Definitely not having a minor crisis. on Cascade Hall

Mortimer Brockert

December 18, 2020 1:30 PM

Returning Feast by Mortimer Brockert

Mortimer had to admit that he really hated the holidays. First, there was all the socialising, something he had never liked, preferring to unwind with a good book and a glass of bourbon. Secondly, it was all just so nauseatingly sappy. All that holiday cheer made him want to throw up a bit. Everything about the season was disgustingly saccharine. It was all happy and cheerful and joyous and a lot of other things that were the opposite of him. In short, it was a time of the year that he didn't feel all that comfortable and not just at parties either. In some ways, he totally understood his brother Ichabod's granddaughter Liesl and her preference for Halloween. While Mortimer was not as passionate about it as his grandniece, he too felt more in tune with that season.

Heck, even the entertainment on the wireless was crappy this time of year. All that bland, mushy romance stuff that lacked any substance whatsoever. And, for some reason some of his daughter-in-laws and at least one of his granddaughters, Ruby, liked it. In Opal's case, it did not really surprise Mortimer since she had the IQ of a flobberworm. And Helena was just damaged. Her, he had some sympathy for, considering all the miscarriages and being married to Eustace, whom even he, the man's father, had to admit was probably not a great husband. Therefore, Helena was likely trapped in little girl fantasies about having her Prince Charming that those programs fed.

The rest was family friendly kiddie stuff. Which was great for the little kids, but not so interesting to a man his age with slightly darker, more serious interests.

So, as much as any teenager not directly descended from him was annoying, Mortimer was glad to be back at Sonora. And glad the holiday season was over. Although the next holiday coming up was even more irritating and nauseating and saccharine then the Yuletide season was. Valentine's Day, yuck.He planned to ignore it. Vivien knew not to expect gifts for that day because it was an idiotic holiday that he didn't believe in. She knew that he cared in his own way and Valentine's Day was not part of his own way.

The students filed in and Mortimer rose and put the Sonorus Charm on himself. "Welcome back. I hope you all had a nice break." He still didn't actually care. "Before we eat, I have one announcement. We will be starting workshops regarding the Midsummer Concert. However, participation is still not mandatory." Mortimer was never going to enforce mandatory participation in any non-academic thing other than the Challenges.

With that, he sat back down and began his usual feast dinner of steak and bourbon.

OOC: Apologies to anyone who likes holiday movies, romantic or otherwise

Subthreads:

Aladren

Home again, home again, again. by Lorena Abernathy with Rosalynn Tellerman, Isla Brockert

One Last Feast by Heinrich Hexenmeister

Crotalus

Definitely not having a minor crisis. by Martin Crosby V with Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Yup guess this is still a thing. by Henry Spellman with Samantha Cinth

Pecari

More schoolin' huh? by Billy Cobb with Evelyn Stones

Nothing to think here. by Leonor De Matteo

Teppenpaw

Staff

11 Mortimer Brockert Returning Feast 6 1 5

System

December 18, 2020 1:30 PM

Aladren by System

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System

December 18, 2020 1:30 PM

Teppenpaw by System

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System

December 18, 2020 1:30 PM

Crotalus by System

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System

December 18, 2020 1:30 PM

Pecari by System

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System

December 18, 2020 1:30 PM

Staff by System

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Lorena Abernathy

December 18, 2020 2:32 PM

Home again, home again, again. by Lorena Abernathy

Wow! Being home was a wonderful change, and it was nice to see her parents again, but Lorena was pretty glad that break was over. She loved them, but she felt so divided there. Mom had never wanted to talk about Dad’s magic, and now she wouldn’t talk about Lorena’s, either. So she did her best to edit and amend her stories, sharing only the relevant details. But Lorena wasn’t great at that, and it hurt to know that Mom didn’t want to hear about her life. The greatest moments were when she got some time alone with Dad and could share openly and candidly, but then she felt bad for only really enjoying her time when her mother wasn’t around.

Back at school, she felt this pressure alleviate, or at least procrastinate. She would deal with it in the summer. Maybe. In any event, she decided not to deal with it right now. For now, it was time to readjust to school life. As much as Lorena was a chatter, she hadn’t really talked very much about her family. She wasn’t afraid to mention the situation with her parents, but she didn’t really go into detail when she could help it.

There was so much more to think about here. Every day was something new. A new lesson, a new spell, a new adventure. And Lorena wanted to know them all. The only drawback - if it could be called that - was that she hadn’t read quite as much lately, or at least nothing that wasn’t assigned. She didn’t have to escape anymore. She had friends here, in the real world. She liked Sonora.

“Hi!” she smiled at her closest fellow Aladren after the Headmaster had stopped speaking. He hadn’t spoken long, but Lorena felt like bursting the whole time. “Are you excited to be back? I hope your break was good!” she added as an afterthought.

12 Lorena Abernathy Home again, home again, again. 1510 0 5

Martin Crosby V

December 18, 2020 2:44 PM

Definitely not having a minor crisis. by Martin Crosby V

Martin sighed, actually relieved to be back to school for once. Sure, his midterm had been pleasant as always. The people in the world he most tolerated were his parents and little sister, a statement which, coming from Martin, was practically a declaration of undying love. Yet this time, he was to get away, in particular from his father.

He could hardly blame his father, since it had been his own idea, but Martin had gone to work with him several of the days that he was home. The Crotalus was starting to worry about his future, having no inclination as to what career path he would like to follow. The most obvious choice would be to follow in his father’s footsteps and someday take over the apothecary shop. Martin had almost convinced himself to pursue this, but just to be safe, he requested to accompany his father and see what he actually did.

And it was awful. Martin had assumed his father was mostly a hands-off leader, but to be an apothecary was almost exclusively hands on. He didn’t mind brewing a potion or two, but to do it all day, often with irate customers waiting up front for their orders? No, thank you.

Which meant Martin was back in the lurch. He was taking his exams this year and then would have to aim toward something when selecting his courses next year. He supposed he could just continue on in everything until he made a decision - assuming his grades were sufficient, of course - but that would be far more work than he really wanted to exert. Advanced classes were not designed to be taken all together; one was supposed to pick and choose. But he couldn’t just choose and willy-nilly. He had to have direction.

He did his best to try to release this stress and tension and simply enjoy his returning feast, but then again, Martin was not especially known for enjoying much of anything. So he just donned his ~~typical~~ most unapproachable face and hoped that he would be left alone while he quietly ate his meal.

12 Martin Crosby V Definitely not having a minor crisis. 1439 0 5

Freddie Zauberhexen

December 20, 2020 10:16 PM

I'm here! by Freddie Zauberhexen

Ellie said that Freddie could just talk to people. And that he could be brave. So naturally, he'd just made his way to Cascade Hall as early as possible and taken a seat and tried to ignore the idea that anyone might sit with him or not. If he sat first, then at least he knew he wasn't the one making the decision and it would be fine.

He'd spent most of the holiday break trying to decide what it looked like to just be cool about stuff, and he'd almost even talked to Hana or his parents about it before deciding that it would be way too weird either way. It wasn't like him to feel like this or to want to keep things from his family (other than the whole dress thing, but even that wrapped itself up neatly!) and it made him think that maybe he was wrong. Maybe he wasn't supposed to like a boy. Or maybe he was fine liking a boy, but he was just not brave enough or something. That certainly felt true.

Freddie did his best to focus on the Headmaster today because he hadn't done so at all at the last feast - although that conversation had gone well and it had been fine, but that was not the point - and he felt a bit bittersweet at the length of it. It was short enough for Freddie to understand basically all of it which was great, but not long enough to keep him occupied. As such, he kept his eyes on the Headmaster and then on his food and then, only hesitantly, did he look around to see who had sat with him.

