thing was ridiculous. He was going to the Ball because he thought it would be fun. He had found a date because he wanted to prove a point and because Ellie was nice and really pretty and he thought she'd probably like to go with someone. But now? He didn't feel the need to check any boxes; obligation was not a concept he was familiar with.

Luckily, he wasn't the only one. A familiar voice, one that promised fun times, suddenly rose out over the crowd and Freddie turned to find Anya asking about . . . a something. Eh, whatever. It was probably gonna be fun.

Not feeling the need to shove through the waves of students, Freddie cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted back to her: "I don't know what ist das, but ja!" Luckily, he wasn't terribly far away from her and didn't actually have to try to shout over the bustle of all the students at Sonora, and he was pretty sure Anya could hear him. Just in case, he raised his hands to draw her eye, and grinned at his friend.

22 Freddie Zauberhexen Ja let us things finden! 1452 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

April 16, 2020 5:17 PM

Ugh. How terribly mundane of you. by Leonor De Matteo

Leonor blinked, confused. She hadn't been talking about a partner for the Ball, she just wanted one for the day. That being said, this girl's love life was way more interesting than most of the other things they could talk about. At least it would give Leonor something to laugh about later, and any show of vulnerability was fair game, too. She knew she shouldn't be so mean; she wasn't planning on laughing at Bella's love life, it was just that she'd really like to laugh at something at some point. The world had become very serious recently and that was not at all okay with her.

"Dancing is important," Leonor agreed, surprised to find that she really did agree. She wasn't particularly keen on having a date to this stupid thing, now or four years from now, but if she did, he'd better be a good dancer. What else was Leonor going to do? Talk to him? Ugh. "My brother is a good dancer," she added, wondering how well the third years knew each other. "Felipe? I think he's in your year." She knew he was because Leonor knew everything.

She had hoped that learning what colors Bella wore would be helpful for herself, but it turned out not to be. Leonor didn't fancy showing up to the Ball looking like a fruit cocktail. Although, darker wouldn't be so bad. Or lighter.

"Dark red would look good on you," Leonor agreed, glancing up at her buddy for the day. "It's Crotalus' color though. I was thinking either a dark color or a pastel for myself." She spotted a soft pink dress and immediately decided she hated it. "Dark would be good I think. How long should dresses be for this thing?" She played it off with as much nonchalance as she could manage - which was a lot - although she really did want to know. She needed help, even if she hated it.

22 Leonor De Matteo Ugh. How terribly mundane of you. 1471 0 5

Mab

April 16, 2020 6:25 PM

Page 3, definitely. by Mab

Mab nodded, and thought she maybe understood the fey power of generosity. It was kind of awesome, being about to just give. It was a very different feeling to taking but no less energizing. And somehow this wasn't even illegal.

Alexander seemed a bit reluctant to take her up on it, which was totally fair. This was the Fey Lands. You had to be really careful about debts and gifts. But he figured out a loophole. He set deal conditions, and that was good. Having a clear deal in place made things much easier and less confusing about who owed what. "Deal," she agreed. "We will help each other find fancy clothes for the ball and live with those choices together once we are there."

"I do not need anything too fancy," she informed him of her criteria in dress seeking. "I just do not want to look horribly under-dressed and stand out." That was the problem with wearing her jeans, unfortunately. "Bel bought me all new clothes when I started living with her, but she said none of them were nice enough for a ball, so she must think it is very fancy. But she is what they call a pureblood, so I think I do not need to be as fancy as she is thinking, just nicer than a skirt and blouse. I will probably only wear it the once, so I don't see why we should waste a lot of her money on it. Second hand should be fine for me, too." She'd only ever worn second hand clothes until she met Bel anyway, so it wasn't like that was anything she wasn't used to doing. It felt much more reasonable and natural to try to stretch the money she'd been given as far as it would go than to splurge through it all on one thing she didn't even really want.

1 Mab Page 3, definitely. 1473 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

April 16, 2020 6:35 PM

I'm not sure I want to get to page 4, let alone grade 2. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

"Good deal, pardner," Alexander said in his bad accent again, feeling like he ought to spit in his hand and shake hers or something. That seemed a bit rude though, particularly indoors, so he refrained.

