Mab
November 21, 2020 6:27 PM
You don't need to do that, you know (Tag: Oz) by Mab
Mab had been watching the new Pecaris, because they were the new additions to her House. She did not need to worry about them in class, of course, because she was a third year now, but they would be prone to turning up in the common room and sitting close by during mealtimes.The one seemed like he fell out of a Dukes of Hazzard DVD set. She avoided him because he seemed the sort that trouble would find without him looking for it. The round one smiled a lot. She avoided him, too, but not as aggressively. It was just the normal amount of avoidance that she gave to most people. The last one seemed loud, and he seemed to like the troublesome second year who was always hanging around with Theo. She avoided that one the most.
Being on the Most Avoided list, however, meant he was one she kept tabs on so he didn't sneak up on her and end up sitting next to her without some measure of forewarning and preparation.
And in watching him, she had noticed something: He hoarded food. Just like she had. Just like Alexander had.
And in noticing that, she decided to sit close enough to be sure she was seeing what she was already sure she had been seeing.
And there. He did it again. The clandestine slipping of food into his pocket.
"You don't need to do that, you know," she stated, being neither friendly nor threatening. She was just sharing a fact that it had taken her a long time to accept on her own. "I know it's hard not to, but there is enough food here for everyone, and they don't run out later in the year either."
OOC: "Or she could spot him pocketing food at the table" was suggested by Oz's author as a potential way for these two to meet.
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Mab
You don't need to do that, you know (Tag: Oz)
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Oz Spellman
November 22, 2020 2:35 AM
You don't know that by Oz Spellman
Early on, Oz had learnt that there really was as much food here as he could need. In fact, there was more than that. He had been a little hesitant to stuff himself again after the opening feast, as that had really not felt good, though it didn't mean it hadn't happened again. It was pretty easy to eat too much by accident when that had never been an option before.Tonight there had been a super tasty chicken pasta. He was learning not to take second helpings all the time but this had been really good, so he had. He'd had carrots on the side too because Mom would want him to eat some veggies, and that was actually a rule that it was easy to remember because it was an instruction to eat. Veggies here were actually edible too. They were less soggy than they had been at his old school and they tasted of more. He was even considering whether to trust the idea of broccoli. It had a bad reputation but so did he, so who was he to judge? And maybe wizard broccoli was different. Still, he was going to wait and see how many other people did it first because he didn't want to be the weird kid who liked broccoli if it was frowned upon here too.
He was full, he trusted the same to be true tomorrow, but still he pocketed a couple of things from the table. He glanced up sharply as someone spoke, their comment revealing that they had spotted what he was up to. It was a girl, though he had literally never seen her before, and had he been asked out of context whether she was a Pecari, he would have said 'no.' He was gonna go out on a limb and guess he was wrong, because here she was at Pecari table, wearing Pecari robes, and that seemed a lot of effort to go to just to bust his bread roll smuggling scheme. He was pretty convinced that this wasn't stealing, although he felt a little twist of anxiety in case this girl, and subsequently Professor Carter-Xavier, disagreed with him. This food was for them - no-one had ever specified what they were or were not allowed to do with it. Still, she seemed to be trying to give him informatiom more than tell him off. Giving advice could be just as dangerous, of course, depending on whether it was good or bad, how much pressure there was to follow it, and how much the person felt you owed them for giving it to you.
"Thanks. Good to know," he stated, offering her a cheerful smile, but making no move to return the apple or the bread roll to their rightful places. "I'm Oz," he added to be helpful.
