Mortimer Brockert

August 29, 2021 3:40 AM
This year had started out on an interesting note. Usually, staff meetings were routine but occasionally there was something different , something out of the ordinary that happened. Often, when that happened, it was something Mortimer disliked or was uncomfortable with. However, this time, he was relieved. Xavier Lundstrom's condition was not something that was going to affect him or his grandchildren.

Oddly enough though, Mortimer was not without sympathy for the boy, though he'd probably never admit that. Although the idea of someone being resistant towards their own magic was rather offensive, he did have two grandchildren with medical conditions, Sapphire had epilepsy and Miles was allergic to practically everything.The former didn't need too many accommodations, she just needed to take her medication and avoid stressful situations-Mortimer had been quite concerned about her last year before CATS-although the Crotalus seemed to think herself stupid and incapable, and insisted that she needed help with theory work. Even though he knew that Sapphire was not dumb at all. Mortimer wondered if it was because Topaz was brilliant that the sixth year felt inadequate in comparison.

Anyway, for the most part the Crotalus was able to participate normally in classes and life at school. Miles was the one he really worried about. He was pretty sure that once the boy arrived at Sonora, he was going to need accommodations. They already had allergy friendly cuisine served but there were also probably going to be issues with certain classes. Miles was allergic to a lot of plants and animals, so that was going to cause problems with Herbology and COMC. Potions was also going to be difficult as there were potion ingredients that Miles was allergic to as well.

And yes, there were other students that had problems that they made allowances or special accommodations for-there was at least one student who didn't have to touch anything he didn't like and Selina had said that they were putting "specialist measures" in place for Mr. Lundstrom-but Mortimer was slightly worried that they wouldn't be as willing to do so with his grandson. He was afraid they would say Miles was whiny and privileged and spoiled and just trying to get out of stuff if a lesson happened to involve something that would make him sick. Yet, Theo Spurn didn't have to touch anything he didn't like. Which, was fine, since the Pecari boy clearly had some sort of condition but if that was the case, then Miles shouldn't have to handle something that could set of an allergic reaction. Mortimer was willing to fight for him, but that would likely come off as nepotism somehow.

Fortunately, that was still seven years in the future and there was no need to worry about it much right now.

Once the older students were assembled at their tables and the first years filed in, Mortimer cast Sonorous on himself and rose ."Welcome to Sonora for the new first years and welcome back for all older students. First years, you should have received a blank badge at the end of Orientation. You will dunk the badge in the Sorting Potion and it will turn the color representing your house which are blue for Aladren, yellow for Teppenpaw, red for Crotalus, and brown for Pecari. Afterwards, you may join your house table." He watched as his grandson, Christopher dunked his badge and headed for Crotalus, making it ten for ten on Mortimer guessing where his grandchildren were Sorted.

He also noted that his niece Liesl, his brother Ichabod's granddaughter had been sorted into Teppenpaw. Well, that was an interesting...defiance of stereotypes. He usually associated the house with people who liked things like unicorns and teddy bears, not skulls and eyeballs. Liesl appreciated both his medieval torture instrument models and Topaz's taxidermy. He hoped her roommate was more understanding about those things than his granddaughter's had been.

After the first years had been settled, Mortimer continued."Would Jessica Hayles and Hilda Hexenmeister please come up and get your Head Student badges." He continued. "In addition I'd like to call up Gabriel Wilson, Alexander Pierce-Beales, Sadie-Lake Chalmers and Mallory Pierce-Beales to receive their prefect badges. Congratulations." He was considerably more pleased with these choices for prefect than he had been last year. Well, three out of the four anyway. And actually, he did not think that Miss Chalmers was a bad option, just that Esme was a far better one obviously. Mortimer never understood when his grandchildren weren't picked for these things, even if the person who won wasn't terrible, as he really only thought that Topaz had lost to someone who was completely undeserving.