"And here I was going to suggest that I wear a dress and you wear a suit," he said, stage sighing. "I guess not if you don't want to stand out." He took a long draw of lemonade as Mab continued talking, nodding in agreement that there probably wouldn't be a lot of occasions to wear such fancy things again. "By the time the next Ball happens, I hope we won't be the size of eleven-year-olds." He stopped abruptly when she said . . .

"You started living with her?" Alexander asked, both to clarify and because hope sprang to mind. What were the odds that he wasn't the only one? "Do you live with family? I live in a group home," he added the last hastily, not wanting her to think he was questioning her without giving anything of himself. "I never got adopted or anything."

There was that tone again. The perfect, practiced apathy. The flat neutrality that said 'I don't care,' even when he cared so very very much. Normally, folks didn't pick up on it. Anymore, he didn't even have to try to put it on. But maybe Mab would notice. Maybe she would have the same tone and Alexander wouldn't feel like the only kid at school who shouldn't have existed at all, let alone in this new world.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales I'm not sure I want to get to page 4, let alone grade 2. 1475 0 5

Jessica Hayles

April 16, 2020 6:54 PM

Isn't it nice to have friends? by Jessica Hayles

Last time, Jessica had been cautious and had stuck to the car that broke physics when it came to traveling. This time, on a whim, she decided to try out this 'Floo' thing, just to see if something so bizarre actually worked.

It was only when she had been right in front of a fire with a pinch of dust in her fingers that she had realized the significance of the occasion. She - perfectly behaved Jessica Hayles, who would never do anything to concern her parents - was about to put her delicately-sandaled foot into a fire. On purpose. And without any intention to break the rules or indulge any self-destructive tendencies. This place had changed her, but not enough for it to accept her - which meant that now, she belonged nowhere.

After that cheerful thought, however, she had not had many more thoughts for what had seemed like a very long time as she span through green flames, trying to scream but unable to draw air to do so. When she stumbled out of another fireplace, her mind was first stuck on getting air, and after that, the first thought she had was shoot as she noticed the ash clinging to her. Muttering irritably, she brushed herself off as best as she could and then walked away from the fireplace as quickly as possible, swearing off curiosity about wizard things for the rest of her life. Or at least the part of it after today, anyway, since she was back in Tumbleweed and could not help but take some notice of her surroundings.

One of which was Hilda. Hilda, admittedly, was not an easy person to miss, as was fitting for a girl who played Beater on the Quidditch team (that sport having been another wizard thing she'd had to figure out after Mara had signed up for it, and which she had promptly decided their father did not need to know much about at all). Jessica smiled back at the salutation, genuinely pleased to be flagged down. It was nice to not be a total outsider, after all, whichever world she was more or less in at any given time.

"Hey," she said cheerily, joining Hilda, and then she nodded in response to the request. "Sure. Is there somewhere you want to go first?"

16 Jessica Hayles Isn't it nice to have friends? 1442 0 5

Tatiana Vorontsova

April 16, 2020 7:48 PM

And I'm late. by Tatiana Vorontsova

There were, officially, rules about being in Tumbleweed - where they ought to be and who they ought to be with and such - but Tatiana did not consider them terribly important for her purposes. There were much more serious matters than losing points for Pecari afoot, and while she hoped to employ every subtle bone in her body (however few of them they were) to avoid getting caught, she would serve her detentions stoically if the alternative was Dorian not having a distraction if he needed one.

She was hoping against hope for a reconciliation between the Francophone lovebirds for more than one reason. The first, and easily the most significant, was that it would make Dorya happy. She hated seeing her friend unhappy and fragile. A minor consideration, however, was also that she had come to feel something of a conspirator's affinity for Jean-Loup as well, and would somewhat regret the complete termination of their acquaintanceship even if that termination didn't involve Tatya hexing his nose off for hurting Dorya. Either way, though, she was going to try to remain relatively close by, just in case, so she could hex Jean-Loup if she had to, hex anyone bothering him and Dorian if she had to, or blow something up to cover for them to avoid the need to hex people altogether.