22 Freddie Zauberhexen I'm here! 1452 0 5

Billy Cobb

December 21, 2020 6:32 PM

More schoolin' huh? by Billy Cobb

Billy Cobb flopped down in a seat at the Pecari table, unsure if he was glad to be back at school. On the one hand, he was going to have to sit in classrooms all day again. On the other hand, he wasn't being pulled between Pa trying to get an entire season's work outta him that he'd missed and his sister who wouldn't stop asking him questions that he didn't know the answers to. Gee-whiz... you tell her how these folk go 'round introducin' themselves and suddenly your an expert in manners 'n etiquette.

The old headmaster guy said something about that concert thing. Oh shoot. He'd been meaning to ask Ma or Pa about some story he could've written down. Oh well, to late now. Maybe he'd just need to help out movin' stuff around. He could do that well enough... after he was done being sore from that last batch of wood-stackin' Pa had insisted on before he'd left.

When the food appeared, he started stacking his plate full. Here was another advantage of being back, while this stuff didn't hold a candle to Ma's cookin', it sure beat his sister's and she'd been insistent on practicing and making him test her experiments. Girls. He sighed to himself. Anyway, he was back now. Best make the best of it. He turned to whoever had sat next to him and grinned, "How was yer break? I got Ma a mink fer Christmas."

It'd been a cute little thing he'd caught the first day he'd been back home again. Poor critter was just a baby and had been abandoned. He'd always had a bit of a knack with critters and it weren't more 'n a few days before the little guy was happy in his new home. Ma loved him as well. When he was a little bigger, he'd make a better rat catcher than any cat on the mountain.

2 Billy Cobb More schoolin' huh? 1519 0 5

Rosalynn Tellerman

December 23, 2020 7:22 PM

Welcome back by Rosalynn Tellerman

Rosalynn had been a little sad to leave Nevada. She liked Sonora quite a lot and the new friends she was making here, but the break had seemed too short, and too busy, and she felt like she'd barely been home at all before she was climbing back aboard the wagon to return to school. Holidays were always like that, but it seemed somehow worse this year since school wasn't just down the road and she didn't get to come home after classes anymore. She hadn't really realized how much she missed her mom and dad until she saw them waiting to pick her up at the transportation station, and then - quite to her mortal embarrassment - she had burst into tears and run into their arms.

Leaving hadn't been quite as tearful, but there had been a lot of hugging and promising to write more. She knew she would probably fall back into the patterns she had created during the first half of term pretty easily and forget she was supposed to be missing mom and dad again, but that hadn't had time to happen yet, and she was still acutely feeling their absence, even moreso than she had in the fall, when she'd been too caught up other concerns like making new friends, not getting lost, and figuring out who she was when she wasn't Simon The Magnificent's daughter, for homesickness to have really sunk in.

"Hi," she returned to Lorena when her roommate spoke to her after the Headmaster's announcements. She tried to smile and drum up some enthusiasm for her friend. "I wish break had been just a little bit longer, but I'm glad to be back," she admitted, and it wasn't a lie either. She did like it here, and she was eager to pick up their classes again. "Break was good. A bit too busy, maybe. I feel like I didn't get to relax at all. First, we ran off to see my mom's family, then my dad's family, then my brother, then my sister, and I might have slept in my own bed twice? How was yours?"

1 Rosalynn Tellerman Welcome back 1520 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

December 24, 2020 10:43 PM

No, nothing like that here. by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Jezebel was relieved to be back at school. Gus had been the life of the party over the break and he had all sorts of stories and Jezebel had none. What had she done fall term? Stayed in the library with her nose in the book. Well, how were her friends? Beautiful and perfect and six feet above. Being back at school meant she could wallow in an existential crisis from between the front and back cover of whatever book she was the loudest in her head.

She took a seat near Martin at the table which was cool because the last time she'd sat with Martin had been in the library and they'd basically not said anything to each other. It was tempting to do the same today but Jezebel was pretty sure that she'd have to get a boyfriend at some point if she was going to convince her family that she was at least a little bit normal and that started with talking to boys, even if she didn't think many of them were interesting. At least Martin was quiet, and that made him easier to practice with than most of the guys she knew. Of course, Jezebel wasn't exactly shy either; she'd gone up and talked to Jean-Loup just fine. That was the problem of course. Talking to boys was easy because there was so much less at stake for her. Except not if she wanted her life to go anywhere in her parents' eyes and if she wanted to cram all her feelings down her own throat hard enough to swallow them. Not that someone like Martin would ever be interested in her anyway, real or fake; whichever world he was racist in, he wasn't going to be dating her. Which made him perfect!

So she looked up at him and his boy face and almost smiled but decided that she didn't want to waste either of their time with that. "Hi again," she said. "You were reading about chess strategy before, right?" she confirmed, stretching her memory back to grasp at whatever straws she could to spark a conversation. "Do you still play?"

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer No, nothing like that here. 1454 0 5

Martin Crosby V

December 26, 2020 3:11 PM

Glad we're on the same page. by Martin Crosby V

In a testament to her inherent value, Martin had learned Jezebel’s name in the last year or so since their interaction in the library. She had vowed to remain quiet, and for the most part, she had kept that promise. Martin generally didn’t care for girls, considering them usually to be his inferior, but that was a commendable trait. Or rather, two commendable traits combined into one: the ability to keep one’s promises fulfilled, and the ability to keep one’s mouth shut.

Because Jezebel had earned this honor, he did not mind that she was addressing him. At least if someone had to talk to him, it was someone tolerable. And she wasn’t wasting his time with silly inanities, the typical how was your summers that the first day back often threatened and, often, delivered. No, Jezebel spoke of chess, because he had been reading a strategy book at that previous engagement.

“I dabble,” Martin replied casually, adjusting his posture. “I wouldn’t say I’m an expert,” he added humbly, although he was quite good. The fact that he was someone who actively sought out and read into strategy sort of spoke for itself, attesting to his ability and drive to improve in the field. “Are you much of a chess enthusiast?” he asked in return. It was possible she was asking just out of politeness because she recalled that he had an interest, or it was also possible that she actually had her own interest in the subject. Either way, he had to admit, the recollection was a bit impressive.

12 Martin Crosby V Glad we're on the same page. 1439 0 5

Valentine Duell

December 27, 2020 6:53 PM

Me too! by Valentine Duell

Valentine swirled into the Cascade Hall, as cheerful as ever. The holiday break had been wonderful, no one had vanished due to an inexplicable ritual, she'd gotten to see everyone again, and she'd gotten some lovely presents! The only thing that she wasn't entirely happy about was the fact that she had to wear the school robe over her new dress Mama had gotten her. At least she could show off the pendant necklace that Papa had gotten for her.

She did not rush to her table upon arrival. Val had people to meet with first. She waved and chatted a bit to whomever she could find, and when the time came to finally find a seat... she actually thought about sneaking over and sitting with Stanley! She didn't though, she was a Teppenpaw and should sit at the right table for the feast. She'd promised Mama that she'd be good, and she'd promised Papa to 'be careful' around Stanley, whatever that meant. He didn't seem as enthused by that news as Mama had been, even after they'd told him very gently. Papa was really just being silly again, everything was great. There wasn't anything to worry about.

So she found her way over to the Teppenpaw table at nearly the last minute and found a seat next to Freddie. She sat with Freddie a few times last term, but not much last year at all. He was nice, but sometimes his English was difficult to understand. That was alright though, he was doing great with it, way better than she was at learning German. Somehow that didn't seem quite fair for him, maybe she should go learn German. Plus that would also help her talk to Hilda as well. Maybe she would have to go talk to Professor Xavier or Mr. Row about language courses. One of them would know something.

