Did I accidentally make a friend? on At Home

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

October 06, 2020 6:48 AM

Paying it forward (tag Jack-Jack/Prof Marsh, Sapphire, Esme and Mab) by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

The two days for which Jessica’s letter had sat between the pages of a spell book under Sadie’s bed had given her time to think. One of those thoughts had been whether to tear up the letter and rewrite it or get different stationery but when she checked it over, she resisted. It seemed less awful when she saw it than the thing that it had grown to be in her head, and she hoped the fact that she had not wanted to rewrite it, even when given the chance, would help her worry less once it was sent.

The other thought had been whether to stop at just writing to Jessica. If she was going to go to all the trouble of going to the owl office, should she get a few letters together? She wasn’t totally sure how much they were to send, or how much the wizarding money she had left over from her last shopping trip really amounted to, but she felt like it might be worth trying. Mom would probably change over more money for her anyway to get new books for intermediate classes and a new set of robes, and she wouldn’t object to letting Sadie spend money on sending letters to her friends. It wasn’t like her mom objected to giving her things she wanted, they just often came with a hefty dose of things she didn’t want whenever she came under her radar.

There was also the consideration of who to write to. She found she had a weirdly high number of people to consider, although not so much because she had a lot of friends but because once she cast the net out beyond Jessica it was hard to say who did count and who it would be really weird of her to write to. She’d ruled out Evelyn and Mara, even though they’d both been nice enough to her, but thought that she might have enough connection with both Sapphire and Mab to at least try it. And then she’d remembered that Sapphire and Esme were related, though she couldn’t remember how closely, but she didn’t want her roommate to feel left out, so she’d got a postcard for her. And, of course, there was one other very special person who definitely deserved a letter, even if he was a bunny who couldn’t read. His had been the easiest to write.

Dear Jack-Jack,

I hope you’re having fun on your vacation with Professor Marsh, and that you’re being good for him. I can’t wait to see you when I get back to school.

I know you might be a bit confused right now, but I promise I’ll see you again soon, and I’m thinking about you all the time.

Lots of love and strokes,
Sadie
P.S. Say hi to Professor Marsh from me, and thank him again for looking after you.

She’d been gathering bunny supplies throughout the holidays, and slipped a little pack of treats in with the letter, suspecting he might enjoy those more than its actual contents. He would possibly enjoy eating the letter too, she supposed, or at least shredding it. She hadn’t done any paper dyeing on his letter because she thought he probably wouldn’t appreciate it and that it might be toxic.

For Sapphire, she’d made some more ombre paper like she had for the letter to Jessica, though she’d done it in blues to match the name of the person she was writing to. It just needed watered down ink, which happily she had lots of, seeing as that was what they wrote with at school.

Dear Sapphire,

I hope it’s okay that I’m writing to you. I found I was missing magical things while I’m home (though definitely not transfiguration theory!) and I thought it might be nice to keep in touch with some people.

I guess it’s different for you because you have magic around all the time. What’s that like? What magical things do you get up to during vacation?

I’m spending time with my mom, and I suppose a lot of the things we do aren’t very magical. We go to cafes or do make overs and stuff, but there’s always so much technology around that it feels like a totally different world. We also watch a lot of movies. I can explain what those are if you don’t know and are interested? I’m never sure what I need to explain, sorry.

Anyway, it was nice to hang out with you last year, and thanks again for being so kind. I guess I’ll see you in classes in the fall!

Sadie

Esme’s was definitely shorter. She’d gone with getting her a postcard of Southern California beaches, and on the back written:

Hi Esme,

Hope your summer’s going well. Thought you might like to see my non-Crotalus home.
Sadie

Mab’s letter had been hardest of all. Partly this was because Sadie felt the least sure that Mab wanted to receive gestures of friendship from her – the Pecari had remained pretty quiet and closed off even with Sadie volunteering at her booth. And also like… just cos Sadie had signed up didn’t mean that Mab had actually wanted her there, beyond the capacity in which she’d been useful. Equally though, she had never been unfriendly and Sadie knew what it was like to find it hard to reach out to people, even when they were right in front of you. The real reason it was hard though was because Mab had talked about ABCD being personal to her and her mom. They had been recipients of its charity in the past. Whilst Mab’s general appearance suggested that was firmly in the past, it was something Sadie wasn’t totally sure of. She didn’t want to be insensitive if Mab was having a less than great summer, but also she couldn’t exactly write ‘Hey Mab, hope you’re not struggling in poverty.’

She’d dyed Mab’s paper Sonora green, seeing as that linked them more than any other house or identity and she also wasn’t really sure if Mab had a favourite colour. Or… well, anything about her really. And this was scary, and probably a stupid and a bad idea… But she had done it anyway.

Hey Mab,

I hope you don’t mind me writing. I just wanted to say that I had a lot of fun doing your charity booth this year. I’ve carried on some of the crafting stuff over the summer. Are you still crocheting? I hope you are. You’re really good at it.

I remember you mentioning that ABCD was really personal to you. I hope that the booth did well, and that you and your mom are having a good summer.

Sadie.

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers Paying it forward (tag Jack-Jack/Prof Marsh, Sapphire, Esme and Mab) 1480 1 5

Mab

October 07, 2020 2:35 PM

Did I accidentally make a friend? by Mab

Mab's summer was going . . . kind of weirdly. She was seeing her mom and her little brother (who she still wasn't entirely used to remembering existed) pretty frequently, but she still lived with Bel and Alexander. As they were thirteen now, Bel did not insist they have a baby sitter every time she went to work, but most days when she was away, somebody stopped in at least briefly. Amelia came by with lunches from one of the local Cafes between her place and Bel's. Derry Four stopped in with Cole so the eight year old could hang out with his older foster cousins. Ben stopped in to play video games with his younger foster cousins.