In keeping with the idea of getting in touch with her subtle bones, wherever they were, Tatiana had (with a silent apology to her mama) gone outside without a hat, to be less conspicuous in this silly culture that didn't understand the importance of a lady always shielding her complexion. She also wore only two necklaces, both mixed beads of malachite and lapis lazuli, not particularly showy by her standards, and lapis stud earrings. And she had her wand at the ready under her sleeve, ready to cast a quick confundus or a big exploding spell as needed as she tried to be stealthy, thinking this was very like when she had been little and had pretended she was a lady explorer in the nineteenth century, scouring the world for lilacs to take to the tsaritsa while also breaking curses on ancient artifacts and meeting handsome Englishmen. Then, though, she had been creeping around her own rooms, everyone had been in on the game, and there had not really been anything riding on the outcome...but yet, she still felt a bit of a thrill at it, despite knowing this was serious. Which was concerning, as she was far too old to enjoy playing make-believe, but here she was.

Following them into the pet store was, she quickly deduced, impossible, at least without getting caught, so she loitered across the street, feigning interest in this or that...waited a bit more from another position...and then frowned in confusion, forgetting not to turn her head and look directly toward them, upon seeing them exit and go around to the back of the building. What, were they planning to have a duel behind the pet shop? Without Dorian even telling her he'd need her to be his second? Glad of her lightweight shoes and lifetime's excess of dancing lessons, which allowed her to move more quietly than a lot of the footwear and walking styles around her would have allowed for, she crossed the street and tiptoed in the same direction the boys had gone and -

Oh.

Well.

They weren't dueling, at least.

Tatiana's face burned and she began to retreat as hastily and hopefully quietly as she had approached, despite the horrifying fascination of the scene. So that, then, was how young couples - as opposed to respectably married couples with a bundle of children - kissed each other. Just so Mama might have once kissed Papa in the Restoran Gavana....

Tatiana thought a great deal about kissing, when she wasn't too busy translating something or trying to find one more book that might explain a concept in a way she could understand or worrying about Dorya. She had never seen what the purpose was, exactly, based on the fairly limited number of kissers she had seen in her life. Now, she thought she might have a clearer idea what the stories were on about. She had noticed, especially over the summers since she had gotten older, that there was something about being with a handsome boy, one she knew admired her too, which just made her sort of...want to be close to him, and wonder what it would be like to touch his cheek or hair. It seemed, from what she had just seen, that This Kind of kissing was a very tactile extension of this. Very tactile. Not at all proper. And this being willing to risk prison for assaulting Matthieu Montoir and then traveling from Quebec to Arizona twice, now, just for one afternoon with Dorian...was this that true love thing Dorian went on about, which she had always though was stupid? By that standard, she also had true love for Dorya, but it was awkward to imagine doing with him what he was probably still doing with Jean-Loup....

For now, though, she thought it was best to give over imagining things altogether and instead focus her attention on the denizens of the pet store. The bunnies were very sweet, and she could have stayed all day with them and the pygmy puffs, which she held to her cheek much as she had when she was twelve, cooing about being ditya-fenpu to them. She hated that this was the last trip outside for the year; coming back here would have been a good way to relax the week before exams, for instance, or just...every weekend, really.

She had duties, however, and there was only so much shirking them that her conscience would allow. It was still enough that she left with a purring pale yellow ball of fluff and food and treats and other things for it (this, plus the stop she had made at a jewelry stall while waiting for them to come out of the pet store, used up the majority of the money Mama and Papa had sent her to amuse herself with in Tumbleweed, but she thought she had enough to at least get a present for her baby brother Alyosha and then her summer allowance would be handed over in time to get Vladya something nice for his seventeenth), and thus, realized quickly enough that she had lost her targets. Muttering a word she did not want her new child to repeat, she ducked back around the building and set out on the search.

She found them, a short time after procuring toys for Lyosha, seated together and looking very comfortable. More relaxed, really, than even seemed quite proper for lounging in public - of course, she and Dorian sometimes were even more informal, but school was not quite public, being their home for most of the year. She put her hands on her hips, as best she could with a puff on her shoulder and bags in her hands. "So. You are happy again, yes?" she asked them, already half-smiling.