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Oz Spellman
You don't know that
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Mab
November 23, 2020 6:55 PM
I do know that. I'm trying to help you know that. by Mab
Last year, Mab had made some effort to smile at people so they would donate to her booth. This year, she did not have a booth. She felt no obligation to smile back at the boy- Oz. Of course his name was Oz. He'd been pulled into a fantastical world where everything seemed wonderful and amazing but still had some pretty terrifying supernatural dangers. But good on him for not using his True Name."Mab," she introduced herself simply. As best as she could tell, there wasn't actually a real Mab in this land of Fey, which was really for the best given that the moniker she'd taken on for herself would probably have been way more dangerous to her than using her True Name would have been if there was. As there wasn't a real life Winter Court with a Queen named Mab, though, Mab felt quite comfortable in the knowledge that most people here wouldn't know her by any other name.
She did not miss that he was keeping the food in his pocket, but she was not the food police, and she had said her piece. He could accept it or not.
"Are you a foster kid?" she asked bluntly, her Boston accent not much lessened after two years of being a Sonoran. That he was poor did not need asking. You didn't hoard food if you weren't. But if he was another group home kid, like Alexander, she could help. She doubted Bel would want to take in any more pre-teens, especially since her spying on this kid had revealed there were two of them, but maybe one of the Derries would be willing. Three and Gabriella were facing an empty nest with Ben all but done with college. They'd probably be pretty easy to coax into it. Or if not, she could get Cole in on and beg his parents for foster siblings because he's soooo lonely and he doesn't want to be an only child anymore, and Mab knows these two kids who really just need a good home. That would definitely work.
Of course, then she'd have Oz as a cousin and she wasn't sure she wanted that, but the other one seemed okay.
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Mab
I do know that. I'm trying to help you know that.
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Oz Spellman
November 24, 2020 6:54 AM
You don't know me by Oz Spellman
Her name was Mab. And apparently, she was hella rude.“No,” Oz stated, his tone blunt, and his carefree smile shutting down to a look of hostility. He tried not to let it show when people touched a nerve because then they just learnt how to push your buttons. But he thought there were some subjects that you were allowed to be touchy about, and being called out about your home life was one of them. Basically everyone at their old school had something - lunch program, food stamps, and some of them got more than a passing knock from the welfare people. It was considered a low blow to actually throw shade about it. People talked about it. Everyone was in everyone else’s business, and you heard when stuff went down, but you didn’t just walk up to someone and be like ‘Yo, are you poor and is your family crap?’ Not unless you were looking to start a fight. Ditto, insulting anyone’s mom. People did it all the time, sure. Called out whose mom was this or that but you knew you were looking to start trouble once you dragged moms into it. “Our mom takes good care of us,” he said, quite clearly on the defensive.
He considered what Henry had said after Charms. About how great it would be if they had some really big powerful wizard dad they could claim would turn everyone into frogs. It was a nice idea to hide behind but he was sure people would call bull on it in about five seconds, and he didn’t quite dare try a new move against an unknown opponent.
“Why, are you?” he clapped back sarcastically, not sure what else to throw at her and resorting to the tried and tested tactic of being rubber whilst she was glue.
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Oz Spellman
You don't know me
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Mab
November 24, 2020 10:08 AM
I don't. That's the purpose of talking to you, right? by Mab
Without having identified herself as a foster kid herself, his reaction was not surprising. His reaction was also why she hadn't identified herself as one. But the reaction did tell her two important things. Firstly, he did have a mom who tried, so that was good. It wasn't always ideal, as she knew from personal experience, but at least he had a mom who put in effort to making sure he and his brother had at least some food on their table. Second, she'd touched a nerve and he wasn't playing at being friendly anymore.She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head and did not answer his question right away. She was showing she was calm and non-defensive, and that he wasn't prodding a weak spot in her. "Yes," she said simply after giving him a moment to regret his question, should he choose to realize that she might actually answer in the affirmative. She did not confuse the issue with any details about her current situation. Oz was not her friend. He did not have a need to know.
"I have a foster uncle who has a free bedroom, had you needed it. But I'm glad you don't." Not least because it meant they wouldn't be cousins, but also because good moms were a lot better than bad moms or missing moms, and she wouldn't wish that on anyone.
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Mab
I don't. That's the purpose of talking to you, right?
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