The headmaster, as usual, didn't say much. However, he did mentions something about a workshop for the Midsummer Concert. That was coming up! When he'd finished talking, the food appeared and she saw Freddie look her way. She flashed him a friendly smile. "Hi Freddie!" She started cheerily, "How was your break? Are you doing anything for the Concert?"

2 Valentine Duell Me too! 1490 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

December 28, 2020 10:03 PM

What is the book? by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Martin didn't tell her to be quiet or anything this time, so she thought that was pretty alright. At the very least, they were mutually in social mode. What social mode looked like for either of them was yet to really be seen, but it was still something. Maybe that wasn't fair; Jezebel didn't pay that much attention to Martin outside of their few interactions, so she wasn't sure if he had friends and some party streak in him. She had friends and a social life - sometimes more of a social life than she really wanted to be honest - so it wasn't as if she never spoke to anyone. Just that most of the time, she found the whole thing more exhausting than keeping her mouth shut, and for lots of reasons.

Jezebel thought that Martin probably wouldn't say he was an expert even if he was, which she sort of appreciated about him. Most of the pureblood students at school seemed to be either way too arrogant about everything, or way too falsely modest, to the point that it was painfully obvious they were just waiting for a compliment. Neither of those applied to Jezebel, and at least Martin's sense of modesty seemed reasonably realistic enough for her to assume that he at least meant it a little bit, even if he thought he was better than he said he was. To be fair, she thought that most people who read chess books for fun were probably better than dabblers, so he probably really was better than he said he was.

"I learned how to play but haven't really much," she replied, remembering when Marcus taught her. That seemed like a forefront lifetime ago and, in a very real way, she supposed it was. "I'd be interested to play again if you don't mind helping me figure some of it out though." Then, she really did smile. It was easy enough just then. "I'm sure you're better than just dabbling and I don't want to bore you out of a game," she added.

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer What is the book? 1454 0 5

Philippe Delachene

December 30, 2020 5:55 PM

So am I! by Philippe Delachene

One year ago today (more by Feast day than calendar day, but in Sonora terms it had been exactly one year ago) had been the first time Philippe really met Freddie. He'd handed out a random candy cane creation Jasmine had pushed on him to deliver to all the people he knew (with extras for new people he hadn't met yet), and Freddie had in turn offered to dye Philippe's hair sometime. Philippe had taken him up on that twice - once in orange (his favorite color) and once in green (for spectating during a Quidditch home game) - and had since grown a strong appreciation for Freddie's own hair which colored so nicely and didn't have the unruly curls that Philippe found difficult to tame on his own head.

Tonight, he had more candy cane creations - Santa elves this time, not reindeer - and he'd snagged the seat directly across from Freddie so nobody could blame him for looking at the older boy because where else was he supposed to look? - but Freddie wasn't looking back or meeting his eyes or anything. He was totally focused on the Headmaster. Oh, the Headmaster was talking.

Philippe tuned in and caught enough words that it was simply inconceivable that he could have missed much of anything. The Headmaster was not exactly known for being verbose, so two full sentences had to be the majority of the new year's announcements.

Concert workshops seemed interesting. He was already signed up and eager to get started, so he was looking forward to that.

He startled slightly when he heard Freddie's name come from one of their other neighbors. Val had taken the seat next to the fourth year, and now she was talking to him. For just a moment, Philippe felt a flash of irritation, but then he remembered he did not have a crush, and Freddie was a cool guy lots of people were allowed to find cool.

Besides, Val had a boyfriend already, so she wasn't a problem.

No, no, that did not matter at all. There was no crush. Anya was a ninny and that was not what was happening here.

Still, he found it weirdly hard to speak up and join the conversation, so he just listened raptly to hear what Freddie would tell Val about his break and concert intentions.

1 Philippe Delachene So am I! 1489 0 5

Evelyn Stones

December 30, 2020 6:45 PM

Always more to learn. by Evelyn Stones

Going back to Sonora had always been weird for Evelyn, because it was always after something. For part of her school years, it had been after a trip home, with varying members of her family. Then, it had been with Ness and her new family. Now, Heinrich also featured prominently in her time away from campus. But if Ness and Heinrich were her de facto family now (and the McLeods and CJ but she knew them all less well), then Sonora wasn't really leaving much behind. So it was weird. She sat at the Pecari table without her family, who got to sit together, and she was only slightly bitter over that these days. She liked her own House well enough and she was pretty proud of the fact that she'd been a reasonably decent prefect in her own opinion so far. If nothing else, she had managed to connect with some of the students in the House, and she'd made it a point to be available should anyone want to talk to her.

One person she had not gotten to know well yet was one of the first years, Billy. Still, Billy had seen a big glimpse into part of her life that she would never have shared with him of her own volition and she wasn't sure exactly what to do with that either. She was sure Heinrich hadn't laid out details of what her dad had so kindly acted out for them - or the mist that looked like her dad or whatever it was - but Billy had been there and that was enough for her mind to spin into dangerous spirals of anxiety just to sit near him. Thus, naturally, she needed to sit near him.

The headmaster said some stuff, blah blah blah, and then Billy spoke up, saving Evelyn the trouble of needing to decide if she was going to say something first. "A mink like the coat?" she confirmed, surprised. Sonora students were from all over the world but it was hard to come from hippy dippy Oregon and not automatically think animal cruelty at the thought of giving someone a mink. The boy's accent gave her a clue where he might have been from but she didn't know enough about the South to know what could be done humanely, whether his family would care, etc., and she didn't know if this was some magical thing or not. Geography was hard. Politics were hard. Everything was hard. "Or the animal?"

She scooped some potatoes onto her plate - mashed and roasted since both types were the bomb dot com - and remembered he'd asked her a question too. "My break was pretty good," she decided. Other than everything that went into her anxiety seeing Billy now, this had been the first break where she hadn't had to think of her dad, and CJ had hardly seemed to notice the man's absence anyway. That was good. She almost said something about visiting Heinrich in the snow and getting warm, snow-melting kisses - okay, so she probably wouldn't have mentioned the last part - but she didn't necessarily want to draw Billy's mind to what may have been the only time he'd really spoken with Heinrich just then. "Busy and snowy," she decided with a smile before chomping into a potato.

22 Evelyn Stones Always more to learn. 1422 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

December 30, 2020 7:07 PM

Nothing to think here. by Leonor De Matteo

Walking into Sonora felt like a cruel parody of real life but she did it anyway, because that's what princesses did. Or at least heiresses to mildly important fiefdoms. Because that's what Los Jardines de Plata was. Or Cuidad de Matteo was. Both parts? She wasn't totally sure whether it was the estate or the 'feudal lands' that qualified a place as a fiefdom because it wasn't a term that she was either terribly familiar with in English or would have heard applied to the area by people who were actually from there. But people who had used it had been right, and now Leonor was heir to what seemed like a bloody crown.

The fact that her education into what it meant to be an heir was going so poorly weighed heavily on her mind as, she was sure, it did on her brother's. Winter break had proven more than ever that Leonor was not the right woman for the job, but it was too late. Of course, she was pretty sure Felipe wouldn't take the crown back even if that had been a choice. The only remaining option was to decide she didn't want it either, but then what? She wasn't sure what would happen to Los Jardines de Plata, Cuidad de Matteo, or, more importantly, herself. At the end of the day, the last piece of that puzzle was the only piece she needed to take care of and everything else was merely auxiliary. She had to believe that.