16 Tatiana Vorontsova And I'm late. 1396 0 5

Eden Manger

April 17, 2020 8:37 AM

The bestEST! by Eden Manger

Eden slid her drawstring back off her shoulder and pulled out her change purse, giving it a nice little jingle. “About fifteen galleons,” she said. The thirteen from her mom and her sister added weight to the little bit of pocket money she already kept with her. It wasn’t a lot, but enough to get something decent, especially if the market had a particularly good sale. If there was one thing Eden knew, it was how to bargain shop. Clearances were a girl’s best friend, and outlet stores were not to be discredited. Eden had a lot of nice things, but it was because she knew how to browse the sales. Her brand name belongings did justice to her brain, not her wallet.

Which was why this might have been a surprise to Ruby. Money was never comfortable to discuss, but the younger girl seemed a bit nervous to ask the question of budget. With a name like Brockert, it occurred to Eden, this was probably not something Ruby had ever dealt with. That was fine. Brett’s family was the same way, and so were half of Eden’s siblings. The Mangers didn’t have a lot of wealth or prestige. Her dad had been good enough to marry Jamie Crosby, but they were pretty middle of the road as far as purebloods went. Plus, Eden didn’t really know much about her dad’s parents or anything like that. She hadn’t ever met them. She had a feeling she knew why. If Ross Manger was how everyone else seemed to portray him, he probably didn’t wasn’t on best terms with his parents, either.

“Oh my God, that sounds amazing! You’ll look great,” she grinned. Ruby’s dress sounded beautiful, and to have it custom-made for her was an honor Eden could only imagine. “Maybe we’ll try to focus on blue for me, then, and let you have all the pink,” she joked. Obviously others would have pink - it was kind of a popular color for girls - but one less possibility of matching was good. Plus, Eden knew Ruby was going to blow the place out of the water, so one less comparison would give Eden more credit for her own impression.

Eden looked around for what felt like an eternity before she saw one that really caught her eye. A popular style in modern prom dresses, it was a two-piece dress. Sky blue, the straps sat a little off the mannequin's shoulders, and a lacy pattern sat at the edge of the top and bottom as well as the bottom of the skirt, marking the border where the dress exploded into a flare of blue tulle. It was perfect. She lifted the tag, one eye shut to avoid the inevitable reality. “Twenty-three galleons? Damn.” It actually wasn’t that bad for a dress like that - the seasonal sale was pretty good on it - but it was still out of Eden’s range. “Well, take a mental snapshot, Ruby,” she sighed, forcing a weak smile. “This is the goal.”

12 Eden Manger The bestEST! 385 0 5

Mab

April 17, 2020 9:01 AM

I know, right? by Mab

Mab laughed as he remembered his fake accent, and she nodded and tipped her hat at him. She laughed again at his suggestion of switching outfits, and shook her head. Given some of the things that Bel's brothers wore, and her own remark that she preferred to date women, Mab did not think her foster mother would object too strenuously to her wearing a suit to the ball, but Mab herself was not so inclined. She wasn't against looking pretty. She just didn't think it was very practical.

Besides, she was 70% sure he was joking anyway. But you could never be entirely sure with the fey about that. It was always wisest to assume they weren't joking.

She took another sip of her ginger ale as he reflected on their likely amount of growth between now and the next ball and she nodded in agreement.

She startled a little when Alexander picked up on her slip. She had said that, hadn't she? But her self-recrimination stopped short when he admitted he lived in a group home, and though her eyes still widened, it was now in surprise rather than alarm.

He lived in a group home.

"Bel's my newest foster mother," she admitted, slowly and cautiously. "She got custody of me last summer." She wasn't a system kid. She didn't entirely understand Alexander's tone. But she'd glided along the edges of the system long enough to have heard that way of carefully not caring, to have worried about reaching that point herself. It was why she'd run away last spring. Well, partly why. Mostly, she'd just wanted her mother back. But when she couldn't find Mom, it was why she hadn't turned herself back in. If her mom was gone, she didn't want to be a system kid.