And Mom usually arranged her visit time to coincide with Bel not being around. Mab wasn't sure if this was because Mom thought it would be less awkward that way, if Mom was scared of Bel (Mab wouldn't blame her if she was), or if Bel had scheduled it that way on purpose to add extra supervision to her charges during her time away. Mom almost always included Alexander in whatever they were doing, if he wanted to be around, too, which Mab appreciated. Of her two brothers, she liked the one who could string two words together better, and she'd told both Alexander and her mother that. Whatever happened to Mab's living situation over the next year or whatever, Bel and Alexander would always be her family now.

David did not often come along, which was probably for the best because Bel clearly didn't like him so Mab didn't like him either. She wasn't really sure what to make of the fact that her mother did.

It was one of the quiet times, while Bel was at work and nobody else had dropped in yet, and Alexander was doing his thing and Mab was doing hers (crocheting a small blanket for Reilly - not because she liked the little poop monster but because - well, just because. She didn't need a reason. Fey were supposed to be capricious anyway.) when the owl arrived.

"I'll get it," she volunteered. She didn't expect it was for her, but her fingers needed a break and Alexander looked busy. So she put aside the blanket and found an owl treat to exchange for the letter attached to its leg. "Thank you," she said politely, as she'd gotten slightly more comfortable greeting the birds over the past two years of being a fey. Owls were clearly their own brand of fey creature and it would be unwise to be rude to them.

As it flew out the window again - she wondered briefly of wizarding owls had some kind of disillusionment charm on them or something so people walking in the muggle streets of Boston below wouldn't find it odd that a wild bird just few out of a window - she glanced at the addressee of the letter as she readied her body to toss it into the inbox where the rest of Bel's muggle mail was already waiting to be sorted. Her brain processed her own name on the envelope just in time to stop the toss.

"Huh," she said aloud, then opened the letter, mystified as to who might be writing to her. Alexander and Bel had no need to send her an owl during the summer, her mom wouldn't even if she knew how, and it was too early for the school supply list for next term (and Alexander would have gotten one of those, too).

The paper was green. Sonora, her brain associated the color. She glanced to the signature before reading the rest of and confirmed, Sonora. Specifically, Sadie, which was kind of a surprise, but not an unpleasant one. She went back to the top of the page and read it from the beginning.

When she was done reading, she located a blank parchment and started writing back right away.

Hello, Sadie,

I do not mind you writing. I am glad you liked the booth. We did well. Mr. P was very pleased by what I brought him. I am still crocheting. I was making a blanket when your owl arrived.

She stopped there for a minute, frowning and trying to decide how much to share about her current circumstances.

Mom and I are trying to resolve some issues. We're doing all right though. The summer has been good. My foster family is very supportive and understanding. I don't know what I want more - to stay with them or to have my Mom back all the time. It's kind of confusing, especially with the baby around to complicate things. It wouldn't be the same as Before.

Anyway, I am glad you are still crafting. You make very pretty things. If you want to write back again, I welcome your letters.

-Mab

1 Mab Did I accidentally make a friend? 1473 0 5

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

October 08, 2020 7:40 PM

Omg, did I??? by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

Sadie sat surveying the letter in her lap. This was actually, reassuringly not awful. Both in terms of Mab's life (though it did sound complicated, and she resolved to stop griping even inside her head about her own family situation) and how her letter had been received. Mab was okay with her writing. She was welcome to write again. It was so nice to see that stated so plainly and directly, saving her having to second guess or read between the lines. She was also very relieved to be having this particular conversation by mail because she was really not sure how she would have reacted to that information in real time, but she suspected she would have made a mess of it. With letters, you had time to collect your thoughts. That was, she supposed, one saving grace of online communication, it did afford you a bit of thinking time, though some apps displayed 'seen' notifications or the fact that you were typing, and it was all meant to be high speed. Not that she did much of her own commenting, but life online definitely felt frantic compared to the world of owl post.

She dyed a few further sheets, actually feeling optimistic enough to do a small batch of Mab green, thinking about what she might write. The whole thing felt like being in an old-fashioned movie, though usually those were love letters, and she was definitely not writing love letters to Mab or Jessica. It made her wonder though, whether she might find a nice wizard boy and sit waiting for him to write. It was a nice image. Though, for now, having friends (sort of maybe plural?) to write to was exciting enough.

Hi Mab,

I'm sorry to hear things are complicated for you, but I'm glad that you have nice people to take care of you, and that things are hopefully getting better. I know I probably can't do anything to help, but let me know if I can.

It's good that the booth did well and that you've carried on crocheting. Thank you for what you said about my things. Sadie looked at the long, strange sentence. Out loud just a 'thank you' would have done, but when you were writing back and forth you had to make it clear which thing was being thanked for. It was fun, seeing how the way she spoke changed when it was written down.

It was also an awfully short letter. She tried not to bite her quill (because it was not a nice sensation, just an unfortunate habit formed by years of using pens) or her nails (mom would be displeased) as she pondered what else to say. A lot of the usual 'What are you doing with your break?' questions or talking about her own seemed insensitive. Maybe things were getting better for Mab but they didn't sound great, and Sadie wasn't sure whether foster families were nice and heartwarming outside of certain Hallmark movies. Sometimes they were the nice forever people who finally made you feel at home and sometimes they were like a horrible old-fashioned orphanage. Mab seemed to feel like they supported her, which was good, but Sadie wasn't sure how many normal family things she would be getting to do.

Do you miss school when you're away? I do. Magic was strange at first but now it feels strange when it isn't around any more. I'm looking forward to getting my new books so I can read about the animals we might get to meet next year.

I hope you'll write back,
Sadie.

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers Omg, did I??? 1480 0 5