Selina Skies

February 14, 2021 8:13 AM
The concert was probably the most complicated of the Midsummer events. It required input and preparation by the students, and it involved inviting their families onto campus. Selina hoped they would have something good to show them. On the plus side, they had a clean and safe school free of strange manifestations. Whilst she was very, very pleased about that, and whilst it marked a step up from the recent situation, she was aware that was rather a minimum standard that was expected. She hoped they would have a decent performance too.

For some parents, it was their first real exposure to the magical world outside of the visit from their Muggleborn liaison officer, and the subsequent shopping trips. The school contacted all the families with detailed transportation details, but took extra care to make sure the Muggle families had things fully explained to them. There was also the option of being picked up by something that was more or less a car (just with far more capacity inside, and the ability to drive itself) from the nearest town. The welcome area, which had extra Floo connections and space for apparition, was set up outside the school, staffed by Selina on welcome duty, and Katey, in case anyone needed medical attention.

As the families arrived, she greeted them all cheerfully – some by now familiar faces, some new, some ex students, some future students, and a small handful in the middle of those ages who presumably were non-magical siblings. She directed them through a door that was standing on the edge of the raised area, that was not attached to any form of wall but would lead into the foyer of the school, where there were refreshments, along with any of the school staff who had drawn the lot of supervising the parents instead of the students, and a place for the family members to make name labels so people would know who was who. Once everyone was gathered, there was an optional tour of the school. Those who didn’t want to come could stay in the foyer and mingle with the staff or each other, and those who did would still have a chance to do that both before and after the show.

And, in the Cascade Hall, props were being put in place, actors were getting ready, and tales were going to be told…


OOC: - If posting as families/multiple people please use 'other' as the author and select the appropriate post type from the drop down menu.
- Posts can be set before or after the concert, but students will not be available to join families until after, even if they are not involved
- For the concert itself, there will be a separate starting post. We do not have a set plan of what is happening - feel free to talk about what your student contributed in their posts with their families or by writing at the concert. You can use information from the prep threads, or other ideas you have, and/or check in with people in chatzy as needed
Subthreads:
13 Selina Skies Telling Tales - The Midsummer Concert 26 1 5


Ilefonso De Matteo

February 27, 2021 5:40 PM
Ilefonso watched Felipe walk away, off to mingle with the Hayles girl, as his wife did the same. It was a family ordeal really, but one he was not disappointed to exclude himself from. The Hayles family was nice enough but by the look of all those gathered, it was about to be one of those conversations that made his head spin; Muggles were a subject he was familiar with, but none of the residents of Ciudad de Matteo were about to start talking about some of the technology that the Muggles at Sonora always seemed to know about. He wasn't even entirely sure what it was that had kept his subjects away from such things but he was eternally grateful for it.

As he was now left to his own devices, Leonor still disappeared off somewhere unknown to him, Ilefonso's mind and eye wandered. He'd made a point of looking through the children's yearbooks to familiarize himself with the names and faces he might encounter, as that was the only appropriate thing to do when important people might be around. Plus, sometimes people needed help. Sometimes, one could tell that just from a photo. It was infinitely easier to tell that in person, but not at events like this, which was where yearbook photos were an advantage; both the books and these events were when people put on their frills and frocks to impress. How people chose to impress was usually as telling as anything, although Ilefonso was hardly enough of an expert in deduction to approach anyone too boldly based on what he'd seen. Still, mingling was the name of the game and there were people he was very interested to mingle with.

He'd not seen the person he had in mind on stage at all and he tried not to read too much into that, but he'd spent enough time skimming the pages of the yearbooks that he was sure he'd recognize the boy even without the confirmation of a program with his name to match with. Leonor had generally been rather quiet about the relationship she'd had at Sonora, largely, he suspected, because it can't have been that serious. She'd only even mentioned his name once or twice, and usually with much backtracking to correct herself when she did. If it was serious, she'd have introduced him to the family and gone through the appropriate channels of courtship. As it was, and considering the boy was Felipe's roommate as far as he could tell, it seemed his little girl was continuing her practice of social engagements and courtship and dating were important rituals to get right. He couldn't blame the girl for that, even if he did wish he'd been given more of a chance to be involved. For all he knew, it wasn't much more than a crush on a friend at this point anyway, so perhaps that was part of her nerves. Well, there was much that could be done about that.