"My mom was - is," she pushed fiercely, daring him to contradict the present tense, "she is a single mom. She'll get me back. Once Bel finds her." Alive. Bel needs to find her alive for this all to work out right. "Bel's an auror, so she will." Even if finding missing homeless muggle women wasn't really something normally on her case load. Bel seemed smart. She'd figure it out. "Mom's a good mom. She just . . . has trouble paying for things. Like food and housing. So they took me away again, and then nobody could find her after that. So I have Bel right now." The less said about her criminal record and how she met Bel the better, really. Much preferable to let him assume that went the normal way of foster placement.

1 Mab I know, right? 1473 Mab 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

April 17, 2020 1:16 PM

What if we just write our own book? by Alexander Pierce-Beales

It was so nice to hear things like "newest foster mother" and "custody." It sounded like Mab hadn't had quite the situation Alexander had as he didn't have any foster mothers to speak of, but that was just as well. He was more happy for Mab than he was sad for himself. He was surprised to hear that Mab's foster mom was a witch, though.

"So you kind of knew about magic before all this?" he asked. That would have been so helpful, although she clearly didn't have enough background in this to know about magic money. So maybe it wasn't as helpful as he thought it might be. Of course, if this Bel had only gotten custody of Mab this last summer, then they would have only had a few months together at most before Mab was shipping off to Sonora. So much change in such a short period of time. "I'm looking for my mom, too. Well, both my parents. I don't know who they are, but I think that maybe they were magic? And that's why I couldn't find them before?"

He couldn't imagine having all of that, even if food and housing didn't seem to be included in 'all of that,' and then having it all taken away. Of course, he supposed that was still possible. For all he knew, his parents would want to adopt him after he found them, and then he might lose them again. But that seemed unlikely; they hadn't wanted him eleven and a half years ago and that probably hadn't changed. Plus, now he had lemonade and a cool new friend and he was gonna get a fancy suit and maybe it wasn't all that bad. He would have traded it all for his family, but since that wasn't going to happen, maybe this world could be his family after all. That was a hard pill to swallow.

"I'm glad you have someplace to go when you're not here," he added sincerely, nodding to confirm that that was best.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales What if we just write our own book? 1475 0 5

Beau Tate

April 17, 2020 1:18 PM

Which is? by Beau Tate

"Awesome." Beau replied. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Parker seemed to be getting really into this Old West thing which was quite dorky, something that Pecaris generally weren't supposed to be. Pecaris were supposed to be the cool kids. However, the fifth year didn't want Parker to decide not to partner with him and have to go find someone else to hang out with.

Also, being rude to the older boy for his dorkiness was what Arianna would do and Beau wanted to make an effort not to be like his sister. "Ever been to magical candy store before? Like some of the sweets have interesting effects."

He was admittedly surprised when Parker said he had a question to ask him. "All right"

Beau beamed when Parker said he seemed good with the ladies. That was fairly true, whether or not the sixth year actually knew it to be. There weren't a lot of options here and most of the proper pureblood girls were related to him somehow, but outside of his school, Beau certainly had his pick.

Still, even though Parker had zero way of knowing that, Beau did his best to project that image. He was glad to see that he'd been successful.

However, the fact that Parker was asking for his advice seemed...well, it wasn't something that happened much, to be honest. Even though Beau couldn't fathom why not. "Well, first of all, you have to be confident." The fifth year told the older boy. "Looking good also helps. " He could see that the older boy had put some effort into his appearance today. "But don't look like you care too much or are trying too hard. And no matter what, do not beg or look otherwise undignified." Dignity was very important in the fifth year's world. "No girl is worth that." He thought of his future brother-in-law who seemed dignified on the surface, but to be with Arianna, obviously he must have given that up. "The sort who'll make you give that up is the sort you want to stay away from."

"And technically, you could dose them with love potion, but I would not recommend it. I mean, wouldn't you rather have them...want to go with you because they wanted to not because you drugged them?" Beau was personally much too proud to use love potions and besides, he didn't think he needed them. It was enough that he was good looking, rich and important.

11 Beau Tate Which is? 1416 0 5

Mab

April 17, 2020 1:55 PM

How To Survive After Eating Fey Food? by Mab

Mab twirled her ginger ale around in its circle of condensation, letting the ice swish around inside the mug. "Well, kind of," she admitted, when he checked about her fey references. "My mom is not magical, and I'd been in the regular foster system, but then there was . . . I guess you could call it an accidental magic event, except it wasn't entirely accidental? And that got the magic people involved. So they put me in magical foster care after that." And gave her two months of community service.