She took her seat with her characteristic flourish, keeping her eyes trained on the headmaster who, for the first time in Leonor's life, didn't say enough. She almost wanted to raise a hand and ask him questions or something because if he stopped, then it was time to socialize. She did not want to socialize. Ugh.

Of course, it would not be unusual for her to just focus on her food. To ignore anyone she didn't outright have to talk to. She had made enough of a reputation for herself, with enough of a nasty, haughty expression, that no one would probably talk to her anyway. It was for the best.

Jessica's letter sprang to mind and she forced it away, refusing to think of Jessica or Mara. She hadn't replied to Jessica because she didn't have anything to say to her, but she wasn't entirely sure that was for the best either. She didn't know what to do. But just reading it had made her angry and she'd thrown it into the fire. Because that was how problems were dealt with: destruction.

Suddenly not hungry, Leonor glanced around for something to drink before pouring herself a glass of grape juice. It was not great, but it was strong and it gave her something to think about. She knew she should eat. She knew someone might ask if she didn't eat. There was a bowl of pineapple nearby, so she skewered a few chunks and put them on her plate, eyeballing them with some disgust before managing a bite of one. She was halfway threw the first piece when someone did speak to her, drawing her attention.

22 Leonor De Matteo Nothing to think here. 1471 0 5

Freddie Zauberhexen

December 30, 2020 7:21 PM

Three's a . . . something. by Freddie Zauberhexen

Philippe had sat with him. Philippe had sat across the table from him. Freddie hadn't noticed until the headmaster had stopped talking because he was Not Noticing Anything, and when he did, Philippe was not looking at him. Not sure that if it was going to be weird for him to just launch into some conversation, and not even really sure what to say to start, he glanced to his side to see who else was in earshot if he did go full awkward dorky here in a second and smiled naturally when Valentine greeted him. Her exuberance outshown even his own and, although he hadn't been looking at her to start a conversation, he didn't really mind it. He wasn't sure he could trust his peripherals when he thought he saw Philippe look up too though. And he was fine and his face didn't get red.

"I submit story," he told Valentine, nodding a little proudly because he'd done a great job remembering the Paul Bunyan story. "But I know not when-- if school keep," he added, remembering that weird conditional thing that English did with ifs and whens and ugh. "I mind not to play too," he smiled, happy to take the chance to dress up whenever it was presented.

He glanced at his food, trying to see if Philippe had looked, but his bangs had gotten long and fell in his eyes and he couldn't tell. Pushing them aside, he looked back at Valentine. "Break was Ok," he said, slipping into German for the cognate. He brightened some as he thought of gift-giving. "Mein Vater, he gibt me more of hair coloring. Now all bottles have full," he said happily.

22 Freddie Zauberhexen Three's a . . . something. 1452 0 5

Henry Spellman

December 30, 2020 8:56 PM

Yup guess this is still a thing. by Henry Spellman

Henry was not excited to be back to Sonora but he wouldn't have been excited to be anywhere else either. Maybe that wasn't true . . . it had been nice to be home, to eat with his brother and his mom, and to see that everything was normal somewhere in the world. It had also been a painful reminder that wizards seemed to have everything and didn't care that much about people who didn't. He was, more than ever, determined to right the wrongs in the world. He was also, more than ever, sure that he was the wrong person for the job.

The headmaster (he still wasn't totally sure if that was basically just a principal) said some stuff but not much and then it was dinner time. That was kind of nice because the assemblies at their old school had seriously gone on forever, and Henry thought that as one of the kids who even thought there was some good information to be heard in assemblies. Still, dinner was dinner and it was hard to say no to a real meal, although he wondered idly if he'd ever grow out of that.

He took a large (to him; he doubted some of these kids would have thought it was large) helping of corn and peas because vegetables were important and then he took a slice of roast because protein. As he tucked in to enjoy the bittersweet buffet laid out in front of him, he looked up to see who else was around and greeted the student across from him.

"Hi," he said plainly. "How was your break?"

22 Henry Spellman Yup guess this is still a thing. 1513 0 5

Samantha Cinth

December 30, 2020 9:36 PM

I guess I'll be nice by Samantha Cinth

Christmas break had been interesting for Samantha. Mother had been distant, as per usual, and Father had only been present for the usual gift-giving ceremony. It wasn't always that way, there had been a time were laughter and love was as openly exchanged as the perfectly wrapped boxes that were handed out. She longed for that love again. As she contemplated the deep feelings she had, Samantha realized that she had mindlessly began to mash her vegetables; only leaving behind a mushy pile of carrots and peas. The image of it had diminished her appetite.
Samantha still held out hope for the upcoming term, as her last one had been filled with new friendships and happy memories. She remembers feeling frightened when she first arrived, the thought of that made her giggle; as this had now become her second home.

"Hi," A familiar voice had interrupted her thoughts, "How was your break?"

She glanced up and saw a smile that she had grown to miss.

"Hey," Her eyes had returned to the plate of mashed peas, "It was chill, just hung out. What about yours?"

She avoided direct glances as she watched him take a seat across from her. Samantha had the chance to meet Henry the term before, she had grown to enjoy his laughter and his presence. She hoped that maybe this term he would grow to enjoy her's as well.

54 Samantha Cinth I guess I'll be nice 1515 0 5

Henry Spellman

December 30, 2020 9:52 PM

That's a high bar for wizards I think. by Henry Spellman

Henry had mostly been quiet the previous term; he still wasn't sure what he thought of this whole magic thing and being surrounded by people who seemed to think it was normal weren't exactly the kind of people he found himself trusting easily. It was also weird because the school was friggin' tiny compared to the school he'd attended in Phoenix (which, now that he thought about it, seemed like a suspiciously magical name for the city . . . ) and he literally had one other person in his year in his house. There were only four houses. . . . his graduating class would be minuscule. It was weird. Still, quiet as he may be, Henry couldn't help getting to know bits and pieces of his classmate. He and Samantha only knew each other in passing, but he did know her, and that was just one of the many weird things about this imaginary school. He tried to have a good sense of humor about it but he wasn't famous for that (and Oz had certainly tried). Most of the noise he made came from his guitar, although no one but his brother had ever seen him play at school.

"Same," he said when she answered briefly about her break. He couldn't deny that he appreciated someone who could keep it concise, although it naturally made him a bit suspicious. He had found, and knew all too well himself, that what people didn't say was often more important than what they did. The fact that she had basically obliterated her vegetables didn't help with his suspicion, although he wasn't about to call her out for being a weird eater. "It was nice being home though," he added, unable to help a bit of bitterness in his voice. If he hadn't had to go and be magical, he could have been home now . . . still, it was maybe for the best. "Do you have to travel far to get home?" he asked, remembering he was one of the few if not only kids at Sonora who lived in the same state as this weird magical school.

22 Henry Spellman That's a high bar for wizards I think. 1513 0 5

Samantha Cinth

December 30, 2020 10:13 PM

Being awkward by Samantha Cinth

As Samantha watched Henry adjust himself in his seat she had to admit that she might have romanticized his being a little too much over the break. She was not to blame though, the only thing that had kept her company was an old copy of Pride and Prejudice and a small sketchbook that she had managed to keep all of her thoughts in.

Henry's personality had captivated Samantha from the moment she had met him. Over time, she had grown to understand that he was not the person she had imagined, but maybe he could still be the one she had written about in her sketchbook. She recalled to when Mother would read her those books that unraveled the meaning of love. It had been as simple as a heroic knight finding his reason to encounter danger; maybe she could be his reason.

She smiled at Henry's reply, a hint of jealousy rising as he mentioned his favoring feelings towards being home.

"I usually fly home," She smiled, hiding the embarrassment of realizing that he had no idea who she really was, "I am from Oregon, so it's not too bad but not the best."