The Head Student choices were...well, not as bad as some. Miss Hayles had showed signs of mental instability and Miss Hexenmeister was a Pecari, but both had done a perfectly adequate job as prefect and besides, far worse people had been chosen in the past. He didn't love the fact that it was two girls, because Mortimer genuinely did feel that favoring girls wasn't any better than favoring boys which if it happened was something people would complain about. Plus, the whole need for both male and female students to have someone to go to so in a way, it was a good thing that there weren't any fifth or sixth year girls in Teppenpaw and that Mr. Wilson had gotten prefect. Though that didn't help male students in Crotalus or Pecari if they didn't want to go to people outside of their house. As for the idea that they could go to staff members or friends, sometimes young people would rather talk to their peers-and Mortimer was definitely not someone who wanted to deal with the students' personal issues- and some people didn't have friends, sad fact of life that that was.

Still, this time the male options for Head Student weren't great. Well, okay, Mortimer still thought Mr. Crosby had been a perfectly good candidate-and certainly would have been his choice, along with Miss Priory- but since Head Student was something of a popularity contest, he could see why the Crotalus boy hadn't won. Though Mortimer wasn't looking forward to dealing with Tawny or Uncle Clifford, which was admittedly a large part of why he would have selected those particular students had it been his choice.

Once the prefects and Head Students were back in their seats, Mortimer announced. "This year's Midsummer event will be the ball.Details will be forthcoming." Usually, not many extra details were needed regarding this event the way the fair and the concert often did, however, sometimes people wanted themes or something, like some years ago they'd had an outer space theme.

"Now we will sing the school song." Well, they would anyway. Mortimer did not sing . Lyric sheets were passed around and the song began.

Every day we strive
Learning to survive
Life’s hardships and to solve its mystery.
Learning to defend
Our honour and our friends,
Flying high to meet our destiny
We will stand and face those who want to harm us.
We won’t let the world transfigure, jinx or charm us
I won’t fight alone, as long as you are with me.
Sonora be my home, my tutor and my spirit
Vasita quoque floeat; Even the desert blooms.


That done, he dug into his steak and bourbon.
Subthreads:

Teppenpaw

Crotalus

Pecari
11 Mortimer Brockert Opening Feast 6 1 5

Valentine Duell

August 29, 2021 9:53 PM
Valentine Duell hopped off the wagon with a bright smile on her face. This was going to be a good year, she just knew it. Especially if she could keep her courage up. She had grown a bit over the summer, as if her some of her biological processes had been trying to match up with her mindset. No more was she the sweet and innocent, confused little third year girl. Now she was a grown, mature, fourth year young woman. Her attire hadn't really changed that much, a nice blouse and long skirt all completely hidden by the school robes. Her hair was back in its traditional braid, safely tucked out of the way, just in case. However, she was adorned with a mild amount of make-up to accentuate her features. She could get away with it since opening feast was a 'special occasion'.

She greeted everyone she knew that she passed in the cascade hall before the feast started. There was someone she had to find before things got underway. It didn't take long for her to spot Bonabelle, Now or never she thought to herself. She summoned up what reserves of courage she had and went to meet her friend. Things had not been as wonderful after the cafe discussion and Val knew it was all her fault. Even their correspondence over the summer had not been what it had been previously. Maybe, now that she had time to process some things, she was ready.

"Hi Bonabelle!" She greeted her oldest friend warmly and cheerily with the traditional hug of welcoming embrace. "I missed you over the summer. We'll meet up tomorrow morning like usual, right?" She asked as she pulled back. Then, without really waiting for a response, she did it. Val darted forward and planted her lips upon Bonabelle's. She pulled back again, her eyes twinkling. "I'll see you then!" And once again without waiting for a response, she darted off towards the Teppenpaw table. She'd done it! She'd done it! She'd had her first kiss! There was a mirth bubbling up inside of her that she could not explain nor barely contain. The plan was to be all casual and not make it seem like any sort of big deal, but she just couldn't help turning around again to smile at Bonabelle quickly. The feeling of the hug and the tingling that was fading quick from her own lips, just wouldn't allow it. Bonabelle looked a little stunned, she hoped her friend wasn't mad.

As she approached the table she spotted Alexander and she thought she might sit with him and talk and... well, you never know. Except he was waving at Anya. Oh. That was fine. Those stories about them were true then. Alexander and Anya were dating. That was good. She was happy for them. Absolutely. If Anya make Alexander happy, that was good. He should be happy, and so should Anya. She tried to shake off the feeling as she found a seat elsewhere along the Teppenpaw table just in time for the speech to begin.