"So I had maybe two months lead time before showing up at Sonora to learn about how magic was real? "

"I hope you can find your mom, and your dad, too," she returned, meaning it. It didn't sound like he'd lost his though. It seemed more like the situation with her dad. Except she knew who her dad was. Well, she'd been told his name once. Mom didn't talk about him much, and when she did, 'useless deadbeat' was the most complimentary of the terms she preferred to use in place of his name. Mab hoped Alexander's father was a better person than hers. "Good luck." He'd probably need it.

She nodded at his assertion it was good she had a foster home at least. "Bel's pretty good," she conceded. "She's a first time foster parent, so she's still idealistic, I guess, about the whole process?" Though 'idealistic' and 'Bel Pierce' were not really good matches for each other, but she wasn't sure how else to explain what it was like having her for a foster parent. "And I think she's like really honestly rich." She was 65% sure that assessment wasn't just because she'd grown up in poverty either.

1 Mab How To Survive After Eating Fey Food? 1473 0 5

Parker Fitzgerald

April 17, 2020 2:28 PM

Magical. Just has different meaning now. by Parker Fitzgerald

Parker was hiding his surprised face well, but he was still surprised because Beau had given him some solid advice. Like roundly solid advice. It seemed to be coming from pride, but he had solid advice.

Confidence. Looking good. Don’t beg. Don’t drug people. The last part was a bit sad that anyone had to say, but Parker hadn’t even thought about love potions and how they were real. He wondered if love potions would actually work with Cleo, her being half-veela. Parker actually wondered if one took an antidote for love potions if the veela thing would still work. He’d have to look that up when he got back to school.

“Thanks man that’s really helpful. I don’t have the example of high end parties like you do and there are markedly few students at this school that I’d feel comfortable even asking out, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. So I do appreciate it.”

Parker kept walking a bit down the dirt path towards the candy story fingering his money in his pocket. One of the odder parts of being a wizard was that Parker had gotten surprisingly good at quick math because he was constantly converting things from Muggle to Wizarding, be it money, amounts or sometimes whole words.

“Now, I may not have been to any of the high end Wizard parties, but the Wizard candy stores I’ve definitely enjoyed. What’s your go to? It’s on me for the advice.”

41 Parker Fitzgerald Magical. Just has different meaning now. 1402 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

April 18, 2020 10:41 PM

It can be recipes and PSAs. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Alexander's stomach knotted angrily. Anger was not a sensation he felt often, as resignation usually came first. But there was a magical foster system? What the actual heck? His head swirled with questions. Whether or not he found his parents, it was unlikely to happen before summer. Even if it did happen before summer and everything went swimmingly, he doubted they'd suddenly want to adopt him. And even if they did, it would take longer than now 'til summer. So where was he supposed to go? Back to the same place he'd been at in Seattle? Or was there a magical equivalent where he could at least be with kids that were a little bit more like him?

"That sounds nice," he admitted quietly, not hiding his jealousy. There was no bitterness in it though; he could be happy for his new friend and also utterly gutted that he couldn't have the same for himself. Hopefully he'd have good news to share sooner rather than later. "And thank you," he added, remembering she'd wished him luck. She sounded sincere and it was a really nice change of pace from most of the other people he'd met. Geez, when had he gotten so cynical?

Alexander pressed his lips into a small smile at the idea of an idealistic first-time foster parent getting a young witch like Mab on their door step. Rich definitely helped. "You're not so idealistic?" he guessed. "At least you'll get to wear a pretty reasons or something. That's kind of ideal." He wondered whether he'd feel good in a dress too. He thought probably not because other kids would stare at him and he generally tried to avoid such attention, but he thought that it would be fun to be a bit swishy, too. "Speaking of which," he said as he finished the last of his lemonade. "Should we go shopping?"

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales It can be recipes and PSAs. 1475 0 5

Ruby Brockert

April 19, 2020 3:11 PM

The very very bestEST!! by Ruby Brockert

"Oh." That was...not very much. Basically, what the seventh year had was pocket change for a Brockert. Ruby felt kind of bad for the older Teppenpaw again....and while she told herself that she had done nothing wrong, she was starting to feel guilty about what she had and others didn't. She knew she had to be very careful not to sound like she was bragging or being condescending.