She had spent the whole plane ride imagining a future where she would be swept off her feet and taken away from her current situation. In some of these scenarios Henry was the knight in shining armor, the thought of it made her cheeks warm.

54 Samantha Cinth Being awkward 1515 0 5

Killian Row

December 30, 2020 10:21 PM

So there's this girl . . . by Killian Row

Killian's return to Sonora came with a hefty serving of food that his Mam hadn't made, which was bittersweet. He didn't normally spend his entire winter break at his childhood home, but with Bonny being there and Ema visiting, he'd naturally done so. It was the easiest place to stay and work, he'd gotten to see most of his favorite people, and he'd been able to make his parents happy. It had also put him in the right position to know if Lorcan showed up.

The family had talked about Lorcan, of course, both with and without Bonny. She seemed disinterested at best and Killian couldn't blame her. When she'd gone to bed and Ema wasn't there, though, conversations had been bleaker, and Killian couldn't help feeling claustrophobic with just the weight of his brother's absence at the holiday. But then Ema had come and things had been tremendously better. They'd also been different than he'd expected, in a good way. Ema was livelier and lovelier than he'd given her credit for in the summer and he was pretty sure she belonged on the top of a Christmas tree in a hippie's house. Except that then he would have had to give her up and he had no intention of doing so.

In fact, he had so little intention of doing so that he was pretty sure he'd jokingly proposed, only to find out that he wasn't sure if it was a joke. It had been taken as such and they'd moved on, although Killian was still very sure he'd look hot in a suit. That wasn't something Ema had disagreed with. In fact, she seemed to think he looked hot in general and his expectations for the trip - even his hopes for the trip - had been blown out of the water. He felt a bit bad though and it was guilt that stuck to him like pills on a sweater as he returned to work. With Selina just a few seats away, that feeling was only intensified.

The last thing he ever wanted to do was get someone to do something they didn't want to do, but what if that person thought they wanted to? How could you be sure they actually wanted to and hadn't just been somehow accidentally coerced by the forces of Feels? Such things were Lorcan's territory, and maybe the territory of young-Killian. They were also the forces that played on youth, and he had been victim enough to know how strong those could be; he and Ema didn't have to be youths now for him to be conscious of that nonetheless.

Those thoughts were heaped neatly into his address later or maybe never file in the back of his head and he filled his bowl with creamy potato soup - leaving his usual addition of bacon off - and turned to the nearest colleague. "Good break?" he asked with his usual lopsided grin. "I know it's a small school but I am always blown away by how many students there are when we get back." He glanced at Bonabelle as he spoke, unable to help himself from being a bit worried about his niece, before glancing back at his colleague and taking a bite of soup. A drink of soup? A mouthful of soup? Before spooning some soup into his mouth hole.

22 Killian Row So there's this girl . . . 1450 0 5

Henry Spellman

December 30, 2020 10:42 PM

That's how I live my life. by Henry Spellman

Henry's eyebrows came up in automatic surprise. He hadn't talked to Samantha enough to know if she came from a non-magical background and meant 'flying' in the way he thought of it. He also wasn't sure why anyone would fly home on a plane when they had magical transportation. He couldn't help wondering if he was somehow talking to someone famous or something and they wanted images of their daughter getting off their private jet. His suspicion was only increasing as he spoke to her but so was his interest, so he pressed on.

"Fly home on a plane? Or a broom?" he asked with a guarded expression, not quite willing to give too much about himself away yet. Still, she'd given some details so he figured he could repay the favor with some general information. "We live in Arizona," he added, automatically switching to the plural pronoun as he included Oz in his comment. His eyes glanced to the Pecari table where his brother was sitting as well, naturally checking on him. He wasn't sure if it was a class thing or something to use airplanes so he wasn't about to say too much about their own method of getting home, although he really hated every form of magical transport he'd heard about so far; anyone who had ever read anything sci-fi or fantasy knew that portals were dangerous and wizards seemed to be playing with fire (literally in some cases) to risk teleportation. It was also way OP and didn't seem fair to the rest of humanity. Not that they seemed to care about that.

Samantha was getting red and he wasn't sure why so he looked back down at the table, getting anxious. Maybe he'd said something wrong? Why were girls so weird? Did vegetables make girls get red? Was this an allergy or something? "Do you want water?" he asked, pouring himself a glass from the nearby pitcher to make it seem less like he was tempted to throw it on his Housemate.

OOC: A note for other authors: Samantha and I talked off-screen about the unlikelihood of students leaving Sonora to go home by plane and she decided that Samantha's family has her use magical transportation to get to the airport and then fly home to Oregon on an airplane for their own personal reasons. :)

22 Henry Spellman That's how I live my life. 1513 0 5

Samantha Cinth

December 30, 2020 11:03 PM

Flying away now by Samantha Cinth

"Oh yeah, flying!" Samantha's voice had a hint of embarrassment to it, she had forgotten to fill in the gaps to her story. "My father has requested that I fly home by plane. I think he is paranoid or something-" Samantha's voice trailed off, she had reminded herself that Father had often told her never to speak of private matters with "friends". She wondered if that rule would apply to Henry, as he was not technically a friend. Well, according to Father no one was truly a friend; they were merely people who wanted to use you.

"If it were up to me I would just snap my fingers and be home." She quickly spoke, her voice carrying the tone of a well told joke, this was her attempt at trying to bridge the awkward gap that had been left my her unfinished sentence.

As she looked at Henry she had noticed he was pouring some water. Was he thirsty? Was he bored? Did he need a drink to stop this conversation? She worried that maybe the burning sensation on her cheeks had formed into an uncontrollable blush.

"I am okay, thank you." She replied to his offer, she could not risk dropping water all over and embarrassing herself any further.

54 Samantha Cinth Flying away now 1515 0 5

Henry Spellman

December 30, 2020 11:17 PM

Oh. . . . o--okay? by Henry Spellman

Henry wasn't sure how to respond. He'd done a lot of reading trying to get himself as prepared for this crazy place as he could but he'd never heard of snapping your fingers and teleporting. Was that a real thing people could do? "Oh," he finally managed. It was a lame response but it gave away the least about himself and that was what counted.

Then she turned down water. Who did that?! That was like the unspoken rule of being offered water. Unless you knew that the person may have put some stuff in it, or if they were from the part of town where tap water was going to taste like metal, then you just accepted the water. It was like being offered a piece of gum; if there was no reason to think that it was going to be held against you later, you just accepted it. Which meant . . . had he broken some magic rule of etiquette he didn't know about? This conversation was going badly for him and he was pretty sure Oz would know what to do. Oz!! Oz would know what to do about a girl, right? Oz knew what to do in most social situations. What would Oz do? He tried to channel his inner Oz from all those days of playing switch, but they'd only been nine or so the last time they did that so it wasn't a great point of reference. Still, it did give him some ideas.

He forced a laugh that actually sounded a bit like he even meant it, although it was the sort of cool guy, devil-may-care laugh that Oz had mastered for keeping as much emotional distance between him and everyone else as was possible. "My arms aren't long enough to get you juice," he said, trying to sound suave as he gestured at a pitcher of apple juice a little further away. He was pretty sure he sounded like an idiot but it would have to do. "Guess you'll have to do it yourself."

22 Henry Spellman Oh. . . . o--okay? 1513 0 5

Samantha Cinth

December 30, 2020 11:54 PM

Jokes by Samantha Cinth

Samantha stared back at Henry for a few seconds, which to her felt like an eternity. She was not sure what she had just witnessed, but was certain about the metaphorical butterflies in her stomach. It was almost as if their wings tickled the inside of her abdomen, which made Henry's comment much more funny.