Val wasn't really able to focus on the speech very well, but she did welcome the first years that came over to the Teppenpaw table. She applauded Hilda and Jessica getting head student, it was odd now, knowing who the new head students were. Then the prefects as well. Gabriel, Alexander, Saidie and Mallory? Oh! Mab! Right. She knew all of them and added her accolades to the others. Alexander seemed to be taking his new role seriously, that was really sweet and good of him.

Then the Headmaster made the announcement about the ball and Val's smile returned gleefully. She and Mama had prepared for this. Now she just needed to convince someone to ask her to go. She was a fourth year now so.... wait. Then fifth, sixth and seventh.... as a fourth year she only had three more years after this. This was her only ball. No.... that wasn't right was it? That wasn't fair. Everyone else (outside of her year group) got to have two balls! She (and everyone else in her year group) only got one! That wasn't fair!

"This ball has to be perfect and wonderful." She murmurered out loud as the food appeared to her unseeing eyes. Thoughts of an experimental and subtle approach started to give way to the realization that this was now serious business.


OOC: Bonabelle interaction *mostly* approved by her author. Let me know if anything should be tweaked. ;)
2 Valentine Duell Now wait just a moment. 1490 0 5

Patience Reed-Fischer

August 31, 2021 11:39 PM
Patience had crossed herself multiple times so far and by the time she did it on her way into Cascade Hall, she was starting to accept that she didn't have to. Her mother couldn't see her. Her sister, brother, and cousin could but she doubted any of them cared whether she crossed herself or not. As such, she was smiling tentatively when she put her hand back by her side for what she hoped was the last time for a while. At least, the last time for religious reasons; she was soon using her hands again to get herself sorted and to brace herself on the table as she leaned out to see around her classmates and watch the headmaster, and then to get food. She wasn't sure whether it was news of the ball that made her appetite suddenly vanish or whether it was just the nature of being basically terrified of everything that was happening all around her, but she certainly wasn't feeling hungry just then. She didn't seem to be the only one.

An older girl was sitting nearby, looking a bit glazed over herself. She was probably around Dathan's age, Patience thought, and she wondered whether the two knew each other. Considering the size of the school, the size of the House subgroups, and then the smaller still year sizes (or class sizes for that matter), she suspected it was nearly impossible not to know each other. Still, she wasn't about to go asking about that, if for no other reason than sometimes people looked at her funny when she pointed out her very white cousin as a blood relative.

"I'm Patience," she said in a squeaky voice that betrayed her nerves. "What's your favorite food?"
22 Patience Reed-Fischer What are we waiting for? 1535 0 5

Valentine Duell

September 01, 2021 9:09 PM
A voice near her snapped Valentine out of her reverie. She'd really never been very good at brooding, and an unfamiliar voice was all it took to shift her back into her traditional mindset of 'Oh, a new friend!'. She smiled once again at the girl whom she'd welcomed along with the other new Teppenpaw first years after they'd been sorted. She looked nervous, which was completely understandable. She herself was nervous about this year, but probably for difference reasons than Patience.

"Hi Patience, it's good to meet you. I'm Valentine," she responded in her normal cheery, friendly voice, then added, "or Val. Either is fine." All thoughts of the unfairness of the universe and such were left behind for the moment. They went to go mingle with all the thoughts of Alexander and Anya that they had pushed aside which had been crammed next to the thoughts of the wondrous moment she'd shared with Bonabelle which Alexander and Anya had shoved aside. She'd have to unpack that mess later, for now she had a new friend to make.

"Hmm..." she thought for a moment considering Patience's mildly out-of-the-blue ice-breaker question. "Are we talking favorite food of all time, or out of the options on the table at the moment?" Her eyes swept over the ample offerings this year and saw they all looked wonderful as always. "Overall, I would have to say... Loukomadies. They're a Greek doughnut." She paused a moment reminiscing and maybe getting an idea before pulling herself back to the present. "As for what's on the table..." her eyes alighted upon one dish in particular. "Ooo... the Mac and Cheese is wonderful here!"

