2 Dec 2024, 13:50
Bowling for Rabbits
It was a beautiful day, and both Maisie and Mischief liked to take advantage of weather like this, even if it was a little crisp. In between classes, they moseyed out to the ground, not far from the castle, and found a good grassy patch. The grass was essential as that was one of the things Mischief ate. But she also brought bun bun pellets and carrots. She wanted him to have a diverse diet.
But food wasn't the only necessary item out here. They needed entertainment. From her satchel Maisie pulled out a bunch of empty glass bottles she'd procured from the kindly house elves in the kitchens. Some of them still had a 'pumpkin juice' label on them while others seemed to have house a different beverage once upon a time. Regardless she arranged them stood on the grass in a kind of triangular formation, all close together.
Once she was happy with it, she pulled Mischief into her lap, and leaned down, whispering, "Okay. Ready, set, go!" From there, she lessened her grip on him, other than placing him on the ground and giving him a little nudge forward. It took a few seconds, but soon he ran right toward the bottles, gripping the lip of the first on in his mouth, knocking the others about. With an audible laugh, Maisie smiled wide. Happiness really didn't require magic at all.
For @Niall Quirke
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4 Dec 2024, 09:11
Bowling for Rabbits
After class and taking an effort to ‘act normal’ as some of his peers have ‘suggested’ or rather whispered behind his back. Niall decided to take a stroll to get himself familiar with his newly found home in this nice cool weather. During his walk through the grounds he took his binoculars with him in hopes to enjoy his passtime of bird watching with a new found addition being people. Not a people person himself he scoped around looking for what would catch his eye.
What began as a ‘beautiful’ day for Niall quickly became a situation of 'life and/or death' when he spots a lone girl sitting supposedly by herself. In the back of his mind he conjured a story about her being the master of ring toss as she lined some bottles up along the grass. However his stomach churned with worry when he saw the rabbit knocking them around while gripping the first in his mouth.
A little concerned he moves away from the tree he was sitting against and approaches Maisie and Mischief as he says bluntly and quickly with his voice croaking “You should really be careful don’t you know bacteria can build up in the lips of those bottles and you should really be getting him a bowl so it’s easy for it to drink”He marches over, adjusting his black rimmed glasses almost ignoring Maisie as Niall holds a look of concern for the cute fuzzy rodent.
For @Maisie Gemmell
11 Dec 2024, 20:45
Bowling for Rabbits
Her laughter seemed to illuminate the courtyard. Such were the easy pursuits of childhood.
She was re-setting the bottles for Mischief when another student, a young boy, approached them. His tone was blunt and his words sharp, but as she studied the way he observed her rabbit, it seemed like there was care and concern underneath his address.
"They were clean," she replied, suddenly a bit more paranoid about whether or not the house elves had cleaned them well. She had been so grateful just to have them—bacteria had never really crossed her mind. And suddenly, with a frown, she felt a bit guilty.
And it got worse when he suggested the bowel. Of course she had that, but not down here. It was beginning to seem like he was actually better at taking care of her precious pet than she was. "How do you know all this?" she asked him as she gave Mischief a gentle stroke between his ears.
After all, the boy didn't seem to be that much older than she was; yet, he carried himself with a kind of expertise of someone much older. "Do you want to sit down?" she asked, scooting over a bit. Maybe if they didn't have that difference in height, he wouldn't seem quite so imposing.
@Niall Quirke
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1 Feb 2025, 00:08
Bowling for Rabbits
With his concerns for the Rabbit, Niall crouches low to gently reach out with his hand towards the rabbit wanting to pet the adorable creature. As an instinct he thinks the rabbit would react positively, Niall lets his hand hover for a moment letting ‘Mischief’ decide whether to let him scratch behind its ear or not.
Having completely ignored Maisies presence, his attention was eventually grabbed when he heard her suggest that the bottles were ‘clean’. Nialls’ focus shifts from the rabbit acknowledging the girl whom he’s never met before and tilting his head curious as if processing what she said. “My Mom is a vet and Well…you don’t mind if I take a look? I mean I can see you mean well but I've heard and seen results of people just giving unknown food or drink to rabbits and it’s not pretty for…” Niall sounding blunt and somewhat condescending trails off realising this is how he never got friends in the first place.
Putting the two pieces together he says in an awkward attempt to talk to someone as opposed to talking when someone says softly. “Uhh…I mean…is this your rabbit? What’s their name? Can I pet them?”
With an invitation to sit down Niall awkwardly obliges the girl pacing around the grass to find a spot to sit on, shifting pedantically from one tuft of grass to another. After a third try he settles sitting next to Maisie despite his visible discomfort at attempting to talk to humans he says awkwardly “uh to talk to people umm the correct response is to tell you my name and therefore I can learn yours so uhh…I’m Niall?” he questions himself wondering if he said the right things before adding “And…you are?”
@Maisie Gemmell
17 Mar 2025, 01:16
Bowling for Rabbits
She waited for him to sit, and hopefully, by proxy, for temperatures to cool.
Then, the answer to all this: "My Mom is a vet."
"Ah," escaped her as the pieces all seemed to fall into place in her mind. His approach had been unexpected, but clearly not ill-intended. He just had expertise in the same way that she had expertise on sewing from her mother (perhaps less so on journalism from her father). So, when he offered to check on Mischief, she somewhat timidly answered, "All right. Just be careful." After all, she guarded Mischief with her life.
Speaking of which, she should introduce him: "His name is Mischief. He's a Mist Hopper and he's very friendly so yes, you can pet him." She gave the rabbit a little pet herself to just to ensure he was calm and open to interaction. So far, he'd taken fairly well to people—or, at least, to her roommate Avis.
As she did so, she couldn't help but notice the boy, Niall, was a little unsure of himself. "I'm Maisie," she returned his introduction. For a moment, she thought about adding her house and year as seemed customary for most, but with a shrug, she realized it didn't much matter. It was more important to see the person—or rabbit—right in front of you.
Gently, she offered Mischief a carrot.
@Niall Quirke
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