Suddenly, Samantha laughed loudly. She felt as if her lungs had taken a large breath, all of which was then dedicated to the cackle she released. She knew that she should excuse herself, but in that moment felt comfortable and found no reason to apologize.

As she looked at the pitcher, she noticed the awful yellow tint, and realized that it was her opportunity to practice her comedic skills. She had been told before that her jokes were not the best, but at this point she felt no need to hold back; maybe Henry would understand them and enjoy them as much as she enjoyed him.

As she caught her breath she thought of all of the ways this could go wrong, yet pushed forward with her joke.

"I actually don't like apple juice," she sighed, knowing that an eruption of laughter was soon to follow, "it looks too much like pee." A fit of giggles ensued, which she hoped was welcoming enough for Henry to join.

As she laughed she thought about those who were watching, and hoped that they could see the good time she was having; even if it was just one sided.

54 Samantha Cinth Jokes 1515 0 5

Henry Spellman

December 31, 2020 12:07 AM

Ohhh we're making jokes now. I get it. by Henry Spellman

Henry was pretty sure that he had never in his entire life made anyone laugh that hard, and a blush crept onto his own face automatically, a more genuine smile coming to his mouth, pressed though it was with nerves. He'd definitely never made a girl laugh like that before and he wasn't sure if he was supposed to. Did he have to have permission to accidentally say something funny to a girl? He was pretty sure girls were still weird and confusing and he wasn't sure what he was supposed to want to do with them, although he'd watched enough TV to know that guys pretty often did want to do stuff with them, like take them on dates and stuff at least; Mom was always very open-minded about those things though and he was pretty sure guys could do that with other guys too if they wanted, so he wasn't exactly sure what the point of girls was yet, except that he knew he didn't want to date a guy. He had to admit that it was a bit of a bummer that the funniest thing he'd ever said in his life had been his effort in channeling his brother; perhaps there was something to Oz being the more popular of the two of them.

He blinked, looking at apple juice in a new way when Samantha said it looked like pee. Was this why Oz was always making crude jokes? Because even his normal sense of humor and stuff just naturally lent to people saying that stuff around him? He could understand how anyone would pick up on it along the way and Samantha wasn't exactly wrong about the juice either. She was giggling up a storm which only solidified for him that girls were weird, although he did manage to at least crack a proper grin, letting it make his ego swell a little bit. Not too much . . . but just a little. At the same time, his nose wrinkled in disgust.

"I hope it's cold at least," he decided. Then, looking back at Samantha as he realized how that sounded, he added quickly: "The apple juice, not the pee. Pee should be warm or you should definitely see a doctor."

22 Henry Spellman Ohhh we're making jokes now. I get it. 1513 0 5

Samantha Cinth

December 31, 2020 12:25 AM

A smile by Samantha Cinth

Samantha smile widened as Henry added context to his quip. As she stared at his face she noticed a hint of pink coming off of his cheeks. Samantha did not recognize this behavior, as she herself had never seen a boy react to something she had said that way. She made a mental note to ask her friends back at home what that meant. She knew there was no need for her to write this down in her notebook, as she would never forget this moment.

Samantha noted the cleverness of the boy, and her heart skipped a few beats when she thought about what other things he had to say; especially those concerning her. She hoped that this moment would never end, and if it had to, she hoped that there were more just like it.

She smiled at him, in an effort to create a more solid friendship. This thought reminded her of when Mother would often comment on the fairy tales she read before bed. She would exclaim about how two people who hardly knew each other were not fit to wed. She would then go off on a tangent on how if people were to truly understand love they must first understand friendship.

It all seemed odd to Samantha, and to be quite honest most of it still does; but she knew one thing to be certain: friendship was needed in order for her to survive her first year at Sonora.

54 Samantha Cinth A smile 1515 0 5

Isla Brockert

December 31, 2020 3:13 PM

Also back! by Isla Brockert

OOC: CW-This post discusses Isla's Uncle Eustace, a walking talking definition of toxic masculinity and pretty much almost everything else bad so similar CWs to every other post where he's discussed. BIC:

Isla's break had been great. She had gotten to see her parents and little brothers again. Although most people would not be enthused about the latter. Little brothers were supposed to be horribly annoying creatures but hers really weren't. Uriah was adorable and it was hard to find someone who usually kept to themselves and spent all their time reading the way Olaf did irritating because they didn't do anything obnoxious. Isla didn't have the loud obnoxious sort of little brothers. She supposed she was lucky that way. Though she did have an uncle like that, which meant her dad had had that kind of little brother.

But then, Uncle Eustace went beyond being just loud and irritating. He was such a monster that it was sometimes hard to decide whether he or Topaz was worse. True, the older Aladren had scarred Allegra and Sapphire for life and was resentful and nasty towards Isla herself at times while Uncle Eustace basically ignored her and his other nieces, which was a good thing, though obviously they were included in his negative comments about females in general. Even the ones that obviously wrong, like when he implyed women were less intelligent with three Aladren girls-whatever else Topaz was, she was very smart-sitting right there in front of him. In fact, Isla would have bet all his nieces as well Grandmother, Mother and her aunts-except maybe Aunt Opal-were smarter than he was.

However, he did not ignore his nephews. The first year got the impression that Uncle Eustace had given Jasper and Chris complexes every bit as much as Topaz had to Allegra and Sapphire. Jasper had this hang-up around flying that lead to him having trouble last year in Flying Lessons with getting his broom to even get off the ground, because one had to want to and he very much hadn't. The Teppenpaw was so super delighted not to have Flying Lessons anymore. Isla didn't really blame him a bit. She could take them or leave them herself. As for Chris, he was very conflict adverse to the point where now when Uncle Eustace tried to round up the boys for Quidditch-like activities, he tended to not be anywhere to be found.

And as far as the three younger boys went, Dad and Uncle Elmer had put their foots down-and Olaf was perfectly capable of telling Uncle Eustace no on his own, as was Jasper at this point-but that didn't stop Uncle Eustace from belittling Olaf, Uriah and Miles as a"nerd"-Isla personally did not get why this was a bad thing, being one herself, but her uncle definitely meant it that way-a "fatso" and a "weakling", respectively.

That last one had caused additional trouble this year. Libby did not take kindly to her younger brother being called names and, upon hearing him referred to in such a manner, she had started smacking Uncle Eustace, which was admittedly amusing in some ways. However, what had happened next was much less so, because naturally, her uncle had reacted to this by pushing the four year old off him roughly and calling her the sort of name that Topaz tended to call her roommate. Aunt Madeleine was even more displeased than she or her daughter had previously been-and then things deteriorated. Again. In addition to all his other flaws, Uncle Eustace had a knack for ruining holidays.

On the plus side though, Isla had gotten lots of new puppets! And books!

She walked into the Cascade Hall and looked over the Aladren table, taking note of where Topaz was sitting and where her roommates were. Thankfully, this time, they were not in close proximity so she joined the other two first year girls. "Hi!" Isla greeted them cheerfully as Grandfather began to speak. Surprisingly, he had an actual announcement this time. When he was done, she listened Rosalynn talked about her break. "That sounds...." Isla tried to be dipolomatic, which was not necessarily a strength of hers, she had a tendency to say what was on her mind even though she tried not to hurt anyone's feelings. This might be why she was in Aladren rather than Teppenpaw. "rather hectic. I hope it was at least nice seeing all of them." She wondered why they didn't all meet up in one group. Well, at least the siblings. Obviously, one's mom's side and dad's side wouldn't. Isla had seen her mother's family and the cousins on that side too, but she was generally closer to the Brockert side. She would say though that, thanks to Uncle Eustace, things on her mom's side tended to be a lot more peaceful.