It was time she thought to turn the question around on Hope, it was only fair. "How about you? What is your favorite?"
2 Valentine Duell Reality to re-evaluate its choices and make better ones. 1490 0 5

Patience Reed-Fischer

September 02, 2021 11:45 PM
Patience had a funny name. She knew that about herself. But now here she was, first night at school, and she was meeting a girl named Valentine. She felt a little bad for thinking it was a funny name and wondered idly whether it was for the saint or the holiday. Or maybe magic people didn't do holidays? At least not Valentine's day. Jezebel said they were sort of weird; maybe Valentine's parents just saw the word on a greeting card or something and thought it sounded nice. But then, why would they be getting greeting cards about Valentine's Day if they didn't celebrate it . . . it was sort of a lame holiday anyway, and not at all like what the saint was for so. . . . anyway, here was a real live breathing human who was also magic and also had a name that was not really a name and that was exciting no matter what.

"Val," Patience repeated, glad to have been given permission to say something else. Her expression fell some when the girl started saying words that made no sense to her, but she found out quickly that it wasn't because she didn't know about magic stuff, just because she didn't know about Greece. Jezebel and Gus had said the school had students from all over but she hadn't expected to meet someone right off the bat like that. Maybe that was why her parents picked the name Valentine? There was no reason for her to dwell on that but it was really sticking in her head as, weirdly, the only thing that made sense at this magical place.

She responded to the much more understandable part of Val's answer by smiling gratefully and scooping some mac and cheese onto her plate. It did look delicious. She was saved from the embarrassment of shoveling it into her mouth in front of this girl by the conversation clearly being made to continue. Patience hated eating in front of people and she would've been really embarrassed if she'd stuck food in her mouth and then been asked the question; at least this way, she could try to answer.

"Of all time," she pondered first, glancing around the table to pick out what she thought looked good to answer that part next. "I really like this stew my mom makes," she said, her mouth watering at the thought. "It's called cachupa. I also really like the pretzels we have at Lent." She admitted the second part a bit more tentatively although the whole of it came out with some trepidation; she'd now outed herself both as a foreigner and as someone from a religious family. She wasn't sure how magic people felt about religious people but if the way religious people seemed to feel about magic people was anything to go by . . . She figured the foreign part probably wasn't so bad, especially since technically her mom was the foreigner not her, since Val had just admitted much the same but she couldn't be too sure. Better to say the right thing than the true thing sometimes. She took a bite of the mac and cheese and gave a thumbs up. "And this is my favorite food from here so far!"
22 Patience Reed-Fischer ...................oh. 1535 0 5

Valentine Duell

September 04, 2021 6:45 PM
Valentine took some of the mac & cheese after Patience had finished with it and listened to what the other girl had to say. "Cachupa?" She repeated curiously. She hadn't heard of that before. "That sounds interesting, what kind of stew is it?" She knew that naturally anything made by ones mother was far superior to anything made by anyone else. Although, she had heard rumors that food crafted by a grandmother was even better. Sadly, she had no real experience on this front.

Patience's second item seemed to come out with some hesitation. Lent..? Lent..? That sounded familiar. Oh! That was the thing where Grandpa didn't eat his daily candy ration for a while every spring and was really annoyed by it! She didn't recall him saying anything about pretzels though. Oh well, if she liked the pretzels, that was good.

Val smiled at her new friend. "You'll have to let me know if anything beats it out as you keep trying new things." She put a few more various things on her plate; some turkey, a pile of green beans, and something new that she hadn't seen before. "Like this," she indicated the new food on her plate. "I haven't tried this before, maybe it'll be better than the mac and cheese." She scooped up a bite and stuck it in her mouth. Oh. Oh no. Her face scrunched up and she slid the empty fork from between her lips. Her left eye twitched just a bit, she swallowed with difficulty and reached for her water. Once everything had been satisfactorily washed down she grimaced at Patience. "That is not better than the mac and cheese."

With the ice now properly broken, Val felt it safe to delve into deeper topics. "Are you excited to start school here? I'm not a prefect, but I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Is there anything here you are looking forward to? Anything you're worried about?" The last question was asked in as kind a tone as she could manage. She then took a mouthful of the wondrous mac and cheese to completely obliterate any remnants of whatever that other stuff had been.


OOC: Grandpa tidbit from Marissa's author
2 Valentine Duell We may be waiting a while. 1490 0 5