It crossed his mind vaguely to be worried that he hadn't seen his daughter for a bit when she seemed to have a boy on her mind now but he doubted that was going to be an issue. Her last practice experience with boys had not gone well and he was pretty sure she and they had all learned their lesson from that. He avoided the urge to crack his knuckles at the memory of his last encounter with them. Still, Leonor did seem to have found a person she was at least vaguely interested in, even if he only knew that through a few mentions and not anything more solid than that, so it seemed only right to get to know whether he was worth being interested in. Perhaps that was all the more true given her other practice experiences.

When he spotted the boy, he was with a group that was probably his family. Ilefonso contented himself with a small glass of punch - the stuff was odd and not at all what the man was used to but it was sort of exciting trying out things like this - and was pleased when biding his time worked. Since he wasn't about to follow the boy into the bathroom, he waited until he came back out and then approached.

"Jeremy Mordue?" he confirmed with a booming, if measured, voice and smile; this was a private conversation but no less reason to be happy about it after all. At least not yet. "I'm Ilefonso De Matteo. I believe you are acquainted with my son and daughter, if in different ways I hope, and I wanted to introduce myself." It really wasn't proper that it had to be done this way, but since neither the boy nor Leonor had done the introductions themselves already, steps had to be taken. In any case, Ilefonso was at least hoping the boy would be worth his time.


OOC: Jeremy being with his family and then having to use the restroom approved by his author.
22 Ilefonso De Matteo You there! [Jeremy Mordue] 0 Ilefonso De Matteo 0 5

Jeremy Mordue

February 28, 2021 5:27 AM
The concert had been dull. Jeremy had not bothered to get involved because it seemed all kinds of awful, and he already was busy with Quidditch. Watching it had been more than enough hard work, because ack, most of these people were talentless and the stories were insipid. They were too old for baby stuff like this.

Still, now that he was standing around making conversation with his family, he was struggling to decide which experience was less like having a self-extracting jinx cast on his teeth. He excused himself to go to bathroom less because he needed it and more because it was a few minutes where no one could tell him what to do.

He was on his way back, when he got stopped by Mr. De Matteo. Of all the people he expected to want to talk to him, Mr. De Matteo was... Well, actually, Jeremy supposed he might be quite high on the list because he was actually frustratingly unconnected in this school. He blamed the type of people who came here. Though he wasn't sure why more of the desperate Brockert girls weren't flocking his way. Not that people had to be desperate to want him. He wasn't sure why he wasn't more popular. He was Pureblood, a star athlete, pretty good looking... But anyway, they didn't have any connections outside their own families unless they acknowledged him, so he would have thought they'd be a bit friendlier. Mr. De Matteo did at least have some connection with him. Jeremy knew both his kids 'In different ways, I hope?' as he phrased it. Did he mean that he hoped Jeremy hadn't punched Leonor, or that he hadn't made out with Felipe? Well, probably both, actually. If he knew about Leonor, which he probably didn't. It wasn't like Jeremy had told his family. So, there was nothing to worry about, apart from the fact that the fist fight had been written home about so he almost definitely knew about that.

He really wanted to respond with 'Yeah, and?' because the entirity of this family was almost as big a pain in his backside as his own, but he bit his tongue. He had been raised to be better than that, and had had enough opportunities to practise being bland and polite, that he could manage it for a minute or two. Especially as he could only imagine that it would make Leonor and Felipe sweat to see him making small talk with their father. He certainly wouldn't have been pleased to look over and see either of them talking to his aunt and uncle. He wondered which of them would hate it more. Leonor, probably. He certainly would have been more concerned to see her than Felipe with his family if the positions were reversed.

"Yes, sir," he returned the greeting and confirmed both who he was and his relationship to Mr. De Matteo's children. "Pleased to meet you," he offered politely, smiling and offering a small bow which hurt his pride more than was reasonable. Mr De Matteo was an adult and that was just what you did.
13 Jeremy Mordue Yeah, and? 1443 0 5


Ilefonso De Matteo

February 28, 2021 10:51 AM
Ilefonso smiled approvingly at the boy's show of respect. The boy was making points up in areas he'd been lacking thus far and that was encouraging. Ilefonso wasn't about to say he'd heard good things about him because that wasn't precisely true, especially considering what he'd gotten letters about with regards to his and Felipe's interactions, but a lad who knew how to behave in the face of an adult was already doing better than some of the others Ilefonso had had the displeasure of meeting. The fact that Ilefonso was a De Matteo only made the show of respect more important and more well-placed, which pleased him further.