Isla was about to tell her friends a little about her break-intending to omit the parts where Uncle Eustace ruining everything again-but it seemed that Rosalynn had specifically asked Lorena, so she patiently waited her turn.

11 Isla Brockert Also back! 1521 0 5

Valentine Duell

January 02, 2021 5:51 PM

A party! by Valentine Duell

"You did?" Valentine smiled encouragingly at Freddie after he told her that he'd submitted a story for the concert. "That's great!" She wondered briefly it if was a story she would recognize, or if it was some neat German story. "What story did you pick? I was trying to think of a good one to suggest," she shook her head a little sadly, "but I couldn't think of any good ones, that would probably work well on stage." There were any number of stories she could think of, but she wasn't sure how well they'd play out as a short story type of format. Maybe she could brainstorm with other people at the workshop thing the Headmaster had mentioned.

She nodded, "I signed up to act as well on the sheet last term." She assumed that's what he had meant with his mildly wonky follow up statement. At that point, she noticed Philippe on the other side of the table, he seemed to be listening in. "How about you Philippe? Did you have any plans for the concert yet?" She was generally unconcerned whether or not Philippe wanted to be a part of the conversation. If he didn't, he'd sat at the wrong place, and he should know that by now.

Freddie looked away briefly before answering about break. She was momentarily terrified that she'd asked the wrong question. What if he'd had a terrible break? What if bad things had happened? She shot Philippe a quick, panicked look but Freddie was looking back at her and she quickly buried the look under a super friendly smile. His response took a few moments to process, as she wasn't all that used to German, she hoped the words meant what they sort of sounded like. "That's neat!" she responded cheerily, "Do you have big plans for them?" It looks like things were okay.. hopefully.

A thought struck her, "Did you turn Philippe's hair green for that one Quidditch match?" She looked back at Philippe in case confirmation came from that direction. "That was pretty cool!"

2 Valentine Duell A party! 1490 0 5

Billy Cobb

January 02, 2021 6:22 PM

So I've been told. by Billy Cobb

Evelyn looked a bit surprised at his statement and Billy gave her a bit of confused look back. 'Like the coat?' What did that mean? Was there a kind of coat named after the critters? They liked the water, so maybe some sort of coat to keep the rain off you? She seemed to recollect her thoughts and figured things out though. That was good. He grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I found it abandoned and caught it the firs' day back from break. I got it mostly friendly, before I hadda leave to come back here." He shoveled a sizeable amount of meat into his mouth, chewed and swallowed it before continuing. "Ma thought he was awful cute."

He ate some more while the older girl talked, not that she said much. He'd kinda avoided the prefects when he could. The rumor was they could get you into trouble for the smallest little things. Still she played Quidditch so he knew her best from there, but she chased while he beat? beated? was a beater? Eh. Still it'd probably be good to stay on real nice friendly terms with any of these prefects he talked to. "Snowy?" he inquired mildly, "We had a pile of snow too,'bout two feet. It made gettin' up 'n down the mountain a little tricky. Pa hadda borrow Uncle Jeb's horse team and sled." That did make him think of a question for the older student, "Do we learn any magic that'd make that easier? Some sort of snow movin' charm?"

2 Billy Cobb So I've been told. 1519 0 5

Lorena Abernathy

January 03, 2021 9:34 AM

The gang's all here! by Lorena Abernathy

As nice as it was to go home again and return to the familiarities she had grown up with, Lorena was immediately reminded of all the things she had missed about Sonora, namely, her friends. It was nice to have another spectacular feast on the tables before them, but even nicer to spend it with Rosalynn and Isla, her two best friends and roommates. Lorena had never really fit in at home, but here, she finally felt like she belonged.

Rosalynn talked about her crazy break, and Lorena commented, “I bet those two nights in your own bed were the best nights’ sleep ever! Definitely hectic,” she added in agreement with Isla. “Mine was…. Okay.” Lorena didn’t feel like she needed to hide anything from her friends, but she didn’t really want to get into the whole magical issue between her parents over their returning dinner. If it was particularly bothering her, they could all discuss it later, but there was no need to get into detail now. “Nice to see my family again, but not especially interesting. We didn’t do very much. What about you, Isla?”

“It’s so nice to be back,” Lorena stated after the discussions of winter breaks were done. “Ooh! I have little gifts for you guys, but I left them in my bags, so we can do that when we get back to our room later.” Mom and Dad let her use a little money to find some small things for her roommates, which was super exciting. She’d gotten Isla a sock puppet making kit - not nearly as fancy and exciting as Isla’s usual puppet stuff, but Lorena thought maybe it would be a fun craft the girls could all do together. Likewise, for Rosalynn, she got a little beginners magic kit for Muggles - all that fake stuff, of course, but since Rosalynn’s dad was a stage wizard, Lorena thought maybe she would like it. Plus, it was also something they could learn together, perfecting card tricks and vanishing coins. (But not real Vanishing, which Lorena heard was a thing, although pretty far above their class level for the moment.)

12 Lorena Abernathy The gang's all here! 1510 0 5

Martin Crosby V

January 03, 2021 10:10 AM

If we're matching thematically, Chess 101 by Martin Crosby V

Having had his book to primarily occupy him, Martin had not really noticed Jezebel in a more human sense during their previous interaction. Now that he really looked at her - eye contact, while often painful, was an absolute mandate of good social etiquette, as it demonstrated confidence and interest in one’s conversation partner, even if Martin often felt only one or neither of those two items - he observed her features with more detail. Truthfully, Jezebel was quite striking. The contrast between her darker skin pigmentation and bright eye color was not something Martin could recall ever seeing before, and when she smiled at him, he couldn’t help but note that she had a rather lovely smile.

Excluding familial relations like his sister, Martin did not often care to be in the presence of people younger than him. He had always found himself quite the adult for his age, whatever age he was, and so anyone younger than him was automatically assigned the title of “child”. The only other girl he considered himself friends with, Katerina, was a year his senior, and that was a bearable age, he discovered. He had asked her to the ball mostly because she seemed decent and was one of few suitable options, but he did consider her to be more in line with his developing type. He seemed to gravitate toward blondes or fair-haired brunettes who were older than him. But for whatever reason, Jezebel he also liked the look of.

“I would not be opposed to teaching you a few things,” Martin replied good-naturedly. “It would be nice to have someone to play against.” He supposed his roommates probably knew, but from what he had gleamed, there may or may not have been some drama between the other two Crotalus boys at some point, and he was determined to remain neutral and not be involved. “Outside of classes, my schedule is primarily open. Just let me know when you’d like to practice.”

12 Martin Crosby V If we're matching thematically, Chess 101 1439 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

January 03, 2021 10:40 AM

One Last Feast by Heinrich Hexenmeister

Heinrich knew he was a seventh year who would be graduating in less than half a year. He had been applying to colleges and making plans and even started sorting his room over midterm to decide what he'd want to bring to his new living space, and what should be left behind. That was even farther away than graduation though, so he had hadn't gotten very far and he would need to know where he was moving to first before any final decisions could be made anyway.

Somehow, despite knowing this quite well already, it still took him suddenly when he walked into the Cascade Hall that this was his last feast. His chapters at Sonora were definitely coming to a close, and he sent a look over to the Pecari table, to reassure himself that Evelyn was still there, that some parts of his life were still stable.

He took a seat at the Aladren table, choosing a seat near Ness. "Hi," he said, the English greeting coming much easier now than it had a year ago. English in general was coming easier now. He even thought in English more than half of the time these days. If anything was getting rusty, it was his German, which he didn't use a whole lot anymore, other than talking with Hilda.

