Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

May 27, 2020 9:29 AM

Seeking friendship and sugar. [staff lounge] by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

Mary was doing much better now that a few days had gone and they were in the throes of the new term. Things with Zeus generally seemed to be improving, and after she'd been willing to express all her feelings, the good and the bad, to Tabitha, she thought that their relationship was improving too. It was nice to have some light at the end of the tunnel. Still, Mary had realised amidst it all that she was generally alone. Other than Tabitha, the people she was closest to at Sonora were her boss and a student. While this wasn't wholly problematic, it did make some things difficult. She and Tarquin got along well enough and were close in some capacity, but the man also had a family and somehow didn't seem like the person Mary wanted to just sit back and talk about her problems with. Maybe she didn't really want to do that with anyone. In any case, she found herself in the staff room one morning during the second week of the term, hoping to make a connection with another of the teachers and grow her little circle. Also, there was hot chocolate to be had.

Mary prepared her cup from the marshmallows to the perfect drink itself with meticulous attention, trying both to distract herself and to stall. There wasn't anyone in the staff room just yet and while she could probably just sit at a table and wait for someone, she probably should be working I she had that much free time. No, she would only give herself as long as it took to make her hot chocolate and drink it before returning to her office and grading something or other.
22 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne Seeking friendship and sugar. [staff lounge] 1424 1 5

Katey Willow

May 27, 2020 4:21 PM

*empties pockets and sugar packets fall everywhere* Check and check! by Katey Willow

Katey may or may not have overslept.

Having been unemployed for, uh, shall we say forever, she was still adjusting to having a schedule. Especially one that began in the AM. But Katey thought realistically that she needed to spend as much time as possible in the Hospital Wing, readily available for anyone who might need her. It was sort of the nature of the position, but there was just no way she was going to be bright eyed and bushy tailed in the earliest hours. Not yet, anyway.

She pulled herself out of bed and managed to run a hairbrush through her short, dark waves, but she didn’t bother to get dressed before she stumbled into the staff lounge in pursuit of coffee. A more awakened Katey might have thought better of it, but her pajamas were modest and there were no students here, so she wasn’t too concerned.

She quickly realized that the lounge was occupied, and she shot the woman a sheepish grin. Katey didn’t know the names of all her coworkers yet, but now was as good a time as any to learn. She ran a hand through her hair, the motion accentuated by her baggy-sleeved bathrobe. “Hiya!” Even sleepy, Katey was chipper. She noticed the mug the woman had. “Are you making coffee? I could die for some.”
12 Katey Willow *empties pockets and sugar packets fall everywhere* Check and check! 1505 0 5

Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

May 27, 2020 4:30 PM

Perfect! by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

There had been a night years ago when Mary and Tabitha had shared some lovely evening hours together and then Tabitha had left to go back to her own room which, at the time, was not connected to Mary's. She'd forgotten something and Mary had come out of her rooms barefoot in a nightgown and thin robe to try to catch her, only to find that she was talking to Rory Taransay. It had been terribly awkward but also sort of a bonding moment. Mary knew Tabitha missed her old Hogwarts friend, and she wondered whether hearing about the new healer who appeared for coffee in her pajamas - albeit for different reasons probably - would make her wife smile.

"Hot chocolate," she admitted, holding up her mug to show the creamy brown inside instead of the richer dark black of coffee. "I can make you a cup of this, though," she added with a smile, happy to have maybe possibly found someone to talk to. Someone who was an adult and not her wife or boss or student. "Or I can get out of your way and let you get your coffee. I should know not to get between a woman and her caffeine," she laughed.
22 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne Perfect! 1424 0 5

Katey Willow

May 27, 2020 4:52 PM

Don't spend it all in one place, though! by Katey Willow

Hot chocolate was not the answer Katey anticipated. In fact, she had sort of thought her coffee question was a bit obvious. But, hey, to each their own. “Either way’s fine,” she replied, “although I’d hate to make you wait on me.”

As she approached the station, she found herself starting to wake up, which was pleasant and convenient. Katey was quite extroverted, and so the conversation and presence of another person was stimulating and inspired her conscious mind to kick into gear. Indeed, she herself was quite unusual in this regard. Academic mindsets and acceleration tended to couple with introverted natures, if perhaps only because the mandatory and desired alone time provided more availability of study, plus the general inward drive honing one’s intellect. But not her. Katey sought people and company and excitement, and she just happened to be a classifiable genius in an entirely separate regard.

But she was also flighty and awkward, as she demonstrated now. “I’m Katey, by the way. The new medic.” She extended a hand to shake, but then she looked down and realized it was the hand the other witch was using to hold her mug, and quickly switched to the other hand.
12 Katey Willow Don't spend it all in one place, though! 1505 0 5

Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

May 27, 2020 10:05 PM

I promise. by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

Mary smiled and stepped out of the woman's way. "Happy to wait on you," she promised. "And also, if I wait for you, then I don't have to go back to my classroom just yet."

This very young person was the new medic! She must've been younger than Mary had been when she'd started out at Sonora, what seemed like a long time ago. It was always a bit odd getting new employees, because Mary's life had changed very fast since she'd come to work here and she always wondered if she was looking at someone who was about to change forever. "Mary," she replied with another smile, shaking Katey's hand a bit awkwardly with the wrong hand. "I teach potions. I think that we may end up working together quite a lot, yeah?"

Healing arts were one of Mary's favorite areas of potion-making, and she prided herself on some of the best medical brews most people had ever acquired. Of course, she was also not a medical expert herself, and she was well aware that there were much larger sources from which Katey, and others, could get their products. Of course, that wasn't the only reason Mary thought she might be especially interested in this medic. "You're working with Jean-Loup this year, right?" she asked, knowing the answer but wanting to know more. Really, she wanted to know everything.
22 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne I promise. 1424 0 5

Katey Willow

June 13, 2020 6:48 AM

Pinky promise? by Katey Willow

“Well, if you insist,” she laughed, gesturing Mary forward to go ahead and make Katey’s coffee for her.

She was grateful for Mary’s introduction, committing the name to memory. Nothing ever escaped Katey’s mind, partially because of speedy pneumonic devices and partially because her brain was so excellently programmed in this regard. But she was even more grateful when Mary provided her position. Potions! “Oh, delightful!” Katey exclaimed. “Yes, I will definitely be touching base in a few days. Pepper Up Potions seem to be pretty popular this time of year, and I don’t see the trend shrinking anytime soon. My intern and I are working on a full inventory of my supplies, so if there’s anything else missing, you’ll know soon.”

And speaking of the intern, Mary asked about him. “Yeah, he’s going to be a great help, I can already tell,” Katey grinned. “Good kid. Kind of awkward. He seems a bit nervous about me, but hopefully he’ll see pretty soon that I don’t bite.” The young medic laughed at her own joke. “Do you know him well? I know he said he was here last year too. What do you think about him? Anything I can do to make him feel a little more at ease?”
12 Katey Willow Pinky promise? 1505 0 5