"The pleasure's mine," Ilefonso assured him, because that's what you were supposed to say. And although Jeremy Mordue certainly had more to gain from a positive interaction with Ilefonso than the other way around, Ilefonso was a business-minded man who wanted the best for his subjects and his family. Making connections was how you assured the best for others and a deep sense of altruism meant he wasn't about to go making connections for himself so much as for his children. Felipe had given up his own claim to much of a future but Leonor hadn't and this had the potential to be the right sort of connection, even if it wasn't yet serious. "I understand you're a bright young man with a good future ahead of you. Leonor could do worse for herself. You're aware that she's set to inherit a great deal? Our subjects are still getting to know her but I believe she has her own promising future as well. Tell me, young man, do you speak other languages or only English?"
22 Ilefonso De Matteo And I want to make sure I don't have a problem with you. 0 Ilefonso De Matteo 0 5

Jeremy Mordue

March 02, 2021 3:54 AM
Jeremy wasn’t sure why both this man’s children were so damn rude when he seemed perfectly willing to be polite. He was pleased to meet Jeremy, and said he had a bright future. Admittedly, Leonor had often complimented him too, so it wasn’t a completely unheard of trait amongst De Matteos, but it definitely didn’t hurt.

And then it all got very weird very fast. Was this guy sort of… trying to throw Leonor at him? He knew that was how their world worked but it was still sort of weird to hear it. And she was apparently stinking rich (he wondered whether that meant above average for Pureblood or just like the rest of them?). And had subjects? What? Also, did this line of questioning mean that Mr. De Matteo knew about the kissing, or definitely didn’t know about the kissing? He clearly didn’t know that Leonor was done with Jeremy.

Luckily, there was a direct question, and one that wasn’t too difficult to answer. It wasn’t, for example, ‘do you want to date/marry my daughter.’

“Not really, no,” he admitted, pretty sure that he couldn’t fake speaking another language for any length of time. “We did some French when we were younger,” but he had never paid attention, “And obviously quite a lot of Latin.” He was neither stupid nor uneducated, in spite of his best efforts. “I spent a lot of time on athletics,” he added, swinging the conversation back around to his strengths, “I was on the junior side for our county’s team before I came here.”
13 Jeremy Mordue Okay. How's that going? 1443 0 5


Ilefonso De Matteo

March 07, 2021 10:16 AM
Ilefonso nodded to himself, a bit disappointed in the boy's functional monolingualism but aware that such things were more normal in this part of the world. Besides that, athleticism, while not inherently valuable to Ilefonso's mind, was still a demonstration of self-discipline and pursuit of success in the face of challenges. Certainly it boded well for the boy's physical aptitude, an important trait for a possible future husband to his daughter.

"That's very good," he said, offering faint praise again, although his smile and jovial demeanor showed his friendliness. He was certainly pleased with what he was learning so far. "You're comfortable with hard work and the outdoors," he observed, making it a compliment again.

This sort of unspoken negotiation was unfamiliar to Ilefonso, who didn't have sisters and certainly wasn't negotiating anything between Felipe and his girlfriend's family. Still, he knew what he wanted out of it and that was helpful. Before he could open his mouth to pursue any particular train of thought, a familiar voice piped up beside him, sounding oddly tight.

"Papa," Leonor asked, making it almost come out as a question before switching to Spanish. "What are you doing?" Her eyes darted nervously between him and Jeremy and Ilefonso put a hand on her shoulder, amused by his daughter's nervousness.

"I'm getting to know your classmates. Anyone my child speaks highly of is of interest to me. Don't be rude, mija," Ilefonso responded.

Leonor turned to Jeremy and dipped her head and knee some, and if she looked tense then Ilefonso didn't notice. "Jeremy," she greeted him.

"I think it would be most fortuitous for the two of you to spend more time together. Invite the boy over this summer, Leonor," Ilefonso smiled, happy that he could help his daughter with a schoolyard crush that had such potential. "We would love to have you visit if you're able? Or perhaps over winter break next year?"
22 Ilefonso De Matteo Just fine so far. Which is good for you. 0 Ilefonso De Matteo 0 5