He took out the pocket watch that had been his father's (he still wasn't used to thinking of it as his own, but it was starting to feel familiar in his hand anyway) and checked the time. He'd cut his arrival very close tonight. He glanced up at the Head Table just in time to see the Headmaster stand up. The start of term announcements were short and to the point, as Heinrich had come to expect from the man.

He looked at his watch again, and the minute hand hadn't moved from where it had been before the speech began. "Twelve seconds," he noted. "Not his fastest time, but respectable." He snapped the watch closed and put it away.

OOC: This isn't a formal tag. I said he's sitting next to Ness, but it's not a table for two, so anyone can claim to be sitting somewhere else nearby and respond.

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister One Last Feast 1414 0 5

Evelyn Stones

January 03, 2021 2:05 PM

There are pros and cons. by Evelyn Stones

It was the animal, not the coat, and Evelyn relaxed some. She didn't know enough about minks to know whether bringing them inside as pets was strictly inhumane and she trusted that Billy knew more than she did. Also, he didn't strike her as someone who came from a family that was about to dress up their pet mink in tutus or something, so it was probably in good hands. Her throat constructed some to hear it had been abandoned though. "Why do animals abandon each other?" she asked, genuinely curious, and a little sad. "That sounds cute. I'm glad your Ma was happy," she smiled.

"Snowy," she agreed with a happier expression still. "It was perfect." She blinked, trying to think of what sort of charms might be helpful. This was the sort of puzzle she enjoyed but it would be weird to grin her head off at Billy over snow moving charms. "We used a warming charm while we were out," she began, thinking over what was useful. "And depending on what you're trying to transport, you could just Apparate there. It's like teleporting. But you could really only take your backpack or whatever. I think you could move snow with a levitating charm probably, or put a lightening charm on the sled and then it wouldn't get stuck in the snow so much anyway. I think some stuff is risky because it could do other damage. Like if you melted all the snow, then you could cause flooding or something probably," she added. Then, giving into the grin and her knowledge of Billy playing Quidditch too, she continued: "You could put a lightening charm on it, hook it up to a broom, and fly there. But not in front of your family if they're muggles," she suggested.

22 Evelyn Stones There are pros and cons. 1422 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

January 03, 2021 2:19 PM

I just don't want to be a pawn. by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Martin was almost hilariously formal but it didn't strike Jezebel as strictly condescending. Most of the pureblood students she'd met absolutely struck her as condescending, but that was also because she considered herself fairly easy to condescend. In any case, Martin's formal nature seemed more polite than anything else and she had the distinct urge to find out if he was ticklish or in some other way get through to see how human he was when etiquette came down. However, she was not about to tickle him; that was the sort of thing she would've done with Marcus in another lifetime, not with her classmate.

"Okay," she agreed with another smile, happy to be taken up on her offer and that Martin didn't seem to mind teaching her. It would be nice to have a friend that was safe in a way her other friends were not. Plus, Martin seemed smart enough and that could be useful in a friend. And he was nice. One could never have too many nice friends if it was all sincere. She thought again of Jean-Loup - she did often and she wondered sometimes at the impact he'd made on her in a relatively short period of time - and his level of polite formality that always seemed so ready to break into something more fun, and wondered whether Martin was the same way. Somehow it was harder to imagine Martin eating cotton candy with her than Jean-Loup, but perhaps that was only because she'd tried with the latter.

"I'm also pretty much free outside of class. And homework, of course." There was another year before she had to take CATS but it already was on her mind and she grimaced at the thought of what the coming term would bring, especially as professors continued to prepare students like Martin for their upcoming exams. "What about after dinner this week?" she suggested. It hadn't crossed her mind that Martin might just be being polite in this too and so she wasn't anxious at the thought of being turned down. Worst case scenario, she'd discover he wasn't as nice as she thought and there'd be no real love lost. "Do you prefer the library or . . .?"

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer I just don't want to be a pawn. 1454 0 5

Billy Cobb

January 09, 2021 8:33 AM

Thems are wise words by Billy Cobb

Billy shrugged, seemingly oblivious to any sort of negative reaction Evelyn may have had. "Dunno, could be any number o' things." He considered for just a moment. "His ma coulda been caught and eaten by a bigger critter, maybe she couldn't find enough food for 'em both, or maybe he jus wandered off 'n got lost." Billy ate some more of his food unconcernedly. "Nature's rough, wild and don' much care for playing nice." A brief memory flashed through his head of a gigantic bear looming up before him. He shuddered briefly, "Everything jus wants to survive, and that's all they care 'bout." He, for one, was all for surviving. The alternative didn't seem very nice.

He grinned, "Ma will be even happier once he gets a bit bigger. The mice were pretty bad this year in the house and that guy will quickly deal with that problem." Still grinning he took a particularly vicious bite from a chicken leg to illustrate the point. "Do you use cats for mice problems where yer from? We've got some of them roaming around, but minks work better. They can follow the bigger ones back into their holes."

Billy nodded a bit as Evelyn very minimally expanded on her holiday experience. Apparently it had been very nice. He mentally shrugged while a dismissive 'eh girls' thought floated through his head. His eyes narrowed a bit as she began thinking about his snow problem. She was breaking out some awful big words now; apparate? teleporting? A levitating charm had come up at some point, that was a fancy word for 'floating in the air' if he was remembering correctly. His eyes then widened in excitement, then dimmed again as he realized she had said 'lightening' not 'lightning'. Blasting away the snow with bolts of lightning would be amazing though!

"Huh?" He'd been told, many times, that he couldn't to magic at home until he was seventeen. He'd assumed flying on a broom was the same thing, so all of this thinking that Evelyn was doing he assumed was for after he was older. But then he still couldn't fly in front of them? "Ma and Pa are muggles," he started slowly, "but they already know I can do stuff..? Why couldn't I fly around them?"

2 Billy Cobb Thems are wise words 1519 0 5

Martin Crosby V

January 09, 2021 1:35 PM

You are at least a rook. by Martin Crosby V

Martin had not anticipated it, but this conversation was so tolerable that he actually felt close to a smile. He prided himself on keeping a fairly neutral expression a considerable margin of the time, and while he wasn’t quite as skilled in that arena as he thought he was, Martin did well to remain composed and neutral. Too much smiling could be considered showy, especially when one possessed such naturally straight and white teeth as he did. So when he did smile, he kept it fairly tight-lipped, just to avoid seeming as pretentious as he was.

He was glad Jezebel was agreeable and interested. Other than having an excuse to spend time with someone both pleasant and attractive, Martin thought that perhaps this would aid him in his personal quests. He hardly fancied himself the teacher type (and there were already enough of those in his family, as he had no intention on following in his great-aunt Lilac’s footsteps in that or any other regard), but perhaps this would lend him some skill or delight to be extrapolated into something more productive later.

Or, he even let himself think, maybe it would just be fun. Martin was not exclusively and explicitly anti-fun, but he felt like most things, it was needed to be in moderation. Otherwise, the brain would grow spoiled and demanding, and one could never talk oneself into doing anything necessary but unpleasant. Martin was an entity of practicality, but he was also fifteen. He couldn’t do this all the time.

“After dinner would be acceptable,” he replied. “Let’s say Thursday?” There was no real reason it had to be, but he preferred to be decisive, and he had taken her opinion into account enough thus far. Having a few days to transition back to classes and all that, though, was probably also not an unwise course of action. “Perhaps best to meet in the common room, though. Too much talking for the library. I’m fairly certain there is a chess set tucked away in one of the tables that we can use.”

12 Martin Crosby V You are at least a rook. 1439 0 5