And Ruby vowed then and there to do something charitable over the summer. Pureblood women often put on events to raise money for worthy causes, though sometimes it seemed like an excuse to put on a pretty dress and have a party than someone caring about the actual cause. Ruby, however, cared. She wanted to make a real difference in someone's life. Really, truly help someone.

On the plus side, it looked as if Eden really knew how to dress nicely with what she had. She-when not in the uniform robes they had to wear most of the time-looked really well put together and even wore name brands. Ruby was certain that even with Eden's limited funds, they'd find something nice. And the sixth year could always chip in to help.

"Thanks." She replied. "Yes, it's a truly beautiful dress. As are all the ones that the Anns designed for my sisters and cousins." It was really truly convenient to have her sister marry into a family where her future husband's cousins had their own fashion label. It was actually a good thing that Annabelle and Annette Pierce had not gone down the traditional route for pureblood women because now she, her sisters, her cousins and Caitlin all had these lovely gowns."Blue is good, like you said, it'll bring out your eyes. Brett will love it.

They walked around for awhile until Eden found a dress she liked. It was absolutely gorgeous! Unfortunately, it was out of the older Teppenpaw's price range. "Oh Eden, that would look so lovely on you." Ruby said sadly. "Well, hopefully we'll find something just as good or better that you can afford. If not, I'll give you the difference. She added in her head. Eight galleons was nothing for a Brockert.

Another thought occurred to Ruby. "What about shoes and accessories?" She asked, hoping Eden already had something suitable. Fifteen galleons for a dress, shoes, and jewelry was not much at all.

11 Ruby Brockert The very very bestEST!! 1405 0 5

Beau Tate

April 19, 2020 3:56 PM

I suppose it would by Beau Tate

Beau nodded. "You're welcome." Honestly, his advice was simply common sense. Contrary to probably popular belief-or at least contrary to Arianna's beliefs-he was not an idiot. He was capable of logic. Of course, Beau himself tended to portray himself as a cool guy and was in a house not associated with brains. Not that Pecaris were stupid per se-though he sometimes wondered about the fourth years in his house-but usually one associated them with being "cool" while Aladrens were the brainy nerds. Although, Beau's cousin Connor was a nerd too and he was a Crotalus.

He guessed house designations weren't everything. Connor and Arianna were quite different, for example. Even though he was a major nerd, Connor was a good guy. He was kind and helpful to people. He embodied the "down-to-earth" part of the Crotalus description. Meanwhile, his sister was....basically every negative stereotype people had about the house. Which he knew weren't fair to people like Connor or Uncle Adam or Sapphire, his distant cousin whom he'd worked with during the Challenges. Crotali did seem to have the widest variety of personalities. Beau didn't really think his uncle or Sapphire were really like Connor either.

"Yeah, it's weirdly short on girls. My class has like two and then a bunch of boys. Usually it's the other way around." Which sucked. Especially since Sylvia was way too much like Arianna for his tastes. Parker's class was actually pretty even though. Unfortunately, some of those girls wouldn't want to dance with the sixth year Pecari. The only one who might was Jasmine and she was going with Connor's friend Gary, "But you're friends with Cleo, right? Maybe she'd at least dance the opening dance with you since you're both prefects."

Ah, the advantages of not being prefect. He didn't have to do the opening dance and also, less work. Mikey could have it. Of course, if some pureblood girl needed a partner-or if Jasmine had needed one- he'd be willing to help. So long as the girl wasn't a relative, because that would be creepy and start terrible rumors that would reflect poorly on their family.

"Awesome. I am all about the Dragon Claws." Okay, Beau's real favorite was the Fizzy-Wizzies but they had such a silly name that he didn't want to admit it. Dragon Claws were a close second. "Thanks, man."

11 Beau Tate I suppose it would 1416 0 5

Josephine Clyde

April 20, 2020 3:20 AM

Only because the company is good by Josephine Clyde

Thank goodness. Josie was able to breathe a mental sigh of relief and join Jezebel on their journey to the historic Town Hall area. No dates meant more friends and more friends were always something she wanted. She felt bad for the people who were forced to take dates or whatever prefects and Head Students were. They were the older students, like the almost graduated older students. They were mentioned at the Opening Feast, but that was all she could remember about them. Well, she’d just have to ask Sophia about it! It was nice to know that all the older girls she’d met so far were nice, helpful and just beautiful. Maybe magic affected beauty too? Plus, the fact that Bridget and Jezebel were willing to go to the historical part of town with her made her super happy. Honestly, she was too curious and wanted to know more more more about everything magic. She figured that most girls would want to go shopping, but that wasn’t something that terribly interested her right now. Besides, there’d be another Ball in four years! She’d definitely be more interested then.

Minnie talked about her fancy British magic school and she’d said there were a lot of ghosts there, but Josie had thought she meant it was spooky or haunted. Then Sonora rolled around and in addition to everything else she’d learned so far, she’d discovered ghosts. How could she have known that Minnie meant real ghosts that you could talk to and hold conversations with! Sure, it had been a shock the first time she actually saw one, scary even, but it all disappeared once she saw that the ghost was having a conversation with one of the students. All she wanted to do was hunt one down at school and ask it so many questions about their life. Again, most girls would have wanted nothing to do with ghosts, but she saw them as valuable sources of information that couldn’t be found anywhere else.

“It’s super cool! Is it rude to ask ghosts questions about their lives? I have tons, loads, bucket loads. I’m so curious!”

44 Josephine Clyde Only because the company is good 1477 0 5

Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

Tumbleweed Trip by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

System

Main Street by System

System

Town Hall by System

System

Saturday Market by System

Cleo James

This was a bad idea by Cleo James

Ness McLeod

So... shopping? (Evelyn) by Ness McLeod

Evelyn Stones

Shopping! by Evelyn Stones

Ness McLeod

Okay.... by Ness McLeod

Evelyn Stones

We got this. by Evelyn Stones

Bridget Ferguson

Want to hang out? (Jezebel) by Bridget Ferguson

Ness McLeod

We got strange rainbow cat vibes by Ness McLeod

Evelyn Stones

The dress and us both. by Evelyn Stones

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

YES. I mean, yeah sure. by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Malikhi Hill

I'm thinking ice cream, are you? (tag Johana-Leonie) by Malikhi Hill

Ellie Alperton

Today is about me by Ellie Alperton

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

With me?? by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Malikhi Hill

Well, I am talking to you. by Malikhi Hill

Felipe De Matteo

This is so cool! [Zara] by Felipe De Matteo

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Richtig, that is what confuses me. by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Malikhi Hill

It's simple, really. You. Me. Ice Cream. That way. by Malikhi Hill

Heinrich Hexenmeister

Sometimes bad ideas happen. It is more important that your intentions are not bad. by Heinrich Hexenmeister

Mab

Does spending fey money have repercussions like eating fey food does? by Mab

Gary Harper

Breaktime (Tag Conner) by Gary Harper

Alexander Pierce-Beales

I can't speak to #1, but if #2 is true then we're both doomed. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Dann essen wir Eis. by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Cleo James

It's mostly other people who suck, to be honest by Cleo James

Ness McLeod

That is, indeed, what I was getting at by Ness McLeod

Heinrich Hexenmeister

There are many bad wolves out there. by Heinrich Hexenmeister

Mab

Doomed is right. We are totally doomed. by Mab

Alexander Pierce-Beales

Might as well enjoy it then. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Mab

That's right. Laugh at the doom. by Mab

Evelyn Stones

*purrs in queer* by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn Stones

We've got history. [Heinrich.] by Evelyn Stones

Alexander Pierce-Beales

That is generally the best approach. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Zara Jackson

Yup! by Zara Jackson

Felipe De Matteo

Like you. (is that right?) by Felipe De Matteo

Malikhi Hill

Ice, ice, baby? by Malikhi Hill

Jean-Loup Arceneaux

Am I the bad guy? (Tag Dorian) by Jean-Loup Arceneaux

Dorian Montoir

It's complicated by Dorian Montoir

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Definitely not. by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

purrs in queer by Evelyn Stones

Smiles and pets by Ness McLeod